In chapter 19 of Membership in Youth Gangs and involvement in Serious and violent offending, Terence P. Thornberry examines the correlation between youth gang membership and their participation in serious crimes. Throughout the reading, Thornberry highlight’s what he believes to be the three most important findings in his research. First, our author provides research exhibiting just how youth gang members are responsible for a majority of serious and violent crimes committed by the general youth. According to the reading, prior studies have determined that gang members are significantly more involved in serious delinquency than non-gang members. For example, Fagan (1990) study of a general adolescent sample revealed that only 23 percent of the participants of the study where a part of a gang, but accounted for 67 percent of felony assaults, 66 percent of minor assaults and 66 percent of robberies. This study suggests that gang members account for a disproportionate share of the violent and serious crimes …show more content…
Studies show that youth have a higher rate of serious and violent offending while they are actively taking part in the gang than before or after gang affiliation. Thornberry suggest that the Facilitation effect on gang membership is a model that can be used to study this relationship between gang involvement and crime. He suggests that the norms and the group processes of the gang are thought to facilitate involvement in delinquency and violence. For example, Esbensen and Huizinga (1996) reported that “Prevalence rates are highest during the gang member’s years of actual membership.” This finding reinforce the model Thornberry provided earlier in the reading; that gang members take part in crimes because of the norms and lifestyle put in place by the
References Egley, A., & Howell, J. C. (2012). Highlights of the 2010 National Youth Gang Survey. Retrieved from: https://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/237542.pdf Sanders, R., & Moore, S. (n.d.). Mandatory Waiver for Juvenile Gang Members in Tennessee. Retrieved from: http://www.belmont.edu/burs/pdf/Social%20Work-%20Sanders%20and%20Moore.pdf Searles, K. (2017).
In the newspaper paper article, “No Sanctuary in Chicago’s street Gang wars,” Kass (2017) focuses on a recent murder in Chicago. Kass states that Chicago is a place of death do to the ongoing gang wars that Chicago is experiencing. Kass (2017) further points out Chicago gang crime is an “intergenerational problem, of grandfathers and fathers and sons and mothers and daughters wearing their gang colors.” Kass’ statement about in gang crime being an intergenerational problem is consistent with prior gang research. Intergenerational gangs is not a new phenomenon.
This research was to point out three main ideas, drugs, gang relationships and violence. Drugs have been sold and used in gangs for years now. Gang relationships aren't much different from regular relationships only thing different is their is rules and boundary you can't cross. Gang members have always used violence as a way to solve problems.
Potential gang members were male youths with the age of 14 to 20 committing crimes such as burglary, strong-arm robbery, and vandalism. Later the order for committing a crime became a way of gaining status within the
When one considers the issue of gangs receiving stiffer penalties, one must understand
Utilizing research findings and realistic experiences, Shakur, Howell, and Griffiths disprove myths about gangs, justify the reasons for young people being recruited because of their desire to be understood by others similar to them, and girls integrating themselves into the groups from their relationships with members. Howell and Griffiths managed to explain the principles behind gangs and their members' lifestyles, while Shakur provided real gangster experiences as supporting evidence for the research findings. Theories to gangs may be existent, but without proper research leading to the findings, or experiences from subjects who lived the lifestyle, beliefs about the organizations merely become empty
In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one.
According to the federal bureau of investigation crime rates have significantly dropped since 2010. There has been a plethora of efforts to make the current averages plummet, such as G.R.E.A.T., Comprehensive whole child intervention and prevention program, Truancy reduction program, School resource officer program, Scared straight program, etc. The core focus of this paper is to analyze these programs and their results to see whether or not these programs are effective in preventing and suppressing gang involvement. While also pointing out a few implications, and possibly recommendations for future research. Koffman et al.
In today’s society juvenile crime is an increasing issue in the United States. When speaking on juvenile violence there are many different types of violence like youth violence, school violence, dating violence, gang violence, cyber bullying, and juveniles that kill. GANG VIOLENCE Gang violence statistics indicate that are down slightly from previous years, but continue to rise since the early part of the decade. According to gang violence statistics, about 60,000 gang-related arrests have been made throughout the past ten years. Gang violence statistics reveal that gang violence among teens and adults is still a growing problem with about 7,184 gang-related arrests being made in 2010 alone followed by about 3,176 convictions throughout the
In Policing Gangs in America, Charles Katz and Vincent Webb discuss the issues that take place within American Gangs today. This book goes into great detail on how the gang officers work and the different kind of atmosphere they work in. Their job isn’t like other law enforcement jobs. It’s one of the more dangerous occupations in the Criminal Justice system. These gang officers focus on how they react to public gang issues.
People in Chicago fear to go on the streets, especially in certain areas because of the amount of shootings there are each day. Although gang killings in the 1920s were more gruesome and violent, gangs in Chicago have changed for the worse over time because gun violence has been at an all time high the past three years. Gangs have moved from killing other gangs to random individuals, and gangs in the 1920s didn’t kill as often as they do now. Gun violence has been at an all time high the past three years. According to the Chicago Police Crime Report, over 2022, there were 2832 shootings in Chicago alone and in 2021 there were 3555 shootings
The strain families’ face in these communities can be seen in the youth. The National Youth Gang Survey Analysis in 2011 stated that 35% of African Americans are in gangs compared to 11.5% for whites. In 2008, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, African American youths made up 52% of violent crime, 58.5% for homicide, and 67% for robbery. Surprisingly, the population of youth was only 16%. Many juveniles are being overrepresented and given harsh sentences, sometimes in adult courts.
For instance, juvenile gangs provide an environment in which young people learn to become criminals. These gangs glorify violence, retaliation, and crime as a means to achieving social status. Gang members learn to be deviant as they embrace and conform to their gang 's norms. Although this is not always the fault of these gang members’ parents, they should be held accountable for their actions to a certain extent. Not only parents of gang members, but any child that shows the disruptive deviant behavior, both the child and parents should be held accountable.
Gang activities have been increasing over the years from crimes ranging from robberies to homicides. In California, estimates were made by the Justice Department that approximately 175000 to 200000 persons were members of gangs. In the county of Los Angeles gang activities for over a period of five years accounted for over 23000 of the crimes that occurred.(Friedrichs. M. 1999). Gangs have become not only a problem for those communities where the gang's ar located but has become a problem for everyone.
Throughout the 17th-century gangs have been causing havoc in people's life and destroying the society. The National Institute of Justice (2011) has defined a gang as "A group of collective members which create an atmosphere of intimidation among citizens. " Many of these gangs are well organized, using different forms of violence to control neighbourhoods and to conduct their illegal activities. The National Gang Threat Assessment (2011) reports that “Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions.” Street Gangs have caused incidences of violence that is confined in the inner city of many countries.