Both society and law enforcement organizations are very concerned about the proliferation of gangs in this time period. Therefore, this essay will examine the growing number of gangs in both urban and rural regions. The paper requires the use of evidence from different works on the subject by other scholars. The essay will examine some common misconceptions about gang members' racial and ethnic backgrounds in order to address the issue of the proliferation of gangs.
The justification is that law enforcement organizations cannot develop plans for gang control without being aware of how these gangs have changed over the past century. Additionally, the paper will discuss some of the theories explaining why people join gangs. However, the article will not go into details concerning future recommendations on how the law enforcement can handle the issue of gangs. In this respect, it will only cover some of the limitations with past approaches to dealing with gangs briefly.
Problem Identification
There is a long history of gangs, especially in America.
America became a melting pot within the 19th century as individuals from diverse religious and ethnicities migrated into the country.
Some of these immigrants joined gangs to assist them to gain an identity, be able to defend themselves and get a unified presence.
Most criminal activities of the past got involved in petty crimes or delinquent acts such as brawls among rival gangs.
At this century, gangs started getting involved with serious crimes.
By late 20th century, officials of law enforcement had come to consider gang members as dangerous criminals who take part in illegal drug and weapon trafficking and used violence and intimidation to pursue their personal goals.
People feared the street gangs of this era; however, the gangs of the current age pose a much higher threat to the safety of the public.
Researchers note various reasons why the number of gangs keeps growing.
According to Esbensen (2000), America witnessed a youth gang's reemergence within the 1980s.
At first, gangs were more of big cities issues.
Hall et al. (2006) indicate that cities with over 100,000 population recorded that the proliferation of gangs was a big issue in the 1980s.
Later on, the number of gangs spread to other smaller regions.
Therefore, it is true that areas with massive populations are more prone to gangs than places with a low population density.
Law enforcement agencies within larger cities report issues relating to gangs on a daily basis since the year 2002 to about 2006 (Hall et al., 2006).
Additionally, nearly half of the cities with a low population, the suburban counties, as well as rural areas, reported gang issues within their jurisdiction this same period.
Misconceptions about Demographics of Gangs
One of the main reason why the law enforcement agencies have not been able to control the increasing numbers of gangs is due to the misconceptions concerning the demographics characteristics of gangs.
Bands have become very diverse.
Traditionally, a typical group included male members who dwelled in the inner cities and belonged to an ethnic or racial minority.
These characters are still prevalent among some gangs; however, it is not to be assumed that all minority members are these demographic characters.
In addition to a change in the geographic concentration of gangs, the composition has changed as well.
Esbensen (2000) records that; currently, women are also part of gangs.
Evidence shows that gang's membership is no longer restricted to individuals of specific ethnic and racial minority groups.
The society and law enforcement agencies have always described gang behaviors as an exclusive male sensation.
Law enforcement gives a rough estimate that over 90% of members of gangs are making.
An Early reference to gang members who are female was restricted to their sexual involvement or as tomboys.
Rarely were thy included in critical discussions about gangs.
The little information available indicates that girls in gangs were maladjusted, promiscuous, had low self-esteem and were socially inept.
However, recent research suggests that females make more than a third of the members of youth gangs (Esbensen, 2000).
Additionally, some contemporary researchers have gone past the stereotypical thinking that female members of gangs are merely auxiliary of their male counterparts and have proposed gender-specific reasons of gang affiliations.
Researchers have analyzed the possibilities that women join gangs as they search for an identity or sense of belonging.
For instance, an ethnographic study of gang's members with Latino origin in a male-dominated Hispanic gang within California, Hall et al. (2006) concluded that Latina gangs were lost between two folds; Mexican American and Anglo culture and society.
The complex cultural and social roles of Latinas are displayed in there and membership as well as behaviors in which the females got their peers who could relate to them.
The female gang members could fight instead if fleeing, assault instead of articulating and even go to the extent if killing instead of controlling their aggression.
Additionally, there are some misconceptions about the demographics of gang members about their ethnic backgrounds.
Law enforcement approximates and studies based on samples of law enforcement indicate that about 90% of gangs have members who are Hispanics or African America (Esbensen, 2000).
However, a more recent review shows that the earlier estimates are an overstatement of the representation of the minority groups.
The survey indicates that ethnicity or race of gangs has some correlation to community sizes.
Caucasians make about 11% of members of gangs within larger cities, but in smaller cities, they account for 30% (Esbensen, 2000).
Giving credence to estimates of law enforcement are ethnographers depiction of youth gangs, usually basing on research from communities which are socially disorganized with high levels of poverty, welfare dependency, and mobility.
More general research which observes youth gangs have tendencies of being restricted to specific locations which do not include diverse samples of the population.
Theoretical Framework
A number of theorists have tried explaining why people join gangs.
Strain theory argues that crime is a result of overwhelming strain that individuals feel when they have personal ambitions but lack a means of attaining them.
These theorists believe that power and wealth are disproportionately allocated between economic classes.
Hence the other people get frustrated for failing to achieve their goals and therefore the strain of not being able to access individual opportunities pushes a person into crime (Monahan et al., 2009).
According to these theorists, most youths have the belief that joining gangs will give them the opportunity to obtain things such as money from the sale of drugs and hence view gangs as a beneficial opportunity.
On the other hand, the theory of cultural deviance combines sections of strain and disorganization theories.
The theorists of cultural deviance argue that criminal behavior is due to the strain that individuals feel as well as social isolation which urban environment subject them to (Monohan et al., 2009).
These two aspects form subcultures in the lower class which adopts values which are different from the other communities.
These theorists say that a combination of living in deteriorated neighborhoods and the strain of finding no other means out of this situation is the reason why people join gangs.
These theorists believe that both factors play a role in pushing a person to a point where they feel the need to participate in such kinds of violent behaviors.
There have been a number of gang intervention and prevention strategies over the past few years.
The approaches include efforts focusing on environmental factors, provision of more opportunities such as the Chicago area project, Boston mid-city project, and mobilization of the youth project in New York.
The programs have unique social work orientation and strategies of suppression of gangs through law enforcement such as the Chicago flying squad (Esbensesn, 2000).
Most of these projects had a short lifespan, and this is because changes did not happen immediately due to administrative changes in priorities.
Therefore, it is essential to note that, throughout America's history of responding to youth gangs, the gang prevention projects have been rare.
These require accurate knowledge of gang membership predictors which is identifying possible gang members, and it needs knowledge concerning causes of gangs.
Lastly, it needs information on the likely effect of prevention efforts.
There is no consensus concerning the reason behind the formation of gangs and why youths are joining these gangs.
Hence, it is difficult to come up with presentation programs and measure its impact.
Conclusion
The growing number of youth gangs is a significant problem in the society.
People join gangs because of various reasons.
Strain theory explains that the lack of opportunities is what pushes people into seeking other means of achieving their objectives.
These are why most youths are in gangs because they see them as a means of obtaining money from illegal activities and it gives them a sense of belonging.
Lastly, it is essential that the law enforcement agencies reexamine the demographic characteristics of gangs and avoid the generalized misconceptions if they are to control these gangs from spreading.
References
Esbensen, F. A. (2000). Preventing Adolescent Gang Involvement. Juvenile Justice Bulletin,
Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program, OJJDP.
Hall, G. P., Thornberry, T. P., & Lizotte, A. J. (2006). The gang facilitation effect and
neighbourhood risk: Do gangs have a stronger influence on delinquency in disadvantaged areas? In J. F. Short, & L. A. Hughes (Eds.), Studying youth gangs (pp. 47-61). Oxford, UK: Altamira Press
Monahan, K., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2009) Affiliation with antisocial peers,
susceptibility to peer influence, and desistance from antisocial behavior during the transition to adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 45, 1520-1530.
