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First and foremost, it is necessary to define the term gang so as to understand and study the issue. Generally, a gang is a group of individuals who share the same identity; it refers to a loose organization that, according to the stereotype, controls territory and uses violence in order to rule. They are illegal by the character of their business ventures the aim of which is accumulating money. For information, the Bloods and the Crips are the two most famous rival street gangs, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13), is said to be the most violent. They are located in Los Angeles.
In this essay, we will analyse the reason why youth join gangs in the US, for affiliating the gang is the first step towards organized crime, and constitutes the basis to understand the phenomenon. In other words, we will answer the question: what leads youth to affiliate street gangs in the US? So as to achieve this goal, this study will be divided into 3 parts dealing each respectively with those who join, that is potential members and their various reasons, and who does not join, then what gangs do they affiliate, their structure, organization, business and recruitment techniques, in other words those who hire them, and the last part will be devoted to the solutions to gang issues, more precisely, what problems they cause, the programs dealing with it, nowadays debates, and today's goals for the future.
1. What is a gang?
Some law enforcement officials define a youth gang as a group of 3 or more, an association of 14-to-24-year-old young people. According to David Rathbun, a juvenile official in Fairfax County, Va.: “If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, its probably a duck”.
We will see in this part the various definitions given by different analysts. Some concentrate on the illegal character of what they call ‘loose’ organizations, while some put a growing premium on the psychological aspect of the association of individuals. The very definition of the term ‘gang’ can give some clues about the reason for affiliating.
a. General definitions
A gang is a group of young people who practice illegal activities and consider it as a part of the group’s identity. Some analysts talk about ‘street oriented’ groups that refers to people who hang out in the streets, malls, cars, … These are the minimum components for the definition of a street gang. There are elements that help to recognize gang members such as tattoos, hand signs , clothing, colours, specific language …
According to a study of 5 large clusters of gangs conducted by a professor named Klein in Los Angeles in 1971, [A juvenile gang is] any denotable adolescent group of youngsters who are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others in their neighborhood, recognize themselves as a denotable group (almost invariably with a group name), and have been involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighborhood residents and/or enforcement agencies.
Walter Miller (1980), an analyst, recognizes the organized aspect of the gang association. "A youth gang is a self-formed association of peers, bound together by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership, well-developed lines of authority, and other organizational features, who act in concert to achieve a specific purpose or purposes which generally include the conduct of illegal activities and control over a particular territory, facility, or type of enterprise."
James F.Short (1996) does not include illegal activities in his definition. "Gangs are groups whose members meet together with some regularity, over time, on the basis of group-defined organizational characteristics; that is, gangs are non-adult-sponsored, self-determining groups that demonstrate continuity over time."
The following definition helped to establish a legal category of gangs in order to enhance the ability of law enforcement to suppress gangs and incarcerate gang members in the 1980s
"The criminal street gang is any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more (…) criminal acts (…), which has a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, whose member individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity."
b. Socio-psychological definitions
According to most recent researches, a gang is a gathering of individuals with a specific negative set of personal attributes or a group of individuals who act in a deviant and/or criminal manner. But there is a link between the structural conditions of society at large and the form of collective behavior that is the gang. Some groups that may correspond to the definition have to be excluded:
- ‘Taggers’ that disseminate graffiti on public space
- ‘Stoners’ who are quasi-religious groups that worship Satan
- ‘Skinheads’ who are White supremacist groups
- drug-selling syndicates
Others say that gangs are organizations and not loose organizations of individuals with psycho-social deficiencies. They have a structure, are made of people from low-income backgrounds, who want what everyone else wants in the USA and are prepared to get it by whatever means necessary. They are also seen as collections of individuals who have suffered such severe identity deprivation that they look to a group to provide self-esteem and an alternative social identity. (...)
Contents:
Introduction
CHAPTER 1. THE POTENTIAL MEMBER
I) What is a gang?
A. General definitions
B. Socio-psychological definitions
II) The individual and the decision to become a member
A. Economic reasons
B. Psychological reasons
C. Social reasons
1. Peer pressure
2. Neighbourhood
3. Family
4. Entertainment
D. For the image
E. Risks factors according to sex and ethnicity
III) Who does not join?
CHAPTER 2. WHAT GANGS DO YOUTH WANT TO JOIN?
I) The organization's structure: how does it work?
A. The organizational structure
1. The hierarchical form
2. The horizontal form/commission form
3. The influential form
B. How does it maintain order?
1. Internal codes
2. Informal codes
3. Ideology
4. Internal social conflict
II) Gang business
A. The entrepreneurial spirit
1. Competitiveness
2. The desire and drive to accumulate money and possessions
3. Status seeking
4. The ability to plan
5. The ability to take risks
B. Economic activities
1. Investing time, money and resources
2. Accumulating
III) Recruitment techniques
A. The fraternity type
B. The obligation type
C. The coercive type
CHAPTER 3. WHAT CAN DETER GANG AFFILIATION?
I) What problems do they cause?
A. Gang impact on communities
B. Gang impact in schools
C. Gang impact on participants
D. Violent criminal activity
E. Gang members returning from prison
F. Gang migration and immigration
G. Gang economic impact
II) What has been done?
A. Major organisms
1. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE)
2. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
3. The 75 FBI State Streets Gang Task Forces (SSGTF)
4. The Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations (RICO) Act
5. The Office of Juvenile, Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
6. The Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT)
B. Major gang control programs
1. 2 ideological programs
2. A political program
3. 3 bureaucratic programs
III) At issue
A. What if gun laws are tightened?
B. What if minors are tried as adults?
C. What about the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act?
IV) Today and tomorrow
A. What should be done?
1. Definition
2. Gang prevention
3. Gang intervention and suppression
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendixes
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Why and How do Young People become Gang Members In America? | 51 pages | | | €9.00 |
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