Gang Activities Among Youth Essay

In 1990, the city of Phoenix, Arizona was experiencing an increase in gang activity among their youth. Adolescents were engaging in illicit activities such a drug dealing, which often caused issue with other gangs and led to violence. The Phoenix Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) created a program in order to prevent future youth from joining gangs. The program was part of ATF’s Project Outreach and it received funding from the federal government. In addition, the Phoenix Police department also provided resources to create the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT). It has been noted that gang issues in the 1980s were extremely prominent across the majority of America’s inner cities, which brought violence and other illegal activities.
Furthermore, in the years prior to the creation of the GREAT program, America’s inner cities were experiencing a substantial increase of gang membership among the youth living in impoverished …show more content…
Adolescents who join criminal gangs are often continuously exposed to violence, drugs, and other negative behavior because they reside in socially disorganized neighborhoods. In addition, many youths learn deviant behavior from their peers who engage in criminal activities. The theory of differential association notes that deviant behavior is often acquired and retained when an individual continuously interact with delinquent peers, especially those who are active gang members. It has been discovered that there is a positive relationship between being extremely poor and being involved with the gang culture. Esbensen et al. (2012), mentions many other reasons why such a large number of youth join gangs such as lack of commitment to education, poor grades, not having authoritative parents, and low attachment to conventional activities such as extracurricular programs in