Young people growing up in Compton, East Los Angeles, and other communities with high rates of poverty, social disorganization, and anomie are exposed to a number of risk factors that are conducive to gang membership. Those risk factors include "poverty, immigration, discrimination, social isolation, limited educational opportunities, low parental monitoring, drug use," and some degree of positive reinforcement for gang membership (Freng & Taylor, n.d., p. 135). Moreover, gangs have historically been entrenched in Los Angeles, and some contemporary gangs can trace their historical roots to the early 20th century, which imbues those social organizations with a relatively high social status coupled with nostalgia and family pressures. Research has shown that tradition plays an important role in multigenerational gangs in that "the long history of multigenerational gangs, coupled with parents' former involvement with the same neighborhood gangs, brings a sense of tradition to the gangs," ("Gangs, Family, and the Gang as Family," n.d.). Older brothers, uncles, and even parents and grandparents who were or are members of a specific gang might "expect" the young men in the family to become members of the same organization ("Gangs, Family, and the Gang as Family," n.d.). Those expectations may be communicated using direct verbalizations or more subtle social pressures including simple behavioral modeling in which children model their behavior...
Gangs and gang-related activities are serious problems in American society. Books like Snitch, by Allison van Diepen, show that gangs are infiltrating almost every part of America and are leading to the proliferation of drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. However, gangs are not just talked about in novels like Snitch. Gangs are real, as I learned when interviewing a former gangbanger. Gangs have made such an impact on the people
To summarize, research on gangs has shown the gang problem to be increasing dramatically. Gang members list many reasons for joining a gang, including protection, peer pressure, economic needs, social needs, power, because relatives are members, a lack of parental or community support, and social status. According to the research, gangs tend to exist in greater numbers in low-income populations, and in single-parent households. Additionally, research has shown that while
As we use this literature review to explore such issues, it is with the understanding that said issues have contributed to an overall intensification of the problems which are the consequence thereof. That is, the argument will tend to suggest, gang violence is getting worse and more widely spread, due both to the increasing severity of many of America's social problems and to the increased degree of organization and
The Concept of Gang DisciplineAbstractStudies reveal that gang crime has been the leading cause of gang discipline as illegal and non-political violence cases increased drastically. The gangs execute the violence against law enforcement officers, civilians, and the military. Violence has become a massive challenge throughout history because gang crime is carried out at all organizational levels worldwide. The connection between and discipline and gang crime intensified social violence acts despite
641). Both of these concerns present a validity and a legitimacy that would certainly temper the expected growth of such areas of the city, and, if left unchecked, have the potential to overwhelm the benign effects of reduced crime and social and salutary outreach benefits. The most successful way to deal with the former of these issues, is to implement a policy specific to the activity of minors. There is
However, some gang members specialize in multiple criminal activities such as street robbery, human trafficking and drug trafficking. Street Gangs Street gangs are the major concern to parents, school administrators and the communities because they recruit students and the youths across the United States to enhance the growth of gang memberships. Street gangs are the most prevalent type of gangs in the United States because they influence a strong control in
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