1. Latinos as biggest minority in the US
According to Juana Bordas “the Latino population in the United States grew by 43 percent in the last decade, accounting for more than half of the population gain” (IX). As a consequence the Latinos represent one of the largest and most diverse groups in the USA (cf. Saenz 352).
The word Latino is often mistaken with the word Hispanic. Any person with an Latin American origin living in the United States can be defined as a Latino but being Hispanic refers to people who have their roots in a country whose primary language is Spanish (cf. Garcia-Navarro n.p.). Rogelio Saenz found out that the Latinos started as a minority with slightly more than 500,000 citizens in 1900 (cf. 352). But CNN shows that “as
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History of Latino gangs
Gangs are defined as 'any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary activities the commission of one ore more of the criminal acts […], which has a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity. ' whereas a gang member is defined as 'any person who actively participates in any gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang. ' (Hoover n.p.)
Latino gangs began forming in California during the early 1920s and started as loose-knit groups1 for unity and socializing in the barrios2 where everybody had the same culture, customs and language. Potential gang members were male youths with the age of 14 to 20 committing crimes such as burglary, strong-arm robbery, and vandalism. Later the order for committing a crime became a way of gaining status within the
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4). New potential gang members can be found everywhere for instance in schools, on the street, in fast food restaurants or at parties. Sometimes new members have to go through ceremonies in order to be accepted in the gang. These ceremonies can be very diverse and often include being physically assaulted by gang members such as “Catching a Rag” or “Catching a Flag” where the task is to fight through a group in order to grab a rag or flag that is placed on the other side of them. A fraternity pledging could also be connected with committing a crime such as “Blood In” which means committing a gang assigned murder in order to join the gang. “Russian Roulette” is another way to join the gang but this has nothing to do with courage or strength, only with luck. Aiming a gun that has one bullet in it and five empty chambers to one 's head and pulling the trigger is how to do it. If the player wins, he is in the gang otherwise he is dead. There are also people who are “blessed in” to a gang. These people can avoid a ceremony because they have relatives who were already in the gang (cf. Carlie
They had been doing it for years, since he was 8 years old. The gang knows the younger a member starts the more they will find murder, and drug deals to be natural to them. This is how they get the loyalty they demand from their members. Members think of the way they are protecting their families, and loved ones. Others are in for revenge and keep that on their mind to kill people and sell drugs.
The Gang has a long history in dealing with many major crimes. Some of these include; weapons trafficking, dealing with narcotics and most importantly, Murder. In 2013, police have arrested 43 gang
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
Hispanics/Latinos have been a historically oppressed group in the United States for a large portion of the country’s history. According to the United States Census Bureau (2016), 17.6% of the United States’ population is of Hispanic/Latino origin. This makes Hispanic/Latino individuals the largest racial/ethnic minority category within the country (United, 2016). Despite being such a large portion of the country’s inhabitants, Hispanics/Latinos remain underserved and face discrimination.
Latinos are also one of the largest minoritized groups in the U.S., making up 18 percent of the current population. However, despite their large population, they remain the most underrepresented
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
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.
It is important to call attention that this type pf policy categorization has other costs to consider such as stigmatization and victimization, in addition to creating benefits for group membership. According to how political and economic institutions treat and interact with people from other ethnic groups can help impose and affect the definition of ethnicity. An example of this that is states in the text is Latinos is the Mexican Americans’ experience since the 1960’s as well as the development of the pan-ethnic term Hispanic. The rem Hispanic became widely used in the 1970’s after critics suggested that the term was a product of Madison Avenue public relations firms, Capitol Hill press corps, major media, outlets, and government bureaucrats. By this happening the rise in marketing efforts reinforced the evolution toward identifying Mexican Americans and other Latinos as Hispanics; which created a blur between distinctions across the various Latino subgroups.
The Latino/Hispanic Ethnic Group In 1973, the census for the Latino/Hispanic ethnic group was made official (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). However, the United States Census Bureau (2014) goes over in their ‘Hispanic Heritage Month’ article, that the census led to controversy since "the term Hispanic [...] can be of any race” (United States Census Bureau, 2014). The Culture of the Latino/Hispanic Ethnic Group “Hispanic Americans and Latino Americans make up more than 17% of the US population with over 53 million Hispanics and Latinos living in the US” (Yafai, 2015).
Introduction A gang is an organized group of close individuals who in most cases are friends or even family members with an established leadership structure. Gang engages in organized crimes claiming ownership over a territory. The Aryan Brotherhood (AB), is the white supremacist prison and street gang and a national organized crime performing syndicate. The AB was founded in 1964 by Irish bikers to provide protection for white inmates in prisons, it is currently the deadliest and largest prison gang in the United States. The estimated number of its members on the streets and in the prison is 20,000 and are guided by their belief strong brotherhood bond of vengeance, not afraid to die for a brother.
Gang membership itself can many times be boiled down to a few key criminological theories. These include theories such as Social Disorganization Theory, which refers to people taking up membership
The Modern Gang: A Normative Critique A gang can act as a primary unit for a young person. They are a close group who all have proven that they want to be in the gang and have shown that they will do anything for the gang they act as a close-knit community. By going through the beat-in or the rape-in, which is the case for many women and young girls who wish to join you prove that you are willing to endure anything for the gang and that you have the tenacity to survive in their world.
Most gang members grow up in single parent households, which causes unstableness inside the homes. Most gang member are also males, who grew up with only their mother. An absent father in a house hold means there is no male leadership, so in most cases young males are very vulnerable and easily persuaded into joining gangs. Speaking from actual experience being in a gang gives me a
Gang effects on the community: Gangs has their own culture and characteristics that includes their dress codes, identifying symbols, language, graffiti, drugs use &trafficking, use of other narcotics, and involvement in other illegal activities. However the nature and characteristics of gangs differ from community to community. Gangs however are found to be more prevalent in high crime areas and are also responsible for the majority of crimes committed. However to understand the function of gangs within the community we have to delve once more into the definition which is characterized as an identifiable group of people who: are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others recognize themselves as an street identifiable group (almost invariably with a group name) have been involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighborhood residents and/or law enforcement agencies.
Most gangs are made up of young males that are of a similar background and have a desire of acquiring