Gangs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gangs - Essay Example They are therefore a center of violence and poor morals in a society. Many innocent lives have perished in their hands after being assaulted with firearms and crude weapons. They commit these atrocities in order to gain control of the areas they dominate and to instill fear or intimidate authorities and the general public. Gangs are now everywhere; streets, in almost all neighborhoods, schools, internet and other spheres of everyday life. In United States it has been found that of all crimes committed, gangs are responsible for 80 percent of them. This paper aims at discussing gangs, why they form and who is attracted to them and why. Gang statistics United States has a high prevalence of gang violence together with a number of its neighbors like Mexico and Brazil. Gang members totaled slightly above one million by the end of 2010 who are affiliated to more than 25,000 groups (Larence, 2010). Unfortunately, only 15 percent of the gang population is behind bars considering the waves o f crime they commit year after year in the US. Another fact is that juveniles form 40 percent while the rest are adults while more than 90 percent of all members are males with females taking an average of 8 percent. It is important to note that about 60 percent of gangs disallow female membership. Gang activities seem to be more prevalent in cities with at least 250,000 residents although gang related crimes are also high at 86 percent in those cities averaging 100,000 inhabitants (Larence, 2010). Gang formation In considering why gangs form it is important to appreciate that gangs are groups of two or more people with the intension of supporting each other in the commission of delinquent or criminal activities (Larence, 2010). These group behaviors can be lowly organized while others can be quite sophisticated as to be termed as organized criminal gangs with organized crime networks as the case is with big cities in the US. There are many reasons why gangs are formed with some bei ng more significant than others. The following are the major reasons why they are formed together with what they offer to their members. Social discrimination and rejection In the United States there is considerable ethnic and racial discrimination due to the presence of Hispanic, White, Indian and Black populations (Larence, 2010). There has been tension among these groups and gangs are formed to cater for the interests of each. Some of the interests range from the need for dominance and control of one race or ethnic group over another to offering security in neighbors. In the process gangs find themselves indulging in criminal activities of robbing and killing people from other races or ethnic origins. Members of these gangs then feel accepted for who they are and the sense of belonging tends to raise their self esteem. Acceptance is therefore what the group will offer which in turn increases the racial and ethnic gaps among people. Absence of family connection and other values Th e family unit has failed in many affluent nations with increasing divorce cases, disunity among family members, lack parental love and adult role models and disciplinarians. All people require to be loved and be respected. The current family units have failed to offer unconditional love to the youths resulting into many of them turning to gangs which acts as surrogate families. There have been many social constraints as well as economic ones