Gang Mentality
Everywhere in society their are people committing various crimes. Some crimes are petty, small acts, while other acts are serious felonies. Crime occurs everywhere for various reasons. One such form of crime is organized crime, where criminals rationally runs an enterprise to gain profit from their illegal activities (Walsh & Hemmens, 2014). This time of crime or crime mentality is found in gangs. Gangs are a group of individuals who can either have the same ideals and a loyalty to the specified gang or are together only for the profit and benefits of having an association with a specified gang, among other reasons. A gang usually have a hierarchal system from which there is one leader who hands out tasks to those below him and commands the group. It could be seen as a bureaucracy. These groups of individuals can be very different in values and beliefs, but the structure or idea of the group are very similar.
The mentality of a gang is to gain control of a neighborhood or surrounding area, so business can be conducted for profit. Usually to gain control and power in these areas, a gang will instal fear. Fear is used to as a form of control through violence and violent means. Gang members use guns, knives, and anything that can be a violent tool to inflict violence on past aggressors, the police, other gangs members, and civilians. The use of violence is part of gang mentality. Gangs will commit crimes to gain profit, territory, importance and prestige, and power and control. The mentality of a gang is revolved around greed, loyalty, power, and need. Many gang members are part of the deviant subculture. The deviant subculture is an alternative to what society portrays as normal and appropriate. In lower income ne...
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...asons are for protection, for profit, to gain a family or friends, to join family or friends already associated with the gang, to gain means for something, or for retribution and power. A gang creates relationships or a feeling of family, and most important a new social bond filled with ties of attachment, commitment, beliefs, and involvement (Siegel 2012). It gives individuals, especially the younger ones, a hope for the future, a family dynamic, a form of means and income, and a place to create ties and bonds. Especially if their ties to conventional society are weak because they are not involved, they do not have many commitments in school or work, or they are not attached to his or her family or friends. Humans are social creatures, and this type of group allows humans to interact with people who have similar lifestyles, beliefs, values, needs, and experiences.
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.
Gangs are a group of boys and believe it or not girls too, that frequently get together to make all types of vandalism and actions that are not admitted by the law. Gangs have been part of the world for a very long time; they have also evolved through time. For example gangs in the 1960’s are not the same as the gangs we see today in our days. Many gangs were made before and after the 1960’s but the major gangs in this time were: The Crips, The Latin Kings, KKK, The Bloods which were enemies of The Crips, and the 18th Street Gang.
Different gangs have different characteristics, but all gangs possess at least one: A hierarchy. Whether the gang is a small local crew that never moves out of the neighborhood or a larger well organized team that controls an entire district, there will always be a leader. The leader of the group is the focus of gang-related law enforcement intelligence investigations. Often times the leader of a gang may already be incarcerated, and is still communicating and giving orders from within the walls. The leader is the individual that is usually the strongest member of the group with the most charisma, not necessarily the smartest member of the group or the member that has been in the group the longest.
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...
Gang violence is becoming a known threat in our country. Gang violence is defined as a group of people by repetitive socializing individuals or close friends with recognizable influence and inner coordination. These gangs will claim full control over a region in a community, town, or specific area which will lead to the involvement of violent crimes and unlawful behavior as a group or even by oneself. Since these gangs are increasing in size in communities, citizens of certain areas are beginning to move out or avoid going to these locations in order to avoid becoming the next victim to one of the community gangs waiting to engage in their next deviant act. These specific areas are located in communities that are at a poverty level, toxic areas, or environments where immigration is at it's highest. Law enforcement officials figure that these sorts of patterns bring out the characteristics of gang violence. It is known that an individual who wants to become a gang member must commit a violent crime in order to test their level of seriousness and faithfulness to their fellow brothers or, as they are known, "bloods". With the crime being committed by an individual, the physical features of a true gang member start to appear. Members or "brothers" are often easily recognized by their walk, tattoos, clothes, and colors of their clothes. Gangs are usually noted as groups of individuals who wear baggy jeans, long shirts, and bandana's of certain color. Another way to identify a gang member is by certain markings or tattoos on an individuals body. “"The modern street gang serves as an example par excellence of how geography and social networks converge to influence behavior." (Papachristos 2013). “Par excellence” is explained as ho...
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.
I chose gang involvement because of both negative and postitive aspects gangs have on society. Gangs play a major part of society in many areas around the world. Gangs are a group of people within the same community that share common interests, or share the same situation. Gangs can be applied to all socololgical theories, functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. To me, functionalism is when the gang community have a certain task to perform that is balanced and stable to the five social institutions. The way functionalism applies to gangs is how they are interconnected with society and how they serve a purspose. Whether or not society views gangs as a negative or wrong part of society, gangs also serve as a positive part of society. The manifest functions of gangs are to protect their territory and loved ones at any cost, even if it has a negative consequence to society. Other manifest functions are their acts in partaking in illegal distribution of drugs to make living show...
What other theoretical elements--from theories we have already covered or other social considerations could explain the attraction to or resistance to gangs? Are there patterns and trends that might have theoretical significance?
Violence Gangs are known to be very violent. Gangs use violence to protect their own gang members from enemy attacks.
The word gang has taken on many meanings throughout the years. Originally, the word was just used to express a group of people. You probably have heard someone talk about the local gang of boys or something of that sort. In older times, the word gang didn’t have such the negative tone that comes along with it today. As time has gone on, the word gang has grown to be a word that many worry about when they hear it. It seems a “gang” has evolved from just being a group of people to a group of people that associate in criminal or other antisocial purpose.
In the study done by Alleyne and Wood (2010), gang members often commit more crime against people in comparison to individual criminals as they are influenced in committing crime by their peers. Some of these gang members would commit crime to gain higher ranking within the gang, or use it as a means to prove their worth to the gang. However, amount of violence these gang members would commit would vary depending on their rank and status. Anti-authority attitudes are also developed by a gang member once he is a part of the group; however, this may vary in gravity depending on the experiences held by the member when engaging with the authorities. If they engaged with these authorities properly, it would lessen the degree of anti-authority. However, should their contact result negatively, it may instill further aggression towards the authorities. Anti-authority attitudes are seen by many experts as one of the common justifications and reasons why people are lured into joining these gangs (Alleyne & Wood,
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
Mob mentality is when people begin to go along with whatever a crowd of people do without second guessing themselves because it is a large crowd. It is part of the reason why it was so hard to end the trials. Mobs are all unique and have different effects on people, causing all the characters in The Crucible to be affected by it greatly. It can affect their values and how they act within the group. Mob mentality is and important factor in The Crucible because the characters begin to loose their values and it causes them to act differently.
Gangs originated in the mid 1800’s in the cardinal direction using it as a method to defend themselves against outsiders.The idea of gangs became populous, powerful, and a broad influence. But like all powers, they tend to corrupt and recognizes violence as a way of getting what they want faster than other methods.They turn violence into fun, profit, and control.Creating a situation that affects youth in today’s society.
Gang violence is a major problem in our society today. If nothing is done soon, gang violence could take place in our neighborhoods. MW Klein, a gang researcher, says that gangs are an aggregation of youths who perceive themselves as distinct, and that are viewed as distinct by the community. Klein also states that the gangs call forth a consistently negative image of themselves through their actions (Klein). To those involved in gangs however, gang membership provided a youth means of attempting to consolidate their gender identities (Douglas). Most of the early American street gangs have historically been ethnically based. Early gangs were mainly Irish, Polish, or Italian (Klein).