Why Teenagers Join Gangs In The Outsiders

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.

Teen Gangs “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.

The city of Las Vegas has changed rapidly from becoming a beautiful city to a violent place to live in. The city has seemed a rise in homicides as well in the last few years. The strong presences of these gangs are taking innocent lives and making the community a harder place to raise a family in. Many of the gangs in Vegas account for most the drug trade, as well as the staggering homicide rate. The gang problem is not only a problem in Las Vegas, but it is all over the world.

Gang violence has been a problem in society for several of years and is a growing problem each and every day. The youth that is involved in gang violence will have numerous effects upon them that will come soon or later when associated with a group of thugs. Children and teenagers if they still go to school when accompanying a gang, they face the heightened risk of dropping out of school; teen parenthood; be victimized by another gang ; abuse drugs and alcohol; commit petty and violent

People are able to change, no matter how bad it’s that they have done. As human beings, we all make mistakes and that is something that we have to consider. Teens are the future, we should help them out in this particular situation. We have a serious problem, many juveniles, who have committed crimes, such as robbery, murder etc. The thing is that we don't treat them as adults until they got into troubles.

It’s very bad that the FBI got involved with it. “The FBI’s Safe Streets and Gang Unit administers 160 Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Forces nationwide, staffed by nearly 850 FBI agents, more than 1,500 state and local law enforcement personnel, and nearly 100 other federal law enforcement agents,” (“Violent Crimes”). Eighty-three percent of gangs are street gangs. They came from the street and are quite violent. Most street gangs fight one another because the other has somehow “disrespected” them.

Many factors influenced me, including witnessing my brother graduate with a 2.0 and fail out of college, which left him unclear of his future. I also dealt with my father going to jail, and thinking that I lost my family in a car accident. I knew I wanted to work in the health field since I was young, but I realized that could not be a reality unless I took control of my life. I applied to the HOSA program and was one of three juniors who were accepted. I used this opportunity to prove I could succeed academically if I tried, and earned nearly

There are various factors as to why one would want to join a gang. One of the most motivating factors is for protection. Individuals may join a gang for protection against rival gang members; they may have family in a gang and could be perceived by others as a gang member and want protection. Non-gang members or young kids may feel the pressure of having to stand up for themselves and seek out gangs and gang recruitment. According to Maslow, people are motivated to achieve certain needs and once those needs are fulfilled they go on to the next one.

People are raised into this gang violence, even children are receiving guns from the ages ten to thirteen. Members of these gangs join for protection, acceptance, and a family. It was known that if you were a man, you had to either fight or kill, “young black men were pretending to be men by killing each other” (Raised into Wrongfulness). People see this only as a crime and a gang problem, when it also generates from the poor education and the lack of work society is giving these gang members. It’s very important that equal opportunities

Al Pacino, the Godfather himself, has been seen and caught making underhanded deals with gangs today as he did in his younger days, we see that it is not uncommon for teenagers to join gangs as if they've been lead astray on another path that is dark. Teenage gang activity has been the cause of many petty crimes and the distribution of starter and "gateway" drugs to the general public, there are many incidents of juvenile delinquencies throughout many communities around the world, and most, if not all of the teenagers were either mildly educated, came from broken homes, or were not very well to do and were under the influence. "It has been proven that the U.S has the highest rate of teen drug use in the industrialized world. Some studies show

Teenagers in society today are committing crimes and thinking that they are just going to get a slap on the wrist but what they do not know is that these judges are now making examples out of them. The judges are now taking the crimes these juveniles are committing more serious than before and sometimes. Some judges are giving juveniles a break and giving them probation or letting them go on parole but putting stipulations on the probation like them must complete certain treatment programs, take certain class (anger management) to help them control their problems they are having (Young, Farrell & Taxman, 2013). Race plays a huge part in society when dealing with juveniles and them receiving a certain punishment (Morgan, 2014). For example,

In today’s world there are countless crimes committed every single day. “In 2015, there were 1.42 million total arrests, at a rate of 3,641 arrests per 100,000 residents” (State of California, Department of Justice). Grown adults are not the only people being arrested every year, there are also juveniles, children, being arrested every day. One topic of controversy today is whether or not juveniles who commit these crimes should be tried as adults in criminal court. There are many differences between the justice system for adults and the justice system for juveniles.

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.

Gang violence is an increasing problem in Urban Minority Communities. Young people are dropping out of schools in record numbers, and higher percentages of the population are withdrawing from the labor force. The more people that drop out can turn their heads to joining a gang. Those that don’t find work can find themselves joining a gang and doing crime to fill their time. The number of young people joining gangs are increasing and more crime will happen as a result.

Why would someone join a gang when one does not hear of anything positive about being one of their members. There are pulls and pushes to joining such as social forces, lucrative or financial forces, and ethnic forces that push many young people in the direction of gangs. Is the reputation and image of gangs more stereotypical than realistic? The stereotype of a gang is they are frightening people with only violence in mind and they appear to rule the streets of their cities.