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Factors that influence gang membership
The impact of gang membership on offending
Factors that influence gang membership
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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
Most newspaper readers find it difficult to differentiate Mara Salvatrucha from 18th Street gang behavior. Although they may seem different when it comes to philosophy, they certainly have similarities between each other. MS-13 and M-18 are two Latino street gangs structured to run as a business. The influence of illegal immigrant’s population caused a rise in gang activity.
The language is different, yet means the same thing. They have codes that they use with their hands. They stay loyal to the gang or they die, they take care of their own. Every member is well taken care of within the group which is the misconception for some who join. Be in a gang and become a part of a family, a brotherhood, make more money than they would with an average job; for most immigrants in California jobs would be becoming a gardener, moving furniture around, manual labor at factories, etc.
Most of the gang members come from a poor and unstable upbringing. Many of the youth who are a part of the Crips have dropped out of high school and are
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
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
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 the article “Gang Membership and Drug Involvement“ by Beth Bjerregaard, when we hear about gangs we think of murders and drug dealers but are gangs involved in more stuff than we think. Gangs are more likely to sell drugs than non gang members. Gang relationships are very complicated and many members have violent behaviors . Gang memberships and their drug use. Many gangs sold drugs likes heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
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-
References Egley, A., & Howell, J. C. (2012). Highlights of the 2010 National Youth Gang Survey. Retrieved from: https://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/237542.pdf Sanders, R., & Moore, S. (n.d.). Mandatory Waiver for Juvenile Gang Members in Tennessee. Retrieved from: http://www.belmont.edu/burs/pdf/Social%20Work-%20Sanders%20and%20Moore.pdf Searles, K. (2017).
(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.
Gang Definition and Classification Classifying gangs is no simple task and to begin you must thoroughly understand the definition and requirements of being classified as a such. There are multiple definitions of a gang, according to The Modern Gang Reader but the one I will focus on is “A street gang is any durable street-oriented youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of its group identity.” Now that the definition has been identified it needs to be broken down further to clearly differentiate why this definition is essential.
The differences between youth gangs’ back then and modern youth gangs seen now are the members are not only better armed but also noticeably more violent and cruel. Youth gangs are taking over the streets and leaving their mark on communities. Gang members have instilled fear in society causing many people to be afraid to fight back when being targeted by gangs because they feel that it would be more dangerous to “test” the members. They feel that the only opinion they have in surviving is allowing the gang members to do as they please.
Gang violence has been a problem in society for several of years and is a growing problem each and every day. The youth that is involved in gang violence will have numerous effects upon them that will come soon or later when associated with a group of thugs. Children and teenagers if they still go to school when accompanying a gang, they face the heightened risk of dropping out of school; teen parenthood; be victimized by another gang ; abuse drugs and alcohol; commit petty and violent
Most gangs are made up of young males that are of a similar background and have a desire of acquiring
