The Pros And Cons Of Teenagers In Gangs

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 things very 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 murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one. 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.

In the city of Nashville, Tennessee juvenile violence and gang-related crimes continues to rise, and nearly fifty percent of gang members are under the age of eighteen (Sanders & Moore, n.d.). Furthermore, in 2005 gang prevalence became immediately apparent in Nashville, and in 2011 gang-related crimes increased by approximately twenty-five percent state wide (The Tennessean, 2012). Additionally, from 2005 to 2011 the entire state of Tennessee had a one hundred and ten percent spike in gang related incidents (The Tennessean, 2012).

The american prison system is flawed and should be changed because it is very expensive to keep it running the way it is, the prison system is helping gangs grow and it can be fixed it is possible. I believe that it needs to change so that cities will have more tax money to fix other things and the people who don't deserve to get released won't be.

According to a study by Dr. Michael Carlie, fifty to eighty percent of gang members come either from a single-parent home, or one in which no parent resides. If the parent is not available to provide structure, supervision, support, and caring during this crucial time of adolescent development, teens may turn to gang participation to fulfill their needs. In Reymundo Sanchez’s memoir Once A King, Always A King, Sanchez takes the reader through his struggle to rebuild his life outside of the Latin Kings, and his motivation to move beyond his disgusting past of drugs and violence. He also talks about losing close ones and friends due to resisting old habits. Sanchez implies that the life he chose while he was younger still haunts him in some aspects

As always, the first step would be parents getting more involved (Adults and authority figures need to be highly visible). The banning of anything related to gang membership including weapons, violence, illegal activity and gang-identified clothing, and gestures. Confiscating items such as bandannas and sports apparel that may indicate gang involvement could also help. Conduct leadership training classes to assist these youths, counsel students coping with troubling violence in and near school, offer youths, especially juvenile gang members, special outreach and after school programs as an alternative to gang membership and give them respect and exhibit genuine concern. These are just a few ways in addressing criminal youth

Throughout the years, communities have been warned and targeted constantly against gangs and their formations. Gangs have expanded in quantity and their influence has expanded in different cities all throughout California. According to the Escondido Police Department, "Gangs can be organized around race or ethnic groups, money-making activities, or territory. Most gang members are male; they range in ages from 8 to 22 years. Young people give various reasons for joining gangs. Among the most common reasons are: to belong to a group, protection, earn money, excitement, to be with friends, and it's even a family tradition"(Escondido Police Department). Amongst the various reasons that lead youth

I agree that it was an important factor for Ward to debunk some of the myths about gangs by starting with informing society of the horrors these youth experienced. Because the media only shows these youth as hard-core, violent criminals, the general public also has this misconception. In addition, I agree that Ward not only showed a different view of their lives, but also showed how our society contributes to their problems by the widespread discrimination they encounter, even from other minorities.

This paper draws on existing sociological research in identifying a number of theories used in explaining the formation of gangs. The theories discussed are social structure theories, social conflict theory, and social process theories all of which highlight elements of strain in different forms as they relates to gang formation.

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.

Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/

Youth violence in school continues to be a significant issue in the United States and research has repeatedly acknowledged being in a gang as one of the main causes of the violence in youths (Egley, Howell, & Harris, 2014; Huizinga & Lovegrove, 2009; Miller, 2001; Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Youth violence can range from bullying, pushing/shoving, or emotional harm to gang violence or assault, with or without a weapon (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Research shows that in recent years, gang activity has been steadily growing—outward from larger cities (Egley, Howell, & Harris, 2014)—and about 8 percent of the youths, who surveyed for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, had belonged to a gang at some point between the

Gangs are believed to be a type of human conflict in sociology. Some believe that gangs are a problem because they have been around within society and therefore it is assumed to be a problem. However some think that it is manufactured paranoia that is created by people who want to assert fear and panic to profit from such as to agencies and special groups. Knowing that Gangs inflict problems in society makes society believe that gangs are the roots of all problem, therefore it is a social problem, however this is argued to be contradictory as people themselves can create the problem by pinning it on what society has already agreed to be unacceptable. To understand the nature of gangs and to know if they are a social problem, you have to break

Gang activities have been increasing over the years from crimes ranging from robberies to homicides. In California, estimates were made by the Justice Department that approximately 175000 to 200000 persons were members of gangs. In the county of Los Angeles gang activities for over a period of five years accounted for over 23000 of the crimes that occurred.(Friedrichs. M. 1999). Gangs have become not only a problem for those communities where the gang's ar located but has become a problem for everyone. These gangs have also incurred a significant impact upon the

Throughout the 17th-century gangs have been causing havoc in people's life and destroying the society. The National Institute of Justice (2011) has defined a gang as "A group of collective members which create an atmosphere of intimidation among citizens." Many of these gangs are well organized, using different forms of violence to control neighbourhoods and to conduct their illegal activities. The National Gang Threat Assessment (2011) reports that “Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions.” Street Gangs have caused incidences of violence that is confined in the inner city of many countries. Most gangs are made up of young males that are of a similar background and have a desire of acquiring

Gangs are negative groups of people to associate with. They are composed of very dangerous people. Gangs and gang violence should be eliminated so that the amount of people that get harmed because of these can be decreased. Gang violence should be stopped because it negatively affects businesses, schools, and communities.