The development of gangs over the many years of their existence has caused the growth of different gangs and gang members to all parts of the world. These developing gangs have created major attention and awareness to this culture of life that is becoming so common amongst our communities. There have been said to be around 30,000 or more gangs with at least 800,000 gang members in the United States, whom were fully active in 2007. In 2009, the statics showed 147,000 in the United States prison and detention (jail) facilities and 900,000 living within our communities around the United States. Gangs in America and around the world often bring our young kids into this violent life of guns, drugs, murder, burglary, and many more criminal activities and heinous crimes.…
The United States is riddled with gangs and gang violence. People all over the United States have been trying to come up with solutions to minimize gang violence everywhere. The most troublesome area where gang violence has reached an all-time high is in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The streets are covered with gang violence and drugs in which the gangs make their…
Mallicoat, S. and Gardiner, C. (Eds.). (2013). America’s “War on Gangs”: Response to a Real Threat or a Moral Panic?. Washington, DC: Sage Publication Ltd.…
In the life that we live we are surrounded by a lot of violence. Whether it’s with other people, groups of people or even sometimes domestic violence is all around us. Throughout the years the emergence of gangs in Maryland has been a major source of violence. And to make matters worse the youth are starting to join these gangs at very young ages. But there is something that can be done to stop the spread of even more gang related issues.…
Law enforcement agencies have a variety of tasks at hand that they have to perform; protecting, serving and problem solving are just a few. This research paper will look into how law enforcement responds to gangs, the background on police and gang relationships, and why the creation of gang police units. Multiple studies will be used to show the process some police gang units use in order to address the gangs in their location, other studies will be used to give background and research to show what has and has not worked in the past and present.…
The article I chose to read was titled “The Gang Culture Continues to Grow”. This article explained aspects of the gang culture in America, and how it has grown over the years to be bigger and more violent then ever. Gangs have been around for centuries. The earliest recording of a gang was a gang named rebellious children, which was mentioned in 2 Kings 2:23-25 of the Bible. Gangs have continued to grow over the years, and now are present in almost every bigger sized city in America, and around the world. In the 1980’s, gangs were usually found only on the east and west coasts of America. Now, they are spreading in land to more rural areas to set up shop. This means more violence, more criminal activity, and more problems for the police and the surrounding communities with its law biting citizens. Very rarely will anything good come from gangs, so controlling them and prosecuting its members for crimes committed is a very important aspect of police forces of bigger cities.…
Although initially gangs were mainly in the inner cities they have now become prominent throughout all communities. When a family member is involved in a gang this can entice a young person to want to join the gang as well. “The finding that adolescent gang membership has significant consequences in adulthood beyond criminal behavior indicates the public health importance of the development of effective gang prevention programs” (Gillman, Hill, & Hawkins, 2014). Hopefully by getting programs in place to help the young people fully understand the consequences of joining a gang, as a society we can prevent and close gang activity in our…
3,839 people have been shot in Chicago from January to November of 2016. This makes Chicago’s most pressing issue violence. Violence has to be stopped in order for Chicago’s other problems to stop. As violence worsens, many other problems erupt such as poverty, lack of education, gang activity, child abuse, and police brutality. Gangs are one of the most common causes of violence in Chicago, and finding a way of reducing gang activity would be a great start to get rid of violence. With violence comes abandonment from homes, business places, and schools, increased incarceration rates, lack of education, and many more horrible problems. One of the most common causes of violence is gangs. Once a person who has committed violence gets abandoned,…
When a gang becomes a genuine gang it is at this time when they become a great concern as a threat to society. The formation, expansion and the consequent actions of gangs greatly affect society. It has been consistently found that gangs are normally linked to serious crimes and violence (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). As these gangs become constant and stable fixtures in their community they become a permanent option for marginalized…
Throughout the 1970s urban gangs became better organized and began to expand their activities into surrounding low income communities. This expansion just makes gangs more of a danger to low income kids. Egley and Howell found out that “There were approximately 28,100 active gangs across 3,500 jurisdictions in 2009 according to law enforcement estimates. This represents an increase of more than 20 percent in both indicators since 2002 (Egley and Howell, 2011). These figures are exactly why there needs to be something done about the recruiting of low income kids into gangs. Obviously the problem is only getting worse and will continue to get worse unless something is done about it. The gang members who migrated from urban areas often formed new, neighborhood-based local gangs. These gangs actually targeted kids young and from low income families to gain their trust at an…
Gangs have become an epic problem in the United States. It is very essential important in attempting to solve this problem by fully understanding how we can prevent individuals from joining a gang. A gang is group of three of more people that share a common bond and that are loyal to one another, whether it’s for economic reason or violence. The National Gang Center estimates that 32.4% of all cities in the United States experienced gang problems in 2008 (National Criminal Justice Reference Service, 2010). There are three main reasons why I fell that gangs have impacted the criminal justice system in three phenomenal ways. One, gangs have affected many communities; two, gangs influence our…
The article does a great job at analyzing the different factors that can conclude to gang joining. There is a mutual understanding that some environmental factors could apply to all gang race/ethnicity, but there is a difference in background, for each ethnicity/race, in why they were pushed into joining a gang. This article emphasizes in trying to stop gangs, but they want to understand if a program made for specific race/ethnicities could make a better outcome to prevent gang involvement. The next article focuses on the specifics of violence in percent black and percent…
Gang violence affects about 60 percent of most households. Gang violence have affected many lives over the years. In the cities of Chicago, violence is emerging a lot as the years go on. Gangs in the city of Chicago first started about the 1970’s, with 970 murders in one year. Gang violence occurred within and across racial and ethnic lines throughout Chicago. In the late 1960’s powerful black and Puerto Rican gangs joined forces with political groups. According to a report by the office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, 23% of students aged 12 through 18 are being involved in gangs. About 46% of students who go to public schools are expected to be in a street gang. Large street gangs employ violence to control and expand drug distribution activities. Gangs engage in numerous acts of criminal activities; such as, assault, burglary, drive-by shootings, extortion, homicides, identification fraud, money laundering, prostitution, robbery, and weapon and drug trafficking. Gang violence in Chicago is caused by drill music and gangs; results in families losing lives and decrease in human population; and can be solved by more police forces.…
Most gang problems begin in small cities and rural counties. They may exist more in small cities and poor areas because of kids living condition. They’re more exposed to violent crime and see that lifestyle as something great. The factors can be physical abuse, having access to weapons and drugs, living poverty, having access to weapons and drugs, and lack of success in places such as school. Factors like these are the things that are increasing gangs jurisdictions. “The number of jurisdictions reporting youth gangs increased by 4.1 percent for the Nation as a whole, as shown by comparison of the estimated number of jurisdictions reporting gangs prior to 1996 with those reporting gangs in 1996.” (OJJDP) “Youth gang members were estimated to have been involved in 2,364 homicides in large cities and 561 homicides in suburban counties.” (OJJDP) gangs problem in this country is significant and affects communities of all sizes. According to NYGS surveys, gang problem will continue to grow over the following years to…
The rise in number of youths with gang affiliations can be partially attributed to “the increased incarceration rates of older members and the aggressive recruitment of juveniles in schools” (“2011 National Gang Threat Assessment”). Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions and in several of these, youth gangs are responsible for the majority of the violence. Juveniles are targeted for membership because of vulnerability and susceptibility to recruitment tactics, likelihood of avoiding harsh criminal sentencing, and willingness to engage in violence (“2011 National Gang Threat Assessment”). It is often wondered what leads an adolescent into a life of crime and there are many theories on the subject. Communities from coast to coast are being ravaged by the effects of gang presence. This nation is not only losing an outrageous number of lives to gang-related homicides, but is also experiencing the loss of valuable minds that could have had bright futures, had they not gone down such a dangerous path. Juvenile gang involvement in the United States can be stopped by strengthening families and schools, improving community supervision, and training teachers and parents to manage disruptive…