Youth Involvement In Gangs: A Case Study

Introduction

I am researching this topic because preventing youth involvement in gangs is an important issue. Teen violence and gangs have been around for a long time and there is many family, community, news media and political issues about how to handle and deal with these troubled youth. Gang members compared to non-gang members, commit majority of the violent crimes and non-violent crimes in the United States (Allen, Latessa, & Ponder, 2013). Gang involvement and its violent crime have become a growing problem in the United States. Most gangs consist of people of the same ethnic, racial, and economic background. They usually come from low socio-economic backgrounds, low-education background and have some form of discrimination against

Street gangs in this country can probably be traced back to the first wave of Europeans who migrated to the colonies for a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the first gangs were formed as a means of self-protection, with the thinking that there is simply strength in numbers (Howell & Moore, 2010).

The missions of gangs in today’s society have grown and emerged to include many criminal activities such as prostitution, violent crimes, drug trafficking, and extortion. Gang members exemplify a high value for group loyalty and sacrifice and expect nothing less from its members. According to Howell & Moore Gangs began to flourish in Chicago and other large cities during the industrial era, when immigration and population shifts reached peak levels. Early in American history, gangs seem to have been most visible and most violent during periods of rapid population shifts (2010).

Scope of the

Here are many training programs established to deter and prevent youth gang involvement and youth violence. Starting in the early 1990s a program was created by the Phoenix Police Department to prevent and reduce youth violence and gang involvement. This program was called G.R.E.A.T. According to The Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) website, this program is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. The G.R.E.A.T. Program is built around school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula. It provides a continuum of components for children and their