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Gang reform programs
Three sociological theories relating to gangs
Three sociological theories relating to gangs
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For many youths, gang life is all they know. Many gang members have other family members who are involved in gangs already. In Lauger’s (2012) ethnography of the DFW boyz, he found
In addition, it is important to study the gang dynamic that involve the activities that they are involved in such as drug trafficking, fire arm offences among
In some cases, violence may occur when the gang must shield itself from the threats of others (Padilla 1996: 13). This example supports Padilla’s thesis because these youngsters are unable to connect with other peers and other gangs, so they turn to their gang to defend what is rightfully their
In such ways that there are one ways and recent killing in the city. Also, there are other people being influenced to join a gang or to simply no one. Such as, teenagers. They are being convinced that being in a gang is okay due to the fact they
Youth that don’t have support feel that “with King Lords, we had a whole bunch of folks who had our backs, no matter what. They bought us clothes and shit our momma couldn’t afford and always made sure we ate. It was just cool to have somebody take care of us for a change” (Thomas 168). Some youth living in an unstable home and community environment seek loyalty and belonging within a gang environment. Due to experiences caused by the surrounding environment, many young people feel isolated, and a sense of belonging is offered within a gang.
In Policing Gangs in America, Charles Katz and Vincent Webb discuss the issues that take place within American Gangs today. This book goes into great detail on how the gang officers work and the different kind of atmosphere they work in. Their job isn’t like other law enforcement jobs. It’s one of the more dangerous occupations in the Criminal Justice system. These gang officers focus on how they react to public gang issues.
The gangs have gang wars in which they willing kill other people to protect their territory that they deem as being their
Secondly, today’s society is full of gangs and some of the members are born into that life and do not know any better, similar to the main character in the outsiders. “One of the worst effects of gang membership is the exposure” (Gangs and Children). Most people are either born into the gang lifestyle or have joined because they have nowhere else to turn to. Being in a gang provides people with that sense of family and
When a person grows up with a family that has a gang history they are also more likely to join a gang since it is deeply rooted in the family traditions and values. Individuals also join gangs when they have the necessity to have money. In the article Gang joining in Denmark: prevalence and correlates of street gang membership the author explains how people often join gangs so that they can use their affiliation to make a profit through illegal activities, such as selling drugs and auto theft (Pedersen, 2014, p.56). Pedersen also provides a chart of potential risk factors on why people join gangs. The table 1 demonstrated above shows how street gang members report weak family bonds, and poor parental monitoring (Pedersen, 2014, p.61).
According to the U.S Department of Justice (2001), the reasons that young adults join gangs can be either complex or for personal reasons. In their most recent study, it was found that just like male gang members, females join gangs because of economic problems and because of gang-family involvement and the pressure that comes from that family dynamic (pg. 2). According to Deschenes and Esbebsen (1999, pg. 63), traditionally, it is more common for males to be involved in gang and gang activity versus females. This is because this is the norm in our society and it is the stereotype when it comes to males
There are various factors that take part in a person joining a gang. For an example, a kid might want to join a gang because of their family. The family might not pay attention to the kid and might not show love and affection towards the kid, which causes the adolescent to move on, grow up, and join a gang. Kids join gangs for love. They want someone to take care of
hase increst trumendusley. You know why people join gangs because they are looking for a family(3). that there on family does not even take care of them any more that they will look for a family but when they do join a gang the family just disond him but they do not know the resan does not get me wrong sometimes people just don't understand y they join gangs. but when they do it is not good because they will not get stuff done to fix it but when that try to get out of the gang they can’t because they are in the type of gang that if you try to leave they will kill u to get out but in the reason that they join gang is for food and money that they need for the family or for themselves and if they need the money(3) they can just go get a job but they.
Members of gangs live off of the power they feel they have on their communities and continue to intimidate society through their violent
But there can also be a forced alliance as many can be compelled to join or work for a gang under threat so they don’t have a choice and have to follow orders for the sake of their own lives. Much of whether gangs are seen as a social problem comes from perspective. Society is more prone to seeing gangs in a negative point of view because the social reality is not reaching the ideals and standards of people’s conception of a perfect world. Many external factors such as the media and personal opinions encourage a bad outlook on gangs. The media inflicts fear and depicts gangs to be a threat, which the community looks at in a negative view.
As gang membership entails much criminal activity, it is not surprising to find that leaders change regularly, as members go to prison.?(Curry and Decker, 1998, p. 75). Gang members has been proven to be intelligent and competent resulting in a great threat and resistance to various social institutions including the police and army. The strain theory, most notably associated with Robert Merton (1968) posits that anomie develops in individuals because of a recognized gap between individual?s goals and what they can achieve through legitimate means. In so for these gang members to achieve their financial goals they resort to drugs, arms dealing and trafficking. However does this yearning for these individuals goals allow these youth to enter a petty gang without a set hierarchy or is it that they enter into an organized group or network of gang members?
