Social Environment Of The Gang

a. Social Environment / pg. 63: the entire human environment, including interaction with others.

In this video, they talk about why the gang began forming. First, the social environment in Central America took a turn for the worst, when young people were caught in the midst of violence, including civil war. There were many young men who fled their countries to come to America to avoid this violence, and ended up on the streets of Los Angeles. According to the video, these newcomers were met with violence from gangs because they were singled out as newbies. To cope with these attacks from gangs, the boys began forming a group called MS-13. Now their social environment was different. They went from being in a situation where they

We must fight, either with ourselves, internally, or with others, to get what we want in life. It comes down to our basic needs. But some people cannot do this on their own. They are not individualistic, they need help from others. They could just talk to someone, even a professional, to get help. But instead they turn to drugs, violence, and pain. For whatever reason, it empowers them to instill pain and fear in others. Our basic drive is to stay alive. But why do they need a gang just to stay alive? They were brought up in tough conditions in Central America, and must’ve thought that coming to the United States would improve their quality of life. They did not predict that they would struggle just as much here as they did in Central America. These gangs, especially, are very powerful. It is like a cult. They suck their members in, telling them it will make their lives better, when they know that it has to potential to kill them and their families. Part of our ID is the basic human instinct telling us that we do not need to kill other humans to survive. The members of MS-13, however, may not have gotten that memo. Maybe it’s a mental disability, maybe their families were abusive, maybe they were bullied, maybe they turned to drugs. Either way, the drive they have to cause pain to others isn’t natural. It was instilled. And until the gang is annihilated, this problem will keep

Their values, beliefs, and norms are MUCH different than the broader culture. Whether in the United States or Central America, their actions are far from the norm. If everyone went around acting like these men do in these gangs, how would life be? Many young men wouldn’t even make it to their 18th birthday without either being shot, thrown in jail, or worse, killed. The members of this cult-like society are basically making a deal with death when they sign up for this. They are putting themselves, their friends, and their family, in danger. If they were to give up on the gang, even if they run away, MS-13 will not hesitate to go after the family. You have to have something wrong with you to think that is acceptable adult behavior. This must stem from some treatment or experience that happened when they were younger. Why not just seek professional help? Many of them don’t have the money. Others have too much pride. Rage is then the only outlet for them. Others just want to be a part of something bigger than them. And MS-13 is much bigger than them. But obviously, it is not the option one should go with when deciding how to better their life. Some could claim they were ‘repressed’ in America. Any foreigner is going to be repressed, but that doesn’t mean they are going to go out and get tortured or shot. They have to build their way up from the bottom. No one should expect to come in to a