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Gang violence in society
Understanding gang violence and its effects on society
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Jumped in by Jorja Leap is an autobiographical book about the experiences of a UCLA professor’s struggle to understand the lifestyle of gangs, and to figure out a way to end gang violence. Jorja Leap is an outsider looking at these communities from an intellectual sociological point of view, but she also has her personal biases shown. She stated in the book she is similar to an anthropologist, committing research specifically on gangs to comprehend their motivations. Her research leads her to interact with individuals that were or are affected by gang violence, whether they were the culprit or the victim. A large amount of the individuals she interviewed also want to end gang violence. These people know the negative effects that it has had on their communities and the suffering that it causes. These …show more content…
This book also has the perspective of the police, which show the gang violence as a more black and white or good versus evil issue, and their militant approach to gang reformation. Jorja Leap holds a view that to stop gang violence, the same members that were once gangbanging need to divert the youth away from the same lifestyle. The book emphasizes the idea of how difficult it is to leave the gang lifestyle. There are frequent cases of relapse by individuals in the book, who were once out to again return to gangs. This case is brought by what gangs represent to this in the book and what leaving entails them to give up. The definition of gangs presented to the class was, three or more members, share name, color, or affiliation, or must exist in a geopolitical context. To members associated with gangs, this definition can include your family members, neighborhood, everyone that they associate with. Take for example Ronnie from Jumped in by Jorja Leap it states,” Ronny’s role models are gangbangers. His family is a hood. His mentors are older homies in county jail.”(102). Ronnie and other gang members like him do not
Gang involvement has been quite higher than past years. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey estimates that about 32.4 percent of all cities, suburban areas, towns, and rural counties had a gang problem (Egley et al., 2010). This represented a 15 percent increase from the year 2002. The total number of gangs has also increased by 28 percent and total gang members have increased by 6 percent (Egley et al., 2010). This shows how relevant gang related activity is in today’s society. More locations are beginning to experience gang activity for the first time. Gang crime has also been on the rise in the past...
The author begins his ethnography by giving us insight of the crime rate in the 1990s. He described this subject as the “age of drive-by shootings, drug deals gone bad, crack cocaine, and gangsta rap” ( ) that dominated the talk of the time. This type of ideology led our society to believe that we should put massive
Whereas for these gangs they think that it’s their responsibility to provide for these people but in return they expect these people to join their gang. Therefore people and mostly teenagers join the gang. One of the other things that I’ll be putting in context is that since these gangs have leaders to answer to they must be doing something right to be running their society. It’s a big thing for people from the society going to gang leaders for help rather than the government. It also shows that these gangs are doing everything they can to provide for their people even if that gives them a bad name or puts their life in danger. They seem to the ones caring more about their people rather than the
Ralphs, R., J. Medina and J. Aldridge (2009). "Who needs enemies with friends like these? The importance of place for young people living in known gang areas." Journal of Youth Studies 12(5): 483-500.
The kids became gang members for many reasons. Some needed to find what their place was in the world, and they needed to know who they were as human beings. Joining the gang gave them a feeling of being involved in something and made them feel better about themselves. They felt that as a gang member they received the attention, emotional support, and understanding that they couldn’t get from their actual family members at home.
Although he does not always use scholarly source, most of the things he talks about I could relate to some personal experiences. I grew up very close to my parents and crossing a gang never crossed my mind but I have family members who have almost joined gangs. For those few family members I saw a common trend, all of them had either a single parent or non-supportive parents who were never there for them as a child. It was a sad side to see because although they knew what they were going to have to do, the bonds they made with some of the gang members were the strongest bonds they have ever created. This being the strongest bond they ever made made it very dangerous and clouded their judgment incredibly. It was sad because the parents most of the time were working long hours for little pay to provide for their families. People of poverty may find it difficult to meet basic physical and psychological needs of the children (Jaramillo 110). This makes sense and you can always see how poorer neighborhoods usually have stronger gang presences. In my family this was the case too because the parents were never there, not because they didn’t want to but because they needed to support the
3. Maclure, Richard, and Melvin Sotelo. 2004. "Youth Gangs in Nicaragua: Gang Membership as Structured Individualization." Journal of Youth Studies 7:417-432.
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.
This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.
"Poverty, Broken Homes, Violence: The Making of a Gang Member." The Trauma Mental Health Report. N.p., 4 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Gangs are a big part of today’s society. They contribute to a large part of delinquent behavior present in our youth today. Chapter 8- Peer and Delinquency: Juvenile Gang and Groups provides an overview of gangs in general. Providing details as to why they formed their different activities, language and codes. First we must highlight that adolescents are the main focus in gangs. As children grow and go through adolescence they seek peer acceptance. They form cliques. Their group of friends play an important role is social development. The choice to join a gang can be contributed to acceptance and a sense of protection (Siegel).
In a neighbourhood where there is a lack of formal institutions that regulate behaviour, the community relies on the gang to provide for its needs and services. Instead of formal social controls, such as the police, gang leader, J.T., acts as an authority figure and guardian of the community. J.T. and his gang maintain order and protect tenants, for example, by closing down crack dens to keep people safe. Astonishingly, one of the gang’s main focus is actually to keep kids in school. In order to be accepted into the Black Kings, prospective members must aim to complete their high school diploma and are disciplined if they are suspended from school (Venkatesh, 2008). “The gang [is] simultaneously [seen as] a nuisance, a source of fear, and an ally”, for although they bring crime to the community, they provide informal social structures that allow for the needs of the neighbourhood to be addressed
His view on the world is based upon his own research and statistics that he deduces from said research. He takes the information that he finds and presents in to the audience so that they can understand it. This book analyzes many different issues and draws conclusions based off of the information Levitt found by doing intensive research of the statistics surrounding the issues of cheaters, the power of information, the importance of drugs and gangs to the economy, how abortion affects crime rates and the effects of parenting on their children and how it determines who they become. Levitt appeals to logos often when presenting information, he interprets statistics he finds from his research to back up his statements in order to make a well rounded argument. One of the things Levitt notes is that drug dealers make less than minimum wage. He then questions why gang members who sell drugs still live with their mothers. The answer is that they get payed less than the lowest paying legal jobs. To make large amounts of money in gang work, a member have to be near the top the same way that capitalist economy works. The higher up the ladder a member is the higher their yearly income is. Levitt comes to the conclusion that gangs are an essential part of the economy. He correlates the amount of people employed to stop gangs or help people get out of gang life, and comes to the conclusion that a
Stopping gang violence begins as early as child development in reducing children in becoming affiliated with gang problems. Gang involvement among youths continues to be a prevalent problem for parents, schools, and society. Even though there are endless possibilities on how society can reduce gang violence. I believe that effective parenting in early child development plays a huge role for children in preventing them from becoming affiliated with gang activity. In seeking then to understand the motivation for youths joining gangs, it is essential to look at good family function, which promotes healthy development, and how parents can get help if they feel if their child may be involved with a gang. Preventing youths from joining gangs in the first place is crucial in realizing on how to reduce youth gag activity.
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]