It is quite apparent that youth getting roped into gangs is a huge problem and can only lead to two things, jail or death. Many youth feel like gangs want them and will take care of them. When in all reality the gangs could care less about them, they just use youths to do their dirty work and they are deposable. The only way to stop this problem and get youth the help they need is to create and upkeep programs that actually care about the kids and get them out of gangs or get them before they are in gangs. Programs that would get to youths before they are involved with gangs is a very important part in keeping them safe. A program that is in the heart of a poverty stricken area would be a ray of sunshine is a dark and gloomy town. This program …show more content…
There is no way around it, gangs are very dangerous and unstable groups. According to Rob White Getting kids out of gangs is very difficult and can often lead to injury or even worse, death (Indigenous youth and gangs as family). The program that would help kids get out of gangs would take time and be a difficult task. When a child has already joined a gang they are a member for life. According to Meagan Cahill, most youth who join do not make it very long since they are young and have to do the dirty work (Community collaboratives addressing youth gangs: Interim findings from the Gang Reduction Program). These types of programs would go into schools and create presentations and do workshops with the students about gang life. They would also reach out directly to students who are supposedly in a gang. The program would also hold workshops for parents who feel that their child is in a gang. This would inform parents on how they can help their child who has been roped into the dangerous life in a gang. According to Rob White, most parents who suspect their child of being in a gang do not have time to help, programs that would directly help the youth in gangs would be extremely beneficial because it could give a child a sense of family that they yearn for (Indigenous youth and gangs as family). Creating and starting these programs would be hard work but well worth it in the long run if it can help and save children from getting caught up in the dangerous life of a
In order to put an end to gang violence in the community law enforcement should tackle the problem from the source, including the leaders and their right hand man. Get inside information about what they are about to do , when and where. Put a man on the inside that can get both information and also get to see the action first hand. Having an informant on the inside would allow law enforcement to have an eyes on the leader and their right hand mans. It would allow law enforcement to have an eye on all the action thats is happening on the inside.
If you keep them out the streets they will stay out of trouble. The teenagers can work with cleaning up the city, work with elderly people or work Green Jobs that help them with their future for them to get jobs. Another reason gang violence could come to an end is to change the drug laws. Id say if marijuana was to be legalized, the violence over marijuana could be eliminated.
I think the key aspect of viewing gangs and the young people they influence is keeping in mind how they are inducted into gangs and how they are contained in them. Now, I have never experienced this system personally. I've only seen into this world through media; which, as we know, can be wildly inaccurate and rarely provides the full story. But I think that's where the importance of Levitt's credibility comes into play.
As you stated these youth joined a gang to feel accepted and gain the support they were lacking.
The third step includes involve prevention policies, strategies, and programs that are intended to reduce risk factors and increase protective and promotive factors. According to the Article “What Can Do to Help Prevent Gang-Joining” by Gary D. Gottfredson he explain Those who were involved in the program showed less problem behavior, absenteeism and poor school performance; more employment at a one year follow up; and fewer court records at a five-year follow up(93). Thus to further Gery evidence he also stated “school wide strategies to promote a safe climate via clear and consistently grams clarity expectations for students behavior and disciplinary action, and they communicate rules and consequences(96). Gery Gottfredson point out Programs Implement policies, strategies and programs that are intended to reduce risk factor and increase more protective and promotive setting for young
Utilizing research findings and realistic experiences, Shakur, Howell, and Griffiths disprove myths about gangs, justify the reasons for young people being recruited because of their desire to be understood by others similar to them, and girls integrating themselves into the groups from their relationships with members. Howell and Griffiths managed to explain the principles behind gangs and their members' lifestyles, while Shakur provided real gangster experiences as supporting evidence for the research findings. Theories to gangs may be existent, but without proper research leading to the findings, or experiences from subjects who lived the lifestyle, beliefs about the organizations merely become empty
There is a number of reasons that range from simple to complex, on why teenagers join gangs, and we can help by finding solutions to their specific problem before they choose to join one. To help someone get out of a gang, we as a society need to show there’s more out there in the world that they could do that will make a positive impact. Teenagers have different reasons to join gangs depending on their life situation. Everyone in the “Greasers” in The Outsiders had different reasons to be part of the gang. “We were used to seeing Johnny banged up-
According to the federal bureau of investigation crime rates have significantly dropped since 2010. There has been a plethora of efforts to make the current averages plummet, such as G.R.E.A.T., Comprehensive whole child intervention and prevention program, Truancy reduction program, School resource officer program, Scared straight program, etc. The core focus of this paper is to analyze these programs and their results to see whether or not these programs are effective in preventing and suppressing gang involvement. While also pointing out a few implications, and possibly recommendations for future research. Koffman et al.
Prison gangs thrive on crime within the facility. If not addressed their involvement in crime will continue to grow and pose a threat to other inmates, staff, and the institution. If procedures are not put into place then gang membership will only continue and remain a safety concern. Administration must ensure their staff members are adequately trained and know how to act and deal with the gangs. Because the prison community is so private more research needs to be done to understand the workings of prison gangs and get more current, detailed, data.
Some teens become gang members because they feel a sense of belonging and protection. Therefore, the community should focus on building strong relationship and positive role-models. Other critics claim adult prison is not appropriate for juvenile offenders and should find better alternatives. Mooney, C. (2013). Teen Violence: Teenage Problems.
Blog post title: Giving the Youth a Voice In this blog post this week I wanted to talk about a couple issues within many at risk neighborhoods. I recently read an article written by Brian Higgins titled “Helping at risk youth say NO to Gangs”. In this article the author talks about ways to prevent the youth from joining gangs. He talks about a program called the “The Gang Resistance Education And Training”, The G.R.E.A.T. Program.
struggling with their self-worth and identity, the acceptance and respect from their peers are extremely important. This sense of belonging that the gang provides is what the gang members are missing within their own families who mostly have troubled family history. In many cases, these peer groups draw their solidarity on the shared characteristics of being disadvantaged or discriminated against on factors such as race or social class. Being an active member of a group with common interests allows individuals to feel a sense of status and importance that they do not otherwise feel in the larger community (Thornberry and Krohn, 2001, p. 289). Involvement in gangs also leads to experimenting with high-risk behavior such as drug and alcohol abuse
Juvenile Incarceration is an epidemic in America that has no chance of slowing down without the support and changes from the government. One problem contributing to this issue is that the justice system focuses mainly on punishing the juvenile offender through prison time, instead of taking preventative measures and supporting rehabilitation. Imprisoning juveniles is not only ineffective, as evidenced by the high recidivism rates, but it is also extremely expensive. The average annual cost of housing one juvenile in jail is $88,000. That number multiplied by the number of incarcerated juveniles, equates to an end cost to the government of approximately 21 billion dollars.
Weak family ties, single parent households, multiple transitions within a family, and poverty/financial stress are all potential influences for youths to join a gang (Howell & Egley, 2005). Family risk factors can also include parents refusing to give their children the proper education or lack of discipline at home (Howell & Egley, 2005). Family members that are in gangs can also influence their children to join a gang themselves (Herrenkohl et al. 2010; Lahey et al. 1999). Risk Factors Related to School. Thornberry et al.
Gang violence is a growing problem in this world. No parent would like to imagine their kids dealing with weapons or being threatened by them. These violence’s affects each child individually and their families as well. These gangs recruit multiple different individuals for many reasons such as bribery, family traditions, or even threatening. Although, many kids feel like they have to be a part of it but there are many resources out in this world to prevent them from believing so.