Gangs3 Essay Example For Students

Gangs3 Essay Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in todays cities. Whathas made these groups come about? Why do kids feel that being in a gang is both anacceptable and prestigious way to live? The long range answer to these questions canonly be speculated upon, but in the short term the answers are much easier to find. Onthe surface, gangs are a direct result of human beings personal wants and peer pressure. To determine how to effectively end gang violence we must find the way that thesemorals are given to the individual Unfortunately, these can only be hypothesized. However, by looking at the way humans are influenced in society, I believe there is goodevidence to point the blame at several institutions. These include the forces of the media,the government, theater, drugs and our economic system. On the surface, gangs are caused by peer pressure and greed. Many teens ingangs will pressure peers into becoming part of a gang by making it all sound glamorous. Money is also an crucial factor. A kid (a 6-10 year old, who is not yet a member) isshown that s/he could make $200 to $400 for small part time gang jobs. Although theseare important factors they are not strong enough to make kids do things that are strongly One of the ways that kids morals are bent so that gang violence becomes moreacceptable is the influence of television and movies. The average child spends more timeat a TV than she/he spends in a classroom. Since nobody can completely turn off theirminds, kids must be learning something while watching the TV. Very few hours oftelevision watched by children are educational, so other ideas are being absorbed duringthis period of time. Many shows on television today are extremely violent and are oftenshown this from a gangs perspective. A normal adult can see that this is showing howfoully that gangs are living. However, to a child this portrays a violent gang existence asacceptable. The Ends Justifies the Means mentality is also taught through many showswhere the goody guy captures the bad guy through violence and is then beingcommended. A young child sees this a perfectly acceptable because he knows that thebad guy was wrong but has no idea of what acceptable apprehension techniques are. Gore in television also takes a big part in influencing young minds. Children seegory scenes and are fascinated by these things that they have not seen before. Olderviewers see gore and are not concerned with the blood but rather with the pain the victimmust feel. A younger mind doesnt make this connection. Thus a gore fascination isformed, and has been seen in several of my peers. Unfortunately kids raised with thissort of television end up growing up with a stronger propensity to becoming a violentgang member or violent-acceptant person. Gangs bring the delinquent norms of society into intimate contact with theindividual.1, (Marshall B Clinard, 1963). So, as you can see if TV leads a child tobelieve that violence is the norm this will manifest itself in the actions of the child quite,often in a gang situation. This is especially the case when parents dont spend a lot oftime with their kids at the TV explaining what is right and what is wrong. Quite oftennewer books and some types of music will enforce this type of thought and ideas. Once this mentality is installed in youngsters they become increasingly prone tobeing easily pushed into a gang situation by any problem at home or elsewhere. Forinstance, in poor families with many children or upper-middle class families whereparents are always working, the children will often feel deprived of love. Parents canoften feel that putting food on the table is enough love. Children of these families mayoften go to the gang firstly out of boredom and to belong somewhere. As time goes on, aform of love or kinship develops between the gang members and the child. It is then thatthe bond between the kid and the gang is completed because the gang has effectively taken the place of the family. .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 , .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .postImageUrl , .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 , .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:hover , .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:visited , .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:active { border:0!important; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:active , .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7 .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u96c03bb582045ea826ef95b7f66cdab7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Persuasive Essay On Abortion Pro Choice The new anti social structure of cities also effects the ease in which a boy/girl canjoin a gang. The formation of gangs in cities, and most recently in suburbs, is facilitatedby the same lack of community among parents. The parents do not know what theirchildren are doing for two reasons: First, much of the parents lives is outside the localcommunity, while the childrens lives are lived almost totally within it. Second, in a fullydeveloped community, the network of relations gives every parent, in a sense, acommunity of sentries who can keep him informed of his childs activities. In modernliving-places (city or suburban), where suc h a network is attenuated, he no longer hassuch sentries.2, (Merton Nisbet, 1971). In male gangs problems occur as each is the members tries to be the most manly. This often leads to all members participating inone-up-manship. Quite often this willthen lead to each member trying to commit a bigger and more violent crime or simplymore crimes than the others. With all members participating in this sort of activity itmakes for a never ending unorganized violence spree (A sort of Clockwork Orangementality). In gangs with more intelligent members these feelings end up making eachmember want to be the star when the groups commit a crime. This makes the gang muchmore organized and improves the morale of members which in turn makes them moredangerous and very hard for the police to deal with and catch (There is nothing harder tofind and deal with than organized teens that are dedicated to the group). This sort ofgang is usually common of middle or upper class people although it can happen in gangsin the projects and other low rent districts too. This one-up-manship is of ten the reason between rival gangs fighting. Allgangs feel powerful and they want to be feared. To do this they try to establishthemselves as the only gang in a certain neighborhood. After a few gang fights hatredforms and gang murders and drive-bys begin to take place. When two gangs are at war itmakes life very dangerous for citizens in the area. Less that 40% of drive-bys kill theirintended victim yet over 60% do kill someone. This gang application is one of the manyreasons that sexual stereotypes and pressure to conform to the same must be stopped. Lastly one of the great factors in joining a gang is for protection. Although froman objective point of view, we can see joining a gang brings more danger than it savesyou from, this is not always the way it is seen by kids. In slums such as the Bronx or thevery worst case, Compton, children will no doubt be beaten and robbed if they do notjoin a gang. Of course they can probably get the same treatment from rivals when in agang. The gang also provides some money for these children who quite often need tofeed their families. The reason kids think that the gang will keep them safe is frompropaganda from the gangs. Gang members will say that no one will get hurt and make apublic show of revenge if a member is hurt or killed. People in low rent areas are most often being repressed due to poverty and mostimportantly, race. This often results in an attitude that motivates the person to basehis/her life on doing what the system that oppresses them doesnt want. Although thisaccomplishes li ttle it is a big factor in gang enrollment. So, as you have seen gangs are a product of the environment we have created forourselves. Some of these factors include: oppression, the media, greed, violence andother gangs. There seems to be no way to end the problem of gangs without totallyrestructuring the modern economy and value system. Since the chance of this happeningis minimal, we must learn to cope with gangs and try to keep their following to aminimum. Unfortunately there is no real organized force to help fight gangs. Of coursethe police are supposed to do this but this situation quite often deals with racial issuesalso and the police forces regularly display their increasing inability to deal fairly withthese issues. What we need are more people to form organizations like the GuardianAngels a gang-like group that makes life very tough for street gangs that are breakingBibliography: