Youth Participation In Gangs

1135 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays On Youth Gangs

Youth participation in gangs actually decreased from 1996 to 2004, but the violence within these gangs has not. Homicides committed by youth gang members still remain as a monumental problem across the United States of America. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported in its 2004 survey of youth gangs that there were an estimated 760,000 gang members that year. Many of the kids affiliated with gangs come from lower income, single parent homes; therefore, the youths of America often turn to gangs to fill the void of not being part of a “family”. To combat this problem and save our youth from a life of malfeasance, the people of the communities of America must take a stand against the negative influences that impact these youths.

Violence within Youth Gangs of America

The term gang can be associated with a number of different things but, for this paper, the term gangs will be in reference to youth gangs; “youth gangs are considered to consist of adolescents and young adults from the ages of 12 to 24” (Decker and Howell, 1999, p.1). Gangs have been a “normal” part of United States culture for centuries now, a sad but also, very true statement. What started out as a group of friends wearing their favorite color and protecting their neighborhood from crime has turned into a problem of epic proportion across the United States of America. In earlier years gangs were only a problem for poor communities within the big cities. But during this day and age, even rural areas, smaller cities and, suburbs are not immune to the problems of gangs and the dilemmas that they cause.

Two of the biggest problems that are caused by gangs are the violence and drugs that are brought into the communities. For example, the Chica...

... middle of paper ...

... http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/93920.pdf

Foster, H. & Hagan, J. (2001) Youth Violence and The End of Adolescence. American Sociological Review 66 (6) Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/action/doAdvancedSearch?q0=violence+&f0=all&c0=AND&q1=youth+gangs&f1=all&c1=AND&q2=america&f2=all&c2=AND&q3=&f3=all&wc=on&Search=Search&sd=&ed=&la=&jo=

Modern Day Gangs. (June 2002). Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/jjbul2002_06_1/intro.html

The Community Solution to Gang Violence. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2009, from http://www.csgv.ca/counselor/assets/RECREATION,%20SPORTS%20AND%20THE%20ARTS%20ARE%20PART%20OF%20THE%20SOLUTION.pdf

Violence and substance abuse. (n.d). Retrieved December 11, 2009, from http://ocw.umb.edu/counseling/counsl-672-substance-abuse-and-the-family/counseling/counsl-672-substance-abuse-and-the-family/New%20Folder/topic-10.pdf

Show More
Related

  • Theories That May Explain Crime in Germantown Avenue Communities in Philadelphia

    2015 Words  | 5 Pages

    Anderson, E. (1998). The social ecology of youth violence. Crime and Justice, 24(Youth Violence), 65-104. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1147583

    Read More

  • Book Review: Policing Gangs in America

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.

    Read More

  • The Negative Impact of Gangs on Oklahoma

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mihailoff, Laura. "Youth Gangs." Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society. Ed. Paula S. Fass. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 916-917. Student Resources in Context. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Sociological General Labeling Theory In Criminal Justice

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    Issue: “The number of youths joining gangs in the inner city has doubled, while the number of gang leaders serving time in prison and being released after good conduct has increased. The crime rate for gang violence has risen 20% from last year” (American Intercontinental University, 2015).

    Read More

  • The Influence of Geography and Social Networks on Gang Violence

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Canadian Gangs

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gangs have been around for many years; the founders of some of the original gangs in the United States will be discussed. The statistics of youth gangs in Canada will be presented followed by an in depth discussion about why young adults can be persuade into joining a gang. Often females do not contribute that the youth gangs in society; a discussion about the increasing presence of females and their roles among male dominate gangs. Young adults from Surrey, British Columbia, speak up about youth gangs and the influence of their presents within their community in a documentary called Warrior Boyz.

    Read More

  • Gangs and Injunctions

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gang involvement has been quite higher than past years. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey estimates that about 32.4 percent of all cities, suburban areas, towns, and rural counties had a gang problem (Egley et al., 2010). This represented a 15 percent increase from the year 2002. The total number of gangs has also increased by 28 percent and total gang members have increased by 6 percent (Egley et al., 2010). This shows how relevant gang related activity is in today’s society. More locations are beginning to experience gang activity for the first time. Gang crime has also been on the rise in the past...

    Read More

  • Street Gangs: Removing them from the community

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Street Gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugs, destroy property, involve youth in crimes and drive out businesses. When you have gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming amount of young adults are joining gangs and becoming involved in illegal activity. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a member of the gang for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with more community involvement and education.

    Read More

  • Gang Violence in Philadelphia

    2395 Words  | 5 Pages

    The presence of gang violence has been a long lasting problem in Philadelphia. Since the American Revolution, gangs have been overpopulating the streets of Philadelphia (Johnson, Muhlhausen, 2005). Most gangs in history have been of lower class members of society, and they often are immigrants into the U.S (Teen Gangs, 1996). Gangs provided lower class teens to have an opportunity to bond with other lower class teens. However over time, the original motive of being in a gang has changed. In the past, gangs used to provide an escape for teens to express themselves, let out aggression, and to socialize with their peers. It was also an opportunity for teens to control their territory and fit in (Johnson, Muhlhausen, 2005). In the past, authorities would only focus on symptoms of gang violence and not the root. They would focus on arresting crime members instead of preventing gang violence. Gangs are beginning to expand from inner-city blo...

    Read More

  • Essay On Native American Gangs

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tobin, Kimberly. Gangs: An Individual and Group Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Which Trait Theory Most Explains Criminal Behavior

    1238 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pirruzia, T (2011).Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews. (n.d.). Chapter 1: Biosocial Theory. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter01_biosocial_theory.aspx

    Read More

  • Gang Violence

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1920’s there was a study conducted by Fredric M. Thrasher. Thrasher studied 1,313 gangs in Chicago and revealed the issue of gangs. He considered the poor in poverty as the area increasing in gangs. This area was known as the “zone in transition” and was referred as in his studies. Thrasher has many law reinforcement and social workers helping him bring a stop to this madness. According to Thrashers studies “Important variables such as the age of gang members or the organizational features of the gangs were not related in a straightforward way to differences in the behavior of gangs” (Cummings 6). Thrasher has analyzed these gangs in many ways to the extent or romantic life in gangs. He helped us distinguish the difference in stereotype gangs and then the actual facts involving them.

    Read More

  • Youth Gangs

    3412 Words  | 7 Pages

    Youth gangs are defined as any group of people who engage in socially disruptive or criminal behaviour, usually within a defined territory, and operate by creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in a community. Federally in Canada “…Bill C-95… says a gang must include five or more people involved in criminal activity.” Over the last ten or so years, youth gangs have become more violent and dangerous than ever before. They have more access to sophisticated knives and guns and use these weapons to gain power and fear. The problem of youth gangs is especially apparent in low-income neighbourhoods in Canadian cities. Low income neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area are a...

    Read More

  • Gangs and Teenage Violence

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    A gang is a group of people who interact among themselves. Teen violence is contributed to these gangs. Most gangs claim neighborhoods as their territory and try to control everything inside that territory. This kind of antisocial behavior is a major problem in American Society.

    Read More

  • Solutions to Gang Violence in Society

    2296 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many stereotypes of gangs have been fabricated. The problem is that a majority of gang members do not fit these stereotypes, which, in turn, makes it hard for the to be caught (Klein). Traditionally they organize their group around a specific neighborhood, school or housing projec...

    Read More

More about Youth Participation In Gangs

Open Document