Category: Gang Violence

I lived in Arizona for most of my life and I have seen a lot with the time I have been living here. I have seen many gangs from bloods, crips, MS-13, etc. We have a task force to try to prevent gangs from causing harm, but I do not think they are doing a good enough job. Gangs bring guns, violence, and drugs to communities and corrupt them. “Arizona has 35,644 number of annual violent crimes, and has a crime rate of 5.08” (Arizona Crime). Most of the crimes are property crimes which fall under vandalism. I seen much vandalism in alleys of neighborhoods and they been there for a long time to be exact. I’m now going to tell you about the gang violence situation that we have in Arizona.

Abstract

“Arizona is one of the most dangerous states in the country, they are currently ranked at #9 for being the most dangerous state in the country entering 2020” (Kolmar 2019). Arizona also have gangs come from different states or countries such as Mexico’s MS-13 gang. The border is so close between Arizona and Mexico is so close that the MS-13 can bring weapons and drugs to Arizona to spread around to the people. People that haven’t been to Arizona probably think this is one of the nicest places to visit but if you live here you will know the reality of living in Arizona. The South and West side of Phoenix is probably the most dangerous places in Arizona of right now due to them having the most gangs in the state.

Historical Background of the International or Local Focus of the Issue

“Gangs in Arizona go all the way back to the 1930s, there are over 300 gangs on record in Arizona” (Epler 2019). The oldest gangs were Hispanic, they used to get together and fight other gangs. The neighborhood that I grew up in contain a lot of vandalism, that is how gangs mark their territory to let rival gangs know not to come to their hood. Most of the gangs from the 1960s are still around till this day and they are more dangerous than ever. Back in the day gangs weren’t as dangerous as they are today, back then they were known as protectors of the neighborhood against the police. There really weren’t shootings back then as gangs used to have brawls back in the day. In the past, Maryvale was one of the toughest gang areas in the state. 85 percent of the gangs were Hispanic, 10 percent was African-American, and 5 percent was white. “In 1979 the Phoenix police created the juvenile crime reduction unit for troubled youth.” In 1992, there were 918 incidents related to street gang activity just in Phoenix.

Current Problem

Gang Violence in Arizona is making Arizona seem like a very bad place to visit or live at. Gang Violence involves all different types of crimes such as drive-by shootings, armed robberies, home invasions, etc. Gangs try to get bigger everyday by recruiting kids and teenagers. Gangs also have a lot of influence over our youth that could lead our youth to the wrong path in life. Gangs have taken many innocent people lives and to think about it what if one of your loved one’s life was taken, you would want gangs off the earth. I want to give people in gangs something to live for besides all the negative stuff they do to get by in life. I know that they say once you get in a gang there is no way out but there is a way out, you must talk to the right people, and they will figure out a game plan. If we keep letting gangs take our youth and keep growing there may be a chance that your son or nephew may get caught up in a lifestyle that they know nothing about. I’m not trying to say all gangs are dangerous but there are some that will cause harm or try to spread something around that isn’t good for the community. Gangs tend to have an ongoing beef with each other at all times and it wouldn’t matter where they are at they will do the most at any time or any place. Many young people in today’s generation are some hotheads and will do anything to fit in, they are influenced by people who are nothing like them.

Solutions to the Problem

If we are going to stop gangs from causing violence, we must prevent our youth from joining gangs because that starts a wave and I know a lot of people will hop on from past experiences. Youth join gangs because they think they will protect them, or they just join because they are bored. To prevent the youth from joining gangs we need to inform them the risks of being in a gang, and that those risks are not worth your life. We need to get kids connected to sports, music, fun deeds, to keep them out the streets. Most kids who join gangs at a young age are either Hispanic or black. We have the task force that patrols neighborhoods that gangs are located in, but I don’t think gangs fear them. Most gang members get out of jail and do the same thing that got them locked up in the first place. So, we should create a place where people who gets locked up for gang-related crimes must go so they can get back on their feet. I can only think of the ideas to help them get out the mess they probably got into when they were younger. The older guys that be in gangs are usually old heads who just tell the young guys that are in the gang what to do, so they aren’t much of a threat to society. I don’t want gang members to get locked up or even worse killed because that’s just messed up but I feel like some people learn from their mistakes by going to jail so there are many options to redeem yourself.

Conclusion

I’m against gang violence totally, I just want a better life for people and don’t want them to take the easy way out or think they need a gang for protection. I don’t want my lil brother or nephews to get into that lifestyle or anyone in the next generation to fall down that path. If we want to end gang violence we have to use our voice and influence the next generation that gangs aren’t cool and there’s so much more to life. It’s alright to have a bond with your brothers just make sure that your group of friends doesn’t get you or themselves into any situations they can’t get out of. There is no problem protecting your community but once you let people start stuff or try to do too much that is how your community gets corrupted and begin to have a downfall. Remember kids to get your education, find a hobby or something and live your life to the fullest and best ability you can.

The Issue

A gang is a group of criminals that takes control of a specific area and engage in either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent behavior. Gangs are involved in homicides, drug trafficking, robbery/theft for the purpose of making money. Similar to the Italian mobsters they are a group that try to take control of the city by making people intimidated by them. This matter has been happening for many decades in numerous different parts all over the world and will begin to evolve into a bigger issue if it isn’t resolved. This problem also happens in cities, such as:

Mexico, Chicago, and London

Mexico is one of the biggest countries known for drug cartels and severe gang crime. Mexico recently reached its highest monthly murder rate over the past 20 years caused by gangs. From January to May almost 10,000 people were killed in the country.

Chicago is also a very common area for gang violence to occur. According to ABC news, up to 40% of homicides in Chicago between 2009-2011 were gang-related. Today there are 100,000 Chicago gang members compared to the 12,000 police officers, which results in the police being outnumbered and more crime to be released into the community.

London is a very large city with regard to gangs. London gangs are one of the most dangerous people on the planet as they will do anything no matter who it is. 1 in 4 London residents report that they or a friend knows someone who has been killed by a gun or a knife in the past 3 years.

The graph shown above represents how many major gangs there are in the world. The pattern in the graph shows gangs were decreasing from 1996-2003 due to lack of gang members. From 2004-2012 there has been a gradual increase of gangs due to wanting to make quick money through illegal behavior. Gangs are becoming more and more popular as people are wanting to make easy money by dealing drugs or stealing. This issue will increase until resolved which is why we need to put a stop to it.

The Solution

Gang prevention- There is no prevention really for gang violence but to get the youth out of being in a gang or even adults is to experience a jail visit. This is where you will end up if people continue to do gang violence. People think jail is this and that but if you are an active gang member, visiting a jail will give you an experience of how the inmates live in a prison Furthermore, an advantage of this method may include a chance that children/ teenagers will change their thoughts on gang violence and be less gang violence. This will mean that once we go through a generation of people there will be barely any gang violence as the adults now would have passed away but the new people being introduced into the world are not being affected by this urbanization issue. Some other further advantages may include safer communities and less overall illegal activity, (homicides, drug dealing/usage, theft)

The disadvantage is that sometimes it will be hard to reach out to some kids but what’s even harder is to help the college/adult people between their 20s and 30s as they won’t listen and this kind of behavior is almost permanent. Another disadvantage is that this won’t happen overnight, this may take a decade or even half a century as it very hard to talk and reach out to a major city on an issue but, as time will move on the numbers will decrease overtime there will also be some disadvantages of legalizing drugs and this may include fewer jobs, higher poverty rate due to lack of job opportunities

The war on gangs will continue until resolved, which is why rules and regulations need to be put into action, by legalizing drugs this will enable the gangs to be involved in more illegal activity and to create a safer environment.

Gangs are associated with many illegal activities and crimes, such as Drug trafficking, homicide and theft/robbery. Gangs revolve around drugs and that’s the easiest way to gather quick drug money. This issue can be resolved by legalizing specific drugs which will decrease the amount of drug trafficking and gangs around the world and having a jail visit to open their eyes on where this issue can get you in life.

Youth.Gov released strategies and solutions to prevent youth gangs from emerging. Although they stated that there is no specific program developed for preventing youth gangs but they have listed many great tips on how to stop youth gangs before it’s too late. Governments from cities like Chicago and London should make an effort to really crack down on preventing gangs from emerging, especially the youth.

Gang violence is defined as “many people as the criminal and non-political acts of violence committed by a group of people who regularly engage in criminal activity against innocent people. The term may also refer to physical hostile interactions between two or more gangs.” (Legal, n.d.) New York City is essentially where gangs started in the 19th century. Gangs at time hit poor communities in New York City, like a community called Five Points. This neighborhood provided gangs with an ethnic background such as, Irish, Polish or Italian. Three larger gangs in the area, The Forty Thieves, Shirt Tails and Plug Uglies fought for years over territory, they mugged and robbed people and sometimes they had to unite to fight against other gangs from different areas. Through the 1950s and 1960s, a lot of gangs were only in larger cities, if highways were connected to these larger cities gangs also started to appear in more suburban areas. Gang violence has increased over the years especially in the 20th century, by this time gangs of European decent disappeared, or aren’t active anymore, Most gangs today consist of African Americans or Hispanic members. Between the years of 1970’s and 1980s, drugs became bigger in gangs and firearms became more easier to buy illegally. This firearms and drug combo is what made gangs even more violent.

Two of the most famous rivalry within gangs in American are known as the Bloods and Crips. This started in the 1960’s when two young men Sylvester Scott and Benson Owens got attacked by two Crips, after the attack the two men set up a gang called the Piru Street Boys which is another name for Bloods. This gang was at first just formed to protect people against the Crips and eventually the gang grew with more people who felt victimized by Crips. The Crips were first founded in Los Angeles in 1969 by two men, Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams (the two who jumped Scott and Owens, starting the bloods). 10 Years after the founding of the Crips Washington was shot 4 times (believed to be by a blood) and died. Also, in that year Williams was convicted of 4 murders and he was given a death sentence and died in 2005 from lethal injection at 51. Today there are estimated to be about 30,000-55,000 Crips and 25,000 Bloods. Both gangs being one of the largest in the world.

While gang violence has been a problem in the United States for year, and only seems prominent in bigger cities its everywhere in everyone’s community. In Louisville, Kentucky gang violence has become a huge problem. In Louisville, there has been several shootings causing people to worry about the violence in their communities. Some people in the community believe that this is nothing new, and violence is as bad as it has ever been in Louisville. A special agent from the FBI named James Brown says that he does not believe that there is a uproar in violence with these murders. “I don’t think there is any reason to fear as a result of the recent high profile shootings that we’ve had. But there is no acceptable level of violent crime, A lot of the shootings are retaliation-based. They’re territorial, which is indicative of gang violence. One gang in one part of the city is protecting their territory from a gang in another part of the city. Most of that is what we refer to as ‘hybrid gangs’. In essence they’re protecting their drug-trafficking areas.” Said Brown

In Louisville, there are 25 active gangs, these gangs aren’t known like Crips and bloods on a national or international level or tied up in higher organizations, but more local gangs. A lot of the shootings that are occurring is over territory which in the FBI’s eyes says that it is gang related. They refer this fight drug over territory with hybrid gangs “Hybrid gangs are new youth gangs engaged in illegal activities. Such gangs are found throughout the U.S. Traditional gangs were usually formed along race, ethnicity and cultural lines, and had structural hierarchy and code of discipline/conduct.” (Whas11). The FBI also believes that a lot of the gangs in Louisville are getting their drugs from the cartel, so in hindsight making aa stop to these highly structured organizations like the cartel can stop it from getting into smaller cities and across boarders. LMPD says that a lot of the shooters from the murders are juveniles, probably making their mark or that was there test to get into a certain gang. To bring down these numbers on gang violence in the city Kentucky has created a model called Kentucky Safe Streets Gang Task Force. The Louisville Metro Intel Task Force includes LMPD, the Kentucky State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. Basically, including every agency in the area to be included on this Task force that can bring their intel to the table and the agencies can work together for the greater good of Louisville. This task force is using a intel based approach. A lot of FBI techniques are being used to bring down the level of gang violence like Wire taps, drug buys, social media exploitation, undercover operations with these techniques the goal is not only to bring down the violence but to also use if for crimes that can be tried for federal prosecution, these techniques have helped in Louisville both on a street level and cartel. While these approach’s are somewhat helping violent crime in the city, special agent Brown says that it wont help it all, so he suggest the “see something, say something approach.” It is going to require a community effort. We need the help of community leaders in reducing violent crime. We need private citizens coming forward to help reduce violent crime by providing tips, and it takes a concerted effort on federal, state and local law enforcement says Brown.

Community Policing is a reform model for police officers so that officers become more familiar with a certain area and make people in those communities feel safer. The two main concepts of community policing’s are Community partnerships and problem solving. Community partnerships are engagement by the police with the community to collectively respond to community problems. Problem solving is when police attempt to deal with causes of crime not just the symptoms and they focus on conditions that negatively impact the quality of life in communities.

Gang violence today and for decades has been a problem across the United States. In Louisville, its been a huge problem too with LMPD’s Chief of police Steve Conrad saying in relation to the horrendous gang violence going in the city that “Everyone looks to us to fix it — this is a community problem. It’s the entire community getting involved if we’re ever going to see any kind of a change.” (Taylor, 2019) Conrad says that while guns and drug bust play a large part of cracking down on gangs, none of that will happen if people who live in communities that are victims of this gang violence come forward and help out the police.

Along with the community stepping up and helping the police, another strategy I think that will help put a stop to gun violence is implementing task force against gun violence into elementary, middle and high schools. “There are over one million juvenile gang members in the U.S., more than three times the number estimated by law enforcement, according to a recent study”. (University, 2015) A lot of people might think gang related task forces in elementary schools are excessive but there are juveniles in gangs that are 5 to 17 years old. Studies also show that gangs have a very high turnover rate at 36% with 400,000 people joining every year and a little under 400,000 people getting out a year, meaning that they have to recruit new gang members every year. So, implementing task force gangs in these schools will be very effective in the schools, something similar to the DARE program, which does somewhat have to do with gangs but more on the drugs side. With this program, parents can put their kids into it. police officers could be the one who run these programs and come in schools and get one on one with these kids to prevent violence. As a member of the program you must keep up certain grades, there can be field trips, and even talking to past gang members about their life and what they wish they could have done different as a child to in a way “scare” them away from that life. We can start this locally in Louisville, then maybe different counties will adopt this program and it can help effect the youth and all gangs as whole. I think my strategy would help the community and the youth as a whole. While, gang violence is still a problem beyond juveniles, if we catch these trouble youth at a young age it will have an incredible impact on all gangs, most troubled youth start the bad behavior very young and it follows them though their adult life, if some kind of change isn’t made. This program will make that change.

In conclusion, Gang violence has been a problem in the United States starting in the 1950’s and is still a problem today in our local community in Louisville. It’s been proven that community policing impacts gang violence in a positive way with the police coming into a person’s community and becoming more familiar with it and the people inside of it and not just another officer Implementing my strategy in all public schools to deter kids from engaging in gang violence will bring down the numbers in Louisville and hopefully the United States, tremendously.

Violence becomes more common everyday in all parts of the world, and it is all community’s job to create awareness about these gang related crimes that take lives daily. Society needs to be committed to protecting the families and lives of many individuals that may be involved with these violent gangs. United States of America varies in difference from Canada with regards to the rates of gang violence that happen daily. Each country can differ in the way gangs violate the various catholic social teachings, along with what people do to abide by them. In my honest opinion, it is important to help educate people, especially the youth, about how common gang activities and violence are in our present world. It is simple, especially in places like Canada and the United States for young people to get engaged. Although Canada is not acknowledged for having high gang violence rates, places like Toronto, Halifax, Saskatchewan, and Brampton experience numerous gangs that roam the streets, creating an unsafe community, taking the lives of many innocent people every year.

Every year the death rates gradually increases in Canada by at least ten people, and almost half of those deaths are related to gang violence. 2015 to 2017 has had a huge increase in gang violence numbers over that three year period. Statistics Canada states ‘Gang-related homicides committed with a firearm represented 12 percent of all homicides in 2015,by 2017, this proportion had grown to 21 per cent”. In the three year period, Canadian police services reported a total of 1’924 deaths due to homicide (Statistics Canada). This indicates 288 deaths connected to gang violence. These numbers will continue to grow if something does not change. Just last year in 2019, there were 490 shootings that the police affiliated with gangs. Canada is constantly dealing with high gang complications daily in many cities that people may not acknowledge. Although the government is trying to help these situations by gathering money to help fight against the violence, the violence rates may never stop rising. Tom Cardoso states, “provincial and federal governments have funnelled millions of dollars to combat gang and gun violence in the city after the 2018 Danforth Avenue shooting, which left two dead, another 13 injured and thrust gun violence into the national spotlight”. Since this incident in 2018 the rates have failed to decline, and to this day, continue to grow. It is evident that people in communities are not taking this problem seriously due to expanding numbers yearly.

The United States is well known for violent gangs, (East Nashville Crips, Grape Street Watts Crips, Rollin’ 30s Harlem Crips, Rollin 60’s Neighborhood Crips, Rollin 60’s Neighborhood Crips), these gangs are solely involved with the many shooting related homicides. Sarah Mervosh says, “There were 39,773 gun deaths in 2017, up by more than 1,000 from the year before and Nurith Aizenman says, ”The United States has the 28th-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world: 4.43 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017 — far greater than what is seen in other wealthy countries.” It is evidently seen that the United States of America is affected more than Canada when it comes to numbers, but the real difference comes from the solution the countries implant to stop the gang violence. The United States of America uses prevention programs to keep youths out of any gangs that they could potentially be affiliated with. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (OJJDP) studies why youths affiliate themselves into gangs, along with what attracts them to gangs, and how such gangs are formed. After various studies from the OJJDP, they could conclude that a great percent of youths affiliated with gangs for some sort of protection, money, or because a relative or friend has done the same. Other programs that help prevent gang violence in the United States of America include, The National Gang Center (NGC), and Comprehensive Gang Model. As seen, compared to Canada, the United States of America has various prevention programs to help the stopping of gang violence, since it is such a consistent problem every year.

As said in my thesis, each country can differ in the way gangs violate the various catholic social teachings, along with what people do to abide by them. Canada compared to the United states contrast in both categories of, how much gang violence is present in society, and how both countries go about creating a solution to put a stop to the high number of homicides that happen every year. Unlike the United States of America, Canada does not have great amounts of specific prevention programs that specifically are meant to put a stop to gang violence through the youth, but instead go Public Safety Canada, run by the government of Canada. The main goal of the program is to ensure safety amounts all Canadians. This is why gang violence falls under that category. Another Canadian program that helps with reduction of gang violence is the Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF). Again, unlike the USA’s prevention programs, this program is a limited time fund which helps find exit strategies for youths who belong to gangs.

Catholic Social Teachings play a big role in the involvement of gangs, and deaths that come out of gang related incidents. The Principle of Respect for Human Life as a Catholic Social Teaching connects to the effort of Canada and the United States of America’s efforts to stop gang violence because they strive to have less people involved with gangs and also less people getting killed from gang violence. Proverbs 3:29 states “Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.” In God’s eyes we are all family, we are not to take each others lives, and we are not meant to be rivals. Gang violence does not meet the Catholic Social Teachings as we are God’s sacred creation. The Catholic teachings aim to seek the sacredness of human life as part of any moral vision for a just and good society. Gang members committing homicide amongst each other is how no respect for human life is shown at all and is creating an unjust society for themselves and everyone in the communities.

Gang violence impacts people’s lives significantly. As being the most prime targeted areas for this problem, Canada and the United States of America are able to identify the problem and do what is needed to be done to put a stop to it. This is seen by the various prevention programs stopping youths early before the problem gets worse. Canada is a country that is not brought up in the discussion of mass gang violence when compared to the United States, nonetheless, it is able to be seen that Canada is a country who experiences similar problems, but at a smaller level. “No matter how hard a problem is, there is no lock without a key” (Fiza)

Criminal gangs in America date back to the end of the American Revolution in 1783; these were mainly European immigrants from Britain, Scandinavia, etc., who settled in the northwestern parts of the country (Bellair and McNulty, 2). Today, organized criminal gangs are found in more than 4000 jurisdictions across the United States. Large cities contribute the highest percentage of gangs, followed by suburban counties, smaller cities, and even rural counties. Gangs are often associated with various criminal activities ranging from drug and human trafficking to robberies, homicides, kidnappings, and violence against other gang members. According to the US Department of Justice, Office of the Justice Programs, in Los Angeles, an average of 1.6 gang-related crimes are committed daily; gang crime amounts to 49% of all violent crimes, with 13% of all homicides in the United States being gang-related. Criminal gangs take many forms in the US, ranging from street gangs motorcycle clubs to ethnic and organized crime gangs. More than 1.5 million people belong to a gang at any given point in the United States. There are several reasons why an individual may decide to join a gang—social disintegration in the family or community levels, poverty, protection, migration, and power all act as motivating factors for gang memberships (Bellair and McNulty, 3). Gang culture is a significant problem in the United States and its dangers threaten the safety of people.

The number of criminal gangs in the US and the population of individuals affiliated with a gang at any given time point to the extent and distribution of the problem in the country (Sánchez-Jankowski, 2). The number of organized gangs has been rising in the country since 2003; gangs and gang violence are a significant threat to public safety, impacting individuals, families, and neighborhoods. While joining a gang may be associated with a false sense of security, young people in gangs are much more likely to be victims of physical violence, being arrested, and even dying. Substance abuse also becomes more likely; studies have shown that most gang members suffer from drug and substance abuse, putting them at high risk of addiction and other drug-related effects such as violence (Sánchez-Jankowski, 3).

Gang affiliation means that families are also involved; affiliation with any gang means that the family may also get involved too. These families are at risk of violence, harm, or death, and families often separate and move away from each other because a loved one is in the gang (Soft White Underbelly and Laita). These families may also have to pay legal fees for those incarcerated. In instances where families may not pay legal fees, a family member may go to prison. Family breakdown is one of the primary reasons why some individuals join gangs in the first place; this implies that such individuals have no family members who may be willing to pay for their legal fees. They end up going to prison anyway and even living a condemned life afterward (Soft White Underbelly and Laita).

Communities also pay the price for gang-related activities in their areas as well. Communities with high gang activity tend to have higher crime rates, mortality rates, lower property values, and underperforming schools. Public facilities in these areas also tend to be rundown, and resources are generally underdeveloped. Few people are willing to invest in such areas due to fear of being attacked, robbed, or their businesses destroyed. These communities, thus, lag in terms of improvement. Gang activities in the US cost the public hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in law enforcement fees. According to the US Department of Justice, these involve the cost of activities inherent with gang cultures such as murder, rapesexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, arson, household burglaries, theft, and vandalism.

Curbing gang problems in the US and the inherent problems associated with it needs a comprehensive approach involving more brutal consequences in cases of gang-affiliated criminal activities and addressing societal issues that often support the formation of gangs or make joining gang’s criminal gangs attractive to people (Howell, 4). It is often understood that inherent societal obstacles to success, such as lack of employment opportunities or education, often keep people in “survival mode”. Therefore, most people living in poor conditions find joining a gang as a better alternative to suffering in the streets. Most people join gangs as a survival mechanism since, with gangs, they have a group of people they can depend on and can work together to get some money illegally. To solve the problem of gangs in America, underlying issues and obstacles to success have to be addressed. Lack of economic opportunities and financial stability leads people to join gangs since it gives them a sense of belonging, meaning that if more economic opportunities are created, fewer people will feel the need to join gangs. There is a direct link between criminal gangs and the nation’s education opportunity gap, poverty, homelessness, and family breakdowns. These issues tend to perpetuate the problem of gangs; taking ownership and solving these issues potentially reduces the number of people willing to join gangs and associated criminal activities (Howell, 16).

A decision to join a gang does not come abruptly to an individual; there are a series of signs and symptoms that are indicative of attraction towards gang membership or other criminal activities, approaches such as more human services, community wrap-around services, counselors in high schools and churches are uniquely equipped. They can capture young people from schools and neighborhoods before joining gangs (Howell, 8). Intervention mechanisms such as afterschool programs for young people help keep the youth out of the streets, thus reducing their chances of joining gangs. One of the main inhibitors of the problem of gangs in the United States is that the problem is solely left to the mandate of law enforcement alone. The nature of gangs in the country requires a multi-sectoral approach with individuals from different backgrounds such as child services, law enforcement, human services, and elected officials to work together (Howell, 10).

Similarly, one of the main problems that have hindered efforts to deal with gangs in the United States is a public misconception that gangs are too big and dangerous. There is not much that can be done except suppress them by “arresting them and locking them up.” (Katz and Webb, 120). These myths have skewed conversations about gangs and gang culture to focus only on the bad things that gangs often do; however, no one has been able to peel back a layer and ask why people find refuge in gangs and gang-related cultures. 35% of gang members across the entire United States are youths and young people, even for the other 65%, most of them joined gangs when they were relatively young and have since grown into maturity as gang members (Katz and Webb, 198). These youths suffer from community disconnectedness, negative peers, dysfunctional families, substance abuse, lack of meaningful relationships, etc. Reaching out through mentorships, community organization, and advocacy ensures that the fresh supply of gang recruitment is reduced and is a significant first step in controlling gang problems in the country (Katz and Webb, 242).

A solution to American gang and gang culture must begin with solving delinquency before one willfully decides to join a gang. Individuals first portray a series of delinquency behaviors that are signs of engaging in gangs or gang-like activities. Gang involvement happens in 4 main stages that begin with predelinquents, delinquents, gang involvement, and violent criminal activities within the gang (Howell, 14). The progression starts with minor conduct problems and eventually into gang involvement and committing violent crimes within the gang. A multilayered intervention plan and strategies should thus begin with the predelinquents, where more efforts are put in place to make sure that those in the predelinquent stage one do not cross over to the next stage. The primary interventions should target delinquents, secondary interventions should target high-risk individuals, and target suppressions should target severe and chronic offenders (Howell, 16).

Gangs and gang culture is a significant problem in the United States. It is a public threat that gravely impacts individuals, families, communities, and the state. Joining a gang is a recipe for drug and substance abuse, physical violence, arrest, and death at the individual level. This destroys families, rendering them dysfunctional and creating a vicious circle. Similarly, the US government spends hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money to contain gangs; this money could be used in other areas such as education. On the other hand, curbing gangs and gang culture requires a multilayered approach that targets the underlying factors that often coerce people to join gangs. They should target all stages of gang involvement, beginning from the predelinquency stage to severe and chronic gang offenders. Solving the risk factors that push people to join gangs, strengthening families, addressing poverty and education gaps, and suppressing chronic and brutal gangs through suppression and incarcerations work at different stages of delinquency and should be applied at different stages to control America’s gang problem.

Works Cited

1. Bellair, Paul E., and Thomas L. McNulty. ‘Gang Membership, Drug Selling, and Violence in Neighborhood Context.’ Justice Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 4, 2009, pp. 644-669.
2. Howell, James C. Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. 2010.
3. Katz, Charles M., and Vincent J. Webb. Policing Gangs in America. Cambridge UP, 2006.
4. Sánchez-Jankowski, Martín. ‘Gangs, Culture, and Society in the United States.’ Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs and Street Gangs, 2018, pp. 25-43.
5. Soft White Underbelly, and M. Laita. ‘Ex Gang Member interview-Kevin.’ YouTube, 2019, www.youtube.comwatch?v=izsxWtiI5SY.