Mara Salvatrucha

For sometime, the reasons for gang creation have been studied in an effort to reduce overall gang violence. “At recent count, there are an estimated 850,000 gang members in the United States in more than 30,000 gangs. With so many of today's youth adhering to the life in a gang, what is pushing them to pursue an early life of criminality. In reference to the Rational Choice view on youths joining a gang, “Members of the underclass turn to gangs as a way of obtaining desired goods and services,…

Recruitment Determining demographic characteristics of gangs is a crucial step in developing an understanding the ways through which gangs throughout the country are recruiting new members. Such focus on the recruitment processes of gangs is a step toward the realization of the real possibility to control the influence of gangs on societies youth. As explained by Thrasher, the archetypal age of juvenile gang affiliates and members is generally between eleven and seventeen, an age distribution,…

Criminologists have studied a vast variety of topics, including gangs and gang membership. There could be any number of reasons why girls will join a gang, I will be attempting to narrow down some core reasons for the purpose of joining a gang. Not only will this paper will be focusing on why girls accept the gang lifestyle but also what measures can be taken in order to prevent gang membership from occurring at all. The majority of the research today about gangs and their membership has focused…

It is evident, that prison gangs are tied to the street gang. And there are also some examples about the gang operated from the prisons (Gang Disciples), which explain the strong influence of the prison gangs on their little brother street gangs. What I found interesting that once incarcerated the member of the gang doesn 't stop or suspends his activity, in contrary of what I was used to thinking before, their gang career continues during the detention and even might be more prominent than…

Gangs Nowadays, the significant problem of the gang increases dramatically in all societies Moreover, everyday a young child becomes a gang member for a better life. It is believed that there are 31,000 gangs in the USA, with members over of 850,000. More specifically, there are many causes for gang formation which have not only social impact but also psychological on individual members. On the one hand, there are several causes which assist in the formation of a gang group. The first…

It is outrages to see how many young children are falling into the path of gangs. By watching these three vice videos you get to see the similarities and the differences among the gangs that are outside the United States. However the appealing factors that cause the young youth to join a gang have not really changed. Brotherhood, money, and the life cycle of being raised into the gang can be seen similar across the cultural gang path as well as the aspect of poverty can be seen as the leading…

When it comes to Latin American gangs that operate in multiple countries, many people may think of gangs such as the MS-13 or the Latin Kings. However, there is another gang that is just as violent and large as the ones that I have mentioned above, and they are known as the 18th Street Gang, or Barrio 18. As for colors, they wear blue, and as for symbols, they use the number 18, or they occasionally spell the number out using Roman numerals. We see traces of the gang originating as far back as…

Another factor that overlaps with peer involvement is the community they live in as a risk. The presence of “high crime in the neighborhood is linked to youths’ violence, as is the availability of guns, drugs, and gangs” (Peterson and Morgan, 2014, p. 131). Living in an area of high crime, adolescents are more likely to come across gangs who have the accessibility to drugs and weapons. Related to gang membership, there is an overlap with: experiencing negative life events (such as serious…

Gangs: Attractors of Juvenile Delinquency or the Cause for it? “Since the mid-20th century, gang violence in this country has become widespread” with 8% of youth being involved in them between the ages of 12 and 17 (Howell, 2010 p. 2). A question that has risen is if gangs attract delinquents or if they make juveniles delinquent. The main concern is if these youths had previous delinquency issues, or if they joined for friendship and a sense of community that turned violent. I believe it…

The Prevention of Gang Violence In Chicago In the last 20 years Chicago has been ridden with gangs, crimes, homicide, fatal shootings, and devastation due to the loss of innocent lives. Our streets are no longer safe to walk in, children can not experience the comfort of playing in their own back yards, or walking to school. Police enforcement are turning their back to certain areas of the city because ¨they are far too dangerous.¨ The Wall Street Journal, an international newspaper based in…