Gangs blah blah blah

The word “gang” is an extremely ambiguous term. Among law enforcement agencies there is no universally accepted definition of this word. For something that has no widely accepted definition it poses a significant problem for our society and law enforcement agencies alike. Because the word gang has a large amount of overlapping definitional criteria across many national jurisdictions Cultural Anthropologist Dr. Walter .B Miller took these overlapping criteria and variables and formed a working and more widely accepted definition of the term gang: “a gang is a group of recurrently associating individuals with identifiable leadership and internal organization, identifying with or claiming control over territory in the community, and engaging either individually or collectively in violent or other forms of illegal behavior.” (Thompson 263).

The phenomenon of criminal conduct and antisocial behavior by members of gangs is not something new in Western society. Sociological terms gangs in the United States are labeled as a deviant subculture. This means that gangs are a subgroup that deviates from the generally accepted norms, values, and behavioral expectations of the dominant society. Many groups in the United States have aspects and attributes that set them apart from the general society but they do not pose a perceived threat to the social order. These groups include radical nonviolent religious groups, nudists, and general non-conformists. The line is drawn when these subcultures become criminal or delinquent. This is how gangs are generally perceived by the public. Criminal or doing good subcultures manifest such extreme and negative nonconformity to the larger society that its members are generally viewed as being directly again...

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...ne’s life, the ongoing exposure to stressful environments, the disengagement from the greater community and individual and family underdevelopment. It requires sensitive intervention which is tailored to the specific family’s means and it facilitates the development of more positive adaptive coping strategies on behalf of both individuals and the family.
A successful model for Structural Family Therapy involves individual and family therapy. The goals of this for therapy include unlearning hopelessness, developing healthier paradigms, enhancing strengths, and developing plans to take charge of one’s life. The second level involves a holistic approach to networking. This this includes developing nuclear and extended resource networks, taking advantage of recognized opportunities for upward mobility, the reduction of social stressors, and the meeting of basic needs.