Teen Gang Violence In America

Superior Essays
There are about 21,500 documented gangs and over a million documented gang members (Teen Violence Statistics). About 40% of these members are under the age of 18 (Johnson). This gang violence affects every child that is in a gang or not. These gangs take in a lot of different kids of adolescence for many reasons. These kids feel the need that they have to be a part of a gang because their friends are doing it too, but there are many ways to prevent them from joining. Gang violence in America has been a problem for years and has only grown since in the US. On one hand some say that teen violence has decreased. “Chicago reported to be a site of ‘super gangs,’ there was a 35% decrease in the reported number of violent crimes in between …show more content…
According to Dr. Sarah Kelly, a Nurse at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey “About 30% of cities with more than 2,500 people have reported problems with gangs, and more than 80% of cities with more than 50,000 people have reported these problems,” (Zietz). Most people, in a gang or not, are affected by these problems. The most heavily impacted ethnicity were African American teens from the ages of 12 to 19. The violence created throughout the teenagers households were more susceptible in a community with more gang violence. Many teenagers think of gangs as a family they don’t have at home. There is not a good relationship at home so they look these gangs. “Gangs often make promises to give unconditional support, and to become the ‘family ' they never had,” (Why People Join …show more content…
Many programs spent their time finding kids in schools or in jail that are being victimized by a gang. They help them have a second chance in their way of life each and every day. “Forty-nine youths identified as at risk for gang involvement participated in the A Second 's Chance program; 37 (76%) were male and 12 (24%) were female” (Hughes). A trauma leader talks to the mother and father about the situation and talks to the child about the deaths they have witnessed throughout this process. They give the child a survey to complete that ask them if they want to be in a gang and what they did to join. This survey gives them a sense of what they are going to experience from other children in this process. They give the children the chance to give up names of others in the gangs to help them too. At first, the children are invulnerable, but the program tries make them understand that this is what needs to happen for the better of everyone. About 20 percent of gang members die when committing a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    2015; Reiboldt 200; Young, Fitzgibbon, and Silvestone 2014). In fact, Reiboldt (2001) demonstrates that most findings concerning youth gang involvement establish more gang presence within poor urban communities. As well, research done by Young et al. (2014) demonstrates that one out of every ten youths who lives in poverty will join a gang, supporting that youth gang involvement is more common among youth living in poor neighbourhoods. Social disorganization theory explains that this occurs due to the disorganization and disadvantage within the transitional zone (Lilly et al. 2015).…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Poor parenting as well as living in the wrong neighborhood can ultimately lead a young adult to joining a gang. However, many young adults join gangs to feel like they belong somewhere and that they have a family that has their…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The most common definition of a youth gang involves self-formed group of young teens imbedded within a structured organization. The group is distinctly recognizable by those in their community, tend to have a name, and have a negative association with crime (Klein 1971). The group adheres to a strict agenda and often partakes in criminal behavior to reach a set of goals outlined within the guidelines (Thrasher 1927). Additionally, as determined, youth gang activity is contingent on an individual’s socio-economic status, race, and neighborhood (Klein 1971). However, given that such factors are never standard across all communities, it becomes difficult to place every individual into a standardized definition of gang members.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gangs in Louisville, KY and how to Stop Them. This is the issue we are having on our fair city. There have been some incidents in downtown Louisville involving flash mobs of teens aged from 13 to 19 years. Assaulting persons and robbing them.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even when children come from a stable family, they still may affiliate with gangs. In high school, countless students in Saint Louis are exposed to gangs. Whether they are exposed to them in high school or in the streets of the city, gang members fill the city and the youth is not…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Violence In Brooklyn

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In an article review by Brien et al. states that, “Given the close association between gang participation and violence, there is significant overlap between risk factors and developmental trajectories for involvement in violent and gang delinquency”. They create fear and violence within neighborhoods, transport in drugs, destroy property, involve youth in criminal acts, and drive out businesses. Gangs can attract teens away from school and home into a life of violence. One of the dangerous aspects of gang violence is its often unselective and…

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The most recent estimate of more than 30,000 gangs represents a 15 percent increase from 2006 and is the highest annual estimate since 1996. Gang violence in America has been a major problem in this country which affects several communities and several major cities all throughout America. If gang violence awareness can be more available to areas where it is most popular and holding seminars and informational classes about what the gang life can cause, then there will be a decrease in gang related activity. In America, there has been a rapid increase in gang violence and gang related activity which affects the countries major cities. While larger cities and suburban counties expectedly report higher numbers of gangs, there is also considerable variation within each area type.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Inner City Gangs

    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The inner city youth of America is recently being faced with immense adversity, experts estimate that every day thousands of teens in inner city areas are being recruited to join neighborhood or city wide gangs. I am calling on the members of the Rich People of America to help resolve some of the main issues that involve teenage gang related activity. According to helpingyouthgang.com around eighty-five percent of male juveniles in detention facilities are there for gang related activities. The magnitude of inner city teens facing frequent harassment and pressure to join gangs is more prominent in society today than ever before. Tragically, most will wind up succumbing due to fear for their lives or families.…

    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Spergel, I. A. (2007). Reducing youth gang violence: The little village gang project in Chicago. Rowman…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These type of juveniles will join gangs because of the attractiveness of what the gang brings to their status in school or society. Gangs are looked at by juveniles as families that will help support, protect and even nurture them during their adolescents. Most of the time these type of juveniles will be missing this from the home life they are in now. Females that join a gang even have a high risk of being sexually used by its male members but, the females will go through this just to have what they are missing from home. The gangs will recruit the juveniles by making them feel cool within their community and they will also use physical and psychological intimidation.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When juveniles are seeking a sense of belonging and family that they might not have in their homes they sometimes reach out to gangs to feel like they are a part of a family (The, 1991). Gang activity almost always leads to crime. Crime in Memphis has seen a decline overall since 2006, however of those committing crimes in 2009, 54 percent of the offenders were juveniles with the majoring having connection to gang activity (Other youth topics, n.d.). In 2011, there were 147 murders in Memphis (“Memphis police explain increase in murder rate,” 2012). Of those, the suspect in 48 percent of those murders was under the age of 25, while 25 percent of the victims were also under the…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Gang Violence Analysis

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gang-related studies conducted in America strongly suggest that how youth gangs are defined will have a major practical impact on…

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It has been noted that “Youth gangs in the U.S. have existed since at least the 1870s,” (Mosher, lecture gangs). Since the establishment, gangs have grown across the globe. In the fourteenth and fifteenth century, gangs “robbed, extorted and raped,” (http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Wh-Z-and-other-topics/Youth-Gangs.html). Gangs have evolved into street gangs from the violent past. Although some gangs do participate in violence, violence is not their sole purpose.…

    • 2274 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A youth typically begins hanging out with gang members at age 12 or 13 (even younger in some instances) and joins the gang between ages 13 and 15”(Slowikowski). Slowikowski quotes many turn to gangs for “protection, money, respect, fun, or because a friend” was in a gang. While these are common attraction of gangs that pose a appeal, these reasons only scratches the surface of how gang are formed. Based on extensive research by Slowikowski, the formation of gang have been categorized in 4 groups: Ethnicity, race, gender, and background. By illustrating demographic aspects of a person we are given a better…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Teens join gangs for a variety reasons from families, schools, friends, to what city they live in. Gangs are everywhere, even some of the nicest cities. Peer pressure, family, protection, and boredom are the main reasons I noticed that teens join gangs. In reflecting upon my own adolescence and witnessing teens joining gangs, I believe that all these reasons are closely associated. It seems as though gangs have no boundaries it affects the poor and the rich, small towns, suburbia, and some of the wealthiest cities.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays