Chicago has had its ups and downs in the cities violent history, but early 2016 to present has been an exception. Chicago increased in homicides by 59 percent in 2016 and it has only become worse since then with a 29 percent increase in just the first few months of 2017 (Asher, FiveThirtyEight.com; Ford, The Atlantic). It is obvious that something needs to be done, but so far there have not been any major changes made or drastic measures taken in order to improve Chicago’s current state of being. Right now, the three most predominant causes are Chicago’s Police, Chicago’s many gangs, and firearms, hand guns in particular. If the city wants to make any improvements whatsoever then it needs act decisively on gangs and guns, start using different
Gang violence has been around for centuries. , Gang violence is defined as criminal and non-political acts of violence committed by a group of people who regularly engage in criminal activity against innocent people. When looking at some of the major reasons why people become so involved in gang life is because of lack of financial backing in their communities. Often, we find that when there is a lack of economic development in low-income communities. Lack of economic development is a major cause for gang resurgence. When there is a lack of jobs to help uplift the community, people tend to find their own way to create resources for themselves as well as their community. Chicago is viewed as the most group pervaded city in the United States,
Mona Ruiz was raised in the middle class neighborhoods of central Santa Ana in a household of two parents, and seven siblings. Although Ruiz had family members affiliated with gangs, her father despised gang members. Both of them would have talks about how proud he’d be if she furthered her education and became a police officer. He had said to her and her sisters, “gangs promise only shame and danger for a young girl.” (Ruiz 27). Ruiz’s father’s hopes were lost when high school came around for her. She became a high school dropout once she associated herself with the F-Troop gang. She was then disowned by her father, which only worsened her decision-making at the time. The less time she spent with her family the more time she spent out with
The topic of this report is gangs, why people join them and the impacts. A gang can be described as an organized group of criminals, social scientists use the terminology most often when describing a group of juveniles. People who have previously been involved in criminal acts, and youth looking for protection or a sense of belonging are highly attracted to the idea of gangs. The reason for joining a gang varies depending on the person and where they live but all have common themes such as acceptance, new experiences and protection. After joining a gang the participates become involved in a great deal of criminal acts. Gangs are more likely to be formed in places with poor social conditions, people join gangs for psychological,
This paper investigates the relationship between gang-related violence in schools and street gangs. The author came across the conception that gang-related violence that takes place in schools is triggered by the street gang activities and lifestyle that come to pass in the community, which can be formulated in two fashion, in term of gang learners being part of the street gang and conducting part of their activities in the school grounds. While on the other side, the gang learners are forming their own gang groups that are not related to the street gangs but are share the same culture. In other words, the author is trying to disentangle the question of whether the existence of street gang in societies contributes to the incidences if violence
After a brief decline, gang activity has begun to increase in the United States. This activity has become prevalent in all four major regions of the United States (Howell, 2012). Gangs have continued their
When citizens hear about the word gangs, the first thing that comes to mind with most of us are negative thoughts about criminality. This is because of the activities that gang members engage in and the lifestyle that they portray. There is no one true meaning for the term gangs because it is based on the view and interest of the person defining it, the trends, and the changing social aspect of the gang. It is stated that many large communities are at great risk of significant gang activity. Gangs produce negative issues such as fear which deals with loss of economic opportunities; drop in the social status of the area and the destroying of families fabric of society. Throughout this paper we would be looking at gangs in schools, street gangs and youth gangs just to name a few and try to show how they
Consequently, the survey revealed consistent rate of gang activity from 2009 to 2010, but in metropolitan cities the gang-related homicide increased by thirteen percent from 2009 to 2010 (Egley & Howell, 2012). Subsequently, from my experience as a police officer, I can reaffirm juvenile gang members are prevalent in Nashville. In fact, majority of the gang members we encounter are typically sixteen to twenty years old. Due to the rising number of gang-related incidents, our Gangs Unit has developed a checklist for patrol officers to identify gang members. Also, when performing a local criminal records check, their criminal profile will reveal if the person is a confirmed gang member.
Gang membership and gang involvement have been a growing concern in the world today. Many places such like Canada and the United States have reported higher amounts of gang involvement in the last five years, reporting numbers of around 900 gang in the United States alone as of 2010( Totten and Totten 2012). However researcher often the question why is that the case? Thought out this paper will address what gangs members and memberships itself offers teenage boys, in lower-income families? Forcing on protection, relationships with friends and family, money, gender, and finally the means of entering and exiting the gang. It goes with saying did the boys chose the gang life or did the gang life chose them.
Some researchers have claimed that families’ positive attitudes towards gangs encourages young people to become involved in gang groups (Maxson and Whitlock, 2002) and promotes intergenerational gang membership (Rutter and Giller, 1983; Thornberry et al, 2003). Studies conducted by Moore (1991) and Vigil (1988) show a history of intergenerational gang membership amongst families in Los Angeles. (Young, T et al
Juvenile delinquency due to gang relation has increased drastically. Many people fail to realize that gangs have a considerable influence on the decisions juveniles are making. Adolescents are easily influenced by the members of the gangs and manipulated to commit certain crimes. As juveniles they are not mentally and emotionally mature to make such critical decisions, which in turn allow gang members to manipulate and control the youth they recruit. Juveniles become a part of gangs for several reasons, including, gaining protection, governmental, and social issues. Overall, gang engagement has evidently shown to negatively impact the youth.
In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers who are getting involved in some dangerous experiences early in life. In the novel, The Outsiders, the “Greasers”, which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as assault. With help, society can pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. In addition, people also need to help others leave gangs if they are already in one. There are a number of reasons that range from simple to complex on why teenagers join gangs, and one solution is finding an answer to their
“Reports show that gangs are present in every state in the US, where in 1970 they existed in less than half of all states” (Lohmann). Teen gangs are started around the ages of 14 and 15. When teenagers get into a gang, he or she usually gets into the gang to make themselves look resilient or try to blend in, in account of problems at home or simply if one does not feel loved. Teen gangs are becoming a problem in the United States and the effects of these gangs are unnecessary youth deaths, alcohol and drug abuse, in addition to young teenage boys becoming another statistic in today’s society.
According to Cohen, (1955.) The boys who became part of the gangs aspire toward standards that were opposite to those of the middle class “lower class reaction to middle class values”, Cohen explains the delinquent subculture produced by gang involvement as “crimes committed by gangs not done to achieve monetary success, but rather status within the gang” (Cohen, 1955. P. 202).