Gangs are a big part of today’s culture and are greatly influenced by younger adults. Children learn from their parents, friends, and family members on ways to behave. If children look up to their family members and friends then they would want to do what is accepted and won’t want to be left out. Children may view gang life as a way to make friends and as having another family, but they might not understand what a gang really does and what it means to be involved in one. The definition of a gang according to an online dictionary source is, “a group of youngsters or adolescents who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, especially such a group engaging in delinquent behavior” (dictionary.com 2015). Children tend to look up to the people that are closest to them and take advice from influencing individuals such as parents, friends, cousins, or relatives. Children tend to join a gang at an early age. According to the article, A Comparison Between Mexican American Youth Who Are in Gangs and Those Who Are Not, “The general age range of gang members is between 12 and 24 years, with the modal ages of 17 and 18 years” (Tapia 2009). Family and friends have a big impact on a child’s life in leading into gang life. This is important to study because of the various factors of why children choose to join a gang. The FBI is trying …show more content…
According to An Empirical Investigation of Social Bonds and Juvenile Delinquency in Hong Kong, “maintains that delinquency occurs because of weak social bonds. The stronger the social bonds of an individual to the conventional society, the less likely he/she will engage in activities that are against societal norms” (Chui, 2012). The act of a child being pressured into a gang is a form of social bonding. This, however, is a negative form of bonding because affiliation with a gang is considered a negative behavior. This negative form of behavior involves major crimes and inappropriate relationships. It also includes bonding to the family because family members are usually involved in a gang before the child. In the article, Investigating Friendship Quality: An Exploration of Self-Control and Social Control Theories’ Friendship Hypotheses Hirschi argues that, “delinquent behavior is a result of a weakening or absence of one or more of the elements of the social bond. Actors who are attached to others, committed to conventional goals, involved in conventional activities, and who believe in general conventional values will be constrained from committing delinquent behavior” (Boman IV, 2012). Children who hang out with friends who are part of gangs and do deviant things tend to involve the non-gang member to commit crimes