Why Do Gangs Exist

Superior Essays
Rebecca Brattole
PSYC-231-01 SP15
Friday 5/08/2015; Friday 5/08/2015
Extra Credit Research Paper
#1
Prof. Garett
Gangs Exist Due to Human Need for Belonging Gangs have existed among us for years and they continue to exist among us today. There are many speculations as to why gangs exist, but the most prominent reason seems to deal with people searching for a group identity, self-worth, or a family-like protection. “The reason that groups exist is because there are outgroups and this prompts people to sort out where they belong in reference to others” (Wood, 2014, p. 715). Some general causes of this are their upbringing is lacking a stable family or social life and they needed to find a social connection. When people are not associated to
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“When youth do not have strong relationships at home, school, or with their community, they can lack a distinct identity. As a result, they turn to gangs for companionship, a sense of family, and an identity” (Goldman et al., 2014, p. 817). It can be hard to be someone that has no social ties or a feeling of belonging. That is a main reason why so many youth turn to and remain within gangs. Without them, they would have no one else and essentially struggle to survive physically and mentally. Realize that everyone has a personal identity, and that identity is often shaped by the people and groups that they associate themselves with. In essence, people who benefit from the existence of gangs are those who feel they have such a social identity. “Uncertainty-identity theory explains that feeling uncertain about personal identity motivated people to identify with a group and in line with social categorization tenets use their group membership to categorize themselves and others according to sets of attitudes and behaviors that epitomize group membership” (Wood, 2014, p.712). With the use of gang membership and the strong influence of ideals from the gang they have joined, people who originally lacked normal social groups to identify with finally found a group that they can attach themselves to. Unfortunately, it is not the best group to join and it usually causes them to begin to behave and think like they do, despite their original morals and

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