Mona Ruiz was raised in the middle class neighborhoods of central Santa Ana in a household of two parents, and seven siblings. Although Ruiz had family members affiliated with gangs, her father despised gang members. Both of them would have talks about how proud he’d be if she furthered her education and became a police officer. He had said to her and her sisters, “gangs promise only shame and danger for a young girl.” (Ruiz 27).
During his time studying these boys, he found that most cases of conflict were resolved without the use of weapon(s), but rather with “harsh conversation”. This observation highly contradicts the typical view of gang members who are commonly stereotyped by their local community and justice system in Oakland. Rios describes how the boys “Conversations often involved references to guns as analogies for resolving conflict and demonstrating manhood”. The fact that most conflicts are dealt with in non-violent ways, highlights the negative role
How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities.
In the chapter, Sante (1991) believed gangs emerged in rapidly growing cities out of the conditions created by multiple waves of immigration and urban overcrowding (1). The book suggest that street gangs emerged from conditions of social disorganization, overwhelming housing, and welfare capacities of the Northwest (2). Government corruptions such as that of the Civil war clause gave rise to gang riots resulting in the deaths of over 15 black men and the disappearance of over 50 more (4). Other explanations given were: marginalization, youth conflict, and defiance (6). Still the book offers more examples like that of racial unity and empowerment, as well as gangs provided lower income tenants protection and financial resources they otherwise
In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one.
People in Chicago fear to go on the streets, especially in certain areas because of the amount of shootings there are each day. Although gang killings in the 1920s were more gruesome and violent, gangs in Chicago have changed for the worse over time because gun violence has been at an all time high the past three years. Gangs have moved from killing other gangs to random individuals, and gangs in the 1920s didn’t kill as often as they do now. Gun violence has been at an all time high the past three years. According to the Chicago Police Crime Report, over 2022, there were 2832 shootings in Chicago alone and in 2021 there were 3555 shootings
Chicago has been one of the most dangerous cities in the world for many years. One of the times that stand out is the Prohibition Era in the 1920s. This Era is key to the history of this great city in many ways. It brought some of the most interesting criminal tactics, and one of the most powerful government entities: the FBI. Al Capone was at the forefront of the socio-political scene of that time.
On November 5, 2015 we had the privilege of having Dr. Charles Katz come into our class to speak about his work with gangs, specifically Gang Truce as a Form of Violence Intervention. For this paper, I will be sharing what I learned about gang truce and its relation to public health by answering several questions involving violence and how it can be used to effect public health. These questions include why gang violence is considered a public health issue; how a gang truce and its mechanics address the public health issue of gang violence; and what are the problems surrounding the gang truce model as a means of addressing gang violence. Gang violence is a large issue that involves the wellbeing of many individuals, from the gang members to
Chicago has had its ups and downs in the cities violent history, but early 2016 to present has been an exception. Chicago increased in homicides by 59 percent in 2016 and it has only become worse since then with a 29 percent increase in just the first few months of 2017 (Asher, FiveThirtyEight.com; Ford, The Atlantic). It is obvious that something needs to be done, but so far there have not been any major changes made or drastic measures taken in order to improve Chicago’s current state of being. Right now, the three most predominant causes are Chicago’s Police, Chicago’s many gangs, and firearms, hand guns in particular. If the city wants to make any improvements whatsoever then it needs act decisively on gangs and guns, start using different
Research has shown that some youth are pulled into gangs by attractiveness and enhancement of status among friends (Baccaglini, 1993). In some communities, youth seemingly do not have a choice to not join a gang because they were born into that lifestyle or its their neighborhood or family tradition (Moore, 1978). Factors for youth gang affiliation range from having delinquent friends to not being supervised at home. Research Problem and Purpose Statement
In the 1990s, gang violence was on the rise, where it was dominantly founded in youths. Anderson, Dyson, and Lee (1996) argued that when a group of African American youths join together and commits delinquent acts and crime, they already categorized as gangs to the American public. This affect and many other affects is what creates an increase in gang violence. Those other factors are socioeconomic status, history, race, gendered, and geographic background. They play a huge role on the creation and formation of gangs.
More often than not, juveniles and those most vulnerable to gang life come from broken homes, many never having had a solid sense of internal belonging and safety. Further, to this some young people have genuine problem at home, which encourages them to turn to what they class as ‘street life’, where they receive the care and attention that being part of a gang can provide. For these reasons gangs are often seen as a surrogate family. By the same token, others young people want to make money and are in search of instant gratification. Further, to this, researchers carried out a long-term study around violence in Chicago neighbourhoods, considering why some youth become violent and use guns.
(B) Some researchers have claimed that families’ positive attitudes towards gangs encourages young people to become involved in gang groups (Maxson and Whitlock, 2002) and promotes intergenerational gang membership (Rutter and Giller, 1983; Thornberry et al, 2003). Studies conducted by Moore (1991) and Vigil (1988) show a history of intergenerational gang membership amongst families in Los Angeles. (Young, T et al
Throughout the 17th-century gangs have been causing havoc in people's life and destroying the society. The National Institute of Justice (2011) has defined a gang as "A group of collective members which create an atmosphere of intimidation among citizens. " Many of these gangs are well organized, using different forms of violence to control neighbourhoods and to conduct their illegal activities. The National Gang Threat Assessment (2011) reports that “Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions.” Street Gangs have caused incidences of violence that is confined in the inner city of many countries.
Teen Gangs “Reports show that gangs are present in every state in the US, where in 1970 they existed in less than half of all states” (Lohmann). Teen gangs are started around the ages of 14 and 15. When teenagers get into a gang, he or she usually gets into the gang to make themselves look resilient or try to blend in, in account of problems at home or simply if one does not feel loved. Teen gangs are becoming a problem in the United States and the effects of these gangs are unnecessary youth deaths, alcohol and drug abuse, in addition to young teenage boys becoming another statistic in today’s society.
