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Inner city gangs in the united states
Youth gangs and theory
Youth gangs and theory
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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.
The Gangs of New York is a book written by Herbert Asbury. It was first published in 1928, and features vivid storytelling of 19th century New York. This book is a treat to read for those interested in learning about New York and its most heinous tales. Herbert Asbury collects a tedious amount of information and compiles it beautifully. Most of the material in the book was taken from newspapers, magazines, police and court records, and also from interviews with criminals and police officials.
Also, from my observation of the author’s interaction with the gang members, he acted in a way, that was out of respect, and in no way condemning of the gang members or their culture. He befriended them and truly showed great interest in their personal lives. He also knew that he couldn’t’ approach these gang members in a hostile manner, as he learned this from a gang member, who stated that “You can’t just walk into the neighborhood and act like a tough guy, you get beat up.” Moreover, I also observed that the author seemed mild mannered, and certainly did not come across as this know it all, arrogant researcher. I can only imagine how scary this entire experience may have been for him, but nonetheless, he allowed himself to “hang around” the gang members as they drove him around their dangerous neighborhood.
Scott Monks introduces the reader to his book about boys and gangs, growing up in an area where it is a norm to be in a gang and leadership in a gang. Introducton: The story of the book, Boyz “r “us deals with Mitchel, (Mitch) and gangs in the 1990’s in Marrickville, an inner suburb of Sydney. The toughness of boys growing up in extreme circumstances, poverty, one parent families, dysfunctional families. Juvenile delinquencies of boys and siblings, assaults and wilful damage.
Anne Helen Petersen, in my opinion, is more than a qualified source of information due to the fact that she graduated from the University of Texas with a PhD in media studies. Currently, as a writer for BuzzFeed News, she dives into the culture of our society along with the “hottest” to “not-est” celebs. Throughout this piece, Petersen continues to bring up factual accounts of past and present “cool girls” and their experiences with their personal life. Nowadays, the definition of “cool” varies from that of a teenager 30 years ago. It can, at times, be a gray area.
When involved in a gang you feel there is no way out, nobody understands your struggle and your chances of dying is 60% more than the average person. It is important to reach out to the youth and Art Rodriguez has done a great job contributing to that cause. The gang life I can relate too. In my experience and in the music that the older homies use to influence their young recruits always explain the struggle that once you are in there is no way out.
In both What’s it Like to be a Gang Member by Bill Lee and We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks, gang life is portrayed as fun and cool, yet dangerous, demonstrating that fun things that look cool, can really be just the opposite. Both the poem and the article show how cool it was to be in a gang, and the fun that gang members have. They also show how dangerous it is and all of the risks there are. In the article What's it like to be a Gang Member, it uses facts and personal experiences and stories to show this. This article shows many dangers of being in a gang.
The narrator and the other gang members have claimed a territory. The fact that they are claiming where they are going to station themselves has officially made them more a gang. Reading this book will help you understand why gang violence is necessary to be taught in schools, so then teenagers don’t end up getting into bad
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.
We Real Cool Teenage dropouts has been one of the most problematic conflicts in the United States. This unreasonable act has disastrous effects. In the poem “We Real Cool”, Gwendolyn Brooks utilizes repetition to emphasize the consequences of discontinuing school.
We often hear that ignorance is bliss, and that if we are unaware of what could go wrong or what is wrong, our lives would be happier and pure. Growing up I always learned that all actions have consequences whether they be positive or negative. This is an important lesson to learn as it makes us more aware of what we’re doing, and how what we do can affect us later in life. It allows us to make informed decisions and lead a healthy life knowing our actions have consequences. In Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem, “We Real Cool”, the idea of ignorance and how making bad life choices can have horrible consequences is explored through Brooks’ use of anaphora, caesuras, and metaphor.
I spent my days outside, every breath was dangerous. I travelled across the country. That’s where I met multiple gangs. Only one turned on me. One regular Thursday, I witnessed a gang committing murder.
The gang serves, as a fulfillment for its members needs by giving them a sense of security. Its members also feel a sense of belongingness by being part of a gang and that may motivate individuals