Joining Gangs Research Paper

Gangs have been a growing issue across the United States for many decades now. Youth gang violence may have started around the ‘50s, but did not become a serious issue until the ‘80s and from there went through a downward spiral in some cities like downtown Los Angeles, which was where the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs both started. First, let’s simply define a gang as a group of people, mostly men ranging for ages 14-30, who claim territory and use it to make money for themselves and their neighborhood through illegal activities such as trafficking drugs and weapons. There are many reasons and components that are factored in when conducting research to hypothesize “why do people join gangs?” That is why it is necessary to compare and contrast all the social, biological, psychological, developmental, and substance abuse aspects and relate it to joining a gang. It is also important to touch base on the differences between males and females that join gangs, such as power differentials, social learning differences and social stratification differences.

In society today, there is a major problem We live in a society where gangs are taking over our neighborhoods in numbers. It is the responsibility of the individuals to part take in getting their neighborhoods back under control. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives or for acceptance. When youths join gangs, they drop all their social activities with school, family, and friends. However, individuals ruin their lives, and the chances of them having a decent education, and a successful life by getting involved in gang activity.

Gang involvement negatively affects the quality of life of the involved youth and surrounding communities. The criminal activities and violence surrounding gang membership often lead to imprisonment and/or death. Gang involvement discourages personal upward mobility through the avenue of education; instead, placing importance on group success.

Gangs originated naturally during the adolescent years of a child. They started from small play groups that eventually found themselves in conflict with other small groups of youth. Due to the conflict between the two small groups of youth it became a part of a child’s mind set to come together as a gang and protect their rights and satisfy the needs that their environment and families couldn’t provide. There are about 24,500 gangs in the U.S and out of those gangs 40% of them are juveniles (Hess, Orthmann, Wright, 2013). There are numerous reason why a child would join a gang, and the

What influences youth to join and leave gangs in America? This essay strives to seek and inquire an answer or explanation to this question. I will try to approach the answer to this question by analyzing the biggest factors of it such as the influence of social institutions, psychological behaviour, media and many more to determine the push and pull factors of a gang. Understanding that the dynamics of gang membership can be separated into formation & joining which will allow theories & methods of gang-related research to be refined.

There are an abundance of reasons why some youth may choose to join a gang. The lacking of sense of guidance positively and

Esbensen and Peterson draws on their research on how youth gangs were formed and operated and the stereotypes the youth gangs faced in the United States. Esbensen and Peterson outlined that sex and race/ethnicity were related to youth gangs and paid particular attention to the results provided by the National Youth Gang Survey. According to the National Youth Gang Survey, 90% of the gang members are Hispanic or African American. Based on a study on 11 cities in the United States, it was found that gang youths looked extremely similar to the youth residents in that specific community. Esbensen and Peterson outlined the community risk factors of youth gangs which includes individuals, family, peer, school and sex and race/ethnicity risk.

Gang affiliation is a major problem today. No parent would like to see their children in harms way or in a bad situation. Gang affiliation may make someone feel as if they are fitting in and etc. but it only causes more negative outcomes. It all begins with one mistake which then goes to how some people are for gang affiliation, leading to consequences because of that incident but there are many ways this can be prevented.

Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging.

Because their minds are still developing, twelve to fourteen years old is the average age for joining a gang (Wyrick, 2). At these ages, teens can feel the need to do anything to fit in. It is also common for them to feel like the only way they’ll find people to care for them is through a gang. This is not right, as joining a gang puts them in danger, whereas they thought it would give them a sense of safety (Wyrick, 3). It is often times common for teens to “see gangs as an attractive choice or a solution to their problems” (Wyrick, 1).

Abstract: This review studies in depth research done on street gangs. Social issues have social scientists turning away from including this in their research around this time. Sociological views have been changed dramatically in the past 40 years due to gender and racial studies. Also, women have started to join gangs since America has been changed with woman equality laws passing.

When most juveniles join gangs most outsiders perceive this to be because these youths are joining to get involved in delinquent activities. Sven Morch and Helle Andersen’s research on “Becoming a gang member: Youth Life and Gang youth”, state that gangs may be seen as social networks that give space and support for the person, but unfortunately are also contexts for common activities that are often directed against the outside world. (Morch, 2012) Although many people may perceive this as being negative, most who join find the experience as a positive event. One author found out through interviews with gang members that they joined for peer group attraction, an escape from abusive or non-existent families, the possibility of economic gain, and the sense of being marginalized ethically and/or economically from the larger society. (Beare, 2013) What makes the bond so strong with the gang is their culture is imparted from one generation to the next through a process called socialization.

Gangs have direct effects on a society, such as increased levels of crime, violence and murder. Gangs also have long-term or late suggestions in that gang members are more likely to drop out of high school, struggle with unemployment, abuse drugs and alcohol or in end up in jail. These factors not only contribute to the gang members, but they also force taxpayers to pay for welfare and community-assistance programs. Common reasons for the younger generation to join gangs, include trying to find a place where they belong and sharing in mutual desires for safety from family problems or life challenges. Together, the feelings and attitudes among gang members haze them to act violently, often self-contradictory with rival gangs. This violence leads to injury and death of not only members but also of bystanders in the community. High gang activity also causes fear among community members, discourages business activity and obstructs home-value appreciation. Communities, also must pay for higher levels of law enforcement when gangs are prominent.

The term youth gangs refers to a group of three or more members, who are between the age of 12 and 24; they share an identity through the use of names or symbols; they see themselves as gang and are recognized by others as a gang; there is some amount of permanence and degree of organization; and the group is involved in an elevated amount of criminal activity (National Gang Center Staff, n.d.). Risk factors for gang involvement are based on factors such as individual, family, school, community. School risk factors include poor school performance, poor connectedness to schools, low degree of commitment to and involvement in school, and weak attachment to teachers (Howell, 2010). Community risk factors includes such things as greater level of criminal activity, neighborhood youth are involved in illegal behaviors, widespread access to and the use of firearms and drugs, and low level of neighborhood attachment (Howell, 2010). Additional factors that lead to gang involvement include learning disabilities and emotional disorders, school failure and truancy, no positive involvement outside of school, friends and peers are delinquent, low income, and early involvement in petty crimes and behavioral disorders in grade school (Hernandez, 2015). Reasons given for joining a gang as reported by youths includes for protection, for fun, for respect, for money, family members are part of the gang (and because a friend was in the gang (Howell, 2010).

In modern society juvenile delinquency has been an issue engaged in by minors. More and more adolescents are committing delinquent crimes. Delinquency can be seen as the direct result of negative affective states. Gangs are a group of youths who collectively engage in delinquent behavior. Peer groups can provide a lot of social and emotional support for anti-social activities. Peer relations, in all cultures have been linked to adolescent behavior choices including substance abuse and delinquency. Currently there are now more than eight hundred thousand gang members in the United States and twenty four thousand gangs. In order to stop a behavior, it is great to understand what behaviors take place within the gang and also which will lead to resolve gang activity (Shoemaker, 2013).