G.R.E.A.T or Gang Resistant
G.R.E.A.T or Gang Resistant
Trying to address the question of why youth join gangs requires the examination of multiple factors, and preferably, multiple theories. Social disorganization theory explains that the place where an individual grows up matters – disordered neighborhoods lead youth to join gangs. Due to its overemphasis on disorganization within neighbourhoods, however, social disorganization theory is not able to assess every factor that causes youth to join gangs. In this paper, I argue that youth join gangs because of neighborhood influence, poverty, and peer influence. Social disorganization theory is able to explain neighborhoods that lack resources and poverty as reasons for youth gang involvement, but it is unable to account for why gang-affiliated peers cause youth to join gangs.…
A gang is essentially a group of people acting together to do harmful things. This can include murder, destruction of property, stealing, and many other things. Also, gangs tend to have a symbol or ritual where they establish themselves as part of the group, and they…
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.…
Gangs are a group of people within an organization. Often times, partaking in criminal acts and riots. Many younger generations are afflicted with gangs. People are joining gangs to fill avoid or to feel a sense of belonging. Specifically, people of color are joining gangs to have an alliance.…
A serious problem that is going on in the United States is criminal street gangs. The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) defined gangs as “an association of three or more individuals, who members identify themselves by adopting a group identity with a purpose to engage in criminal activity by using force and/or intimidation and such crime are used to enhance or preserve the association’s power, reputation or economic resources” (National Gang Center, National Youth Gang Survey Analysis). The term “gang” is not a new concept as historians have traced this term back to the mid-1700s. However, gang violence has changed and evolved since the first recorded gang activity. Gang…
Why do youth join gangs? An examination of the social factors that motivate youth individuals for gang membership within Western culture Why do youth join gangs? It appears obvious that family, neighborhood and peer groups have an immense impact on the decision for a youth individual to join a gang. Family disorganization, living with a gang member, low parental monitoring and pro-violent behavior can lead to the desire for gang membership and social acceptance among youth. Neighborhood influences, such as gang presence, availability of drugs, and economic barriers, foster the desensitization of gangs to youth individuals.…
Its not uncommon to see juveniles as member of adult gangs. Juvenile gang members who are in adult gangs are typically drug runners or fall guys for the gang. The reason juveniles join gangs can very for different reasons. Some juveniles join so they can avoid being discriminated against or because they are seeking some form of acceptance. Others join because they are seeking someone one to love them, someone to be their role model, or someone to show them discipline.…
Unique Parkinson Bruce Stout Criminology Senior Capstone 04 November 2016 Rough Draft: Youth Involvement in Gangs Gang members are known for being hardened law breakers with little to no regard for human life; to think of an adolescent being a part of a group with such a reputation can be quite unsettling. Youth gangs contribute heavily to juvenile crimes but, instead of being helped and possibly rehabilitated with community-based or court referred programs they are often either given a “slap on the wrist” or they are incarcerated in youth detention centers. After doing research, it is clear that potential juvenile gang members have similar characteristics; from age to family and school life. Incarceration for these youths should be avoided…
The majority of members said they would give up selling drugs for steady employment, even if it meant less money for them. Early programs that only found employment for members of gangs and did no additional methods of intervention were unsuccessful; however, in more recent years it has been found that paid employment does reduce recidivism for offenders who are not incarcerated. Gang Resistance Education and Training, or G.R.E.A.T, has been implemented in a number of schools to teach kids how to avoid becoming gang members as well as supplements a healthy relationship between the kids and law enforcement. G.R.E.A.T was implemented in seven cities and every city showed less numbers of kids in gangs who were part of the programs versus the kids who were not put through the program. In general, education is awareness, and awareness is prevention.…
Gang members influence juveniles by labeling them, they manipulate to them by telling them that without being in the gang they will not get anywhere. They make the gang superior to them and make them believe that they need the gang more than the gang needs them. Discussion The growth of youth gangs around the United States is well documented.…
Introduction Gangs are a major concern in many cities and in the criminal justice field. Although some can be very dangerous, it is often a means of survival for many juveniles. What is a gang? The growth has been known to cause crime, violence and drug problems in places highly populated with gang members.…
Following this, Thrasher (1963) defines gangs as structured entities which are “… originally formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict” (Thrasher, 1963 pg. 46). However, the gang-related activity which is central to many researchers interpretations of gangs is absent from Thrasher's definition. According to Esbensen et al., (2001), Thrasher failed to “…mention delinquent or law violating behaviour as a criterion for a gang” (pg. 108). Thrashers definition is…
In the past, gangs have been viewed as a group of adolescents who have been excluded from a certain groups of individuals due to their behavior, actions or beliefs. As shown before, gangs tend to being an outlet for a family. However, there is a unnumbered account of different attractions that play a role in influencing someone to join a gang, besides providing a family. Jeff Slowikowski a Acting Administrator for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, wrote an article strictly focusing on community outreach, and government policies which lists out key features or attractions gangs pose on certain individuals. As gangs are establish, Slowikowski and researchers have observed that “the gang-joining process is similar to the manner in which most people would go about joining an organization.…
The media has fed myself and others lies about what gangs truly are and what their purpose is. The overarching theme of gangs is that they are dangerous, full of thugs, blood-thirsty, and out to cause trouble. These fears lead to the constant oppression and lack of understanding of gangs. The truth is that they are more complicated than what society and the media has often made them out to be. There are multiple factors that go into making a gang what it is including why they form, the environment that their society and culture create for them, the structure and laws they enforce within the group, and the harsh reality of how difficult it is to leave.…
Gang crime today is no longer just an inner city problem. Gangs are often associated with inner cities where it had its early origins. However, they have now spread like the plague seeping its way into some areas of the U.S where gangs and the crimes associated with them were once unheard of. With now gangs being a nationwide problem it is important for law enforcement nationwide understand how gangs operate, their gang members, and the roots behind this phenomenon. By better understanding gangs it will help us get at the roots of the problem and better combat them.…