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The Effects of Peer Pressure
Why do individuals join gangs
The Effects of Peer Pressure
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Kenneth Georges Miss Bozoian Language and Composition, P1 15 June 2017 There were many ways to join a gang but not to many ways to get out. What I’ve read was that once in a gang theres no way out until you die but I would like to think as soon as you go to jail or prison that’s about it, but a lot of the people joining gangs are usually pressured into them. In order to be in a gang the gang could assign a certain task to you, these task can involve murder, stealing, or for females being sexed in. Being “sexed in” is when a female performs sexual favors for every one of the gang members. There are many reasons why people join gangs. While most teens join gangs due to peer pressure some are in gangs for being accepted. Being accepted by people who understand you is worth way more than anything to some people. Growing up I didn’t make a lot of friends so when I did get a friend I would go out of my way to keep them happy and accept me. That feeling of being wanted by other people is sometimes a wonderful feeling. One way of getting out of a gang is getting a tattoo removed usually one that symbolizes …show more content…
A lot of blacks were being terrorized by the police and the police were harassing their neighborhood so the community would start to form these gangs to protect their neighborhood from the harassment. You see the problem these days with gangs is that they have been blown way out of proportion my experience with gang was when I was younger I began to realize really early that something wasn’t right like why did the people I hang around so much or even loved was getting into trouble also the ones being nice to me were mean to other people I finally accepted that this life was not for me and that’s not the type of person I was. For example when the gang in my neighborhood was supposed to be helping the neighborhood out instead they were destroying it and drawing a lot of negative attention to our
Hanser and Gomila (2015) states, “For many younger juveniles, adult gang members serve as role models whose behavior is to be emulated as soon as possible to become full-pledge gang-bangers because of the prestige, respect, and sense of belonging that the gang-banger role provides them” (341). Other reasons why female juveniles join gangs was due to lack of family support and various types of violence in their lives. Hanser and Gomila (2015) noted “The involvement of juvenile females in sexual activities, substance abuse, and violence was clearly related to membership in gangs” (p. 348). Sexual abuse was among the primary reasons why female juveniles join gangs. Female juveniles living in urban ghettos are more likely to be sexually abused, and they join gangs as a way of coping and to escape the realities of poverty. Female juveniles will experience more hardships as compared to make juveniles, before they are fully received as full pledge gang members. As previously stated, sexual abuse was among the primary reasons why female juveniles join gangs; however, sexual abuse does not end there because it continues to occur throughout their gang life (Hanser & Gomila,
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England were one of the most feared gangs. What draws juveniles to the gang lifestyle? Many people will say that most gang members are children from impoverished communities, single family homes where there was no father present, or maybe there is a more psychological/sociological answer? By appearance and presence most gangs cause fear, crime, and disillusionment in the communities they occupy. Throughout history joining a gang has been perceived as a life without any reward, yet by joining this lifestyle many juveniles are able to gain the needed stability and security in their lives.
First let's focus on the fact that gang related crime is one of the most dangerous challenges facing society and law enforcement today. They are younger, more brutal, unafraid of consequences and becoming increasingly more vicious. Gang members work together as cliques, they commit all sorts of violent crimes including murders, rapes, robberies and kidnappings. "They live in aimless and violent presents; have no sense of the past and no hope for the future; they commit unspeakably brutal crimes against other people often to gratify whatever urges of desires drive them at the moment and their utter lack of remorse is...
Street Gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugs, destroy property, involve youth in crimes and drive out businesses. When you have gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming amount of young adults are joining gangs and becoming involved in illegal activity. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a member of the gang for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with more community involvement and education.
Chapter 4 describes various theories that provide explanations for the existence of gangs throughout the nation today. Moreover the chapter examines from the earliest theories of gangs to the most recent ones. Along with the other theories described in the chapter, Social Disorganization Theory is the central theory of study. Among other theories, Social disorganization is the most important; it was developed by the Chicago School. The theory goes on to further explain and link crime rates to the neighborhood’s macro-level (ecological) characteristics. The theory’s focus is that ethnic heterogeneity, low socioeconomic status, and residential mobility reduce the capacity of community residents to control crime.
A gang is a group of reoccurring individuals or close partners with a high potential leadership in a certain organization, taking control over territory in a specific area by either identifying themselves as to whom they are or claiming control, engaging individually or collectively in violence or other forms of illegal action. To become a part of gang in today’s world you show your loyalty by committing such crimes as murder, robbery and/or theft in order to be accepted as a member of its group [1].
In the beginning, cities and police departments refused to accept the fact that there was even a gang problem or acknowledged that that were even gangs present in their communities; however, it did not take long before their views on the subject matter began to change. As more of these so called gangs began to appear the more the general population began to notice how dangerous and violent they were becoming. While rural counties only exhibited six percent of gangs nationwide, smaller cities exhibited a whopping thirty-three percent (Riedel & Welsh pp. 222). It is in these smaller cities where the poverty stricken tended to flock to.
There are some positives to being a gang member, believe it or not. The first reason why gangs can be good is that it forms a brotherhood and relationships. This is because when gangs get together they become a family and they all become best friends or “brothers.” Another reason would be that it can provide safety. It provides safety because many gangs live by, “mess with one member, you mess with the whole gang.” So if you are involved in a gang. You have a lot of guys that have your back if you stumble upon conflict. But, you must do the same for the other gang
Furthermore, there is usually an initiation into a gang that is a ritual ceremony. They do this to see if you have what it takes to join a gang. Some
Drugs According to the social disorganization perspective, gang members do drugs because they are forced into a substance. Drug offences are a common substance that is used and abused in gangs. Most people and kids that do drugs are because of peer pressure. Other reasons why gang members do drugs are because the environment that they are in forces the people to do drugs to fit in. They also do drugs because the environment they live in stresses them out so much that they lure them into drug use and abuse.
Did you know gang's first started off as a way to help stop police brutality? Some gang members are “jumped in” or have to prove their loyalty by committing criminal acts. In the 1960s many gang organizations joined the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers wanted blacks to control businesses, education, employment, and the media in their area instead of having these businesses controlled by white people. They wanted to act as a community army so they can stop police brutality and racism. The leader of this important organization was Bunchy Carter. Street gangs had completely stopped as more black empowered organizations began to form in Los Angeles. After the Black Panthers disbanded that is when street gangs began to become popular because
An active gang member is an adolescent girl or young adult woman who identifies herself as spending a lot of time on the str...
Additionally, the need for the young people to have a sense of protection mainly drives them to join gangs. Many societies with high reported cases of mob activities frequently see youths link with a bunch of criminals just for endurance. For many, it is better to connect with the mob that to stay vulnerable and defenseless in their localities (Klein & Maxson, 2006). For many being connected to mob guarantees sustenance in case of assault and retaliation for wrongdoings. While the young people with a good family unit often feel protected hence they desire not to link with
There are various reasons behind young people joining street gangs. One of the reasons young people join street gangs is because of neighborhood disadvantages. A theory that can contribute to why young people might join street gangs is Social Disorganization Theory. Social Disorganization theory assumes that “delinquency emerges in neighborhoods where neighborhood relation and social institutions have broken down and can no longer maintain effective social controls (Bell, 2007).” Social Disorganization contributes to residential instability and poverty, which affects interpersonal relationships within the community and opens opportunities for crimes to be committed.
A gang can be defined as a group of people who unite to serve a common purpose and engage in violent or otherwise criminal behavior. (http://www.ci.torrance.ca.us) The types of crimes committed by gang members differ between gangs, but the crimes generally associated with gangs include vandalism, robbery, drug-trafficking, assault, arson, and murder. There are many reasons why teenagers may join gangs. The root causes of violent gang formation are poverty, stressed families, unemployment, under-employment, under-education, racism, and the breakdown of sociocultural institutions. (http://www.instanet.com) Many people join gangs for protection from violent people in other gangs. (http://www.public.iastate.edu) Other people join gangs for the sense of family that comes along with it. The youth gang satisfies a void - the child's desire to feel secure. It provides the child with a sense of identity, belonging, power, and protection. The gang provides a protective barrier against the outside world. (http://www.highways.com)