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Myths About Gangs: An Ethnography Analysis

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I agree that it was an important factor for Ward to debunk some of the myths about gangs by starting with informing society of the horrors these youth experienced. Because the media only shows these youth as hard-core, violent criminals, the general public also has this misconception. In addition, I agree that Ward not only showed a different view of their lives, but also showed how our society contributes to their problems by the widespread discrimination they encounter, even from other minorities. You brought up a great point when wondering what did these youth think of the rest of society and I think it would make an interesting ethnography. As you stated these youth joined a gang to feel accepted and gain the support they were lacking.
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Victor M. Rios was born in Mexico. When he was two years old he immigrated with his mother to Oakland, California. He went through a tough childhood and he and his mother moved several times throughout poor neighborhoods such as West Oakland, The Fruitvale District, and Elmhurst. As a result of growing up in this kind of environments he was forced to be part of Latino East Oakland gangs. Stealing cars, selling drugs, getting into street fights and having problems with police was all he would do until he was 15 years old.

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A). Social Order pg. 192: A group’s usual and customary social arrangements, on which its member’s depend and on which they base their lives. There is multiple ways a gang communicates with its members, and it’s different with each clique.

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Utilizing research findings and realistic experiences, Shakur, Howell, and Griffiths disprove myths about gangs, justify the reasons for young people being recruited because of their desire to be understood by others similar to them, and girls integrating themselves into the groups from their relationships with members. Howell and Griffiths managed to explain the principles behind gangs and their members' lifestyles, while Shakur provided real gangster experiences as supporting evidence for the research findings. Theories to gangs may be existent, but without proper research leading to the findings, or experiences from subjects who lived the lifestyle, beliefs about the organizations merely become empty

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Young people give various reasons for joining gangs. Among the most common reasons are: to belong to a group, protection, earn money, excitement, to be with friends, and it's even a family tradition"(Escondido Police Department). Amongst the various reasons that lead youth

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In chapter 19 of Membership in Youth Gangs and involvement in Serious and violent offending, Terence P. Thornberry examines the correlation between youth gang membership and their participation in serious crimes. Throughout the reading, Thornberry highlight’s what he believes to be the three most important findings in his research. First, our author provides research exhibiting just how youth gang members are responsible for a majority of serious and violent crimes committed by the general youth. According to the reading, prior studies have determined that gang members are significantly more involved in serious delinquency than non-gang members. For example, Fagan (1990) study of a general adolescent sample revealed that only 23 percent of the participants of the study where a part of a gang, but accounted for 67 percent of felony assaults, 66 percent of minor assaults and 66 percent of robberies.

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Gangs in Chicago, such as the Conservative Vice Lords as mentioned by Andrew Diamond in the article, From Fighting Gangs to Black Nations: Race, Power, and the Other Civil Rights Movement in Chicago's West Side Ghetto 1957-1968, proclaimed themselves as “nations” rather than gangs as they worked towards empowerment among marginalized youth. These gangs sought to address the root causes of poverty, discrimination, and injustice in their areas by obtaining grants, forming alliances with nearby civil rights organizations, and participating in demonstrations against racial injustices. Through this, they were able to implement community development programs aimed at community uplifting. However, their journey towards community empowerment was not the only reason for their formation. Unfortunately, they faced constant violence and intimidation from both law enforcement and white gangs.

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There is a number of reasons that range from simple to complex, on why teenagers join gangs, and we can help by finding solutions to their specific problem before they choose to join one. To help someone get out of a gang, we as a society need to show there’s more out there in the world that they could do that will make a positive impact. Teenagers have different reasons to join gangs depending on their life situation. Everyone in the “Greasers” in The Outsiders had different reasons to be part of the gang. “We were used to seeing Johnny banged up-

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Lower-class adolescents ' limited accessibility legal way of achieving goals leaves them frustrated. Gangs can help to eliminate feelings of powerlessness by supplying youth’s use of illegitimate means that 's, with possibilities to understand and become instructed in crime by seasoned

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There is no denying that today, gang involvement is still very present and still a huge social concern in out society. Now a days, being in a gang is seen to be cool and is a way to earn respect form peers and one of the toughest and most dangerous decision that an individual has to make as a young adult is if they want to join a gang or not. One of the biggest topics when it comes to gangs is gender. We often hear about males joining gangs but we don’t always hear of females being involved in gangs let alone being gang members. When we think about the word “gang member” we typically picture a masculine male that commits a variety of serious and petty crimes.

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(Gangs) A deviant subculture is defined as a subculture, which has values and norms that differ substantially from the majority of people in society. When a neighborhood or community favors illegal activities, a criminal subculture is likely to develop such as gangs. Walter Miller states that deviant subcultures don’t arise from the inability of a community to achieve success, but because of a lower-class subculture whose values and norms are different from the rest of society. Subcultures can be a good thing, because they can provide a sense of belonging, interaction with people who have similar interests, and gives members the freedom to express individuality.

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Gangs throughout North America have been known to commit acts of violent victimization, towards other gang members and civilians alike, as well as other forms of organized crime. This can and has led to violence throughout communities which can cause unease and fear to propagate through them. One way that people cope with the problem is to join another gang within or close to their community. One may do this is to seek a sense of safety within the gang, and so that they can help provide protection against any that may wish to harm them. Youth are especially susceptible to this as they are often influenced by their surroundings and can find themselves being inducted into these gangs.

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There is a couple of different environments that can lead juveniles to joining a gang. One of the biggest enivornmental factors is a juvenile growing up in a heavily populated gang area. If a juvenile grows up in a heavily populated gang area, that is all they will see going on around them. They will think that is the right thing to do because everyone else around them is involved in a gang. Another enivornmental factor that can lead a juvenile to joining a gang, is unstructured free time.

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The article says “ An established body of research indicates that gang-involved young people have an increased propensity to become both offenders and victims of crime, experience breakdowns in their familial and personal relationships, and engage in illicit substance use” (Thornberry et al., 2003; Krohn et al., 2011; Melde & Esbensen, 2011; Ozer & Engel, 2012; Weerman et al., 2015). This is another reason why gangs are an issue in this world, they are getting younger kids to join and it can ruin some of those kids' lives forever and they end up being involved with more crime than average. That is why gangs are an issue in this

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Some teens become gang members because they feel a sense of belonging and protection. Therefore, the community should focus on building strong relationship and positive role-models. Other critics claim adult prison is not appropriate for juvenile offenders and should find better alternatives. Mooney, C. (2013). Teen Violence: Teenage Problems.

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Most gangs are made up of young males that are of a similar background and have a desire of acquiring

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