Youth Gangs Research Paper

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Introduction Juvenile delinquency due to gang relation has increased drastically. Many people fail to realize that gangs have a considerable influence on the decisions juveniles are making. Adolescents are easily influenced by the members of the gangs and manipulated to commit certain crimes. As juveniles they are not mentally and emotionally mature to make such critical decisions, which in turn allow gang members to manipulate and control the youth they recruit. Juveniles become a part of gangs for several reasons, including, gaining protection, governmental, and social issues. Overall, gang engagement has evidently shown to negatively impact the youth. History According to Clark, the history of youth gangs dates back to St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430), who expressed pleasure …show more content…

Throughout time the gang activity in California has become a major issue. In February 1988, a 1,000-member police task ended in the arrest of 121 suspected gang members on charges of gun possession, curfew and traffic violations. Two young men were involved in gang related shootings around the same time. Between 1988 and 1990 California reached a record of 690 murders. According to research, younger gang members are much harder to monitor and control. 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. Members of gangs live off of the power they feel they have on their communities and continue to intimidate society through their violent