A. Values/ Pg. 45: The standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly. In the documentary, “The World’s Most Dangerous Gang”, it shows some of the MS 13 gang members. Getting the chance to hear them talk about the life they live and the things they do shined some light on their values. Their values differ from mine a lot because of where they grew up, the experiences they had, and the opportunities they were given growing up. Watching and listening to the members talk about the gang lifestyle showed me some of the values they have such as money, loyalty, and the gang. For a lot of the members, growing up poor or not having a family made them value those things so much more once they joined the gang. The gang became their family and loyalty to it became just as important. After they joined the gang and started getting money, they wanted …show more content…
Loyalty/ pg.: The quality of being loyal to someone or something. The loyalty of the members to their gang is usually unbreakable. Loyalty is one of the most important values that the gang and its members hold, and to be disloyal usually means death. I think that death is the consequence of disloyalty because it’s so important that loyalty is upheld, if it isn’t upheld it makes the gang weak and susceptible to attack, infiltration and other detrimental things for the gang. Loyalty is also important to the gang members because a lot of the grew up without a family, or had problems within their families, and being in the gang gives them that family they never had and being loyal to their family is important. Word count 127 1. Selective Perception- seeing certain features of an object or situation, but remaining blind to others. 2. Resocialization- The process of learning new values, norms, attitudes, and behaviors. 3. Mores- Norms that are strictly enforced because they are thought essential to core values or the well-being of the
These members that follow the rules blindly are subjected to loyalty. The consequences are grim if a member doesn’t obey the rules. In the documentary the reporter interviewed former members of MS 13. There is no hope for a former MS 13 member. “There’s no way out” states a previous MS 13 member “but either by hospital, jail, or death.” They’re jails strictly filled with all MS 13 members. If you’re a refugee to MS 13 jail is your safe haven. Many men who leave the organization flee to jails to seek protection. Because if they were on the streets they would end up dead. If you leave MS 13 there’s a target on your back. Once you’re in MS 13 you’re committed for life. No exceptions. No excuses. If you want out of the gang that is a sign of being disloyal. If you leave not only are you in serious danger, but your family are now at risk as well. The ultimate penalty of disloyalty is to be killed. That’s why many men who leave the gang go to jail for protection. The only correct answer in MS 13 rule book is to live your whole life solely devoted to the gang. These types of rules foster fear of leaving and that’s why a lot of members continue the path they’re on so that they can protect there family. The leaders of MS 13 make up the rules and their followers are required to follow them because there is no other option. When it comes to a right and wrong decision the leaders make the final decision. There’s only one
The MS13 is a perfect example of a counterculture. They are a world within themselves. The gang is very organized and structured; there is hierarchy with the gang. There is a significant amount of money flow within the gang. A few ways the gang obtains money is by drug dealing, illegal weapons, vendors pay the gang to work in their territories and for their protection, and drug dealers also pay the gang to earn the right to sell drugs in their territories. There are laws and rules that a gang member must abide by. One very strict rule for a gang member is silence. If a gang member becomes informant and it is found out that they are, it will more than likely result in death for the informant. The breaking of laws and rules are punishable, even by death. They have a law system and law enforcement of their own. Check courting is a punishment served by the gang to gang members who break the laws of the gang. There are initiations one must endure to become a member of the gang. Jumping in is one of the initiations, a brutal thirteen second beating by multiple people at the same time. (World’s Most Dangerous Gang) There is a communication system within the gang. They use stacking to communicate, tattoos, graffiti, and an overall dialect that is unique to the gang. This counterculture exists internationally inside and outside of prison walls. Within the gang there are individual cliques, but when threatened they will come together and fight alongside one another. It is instilled in a gang member to kill to maintain territory and to acquire new territories. T...
The fifth commandment is Honor your Father and Mother. Gang members think that being in a gang is like being in a family. So, without any parental guidance there is no room for honor for anyone. They think that being in a gang is a family, but they have no idea what real family is and they deny that they ever had a chance to be in a real family.
In the, very quickly expanding, city of Woodbridge, Virginia, there is a resurging issue of gang activity. The predominant gang found in Woodbridge is known as MS-13, whose activist’s extend through several towns and city’s including portions of Washington DC. This gang was thought to be “decimated” (Jouvenal, Zapotosky, 2014), in the last few years, through prosecutions against both high and low ranking members, leaving the gang scattered and unorganized. However, since then, they have quietly reconstituted and are beginning to resurface, appearing stranger and more violent than ever (Jouvenal, Zapotosky, 2014).
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].
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.
Values -Everyone has them. Where do those values come from? In literature, one can find the answer to that question by taking a close look at characters and their values. They can be compatible to real life experiences. Look at the two stories, "Abuela Invents the Zero" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The main characters in the stories are Constancia from "Abuela Invents the Zero" and the Four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth from Little Women. These two stories demonstrate how Experiences can shape, and change values.
Gang power can be seen in many communication theories. There are several types of power that gangs and gang leaders fall under. An example of this would be referent and legitimate power. Referent power can be described as the role model power. We identify with this person and therefore try to be like them. Legitimate power comes from people who we believe should be in power, like children to teacher, law-abiding citizen to the police. Therefore referent and legitimate power go hand in hand, because of the organizational structure within the gang, a gang may "have officers much like that of a cooperation." (Internet Source 1) Generally "adults play leadership roles." (Internet Source 3) Also youngsters who have had severe prison terms are usually found to be the leaders of the gangs, thus being an example of expert power. The reason this is considered an example of expert power is because the individual possesses special knowledge in prison life, etc. By serving a prison term they can come back to the streets, "with more knowledge than ever could have been gained on the streets." (Internet Source 2)
norms are those that are highly important to either most members in a society or
Street gangs have been a part of the American culture for centuries. As a young child growing up in the 80’s on the North Side of Fort Worth, Texas I saw my fair share of gang activity and the violence associated with it. Little was I aware of a notorious and deadly gang that was transforming known as Mara Salvatrucha, also referred to as MS-13. What began as a street gang, MS-13 now has activity in much of the United States and according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is, “one of the most violent and rapidly growing transnational street gangs.” The people of America need to realize the great danger MS-13 possess.
Gang’s myths are very popular because it creates media coverage and is a serious topic when it comes to the safety of our society. When the media is interviewing members of a gang; they are being told exaggerated stories of gang activity and misinforming leads to society. Without accounting for credibility, these reports created false perception and fear. Gangs distort their image to improve their status and to generate fear as a defense mechanism. Several inmates stated to being more than a gang, but a criminal organizations in drug trafficking. The fact of the matter is that media coverage created the illusion of power of gangs and force fed the information upon society. Members in the streets began to attach to this false image and gave
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.
Although a standard definition does not exist, gang delinquency can be defined as law-violating behavior committed by groups of youth and adults, that are complexly organized and that have established leadership and membership rules (Curry & Spergel, 1988). Gangs engage in a range of different crimes, but most significantly in violent crimes, as a means of upholding norms and values in regards to: mutual support, conflict relations with other gangs, and tradition (Curry & Spergel, 1988). They are organizations concerned with territory, status, and the ability to control behavior. For disadvantaged youth, who lack the opportunities to succeed in a socially acceptable manner, gangs effectively provide meaningful social and even economic structures. In gang membership, there is the opportunity to create personal identity, but there are minimal standards of acceptable status (Curry & Spergel,
Norms are a part of everyday life. Without norms the world would be in total chaos. Norms by definition are rules of behavior shared by members of a society and rooted in the value system. ( ) Norms are held at a high standard in a society and are valued by its members. Norms vary from society to society. What is considered normal in one society may not be acceptable in another society. Norms are a societies way of living if a member of society breaks that norm they may be looked at as strange or even penalized depending on what kind of norm is broken. Norms are broken into three categories which are folkways, mores, and laws. Folkways are customs or desirable behaviors that are not strictly enforced. Violating a folkway is not criminal, but violating a folkway may have you looked at as weird. Mores are the strongest form of norms they have great moral significance in a society. Violating a more is considered immoral or borderline criminal. The strongest form of mores are taboos which are unthinkable action within a society. Laws are the third category of norms that a...
The term value may be defined as the degree or level of importance that is attached to something with regard to describing the significance of different actions or what actions in life are best to follow. Norms may be defined as cultural products whose main purpose is to represent the basic knowledge in an individual with regard to what other people do and what other individuals think they are supposed to do. Simply put, they are information understanding whose main purpose is to govern the way individuals behave in the societal setting. Sanctions may be defined as punishments or rewards within the societal setting that are designed and instituted to enforce the various norms existent therein. Sanctions are divided into negative and positive sanctions; with the positive being rewards and the negative sanctions being punishments.