“How old were you when you first got a gun?” reporter Forest Whitaker asked Bloods and Crips gang members. The men were quick to reply, one with a grin on his face as he proudly announced, “ Man, I was probably about twelve!” Another said, “I was thirteen!” In a documentary titled Crips and Bloods: Made In America directed by Stacy Peralta, archival footage and personal accounts tell the story and examine the culture of two of the most famous gangs in America, the Bloods and the Crips. This seldom discussed and often-overlooked part of American subculture is still thriving in the inner city, the street gang. Street gangs have played a big part in shaping different cities and areas within the U.S. Two of the most famous street gangs are the Los Angeles Crips (L.A. Crips) and the Los Angeles Bloods (L.A. Bloods). These two gangs are involved in one of the biggest gang rivalries currently erupting in the United States. Who are the people who belong to the Bloods and the Crips? What do they do? Where are gangs prominent? What is the attraction to the people who join these gangs? According to the FBI over 1,000,000 people who identify themselves as gang members, The sense of community, family, and belonging is an enormous emotional pull that drives gang members to commit the unimaginable crimes just to belong. Who are the Bloods and Crips? These two gangs are made up mainly of socioeconomic challenged African American males who live in poverty stricken areas of urban cities. The Bloods and Crips originated from other gangs that were formed in the 1950’s like The Business Men, The Gladiators, and The Slausons. Back in the 1950’s the groups referenced themselves as “clubs”, but it was the rest of the society in their city that referre... ... middle of paper ... ... society we can help reduce the amount of gangs and gang violence that continue to purge our world today. Works Cited Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Dir. Sam George and Stacy Peralta. Perf. Forest Whitaker, Jim Brown, and Tony Muhammad. Public Broadcasting Station, 2008. DVD. Knafo, Saki. "1 In 3 Black Males Will Go To Prison In Their Lifetime, Report Warns." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. . "Safe Street Task Force." FBI. FBI, 19 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. . Valenzuela, Beatriz E. "Gangs in the Military." Victorville Daily Press. Daily Press, 28 June 2008. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
...g measures out there. The reader is given plenty of background information on gangs allowing someone with little knowledge of the subject or the cities’ history to jump right in. Statistics, interviews, surveys and personal observations of the authors during ride-alongs make up much of the source material. The book’s strengths lie in the amount of research contained within it, as well as an insider look at the gang unit and what it takes to be an officer in that specialization. However, if it is not being used to supplement another research paper or study, the book comes off as a difficult and boring read, making a reader likely to put it down otherwise.
CNN presents the documentary, Homicide in Hollenbeck, spotlighting gang activity in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollenbeck. This documentary explores the subculture of gangs existing within Hollenbeck from a several perspectives. The people documented include a mother who lost both of her sons to gang violence, a priest that has tried to help rehabilitate gang members, a police officer that has worked in Hollenbeck for five years in the gang unit, and a current gang member. For a conclusion, Homicide in Hollenbeck focuses on a juvenile exposed to gang life on the cusp of decided where they want their life to lead; gangs or freedom. Problems attributed to the high rate of gang activity and number of gangs in Hollenbeck are the high poverty rate, low employment rate, and broken families that make up the majority of Hollenbeck. The crime most discussed, as per the title of the documentary, is homicide The number of gang related homicides has risen even though the criminal behavior of gangs has ultimately decreased in the neighborhood. In order to fight the overwhelming gang presence, the police believe in increasing the amount of gun power on the streets and number of jailed gang members. The priest who runs Homeboy Industries stated that he feels most gang members are just young men who can’t get out of the gang life. With more funds and opportunities, he thinks the problem could be decreased. In the end, the documentary mentions that the FBI has formed a gang center where local law enforcement agencies can share information to gain more knowledge and to better fight the presence of gangs.
Schmidt, L. M., & O'Reilly, J. T. (2007). Gangs and Law Enforcement: A Guide for Dealing with Gang-Related Violence. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
People think most gang members are crips or bloods who came from Los Angeles, but today there are a lot of neighborhood sects that cause a lot of mischief (Million). "Gangs are no longer just an urban problem. Ten counties account for 59.2 percent of juveniles handled by the state between 1999 and 2006. These counties account for 74 percent of the identified gang members"(Million). "Many gang members have similar background factors: low educational achievement...
The Bloods and the Crips are the two well-known gang families that started in the 1940’s in Los Angeles as a defense approach by the blacks against the whites (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8). Gangs are most often visible in specific areas such as restaurants, bars, metro stations, etc.: “The appearance of street gangs in Quebec and Canada dates from the 1980’s, when these groups started to become larger, more visible, and more disruptive to authorities and residents (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8-9). There are six definable features that can be used to identify the presents of a gang: “ a structured or degree of organization, an identifiab...
The Bloods is a big time gang group that has over twenty-five different gangs in the city of Los Angeles. They are known for killing and murdering other people or other gang members. This gang is mostly an African American youth gang. they are not a normal gang because they promote themselves all over L.A.. This is not the only violent gang in the gang community gangs also consist of different races such as hispanic gang members and European American gang. These gang members are one of the biggest reasons that there is so much crime in the L.A. area. The gangs in L.A. are becoming more violent and causing more problems that and they are even getting into the illegal drug business.
An estimated 1.4 million people are active in more than 33,000 street, prison, and outlaw motorcycle gangs across the country, according to a report from the FBI. FBI officials, however, were quick to emphasize that the apparent 40 percent increase in membership may reflect more accurate reporting of numbers in gang ranks (FBI). Neighborhood-based gangs have proven that they can be very violent. Neighborhood Crip Rollin’ 6o’s is the most popular street gang in many states. Neighborhood Crip Rollin’ 6o’s is a gang that have many interesting things about it such as it’s early formation, how to get in and out, and what they do.
The Crips, as we learned in module 3 are one of the most notorious black or predominately African American gang founded in Southern Los Angeles, California in 1969. This gang was co-found by 16-year-old Raymond Washington and Stanley Tookie Williams III. Even before the Crips however, there was a gang known as the Hoover Groovers. The Hoover Groovers would later form an alliance with the Crips and change their name to Hoover Crips.
One such solution is the establishment of moral superiority of our criminal justice professionals over our ordinary citizens. It also discussed the decriminalization of victimless crimes, so that our prisons have more room for violent offenders. Another possibility discussed in this section was the equal distribution of wealth to allow youths access to better schooling and more, realistic, opportunities for the lower class to move up in society. In addition to providing possible solutions it also addressed the reasons that these solutions would not be feasible, mostly that these recommendations would create too much competition against the
The documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America, can be analyzed through three works: “Modern Theories of Criminality” by C.B. de Quirόs, “Broken Windows” by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling and “Social Structure and Anomie” by Robert K. Merton.
When Kody Scott was 6 years old, the gang wars started in Los Angeles. It started out as a battle between the Crips and the Bloods, but by the late 70's and continuing today, the biggest killer of Crips is other Crips. The Crip Nation was divided into different divisions, which Monster compares to the U.S. Army. "For instance, one who is in the army may belong to the F...
The Crips, originating in Los Angeles, California, are one of the oldest, largest, and most notorious gangs in the United States. They have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing in the Los Angeles area. The Crips are mostly identified by the blue color worn by their members. What was once a single gang is now a loose network of "franchises" around the United States. The gang primarily (but not exclusively) comprises African Americans. The Crips have an intense rivalry with the Bloods and are also known to feud with Chicano gangs.
Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical “ghetto” life, a poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year’s old. The allure of the respect and “glory” that “bangers” got, along with the unity of the “set”(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the “set” for life, and claimed that banging was his life. After many years of still believing this, he eventually realized that the thug life was no longer for him, and that gangs were a problem on society and the “Afrikan” race(page 382-383).
Otero, Juan. “Curbing street gang violence,” National League of Cities. 21 Dec 1998. General Reference Center Gold. Jan 2007
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]