William Carolan
4/3/13
Eng: 838
Why do people choose to be gangsters?
Gang violence is one the largest problems growing in the US and it will continue to grow. According to the FBI gang information website there are more than 33,000 street gangs in the U.S. and 1.4 million gang members. But a big question people may have about gangs, such as law-enforcement agencies, and parents may have. Why do most gang members join gangs at such a young age or why do many illegal immigrants join gangs? What are the roots to gang formation? Why do so many young people, more specifically teenagers, feel the need to join a gang? What can people from the government or law agencies and communities do to prevent youngsters from joining gangs? According to statistics, the majority of people who join gangs are Hispanics and African-Americans and most join at a very young age; according to The U.S. Department of Justice, Jeremy Travis; Comparing the Criminal Behavior of Youth Gangs and At-Risk Youths. “The average age range of gang members has been approximately 14-24, though researchers are aware of gang members as young as ten in some areas.” Why, such a young age? Gangs are one of the biggest social problems in the US, yet it doesn’t seem too many people from crime departments, or the government seem to know how they form and maybe they do not care. There are many root causes to why people join gangs. The main reasons are poverty, racism or discrimination, lack of resources, family; school these are many reasons to gangs forming spreading and violence. However, there are many solutions to preventing people from joining or affiliating with gangs. Solutions could be more clubs in schools to give kids something to do, more school sports or more community sports, more resources like counseling and tutoring, and a better education system.
The main tactic is to hire more police officers in areas where gang violence is high. This is a commonsense tactic; it’s simplistic and it has little affect but not much because a lot more cops will die and a lot more people may die, and gangsters may become more hostile and more violence may erupt. Law agencies are always telling their citizens, “they can be good law-abiding citizens or criminals” but my viewpoint is this: “When you are facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference.” What I am inferring is that you cannot stop violence with guns either way the person is going to die. It’s like a tornado meeting a volcano; in other words the results will not be pretty. Most cops do their jobs accordingly, but some cops may be considered racist or violent. A perfect example of cops like this are the ones that beat up Rodney King mercilessly. Was he beat up because of the color of his skin? I do not know, but I do know those cops went to far, and needed to be prosecuted. I believe justice departments should take better care when recruiting police officers, such as by providing better background tests and give them better training methods when using a firearm. Law agencies should instill their employees more on firearms and what kind of damage they are capable of, and the consequences they may have when not handled properly. Cops should also learn how to apprehend a suspect without using excessive force. An example from Luis Rodriguez’s book Always Running when the book talks about the Watts Riots, it is revealed that the cops apprehended protestors aggressively and violently. It was also revealed that many Mexican prisoners were beaten brutally, and juvenile protestors were thrown into jail cells with hardcore criminals. Another example is from page 202 of Always Running; when Luis Rodriguez the author describes that his friend whose name was Miguel. Was shot at and was struck in the ear, then thrown onto a couch and without warning; he was shot in the abdomen and killed. Then everyone in the household even his crying mother, and handicapped father was arrested. The government and crime agencies need to find another to find another way to stop the spread of gang violence; they need to focus on the reasons why people join gangs, according to Luis Rodriguez in Always Running. “Thousands are hacking at the branches of the problems; few are working at the problem.” He is inferring that people are trying to find the problems but they don’t solve the main problem. We should research why gangs form. Explore the root causes to why youngsters or young adults join gangs, and help them from going down the bad route. Cops should be striding to get youngsters to do well in school, not make their lives worse.
There are many reasons to why young people feel the need to join a gang, but one of the main root causes is bullying or lack of respect or fear. Many kids are bullied in the US for many reasons, and a lot may feel that they don’t get the respect they deserve. So they may join a gang so they can make a name for themselves. Also bullying victims may join gangs because they are angry; they are tired of people always pushing them around. So they may want to instill fear into people. People may also join for a feeling of acceptance. Many teenagers may feel that they are not getting the attention they deserve either at home or at school, thus they may look for acceptance in other places and unfortunately they would find respect and acceptance in gangs. People may join gangs because of fear, as in they are in fear because of the neighborhood they are living in. They are afraid that they may get hurt or their loved ones may get hurt. Or rival gangs may harass them, so victims may feel they have no choice, and need to join a gang or a rival gang for security purposes, such as protection, and to install fear into rival gangsters to let them know not to mess with them, or there will be consequences. Youngsters join gangs because they are tired of being pushed around or discriminated against by other people. For example, in the beginning of the book Always Running: the author Luis Rodriguez tells us about his experience of discrimination. When him and his brother walked to a segregated neighborhood with a generally white population, they were then jumped by a group of white teenagers and he explains how they beat up his brother badly.
What the government and law agencies can do is to have more school counselors, or peer-groups; so that kids can talk about their problems at school or at home. Also, schools and communities should have more clubs open to the youth so that they would feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. It could help youngsters develop new relationships with other youngsters who would share similar interests. It would also give them something to do so that they would stay out of trouble. Schools should also find ways to boost kids self-esteem. Communities should organize events such as festivals, for it would give the chance for families to spend more quality time together.
Another reason to why youngsters may feel the need to join a gang is because of boredom. In other words lack of resources. Young people may not have access to school clubs, or sport or other extracurricular activities both because they are living in poverty and parents feel that paying for a club membership is a waste of money. Also unfortunately in some cases youngsters are turned away from clubs due to discrimination. For example in the documentary Crips & Bloods; an African American man was not allowed to join the Boy Scouts because of his race, thus as a result him and his peers formed there own “club” or street gang, Because they were not allowed to participate in sports and clubs, so in my viewpoint they were bored and couldn’t participate in normal childhood activities. However this was back in the 60’s when racial segregation and discrimination was a huge social problem. I believe the problem we have now is that some schools in poverty stricken areas can’t afford to have many sporting groups, or extracurricular school clubs. Also in poverty struck communities people may not be able to provide clubs or sports to kids because of lack of resources.
Another root to why youngsters may want to join gangs is for a sense of excitement and peer-pressure. Kids love to do crazy things they are adventurous, and most kids are thrill seekers. They may join gangs because they are brainwashed into believing that joining a gang is cool, and they will have fun. Kids are easily manipulative, especially in there teen years. Many young people may join gangs because it may be a trend or the norm. So they may be peer pressured into join a gang by their friends. Also many kids join gangs because they feel they have absolutely nothing to do and they are bored with their lives, thus they want to instill a sense of excitement in there lives. Teens may feel the best way to get excitement or to get the respect they feel they deserve is to join a gang where they can be rebellious, and do dangerous things. Also kids may join gangs because they are brainwashed into believing that joining a gang is cool, and they will have fun. For example look at the countries that are in a war-state, such as Africa and the Philippines, and even terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda they use children, especially young boys because they are easily persuasive especially in there teens. Many young people join gangs because it may be a trend or the norm. So they may be peer pressured into join a gang by their friends, teens will join a gang to go with the flow. Also young adults may join because of the partying, or easy access to alcohol, drugs and sex.
The government should provide better care for their schools. The government should spend some of that tax money on helping schools and helping communities in need of assistance, and provide more minimum wage jobs for teens, or adults. Also communities should provide more youth groups such as free sporting activities such as soccer or baseball. A way schools can help youngsters not get influenced to join a gang, is they can provide better peer counseling groups or provide on campus therapy sessions for kids who are getting abused either at school or at home. Is schools can provide more clubs like for sports, or for other activities. Also they should provide clubs in schools that encourage and help youngsters get better grades.
On more major root to gang formation in America is lack of education or not being able to speak English. A big question people may have is why do legal or illegal immigrants-particularly who comes from Mexico and other South American countries like Puerto Rico, and Colombia, or even countries from the Eastern Hemisphere like Russia- come to America and join criminal organizations. Many people who come to the U.S. from these countries can only speak their own language. It would be very hard for non-English speakers to find the jobs of there dreams or at least a decent paying job in the U.S. if you cannot speak English, even if the person has a hard earned degree, in a reputable field of study. This would make adults feel the need to join a gang because they may be able to make more money; and provide for their families or themselves because they are not able to find a job or a decent paying job.
Also many children who speak only their own foreign language, have a hard time learning and adapting in school, thus many of them may suffer from isolation. According to “THE POLITICS OF EDUCATION AND RECENT IMMIGRANTS AS GANG MEMBERS”: “In a lot of areas of the U.S. many foreign speaking children are kept in limited English proficient (LEP) categories because school districts get twice as much money for LEP designated students as they would for mainstream pupils.” Many teachers, though many try to help foreign speaking students; they may not know how to teach students who cannot speak English or good English. This would affect youngsters lives during and after there school lives. Spanish only speaking students would have a hard time learning in school because teachers wouldn’t know how to teach them in school, thus they may learn little to nothing in some cases. Also it would affect their lives in the future; foreign speaking kids, who don’t learn much English or aren’t taught well, during high/middle school; because there teachers neglected them, or tried to teach them but failed, won’t be able to find good jobs or get into good colleges, because they are illiterate. For example in Luis Rodriguez’s book Always Running the author tells us about the struggles him and his family faced when they could only speak Spanish and could speak little English. For instance when the author was in Elementary school when he spoke little English; was told to sit in the back of the room and play with blocks, while his older brother who spoke no English. Was put into a classroom for special education children. Also he tells us that his limited English-speaking father had a hard time finding a good job, even though he had a degree. Also he tells us that his Spanish-speaking mother was ripped off at grocery stores and would pay more for items-such as food, and other needs.
Communities with a majority of only a Spanish-speaking population should organize English classes for adults, or community colleges should organize better ESL classes for students or adults, who may want to transfer. Also schools should help foreign speaking students by providing foreign speaking tutoring sessions, for this would help foreign students succeed in their academic lives, and thus install them with knowledge in a better and easier way. Also companies should consider about hiring bilingual position interviewers. This would boost the poverty rate, and keep adults from joining gangs or other criminal outfits. Though I also believe that people shouldn’t come into the United States illegally; especially when they can’t even speak some English, or know anything about the U.S.
Gangs are responsible for the most crimes in the U.S.; according to the Chicago Police Department; “gangs cause 80% of murders that occur in the Chicago area.” They cause more deaths than terrorist groups, they are the main reason why people are so afraid to visit cities such as Oakland, Chicago, and L.A. It’s such a big problem yet no one seems to know what to do about, yet there are so many solutions for schools and the government can do to stop youngsters or adults from joining or forming a gang. Not only does the government or justice departments need to do something about stopping the pollution of gangs in the U.S.; but also so do the people of the U.S.- such as the parents, and the communities.
4/3/13
Eng: 838
Why do people choose to be gangsters?
Gang violence is one the largest problems growing in the US and it will continue to grow. According to the FBI gang information website there are more than 33,000 street gangs in the U.S. and 1.4 million gang members. But a big question people may have about gangs, such as law-enforcement agencies, and parents may have. Why do most gang members join gangs at such a young age or why do many illegal immigrants join gangs? What are the roots to gang formation? Why do so many young people, more specifically teenagers, feel the need to join a gang? What can people from the government or law agencies and communities do to prevent youngsters from joining gangs? According to statistics, the majority of people who join gangs are Hispanics and African-Americans and most join at a very young age; according to The U.S. Department of Justice, Jeremy Travis; Comparing the Criminal Behavior of Youth Gangs and At-Risk Youths. “The average age range of gang members has been approximately 14-24, though researchers are aware of gang members as young as ten in some areas.” Why, such a young age? Gangs are one of the biggest social problems in the US, yet it doesn’t seem too many people from crime departments, or the government seem to know how they form and maybe they do not care. There are many root causes to why people join gangs. The main reasons are poverty, racism or discrimination, lack of resources, family; school these are many reasons to gangs forming spreading and violence. However, there are many solutions to preventing people from joining or affiliating with gangs. Solutions could be more clubs in schools to give kids something to do, more school sports or more community sports, more resources like counseling and tutoring, and a better education system.
The main tactic is to hire more police officers in areas where gang violence is high. This is a commonsense tactic; it’s simplistic and it has little affect but not much because a lot more cops will die and a lot more people may die, and gangsters may become more hostile and more violence may erupt. Law agencies are always telling their citizens, “they can be good law-abiding citizens or criminals” but my viewpoint is this: “When you are facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference.” What I am inferring is that you cannot stop violence with guns either way the person is going to die. It’s like a tornado meeting a volcano; in other words the results will not be pretty. Most cops do their jobs accordingly, but some cops may be considered racist or violent. A perfect example of cops like this are the ones that beat up Rodney King mercilessly. Was he beat up because of the color of his skin? I do not know, but I do know those cops went to far, and needed to be prosecuted. I believe justice departments should take better care when recruiting police officers, such as by providing better background tests and give them better training methods when using a firearm. Law agencies should instill their employees more on firearms and what kind of damage they are capable of, and the consequences they may have when not handled properly. Cops should also learn how to apprehend a suspect without using excessive force. An example from Luis Rodriguez’s book Always Running when the book talks about the Watts Riots, it is revealed that the cops apprehended protestors aggressively and violently. It was also revealed that many Mexican prisoners were beaten brutally, and juvenile protestors were thrown into jail cells with hardcore criminals. Another example is from page 202 of Always Running; when Luis Rodriguez the author describes that his friend whose name was Miguel. Was shot at and was struck in the ear, then thrown onto a couch and without warning; he was shot in the abdomen and killed. Then everyone in the household even his crying mother, and handicapped father was arrested. The government and crime agencies need to find another to find another way to stop the spread of gang violence; they need to focus on the reasons why people join gangs, according to Luis Rodriguez in Always Running. “Thousands are hacking at the branches of the problems; few are working at the problem.” He is inferring that people are trying to find the problems but they don’t solve the main problem. We should research why gangs form. Explore the root causes to why youngsters or young adults join gangs, and help them from going down the bad route. Cops should be striding to get youngsters to do well in school, not make their lives worse.
There are many reasons to why young people feel the need to join a gang, but one of the main root causes is bullying or lack of respect or fear. Many kids are bullied in the US for many reasons, and a lot may feel that they don’t get the respect they deserve. So they may join a gang so they can make a name for themselves. Also bullying victims may join gangs because they are angry; they are tired of people always pushing them around. So they may want to instill fear into people. People may also join for a feeling of acceptance. Many teenagers may feel that they are not getting the attention they deserve either at home or at school, thus they may look for acceptance in other places and unfortunately they would find respect and acceptance in gangs. People may join gangs because of fear, as in they are in fear because of the neighborhood they are living in. They are afraid that they may get hurt or their loved ones may get hurt. Or rival gangs may harass them, so victims may feel they have no choice, and need to join a gang or a rival gang for security purposes, such as protection, and to install fear into rival gangsters to let them know not to mess with them, or there will be consequences. Youngsters join gangs because they are tired of being pushed around or discriminated against by other people. For example, in the beginning of the book Always Running: the author Luis Rodriguez tells us about his experience of discrimination. When him and his brother walked to a segregated neighborhood with a generally white population, they were then jumped by a group of white teenagers and he explains how they beat up his brother badly.
What the government and law agencies can do is to have more school counselors, or peer-groups; so that kids can talk about their problems at school or at home. Also, schools and communities should have more clubs open to the youth so that they would feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. It could help youngsters develop new relationships with other youngsters who would share similar interests. It would also give them something to do so that they would stay out of trouble. Schools should also find ways to boost kids self-esteem. Communities should organize events such as festivals, for it would give the chance for families to spend more quality time together.
Another reason to why youngsters may feel the need to join a gang is because of boredom. In other words lack of resources. Young people may not have access to school clubs, or sport or other extracurricular activities both because they are living in poverty and parents feel that paying for a club membership is a waste of money. Also unfortunately in some cases youngsters are turned away from clubs due to discrimination. For example in the documentary Crips & Bloods; an African American man was not allowed to join the Boy Scouts because of his race, thus as a result him and his peers formed there own “club” or street gang, Because they were not allowed to participate in sports and clubs, so in my viewpoint they were bored and couldn’t participate in normal childhood activities. However this was back in the 60’s when racial segregation and discrimination was a huge social problem. I believe the problem we have now is that some schools in poverty stricken areas can’t afford to have many sporting groups, or extracurricular school clubs. Also in poverty struck communities people may not be able to provide clubs or sports to kids because of lack of resources.
Another root to why youngsters may want to join gangs is for a sense of excitement and peer-pressure. Kids love to do crazy things they are adventurous, and most kids are thrill seekers. They may join gangs because they are brainwashed into believing that joining a gang is cool, and they will have fun. Kids are easily manipulative, especially in there teen years. Many young people may join gangs because it may be a trend or the norm. So they may be peer pressured into join a gang by their friends. Also many kids join gangs because they feel they have absolutely nothing to do and they are bored with their lives, thus they want to instill a sense of excitement in there lives. Teens may feel the best way to get excitement or to get the respect they feel they deserve is to join a gang where they can be rebellious, and do dangerous things. Also kids may join gangs because they are brainwashed into believing that joining a gang is cool, and they will have fun. For example look at the countries that are in a war-state, such as Africa and the Philippines, and even terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda they use children, especially young boys because they are easily persuasive especially in there teens. Many young people join gangs because it may be a trend or the norm. So they may be peer pressured into join a gang by their friends, teens will join a gang to go with the flow. Also young adults may join because of the partying, or easy access to alcohol, drugs and sex.
The government should provide better care for their schools. The government should spend some of that tax money on helping schools and helping communities in need of assistance, and provide more minimum wage jobs for teens, or adults. Also communities should provide more youth groups such as free sporting activities such as soccer or baseball. A way schools can help youngsters not get influenced to join a gang, is they can provide better peer counseling groups or provide on campus therapy sessions for kids who are getting abused either at school or at home. Is schools can provide more clubs like for sports, or for other activities. Also they should provide clubs in schools that encourage and help youngsters get better grades.
On more major root to gang formation in America is lack of education or not being able to speak English. A big question people may have is why do legal or illegal immigrants-particularly who comes from Mexico and other South American countries like Puerto Rico, and Colombia, or even countries from the Eastern Hemisphere like Russia- come to America and join criminal organizations. Many people who come to the U.S. from these countries can only speak their own language. It would be very hard for non-English speakers to find the jobs of there dreams or at least a decent paying job in the U.S. if you cannot speak English, even if the person has a hard earned degree, in a reputable field of study. This would make adults feel the need to join a gang because they may be able to make more money; and provide for their families or themselves because they are not able to find a job or a decent paying job.
Also many children who speak only their own foreign language, have a hard time learning and adapting in school, thus many of them may suffer from isolation. According to “THE POLITICS OF EDUCATION AND RECENT IMMIGRANTS AS GANG MEMBERS”: “In a lot of areas of the U.S. many foreign speaking children are kept in limited English proficient (LEP) categories because school districts get twice as much money for LEP designated students as they would for mainstream pupils.” Many teachers, though many try to help foreign speaking students; they may not know how to teach students who cannot speak English or good English. This would affect youngsters lives during and after there school lives. Spanish only speaking students would have a hard time learning in school because teachers wouldn’t know how to teach them in school, thus they may learn little to nothing in some cases. Also it would affect their lives in the future; foreign speaking kids, who don’t learn much English or aren’t taught well, during high/middle school; because there teachers neglected them, or tried to teach them but failed, won’t be able to find good jobs or get into good colleges, because they are illiterate. For example in Luis Rodriguez’s book Always Running the author tells us about the struggles him and his family faced when they could only speak Spanish and could speak little English. For instance when the author was in Elementary school when he spoke little English; was told to sit in the back of the room and play with blocks, while his older brother who spoke no English. Was put into a classroom for special education children. Also he tells us that his limited English-speaking father had a hard time finding a good job, even though he had a degree. Also he tells us that his Spanish-speaking mother was ripped off at grocery stores and would pay more for items-such as food, and other needs.
Communities with a majority of only a Spanish-speaking population should organize English classes for adults, or community colleges should organize better ESL classes for students or adults, who may want to transfer. Also schools should help foreign speaking students by providing foreign speaking tutoring sessions, for this would help foreign students succeed in their academic lives, and thus install them with knowledge in a better and easier way. Also companies should consider about hiring bilingual position interviewers. This would boost the poverty rate, and keep adults from joining gangs or other criminal outfits. Though I also believe that people shouldn’t come into the United States illegally; especially when they can’t even speak some English, or know anything about the U.S.
Gangs are responsible for the most crimes in the U.S.; according to the Chicago Police Department; “gangs cause 80% of murders that occur in the Chicago area.” They cause more deaths than terrorist groups, they are the main reason why people are so afraid to visit cities such as Oakland, Chicago, and L.A. It’s such a big problem yet no one seems to know what to do about, yet there are so many solutions for schools and the government can do to stop youngsters or adults from joining or forming a gang. Not only does the government or justice departments need to do something about stopping the pollution of gangs in the U.S.; but also so do the people of the U.S.- such as the parents, and the communities.