Youth Gangs: The ole of the Family in the Formation and Prevention of Youth Gangs
The issue of youth gangs is one of the most serious concerns facing administrators in the UK today. Numerous factors have been identified as increasing the risk of one getting lured into gang activity. The most prominent of these factors include poverty and deprivation, poor performance in school, drug and substance abuse, and crime-prone surroundings. While not underestimating the role of these factors, this study seeks to establish the role of the family as an influencing factor of youth delinquency and gang involvement. It is intent on showing that disorganization within the family unit is the main reason as to why young people engage in gang activities, and the best way to address the problem is by giving families and parents a central role in policy and interventions.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Methodology

Literature eview

Defining a Gang.

The push and pull…...

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References

Alleyne, E. And Wood, J.L., 2010. Gang Involvement: Psychological and Behavioral Characteristics of Gang Members, Peripheral Youth and Non-Gang Youth. Aggressive Behavior, 36(1), pp. 423-436

Bennett, T. And Holloway, K., 2004. Gang Membership, Drugs and Crime in the UK. British Journal of Criminology, 44, 305-323.

Castella, T. And McClatchey, C., 2011. Gangs in the UK: How Big a Problem are they? The BBC News. Available at   [accessed April 13, 2015]http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15238377 

Cox, A., 2011. Youth Gangs in the UK: Myth or Reality? Internet Journal of Criminology. Available at   [accessed April 13, 2015].http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Cox_Youth_Gangs_in_the_UK_Myth_or_Reality_IJC_September_2011.pdf 

Girls join gangs, Bilchik explains, because of "higher levels of normlessness" in her family, and she may have been the victim of incest or rape (older male siblings or an adult male in the household).
Gangs provide a way of "solving social adjustment problems," Bilchik writes. Going through adolescence brings with it "trials and tribulations," and being in a gang gives a young man a sense that he is dealing with those problems but not having to do it alone. In some situations, youth "are intensively recruited or coerced into gangs"; they seemingly "have no choice." There are some youths who are literally born into gangs; the father is in a gang, and hence, they will be too. But the most common "predictors" of membership in a gang are that the boy is from a poverty environment, there is "an absence of biological parents, low parental attachment...and supervision." Also, a…...

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Works Cited

Bilchik, Shay. "Youth Gangs: An Overview." Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved 21 Nov. 2006 at  http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/167249.pdf .

dealt with the issue of youth gangs and their prevalence in USA. Sociologists have been analyzing youth gangs in urban backgrounds for around 70 years. It has been debated that youth gangs were created in accordance with social events, and that gang members were of loose morals or inadequately socialized entities who tied up together to do delinquent activities in groups rather than as separate entities. This paper shall deal with the major components of youth gangs in the country and shall also emphasize on the policy implications to deal with the youth gangs.
Most of the primitive sociologists and enrollers of the media depicted gangs as tangential groups, wherein their actions were taken into accordance as infringement of the folkways, more than obvious infringements of existential laws. Nowadays the word 'gang' portrays impression of law assailing groups more than the old boys which existed around corners. ecurrently the word…...

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References

Curry, G.D. And Spergel, I. "Gang Involvement and Delinquency among Hispanic and African-American Adolescent Males." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Volume: 29 1992: 5-27

Esbensen, F.A., & Huizinga, D. Gangs, Drugs, and Delinquency in a Survey of Urban Youth. Criminology, 4, 1993, pp. 565 -- 589.

Esbensen, F.A., Huizinga, D., & Weiher, A.W. "Gang and Non-Gang Youth: Differences in Explanatory Factors." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 9, 1993, pp.94 -- 116.

Esbensen, F. & Osgood, D.W. "National evaluation of G.R.E.A.T." Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 1997.

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 the large geographical regions. Typically, street gangs are characterized with criminal activities, which include brutality and drug trafficking. Presence of street gangs is broadened with their special relations with DTO (Drug Trafficking Organization) in Mexico, Canada, Columbia and other Central American countries. Type of street gangs includes regional-level street gangs specially known for their drug dealing. Functional regional-level street gangs include Latin Disciples, Florencia, Fresno Bulldogs, Tango Blast and United Blood Nation. Local street gangs also known as neighborhood-based gangs…...

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References

Esbensen, F., and Osgood, D.W. (1999). Gang Resistance Education and Training

(G.R.E.A.T.): Results from the national evaluation. Journal of Research in Crime

and Delinquency 36(2):194 -- 225.

Esbensen, F.A. (2000). Preventing Adolescent Gang Involvement. Youth Gang Series.

Thrasher (1927) correctly identified the reasons for existence and persistence of gangs: "The gangs… offer a substitute for what society fails to give… it fills a gap and affords an escape….thus the gang, itself a natural and spontaneous type of organization arising through conflict is a symptom of disorganization in the larger social framework." (p. 13)
To prevent the youth from getting into the ills of society parents, teachers, the community and the entire nation should get together and contribute their part to it. Parents and teachers should guide the teens and explain to them about the dangers of becoming a part of a gang. The nation should provide their people with more opportunities so as to better their living conditions. Law enforcing agencies should increase their efficiency to create deterrence among the youth such that they would not indulge in delinquency. It is about time that everyone should recognize…...

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REFERENCES:

Winters, Clyde a. "Learning Disabilities, Crime Delinquency, and Special Education Placement." Adolescence 32.126 (1997): 451.

Hagan, J. And H. Foster. "Youth violence and the end of adolescence." American Sociological Review, 66.12 (2001):874.

Jeffery, C.R. "An Interdisciplinary Theory of Criminal Behavior." In Advances in criminological theory (1989):69.

Curry, G.D., & Spergel, I.A. "Gang involvement and delinquency among Hispanic and African-American adolescent males." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 29 (1992): 273.

In the end, the capacity for gangs persist throughout history has shown that they are not merely one-dimensional juvenile delinquents, as they are often portrayed in media. They are also well-organized groups that have the ability to serve social purposes. This also shows that a reason why society still allows them to exist is because of these social functions (Branch 1997).

Nevertheless, media is also responsible for glamorizing the life of the gangsta, which may be a factor in getting adolescent and vulnerable teenagers to join gangs for the sake of being accepted and being part of a family. The outcome of which, if not death or imprisonment, is even if a gangsta decides to become a regular citizen, he will be held with contempt and suspicion by the community.

eferences

Branch, C. (1997). Chapter 1: Since the Days of Knights: Historical and Psychological Overview of Gangs. pp. 9-27. Perseus Books, LLC. etrieved…...

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References

Branch, C. (1997). Chapter 1: Since the Days of Knights: Historical and Psychological Overview of Gangs. pp. 9-27. Perseus Books, LLC. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Education Research Complete database.

Branch, C. (1997). Chapter 2: Developmental Aspects of Gang Membership. pp. 28-43, Perseus Books, LLC. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Education Research Complete database.

Gibbs, Jewelle Taylor. (2000). Gangs as Alternative Transitional Structures: Adaptations to Racial and Social Marginality in Los Angeles and London. Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 8(1/2): 71-99. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Education Research Complete database

Ruble, Nikki M. & Turner, William L. (2000). A Systematic Analysis of the Dynamics and Organization of Urban Street Gangs. The Americal Journal of Family Therapy, 28(2): 117-132. Retrieved August 25, 2009, from Education Research Complete database.

Gang Violence Interventions: Pulling Levers Programs
Gang Intervention

Over two decades of studies have shown partnerships between institutions and communities are required for effective and sustainable interventions to reduce gang violence, but the majority of intervention strategies have taken a reactionary approach, such as increasing policing efforts without addressing the underlying causes of gang violence (Gebo, Boyes-Watson, and Pinto-Wilson, 2010, p. 166). The lack of investment cognitive-behavioral interventions is evident by the prevalence of poorly designed studies investigating the effectiveness of such strategies, which makes drawing conclusions about their value difficult if not impossible (Fisher, Gardner, Montgomery, 2008).

A popular intervention strategy, at least among the law enforcement community, is the 'pulling levers' strategy (Braga, 2008). This strategy is essentially a problem-oriented approach to policing that involves choosing a crime problem, assembling an interagency working group, conducting research on the offender population, and coming up with a list of possible responses (the levers).…...

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References

Braga, Anthony A. (2008). Pulling levers focused deterrence strategies and the prevention of gun homicide. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36, 332-343.

Fisher, Herrick, Gardner, Frances, Montgomery, Paul. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral interventions for preventing youth gang involvement for children and young people (7-16). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 2. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

Gebo, Erika, Boyes-Watson, Carolyn, and Pinto-Wilson, Sayra. (2010). Reconceptualizing organizational change in the comprehensive gang model. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 166-173.

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 there certainly are Caucasian gang members, the majority are Hispanic or African-American.

Methods

The purpose of this study was to determine why teenage males join and participate in gang activities. The independent variables were socio-economic status, peer influence, lack of family support, self-esteem, and protection. The subjects studied were from a high population area near Houston, TX, where the majority of residents were of Hispanic decent. This study examined the relationship between gang activities and the independent variables. This section summarizes the…...

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References

Arthur, R., and Erickson J. (1992). Gangs and schools. Holmes Beach, FL: Learning Publications.

Aumair, M.(1995). Characteristics of juvenile gangs. Youth Studies, 13, 40-48.

Bowker, L., and Klein, M. (1993). The etiology of female delinquency and gang membership: A test of psychological and social structure explanations. Adolescence, 8, 731-751.

Fleischer, M.(1998). Dead end kids. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

20, California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, STEP Act California 186.20 (http://www.streetgangs.com/laws/stepact.html)," as well as any community that has a disproportionate juvenile arrest rate, or a high percentage of gang related criminal activity or a high number of gang affiliated acts of violence.
The Act hopes to reduce crimes of violence committed by gang members by alerting local law enforcement to their identity thereby reducing their feelings of anonymity in committing those crimes.

The Act also supports funding for the purpose of education and offering counseling and other services to current and past gang members in the hopes they will decide to leave the gang and become a productive member of society.

CONCLUSION

The gang problem is a serious one in which the dynamics create a cycle of feeling alone, finding a "family" in the gang membership, committing acts of violence for the gang and becoming incarcerated. The legislative action that is aimed…...

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References

California 186.20, California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, STEP Act California 186.20 (Accessed 11-04-06)

http://www.streetgangs.com/laws/stepact.html

California 213. Punishment for Robbery (accessed 11-04-06)

 http://www.iir.com/nygc/gang-legis/california.htm

George Knox, director of the National Gang Crime esearch Center, teaches law enforcement officers how to search WebPages to pick up on gang member's lingo, territories, and rivalries. He also asserts it is crucial for officers to learn how to "read between the lines" when searching gang members' WebPages. Time on the Web, similar to time on the streets, gives gang investigators the ability to read the hieroglyphics of wall graffiti, and understand Web clues. In addition, "gang identifiers, such as tattoos, graffiti tags, colors and clothing often are embedded in each site" (Gutierrez, 2006, ¶ 27). According to Gutierrez, by studying gang blogs for several hours, one can pick up on subtle word choices, which the gang members consider to be almost holy words. Knox contends that some gangs use the Internet to recruit new members.

Other Efforts to Deal with Gangs

Suppression techniques may be one of the best ways…...

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REFERENCES

ARISE as a gang prevention program. (2007). ARISE Foundation. Retrieved November 6, 2009

from   ARISE foundation. (2009). Retrieved November 6, 2009 from  http://www.ariselife-skills.org/Home/Home.aspx http://www.ariselife-skills.org/Home/Gangs.aspx 

ARISE life-management skills program. A five-year evaluation. (N.d.). University of Miami.

Retrieved November 10, 2009 from  http://www.ariselifeskills.org/docs/pdf/5yearevalexecsummary.pdf

Hybrid Gangs in South Florida
On Public Policy towards Volatile Movements

South Florida has an increasing prevalence of criminal gangs in their communities and it is posing a growing threat to their security and safety. It is clear that in that region criminal hybrid gangs are spreading violence and fear in their neighborhoods making places like their parks unusable, and even bringing corrupt behavior passages to work and school, stopping legitimate businesses consisting of tourism, and bringing down property values. Right now, there are more hybrid gangs in Florida than ever before, with approximately 400 in South Florida alone, as stated by the latest state study. Hybrid gangs are not a new threat, nevertheless the most recent state study displays the problem is getting worse especially in South Florida. In 1991, there were 160 gangs in the south Florida region, but by 2007 the number jumped to beyond 1,500 with more than…...

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The community fails to acknowledge the fact that a hybrid gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community in South Florida. They are not being educated enough to understand. Communities lack acknowledgment of understanding the characteristics of hybrid gangs. They do not understand that Hybrid gang show their uniqueness and unity in obvious ways for instance jewelry, colored clothing, jargon, and signals (Crews, 2014). The lack of acknowledging the problem in South Florida, has caused people to not realize that their key source of income for most hybrid gangs is narcotics which fuels a lot of the violence.

Communities fail to acknowledge Hybrid gang members of all ages and that they are used by the gang in the unlawful sale of narcotics and other illegal actions. It is a wrong belief that hybrid gang only function in less wealthy districts. Hybrid gang exist in virtually every community in South Florida and the communities want to ignore the elephant in the room. South Florida does not acknowledge that the gangs belong to one of two alliances, either "People" or "Folks." They do not even realize that both associations are alive and well on South Florida's streets, and in most circumstances are unpleasant rivals. The "Individuals" hybrid gang all wear their identifiers to the left side, while the "Folks" hybrid gangs wear their identifiers on the right (Roles, 2013). Not knowing these characteristics have caused the community to be in ignorance.

They also do not acknowledge that firearms and gang violence go hand in hand. In one study based on responses from 835 male inmates in 6 juvenile correctional facilities in 4 States, researchers found that movement from nongame membership to gang membership brought increases in most forms of gun-involved conduct. Forty-five percent described gun theft as a regular

Gang Violence Prevention
Gang Violence

Study of each and every society around the world gives us a phenomenon, which indicates at a certain graph related to organized crime. American society has long been associated with such a vice, and there have been many unearths made in this direction. There has been a lot of study and research associated with fact that how these gangs formed and what is the major motivational factor behind such activities. Several studies in this regard have brought forward certain phenomenon which forms the basis of gang formations and majority of which is related to unsatisfied social structure. These gangs are formed in the societies, which are highly disintegrated and have developed into individually functioning micro units. Extensive liberalization of political policies and the general promotion of individualistic approach towards life in most countries have motivated certain individuals in direction of organized crime, and this is a growing…...

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Bibliography

Alleyne, E., & Wood, J. (2010). Gang involvement: Psychological and behavioral characteristics of gang members, peripheral youth and non-gang youth. University of Kent. Retrieved from:  https://kar.kent.ac.uk/27523/2/Gang_involvement_-_Revised2_ACCEPTED_by_Aggressive_bevhavior.pdf 

Donnellan, M.B., Trzesniewski, K.H., Robins, R.W., Moffitt, T.E., & Caspi, A. (2005).Low self-esteem is related to aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. Psychological Science, 16, 328-355.

Dukes, R.L., Martinez, R.O., & Stein, J.A. (1997).Precursors and consequences of membership in youth gangs. Youth and Society, 29, 139-165.

Esbensen, F-A., Winfree, L.T., Jr., He, N., & Taylor, T.J. (2001). Youth gangs and definitional issues: When is a gang, and why does it matter? Crime and Delinquency, 47, 105-130

Gangs
The presence of gangs has always been of concern to society, largely owing to their criminal behavior. The solution to the problem, however, lies not so much in police and legal action, but in addressing, the social causes of gang development. In other words, society has to change social conditions such as poverty, family abuse and neglect, the educational system, the Criminal Justice system, employment opportunities and the nature of social programs in order to prevent the development of criminally oriented gangs. Indeed, society would probably benefit a great deal if it could stop punishing such behavior and, instead, focus on the creation of a social environment that could prevent the development of criminally oriented gangs.

The primary cause of gang development, it has been well established, is poverty. This is because poverty causes economic and social pressures that lead to youth developing a poor image of self and society. In…...

al, 1994). Furthermore, the role of police in a community has to change from merely trying to suppress gang activity to actively trying to prevent gang activity. (Spergel, et. al, 1994).
The proliferation of gangs is one of the most pressing social problems facing modern America. While the primary purpose of gangs may be to engage in criminal activity, they serve other social functions that attract teens as gang members. Each teen who becomes involved in a gang runs a significant risk of not being able to participate in normal, non-criminal society. Therefore, it is important to understand how teens become involved in gangs and to focus efforts on prevention. Although no one theory seems capable of entirely explaining how and why teens become involved in gangs, the various criminological theories and the social disorganization theory are capable of giving insight into why children feel attracted to gangs. These theories…...

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References

Cantillon, D., Davidson, W., & Schweitzer, J. (2003). Measuring community social organization: sense of community as a mediator in social disorganization theory.

Journal of Criminal Justice, 31, 321-339.

Jones, D. et al. (2004). Street gangs: a review of theory, interventions, and implications for corrections. Ottawa: Research Branch Correctional Service of Canada.

National Youth Gang Center. (2006). National youth gang survey analysis. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from National Youth Gang Center

Risk factors are often found in clusters and their cumulative effect may lead to a greater probability that youth will become involved in crime (Garbarino, 1999). As a result then, there are not one or two factors that could cause someone to join a gang, but rather a collection of factors (Garbarino). It is possible then, by eliminating even one factor among the cluster, that programs could reduce gang involvement.
According to Esbensen (2000), many major cities have introduced gang prevention programs throughout the United States over the past 60 years. Community groups, social workers, and law enforcement personnel manage the different prevention programs in a variety of formats. he national government has also addressed the seriousness of gangs; President George W. Bush has proposed that funding be used for a three-year project to help keep youth out of gangs. First Lady Laura Bush will lead the new effort, Helping…...

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The approaches to gang prevention for youth have been developed using a wide variety of methods. Individual counseling can be used for behavior modification to decrease aggression, impulsiveness, and inflexible behaviors (Lipsey, M.W., Wilson, D.B. And Cothern, L. 2000). Family involvement using counseling and providing parental training techniques such as modeling, role-playing instruction, and story-reading have been found to be effective (Seitz and Apfel, 1994). School-based programs are offered across the country, which often follow a rigid curriculum over varying amounts of time. Community-based organizations provide a variety of programs using supervised mentors (McGill, Mihalic, and Grotpeter, 1998) and curriculum designed to teach social skills and problem solving techniques (Wong, Catalano, Hawkins, and Chappell 1996).

Utilizing incarcerated or former gang members can also provide a powerful means to reach out to youth. The Gang Violence Reduction Program of East Los Angeles draws on former gang members to influence and prevent youth gang involvement, which was also reported to be successful (National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention, 1994).

Types of Prevention