Street Gangs Essay, Research Paper
Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today’s cities. What has made these groups come about? Why do kids feel that being in a gang is both an acceptable and a cool way to live? The answers to these questions are pretty much impossible to find. Gangs are a direct result of peer pressure. To end gang violence you would have to find a way to see how these morals are given to the person. Unfortunately, the only way to do this would be to guess. There is good evidence though to point the blame at many things. These are the media, the government, music, drugs and our economic system.
Gangs are caused by peer pressure and greed. Many teens in gangs will pressure peers into becoming part of a gang by making it all sound glamorous. Money is also a crucial factor. A kid is shown that they could make $200 to $400 for small part time gang jobs. Most kids when shown this kind of money would accept. Others that were raised with better morals might refuse at first but will later be persuaded by influence of television and movies. The average child spends more time at a TV than they spends in a classroom. Many shows on television today are extremely violent and are shown from a gang’s look on things. Gore in television also takes a big part in influencing children. Children see gory scenes and are fascinated by these things that they have not seen before. Older viewers see gore and are not concerned with the blood but with the pain the victim must feel. Kids raised with this sort of television end up growing up with a better chance to become a violent gang member or violent person. This is more true when parents don’t spend a lot of time with their kids at the TV explaining what is right and what is wrong. In poor families with many children or upper-middle class families where parents are always working, the children will often feel deprived of love. Parents can feel that putting food on the table is enough love. Children of these families may often go to the gang firstly out of boredom and to belong somewhere. As time goes on, a form of love or kinship develops between the gang members and the kid. The child will make a bond with the gang because they have taken the place of the family.
In a street gang each member wants to be the star when the groups commit a crime. This competition is dangerouse because they will do terrible crimes just to be respected. This also makes the gang much more organized which makes them more dangerous and very hard for the police to catch. This “one-up-manship” is often the reason between rival gangs fighting. All gangs feel powerful and they want to be feared. To do this they try to make themselves the only gang in a certain neighborhood. When two gangs are at war it makes life very dangerous for people in the area. Less that 40% of drive-by’s kill their intended victim yet over 60% do kill someone.
Lastly one of the great factors in joining a gang is for protection. What these kids don`t relize is that joining a gang brings more danger than it saves you from. In slums such as the Bronx or Compton, children will no doubt be beaten and robbed if they do not join a gang. Of course they can probably get the same treatment from rivals when in a gang. The gang also provides some money for these children who quite often need to feed their families.
So, as you have seen gangs are a product of the environment we have created for ourselves. Some of these factors include: oppression, the media, greed, violence and other gangs. There is no way to end the problem of gangs without rebuilding the modern economy and value system. Since this will never happen, we must learn to deal with gangs and try to keep their members to a minimum. There is no real organized force to help fight gangs. Of course the police are supposed to do this but they aren`t doing a very good job. What we need are more people to form organizations like the “Guardian Angels” a gang-like group that makes life very tough for street gangs that are breaking laws.
Bibliography
Margot Webb, Coping with Street Gangs. Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 1990.
William Foote Whyte, Street Corner Society. University of Chicago, Chicago, 1955.Peter
Carroll, South-Central. Hoyte and Williams, L. A., 1987.