MS-13 Gang Behavior Analysis

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Gang violence and activity has arisen in the past decades, with exceeding concerns and amongst youth being the primary target. Law enforcement try to gain a better understanding to why people are falling into criminal activity. Throughout the following essay we will be summarizing the background of one of the most notorious gang known internationally, MS-13. In addition, we will also be explaining ways different criminology theorist and theories apply to these particular group of people.

MS-13

The Mara Salvatrucha, or most commonly known as MS-13 is an international criminal gang, which originated in Los Angeles, but has since expanded nearly throughout the entire country. Salvadorian immigrants founded MS-13 after escaping the Civil war. …show more content…

MS-13 began recruiting and their numbers began increasing with young immigrants wanting to belong. Joining the gang provided these deprived, inner-city teenagers a form of identity, a powerful one with a dangerous gang.

According to, Schram, & Tibbetts, (2014) based on the characteristics of social structure in the neighborhood three different types of gangs are formed; conflict gang, criminal gang and retreatist gangs. According to, Logan, &Sullivan, (2010), the youth immigrants were exposed to violence and it is the only thing they know, therefore making them vulnerable to joining MS-13 gangs.

MS-13, a gang, which formerly formed for the sole purpose of self-protection, has now escalated into what social structure characteristic would describe as criminal and conflict gang. Criminal and conflict gang whose primarily intent of crimes for tangible gains. Social structure theorists consider that the main components to illegal behavior are the ascendancy of social and economic influences that are distinguished in rundown communities where the population is predominantly lower-class citizens (Siegel, 2010). This following theory goes into helping us comprehend ways the human behavior, is the result of physical

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