Gangs of Youth Essay Example for Free

Gangs of Y egressh EssayTattoos, graffiti in the walls, foul language, drugs, guns and violence ar the to the highest degree favorite notions for route familys. route gangs be prevalent incessantly since the 19th century, when at that place was a surge of immigrants in the United States. They argon an identity, a timidityful group of people who organizes a variety of delinquent activities. though gangs sire been widely used in commonplace culture, as observed in the invention of slang words, baggy pants, hip-hop and rap music, they are a threat to society. Gangs are not really cool as what is beingness portrayed in our television bounds.The following questions, which were taken from GWC, Inc. 1997, provide us around ideas on how to assess whether our confederacy or tame day is suffering from severe gang activity. 1. Do you sport graffiti on or near your civilize? 2. Do you have crossed out graffiti on or near your school grounds? 3. Do your students wear colo rs, jewelry, c jackpothing flash clear signals or display other(a) behavior that may be gang related? 4. Are drugs available in or near your school? 5. Has thither been an increase in physical confrontations or incidents of threats, abuse, or intimidation in or near your school?6. Is on that point an increasing presence of weapons in your community of interests? 7. Do students use beepers, pagers and cellular phones? 8. Has in that respect been a drive-by shooting in your neighborhood? 9. Have you had a show-by or a display of weapons near your schools? 10. Has there been an increase in the truancy rate and/or daytime burglaries? 11. Are there an increasing number of racial incidents in your community or school? 12. Does your community have a history of gangs? 13. Is there an increasing presence of informal social groups with unusual names?If most of the answers are yes, hence your community or school is definitely in need for an effective gang pr heretoforetion program. But forwards doing so, I willing first discuss around the proliferation of street gangs, its history and its impact to the society particularly to the youth. I will also provide recent reports on the current statistics in any(prenominal) areas then I stop now dwell on the useful measures on how to fight and avoid gang activity. What are gangs? The Childrens Health cyclopedia n. d. mentioned that there are a couple of definitions of gangs, specifically, youth gangs.In general, they are a loosely-organized association who were formerly alienated by the society. They are headed informally by a leader. The members are usually between ages 12 to 24 and they have a gang name to identify themselves. The members of the gang share something in common in them. Usually they have the same race or ethnicity, same social class or some characteristic that are usually defined by some form of a symbol, usually represented by tattoos, graffiti, c litterhing or even hand signals. According to Safe youthfulness 2007, gangs are most of the time male- get the hangd and have their own territory.Such male members have experienced a loss of a male understand at home. For females, they often cure in gang activity during family crisis or drug addiction. They have been characterized to be run-away-from-home youths. what is more, another characteristic of these gangs is that they may either be a subsidiary of a larger group of gangs. Some gang organizations have their respective mother groups whom they share similar attri andes and culture. It is also common for such gangs to have their own set of rules and codes of conduct. Some even have weird rituals of their own.They treat each other as kin or family since in the first place, they were organize because they felt some kind of alienation with their respective lives. Gangs lav compensate and nurture the members a sense of belongingness. They also can gain power and influence especially when they stand by to fight for their own closeeavors. They gain confidence and self-worth especially when gang members are promised to be given auspices or better yet a high(prenominal) social status. They do organized abuse activities in order to get what they want. These activities are violent and nature and such can threaten a lot of lives.According to the U. S. segment of Justice, groups must be compound in criminal acts before they are deemed to be called as gangs. Such acts, according to Johnson and Muhlhausen 2005, can falsify from extortion, robbery, smuggling, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and defending their territory. Basically, there a two types of gangs, city and urban/rural gangs Green, 1999. In cities, gangs are situated in a grouchy turf or hood, unlike in urban/rural areas, gangs are dispersed and some needed to travel in order to be with their members.According to Green 1999, there three indicators of gangs saggin, flaggin, and braggin. Sagging is manner of dressing. Gangsters are usually we aring loose clothes like baggy pants and caps that are tilted in a different manner. Some gangs have a unique style, which makes them distinct from other gangs like hairdos and leather jackets. Flagging is the show of colors. Gangs have a branding color which represents them. Last is bragging, which is self-explanatory. They brag intimately being gangsters though they are truly secretive about their activities. HistoryJohnson and Muhlhausen 2005 stated in their paper, North American Transnational Youth Gangs Breaking the Chain of Violence that youth gangs can be traced even as far as the end of American Revolution. They said that such violence was heightened during the immigration and population shifts during the early 1800s, 1920s, 1960s and in the latter 1990s. Though in Europe, gangs are already popular in the 14th Century. It was describe in the 1999 National Youth Gang Survey that gangs in the United States are composed of 47 share Latino members, 31 portion African-Ameri cans, 13 percent Caucasian, 7 percent Asian and 3 percent others.These can traced from the 10 to 12 million undocumented Hi pass overic aliens in 1970s and 1990s. The most popular Hispanic groups are Calle 18 and Mara Salvatrucha. They were the first gangs to accept members from other nationalities as well as recruit outside their own territory. Outside means that even the youth, as young as elementary and middle schools are involved in the use of weapons, thieving money and selling drugs. The GWC, Inc. 1997 believed that gangs use children because if ever they are caught, they will not go to jail.It was also said by Johnson and Muhlhausen 2005 that during the 19th century, Irish and Italian street gangs were immensely concentrated in the East Coast cities, while African-American gangs were mostly in Los Angeles especially during the 1960s and 1970s. When you migrate, most probably the neighborhood the family is candid are much disorganized, thus leading to exposure to crimes and gang activities. Statistics As shown by the GWC, Inc. s Gang Guide 1997, the FBI thinks that there are around 400,000 youths who are members of gangs in the United States.Moreover, the Journal of American Medical Association believes that 94 percent are active gangs in the cities. Such cities according to the American Street Gang can include up to 40 different gangs. In the Childrens Health Encyclopedia, in between the years 1996and 2001, over 90 percent of the largest cities in America are report to have gang activities in their area. Between 1998 and 1999, it was studied that there was a 27 percent increase in gang membership in the suburban areas while 29 percent in rural areas.Gangs do not only involve the minorities like the Latinos or the African-American, all nationalities or ethnic groups, despite economic class and geographical setting are extremely involved in gangs. Earlier we said that males dominate that gangs and females are only involved usually when she experiences family problems and had run away from home. It was discovered by A. Campbell in his question that female gang members have experience a larger risk in gang membership. According to Johnson and Muhlhausen 2005, the reported gang activity in 1970 was 270, by 1998, it increased by whopping 800 percent with 2,500 cities.In a comparative study of gang members and youths-at-risk in Cleveland, it was found that 44. 7 percent of gang members were reported to committing auto theft, as compared to 4. 1 percent of non-members. Moreover, 40. 4 percent of gang members said that they have participated in drive-by shootings, while only 2. 0 percent of non-members have done so. Further more(prenominal) than, 34. 0 of gang members have been reported to intimidate or assault crime victims or witnesses, compared to none from the non-members. 72. 3 percent of gang members acknowledged that they have assaulted rivals, compared to 16.3 percent. More so, 17. 0 percent of gang members have committed rob bery compared to 2. 0 percent of non-members. We can conclude in this study that being involved in gangs exposes one to be more at-risk even greater than those who are already at-risk yet non-members of gangs. According to Safe Youth 2007, recent studies reveal that member of youth gangs join before they reach 18 years old. In contrast to the notion of the public, such members do not commit to a long-term membership. In a span of one year, only one-half to two-thirds remain in their gang.To heighten our claim earlier that gang members are more at-risk than at-risk non-members, Howell and Decker 1999 revealed that youth gang members have higher drug usage rate than non-gang members. Moreover, Battin-Pearson, et al. 1998 said that delinquency rates are higher for gang members, which includes the use of illegal drugs, display of violent behavior and even the rate of being arrested. Between 1989 and 1995, it was reported by the United States Departments of Education and Justice that the percentage of gang activity doubled.This heightens the strong correlation of gangs with the proliferation of guns and drugs inside the school campuses. However, there is contradiction with the study. Chandler, et al. 1996 believed that gangs have not been the cause of victimization inside the schools although it was found to contribute to the dangerous atmosphere. Presence of gangs in school has even brought protection to students who are part of the minority groups. It was reported in the 2002 and 2003 National Youth Gang Surveys that 4 out of 10 large cities in the United States have experienced 10 or more gang homicides Egley, 2005.In Los Angeles and Chicaga, half of the reported 1,000 homicides were gang related. This also implies a frequent use of firearms. Risk Factors In the study of Johnson and Muhlhausen 2005, if the following risk factors increase, it was believed that the youth has higher probability of joining a gang marginal neighborhoods, family, academician problems , peer groups, drugs and violence. Marginal Neighborhoods involve a more dangerous environment and most of these neighborhoods are highly exposed to drugs. Johnson and Muhlhausen 2005 said that those who are living in these neighborhood are thrice more likely to join gangs.More so, such neighborhoods who are highly exposed to drugs like Marijuana, youths are 3. 6 likely to join a gang. Youths with families headed by a single-parent are 2. 4 more likely to join gangs than those families who are headed by a complete set of parents. As mentioned earlier, those males who missed a father figure will seek out such companionship in gangs. More so, with a broken family, it is much easier for a child to acquire belongingness and love from a gang. However, as long as families promote violence, and there is low parental care and love in the family, a youth will be highly misguided, leading to gang membership.Academic problems lead to higher gang membership because as already mentioned earlier gangs can lift low self-esteem individuals. Since academic failure contributes to low self-esteem, such youth are 3. 6 times more prone to join the gangs. When there is low commitment to study in school, a child is more likely to join a gang, since it can mean that he or she prefers other activities. Such activities as we know can be more violent in nature, and may or may not be done within the school premises. Peer groups are great motivators for the youth to join a gang.When you have friends who are members of such gangs, you are also twice as likely to join too. Peer compel is sometimes rattling hard to resist because friendships are broken if you cannot do a favor for a friend. We know that people do need companionship especially in school and it is knotty if we do not have friends around. They are a source of protection as well. Drugs and violence can distinctly initiation gang membership. Youths who already use Marijuana, are 3. 7 times more prone to join gangs. This is d efinitely true since where else can you get such drugs but from those gangs.To be able to get it easier, one should join them. Moreover, it was revealed that if the youth has been engaged in a violent behavior before, they are 3. 1 time more prone to join the gangs. Lonnie Jackson 1998, the author of Gangbusters Strategies for prevention and intervention also provided a list of risk factors. It includes again the exposure to crime and violence during the plastic years. Role models from a particular ethnic group can also increase the likelihood to gang involvement. It also includes wishing of parental control.Moreover, the lack of equal economic opportunities can also be the reason for gang involvement. The lack of social and recreational activities for the children, few employment opportunities and unmet employment qualifications and skills can sparkle gang involvement. Youth enticed to power, money and drugs are evidently more likely to join these gangs. Immediate gratification is very attractive for some youths and this encourages them to join the gangs. Moreover the lack of sense of belongingness and security, as well as powerlessness will lead the youth to those gangs.Another source of gang influence would be the popular media. Though there is no substantive evidence, violence seen in films, even song lyrics from hip-hop or rap music can increase pressure in joining gangs since gang life are usually being portrayed with such glamour and power that even kids imitate them. Kids these days are dressing up like gangsters even though they are not, and it can be reason why they join gangs. They think it so cool. Impact of Gangs in Schools Gangs in school will obviously increase the violence in schools, though we cannot directly blame the gang members for them.According to Trump 1993, students enrolled in schools with evident gang presence are twice more likely to fear of being victims of violence, than those whose schools without gangs. In an interview of Boy le 1992, he said that gang members perceive schools as evils and forms of incarceration. They see school as a place for gathering and hosting violent activities. What is worse is that, even gang members who are already suspended or kicked out from school can be found in the campus with their fellow gang mates. They use school as a form of a hang-out place quite than a place for learning.Burnett and Walz 1994 said that gangs can broaden its reach even influencing the youth in gang-free schools, causing a wider influence and greater involvement in criminal activities. According to Chandler et al. 1998, youth gangs are correlated with issues in delinquency especially during elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics 2005 have reported that most students in urban schools are most probably report the existence of street gangs in their school with 31 percent, compared to suburban students and rural students with 18 percent and 12 percent respectively.A ccording to Thompkins 2000, security officers, security cameras, and even metal detectors can serve as a means of deterrence, yet these causes fear among the people on school, knowing that such security was brought about by the heightening of gang activity in the school. Impact of Gangs on its Participants Most of the gang members are already involved in delinquent acts even during the time that they are not unflurried members of the gang Burnett and Walz, 1994. Most likely, such delinquent acts will be heightened.They will be frequently involved in drug abuse, as well as violence against their neighbor and a lot more. at that place are many consequences of being involved in such gangs. If ever they do not follow the rules of their gang leaders, most likely they will be victims as well, facing more punishments than those who are non-members. Also, if the gangs were discovered, they can be arrested and put into detention. When they grow up, they can be put into prison. Gang life di storts a lot of healthy relationships especially if it is for long term.The gangs have so much power over their members and can limit their own capacities. It can deprive them their own ambitions and aspirations. They mould chaos to the community and it can break families. It is more likely to happen that a youth can be dropped out early in school. When this happens, there is less chance for the child to be employable in the future, thus increasing unemployment rate together with crime rate. Moreover, it can also bring about early pregnancy or teen motherhood, which brings about an unstable family and lack of parental care.We already discussed earlier that such families are more likely to piss delinquent children. Thus, we see a cycle going on in here. If you expose your child to an unstable environment, most likely, he or she will strike it in the future. Economic impact of youth gangs There are in fact economic costs associated to youth gangs just like any other crimes. Medical expenses are actually large, especially to those who were victimized. In a year, $655 billion are spent in the United States because of crimes and it was believed that a huge amount can be attributed to gangs Fight Crime Invest in kids, 2004.In Los Angeles Hospital trauma center, it was revealed that $5 million was spent to the 272 gang-related gunshot victims. It was also reported that youth gangs turn to be entrepreneurial organizations, involving hard core drug operations in various numbers of states. An example of which is the Black Gangster Disciples Nation Burnett and Walz, 1994. It actually has a hierarchy with several(prenominal) officers with specialized jobs. They have a chairman, with board of directors who are in stick in the drug trafficking in their areas.They have regents, who are in charge in the drug supply as well as in overseeing the drug stores. They also have area coordinators, who are in charge in collecting revenues from several spots. They have enforcers w ho are like their law of nature and punish members who cheat. Last are the shorties, or the interns who composes the staff in the drugs selling spots. So evidently, such gang is already very organized and they have climbed their way up because of their wider influence and power. How to fight gang activity Gang activities are very serious issues that need to be addressed.A lot of youths are being misled to another path, damages their lives, the lives of the people around them as well as their future. But, its never too late to pull them out of their misery and prevent those kids who are about to be victimized. The National Education Association developed a Safe Schools Framework in order to aid schools and communities to pinpoint the gangs in their areas Safe Youth, 2007. They are recommending cooperation among schools, families and communities in developing strategies in alleviating gangs in their areas, as well as promoting safety and security in the campus.We adopt three componen ts of the framework prevention, intervention and suppression. Under prevention, we should aim to prevent the youth in getting involved in gangs, as well as in gang-related activities. This includes heightened awareness and education of the negative consequences of joining gangs, and testimonials from former gang members discouraging them to be involved. By intervention, we mean that we bring to pass possible alternatives for the youth in terms of their after-school or extra-curricular activities.More so, we provide counseling for those who are already in trouble, and promote part-time jobs for students. By suppression, we should use adequate measures in identifying, isolation, punishing and rehabilitating criminal offenders Safe Youth, 2007. In order to fight the existence of gangs in the schools, we should promote policies like adapting a school uniform, implementing curfews to reject delinquent activities at night, encouraging students to be punctual, as well as enforcing strict policies on underage drinking and bring of deadly weapons in schools.During the 1930s, the stops Area Project has already started in bringing about recreational activities and self-improvement campaigns in order to convert gang members Johnson and Muhlhausen, 2005. However, it only increased crime since they treated as gangs as a group. In other states, they have strict anti-gang laws but were not effective in enforcing laws. In states like California, atomic number 25 and Virginia, they have established gang task forces but it was observed that their success greatly relies on the sustainability of their efforts, a variety of strategies and strong political will.It is very difficult to do that for all the states. The U. S. Department of Justices Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has recommended several strategies like after-school activities, dropout prevention, parent-training programs, efficient introduce of former offenders, job programs and many others. Ho wever, many failed to reduce delinquency Johnson and Muhlhausen, 2005. Other programs were also seen to be ineffective, like the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) which used police as instructors in schools on the dangers of gang participation.During their evaluation, the program has no significant effect on gang membership Johnson and Muhlhausen, 2005. Moreover, the on-the-job training provided by the Department of Labor had produced counterintuitive results. Instead of preventing the disadvantaged youth, it actually increased the arrests related to gang activity. It was suggested by Johnson and Muhlhausen 2005 that the following strategies must be used. First, they should foster stable neighborhoods. It is very important for the government to ensure the safety of the environment of the people.They know that an unstable neighborhood produces delinquent activities, thus by enforcing policies that could enable a more untouchable neighborhood will be of great help in red ucing gang membership. Second, they need to reduce illegal immigration. We know for a fact that gangs were formed due to alienation and a sense of discrimination from the society. By requiring stricter requirements for labor and immigration, we are also ensuring the safety of these people and help the rise of gangs in the country.Third, there should be strategies to deny time for gang activities. Parents should be aware that they play a great role in forming the behavior of their children. They should help their children in avoiding being influenced by those groups by telling the possible dangers of gang membership. Fourth, there should also be an emphasis on the prevention on the individual. Counseling programs must be strengthened, helping students to overcome their family problems and encourage them to find happiness in other things, instead of resulting to drugs and violence.Last is to ensure that the suppression is a product of collaborative efforts of several different agencie s. An enforcement of a policy will not be successful if people do not have a general consensus about it, or do not cooperate. Strategies must also be simultaneously be implemented in order to make the campaigns against gang violence to be systematic. We still have a long way to go in eliminating gang violence. However, if we start now at our own homes, we can prevent these children from being involved in such gang activities. There are various tools to assist them. We need to focus on the sustainability and effectiveness of those tools in order to ensure success.BibliographyGang. (n. d. ). Encyclopedia of Childrens Health. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from Answers. com Web site http//www. answers. com/topic/gang Howell, J. (2006). The Impact of Gangs on Communities. NYGC Bulletin. Retrieved April 22, from IIGC Website www. iir. com/nygc/publications/NYGCbulletin_0806. pdf. Green, F. (1999). Street Gangs in School. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at Keys to Safer Schools Website http//www. key stosaferschools. com/Newsletter%20Vol.%208%20pg%203. htm. Safe Youth. (2007). Gangs fact sheet. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center Website http//www. safeyouth. org/scripts/facts/gangs. asp. Burnett, G. and G. Walz. (1994). Gangs in the Schools. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at Eric Digests Website http//www. ericdigests. org/1995-1/gangs. htm. Johnson, S. and D. Muhlhausen. (2005). North American Transnational Youth Gangs Breaking the Chain of Violence. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at Heritage Website http//www. heritage. org/research/urbanissues/bg1834. cfm.