Gang Discipline and Gang Culture

The Concept of Gang Discipline

Abstract

Studies reveal that gang crime has been the leading cause of gang discipline as illegal and non-political violence cases increased drastically. The gangs execute the violence against law enforcement officers, civilians, and the military. Violence has become a massive challenge throughout history because gang crime is carried out at all organizational levels worldwide. The connection between and discipline and gang crime intensified social violence acts despite all effort to put out current society’s behaviors. This paper answers the concept of gang discipline and its use within the gang culture by analyzing the field against gang crime. Moreover, it highlights the different techniques used to curb gangs worldwide. The minimization sees the primary contribution of gang discipline of extreme gang violence around the world. This paper will also talk about the relationship between gang culture and gang discipline. Gang discipline is used in all dimensions to put out violent and illegal behavior in society. The conclusion outlines a pilot study that evaluates the importance of gang discipline within the gang culture.

Keywords: gang discipline, gang crime, gang culture, illegal behavior, social violence.

Introduction

Over the years, public insecurity and social violence have increased drastically as several crimes are committed now and then. Despite the restrictions and policies to curb gang crime, gangs have evolved and became a menace and threat to society. For example, policies such as tight restrictions and zero tolerance to crimes enacted on the youths ended up being a thing of the past. This is because the policies failed to reduce violence and disband the gang culture.

Therefore, illegal behaviors have continued to develop as gang cultures practice violence against other gangs, military officers, civilians, and government officials. Nevertheless, gang discipline has played a crucial role in reducing crimes and ensuring political and social stability among many nations worldwide. Gang discipline includes all techniques and steps that are in place to deal with gangs, including impacts that focus on minimizing recidivism, thus reducing crime rates.

The Concept of Gang Discipline

Gang discipline can be defined using three different perspectives. Gang discipline can be defined as all measures and activities undertaken to curb gang crimes. It can also be considered as an illegal behavior of violence conducted by gangs against other individuals. Lastly, it can be defined as how gangs train themselves and commit crimes in a disciplined manner such that respect is given in mental and moral acts towards the individuals they harm (Curry & Spergel, 1992). Therefore, contemplating gang discipline as policies and acts to minimize gang culture violence was a measure created by nations in the 1920s to reduce violent acts within countries worldwide.

Gang members entailed boys and young men who motivated illegal activities such as social and delinquency for purposes of gratification and retribution. This brought out a concern alongside the possible means that can be used to reduce gang crime. Moreover, the possible ways to be used were free from brutality, torture, and harassment of the gang members. To curb gang violence, gang members were to be disciplined, using techniques that targeted their remodeling so they can live in a lawful way (Curry & Spergel, 1992). The disciplining approaches were intended to scare women and young men who had an interest in joining gangs. One of the popular discipline approaches identified earlier on was the introduction of prisons. This involved the gang members undergoing a series of punishments, mainly aimed at preventing gangs from executing crimes. This helped in scaring the youth who often dropped out of school to indulge in gang crimes.

Nevertheless, many instances were reported from jails and prisons, where gangs brutally killed one another and committed violence against prison security officers. Issues such as zero intolerance increased-several gangs were executed, particularly if one seemed to behave contrary to the set rules and regulations within the prison premises. It was clear that the more the gang members were sent to prison and released after serving their years of imprisonment, the they evolved and became more violent and continued harming the community (Curry & Spergel, 1992). Therefore, other techniques of disciplining gang members, such as supervised probation, were brought up. The probation period ensured that the ex-convict is subjected to training so they can live lawfully. The concept of gang discipline led to the creation of different ways of preventing gang crimes.

Mitigating Gang Crimes

Gang discipline may involve restrictions by imprisoning and supervising the gang members during their probation period, including rehabilitation programs, self-help programs, substance-abuse counseling, employment assistance, and social programs. These programs mainly help improve the gang’s economic and social well-being; for example, social programs such as campaigns against the impacts of gang-related crimes (Taylor et al., 2008). Moreover, social programs form public awareness concerning the consequences gang members may encounter. Employment assistance has been found to curb crime cases. Most unemployed youths who commit violence will now be engaged and contribute to their development through legal employment opportunities. Moreover, employment assistance programs give people enough capital necessary to earn them a living. Therefore, it will help in reducing the number of youth getting involved in gang crimes.

Drug trafficking and use is also another main contributor to most gang crimes in society. Therefore, the introduction of counseling on substance abuse programs will help implement gang discipline. A study showed a high probability of most gang members being drug addicts (Pyrooz & Decker, 2011). This is why rehabilitation is crucial and can change their lives to a better one. Rehabilitation has proved to assist in crime reduction greatly. It ensures that the lives of the youth who are caught up in crime gangs are restored to normal. Self-help programs contribute to reducing gang crimes. Many factors, including peer pressure and unemployment, act as a driving force and motivation of being involved in gang activities. People living in poverty might also consider getting involved in gang activities such as drug trafficking to take care of their families. Tightening school dropout laws is also critical in curbing gang crimes because most school dropouts have engaged in gang crime.

How Gang Discipline is Used within the Gang Culture

Gang culture entails groups of individuals who indulge in gang violence and illegal activities. It is also an organization that nurtures and supports gang activities. Nevertheless, the effective utilization of gang discipline can be used within a gang culture to minimize crimes. One of the gang discipline measures utilized within the gang culture is developing a collaborative process for schools and law enforcement agencies (Goldman et al., 2014). This is the only way community and school safety can be guaranteed. Additionally, the resources needed to discourage the youth from indulging in gang crime will be coordinated efficiently. Various preventive measures and the establishment of crisis planning safety measurements will be developed; thus, gangs from schools can be curbed.

Another way gang discipline can be incorporated within gang culture is through law enforcement. This includes aspects such as arresting identified criminals early enough before starting to engage in violence. This can help minimize the gang culture’s spread among different members (Goldman et al., 2014). Moreover, gang discipline approaches include enacting laws that offer yearly awareness to the public by teaching them the effects of gang-related crimes. The creation of more jails and prisons can play a crucial role within the gang culture. People’s mentality and cognition will change where security officers are present due to low motivation to commit crimes. It will also be easy to trap and arrest any identified gang member before they are taken to trial; thus, reducing the crime intensities causes by the gangs.