Gang Member Essays (Examples)

Introduction
A far greater number of US citizens become victims of gang-initiated violence as compared to mass shootings or terrorist attacks. Gang members contribute to a disproportionately high percentage of the violence and crimes witnessed in the nation. Roughly two-thousand gang-linked murders are reported across the country per annum, which makes up 13% of overall murders in the nation. America's gang-connected murder rate alone (approximately 2 for every 100,000 individuals) goes beyond the overall rate of murders in almost every nation in the EU (Pyrooz & Densley, 2018). The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) claims that as many as 33,000 motorcycle gangs, prison gangs, and aggressive street gangs are currently offending across the country (FBI, n.d.), several of them being highly organized and advanced. Further, they all resort to violence for maintaining their control over localities and boosting their illicit commercial activities, such as theft, firearms and illegal drug trafficking,…

However, some gang members specialize in multiple criminal activities such as street robbery, human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Street Gangs

Street gangs are the major concern to parents, school administrators and the communities because they recruit students and the youths across the United States to enhance the growth of gang memberships. Street gangs are the most prevalent type of gangs in the United States because they influence a strong control in the large geographical regions. Typically, street gangs are characterized with criminal activities, which include brutality and drug trafficking. Presence of street gangs is broadened with their special relations with DTO (Drug Trafficking Organization) in Mexico, Canada, Columbia and other Central American countries. Type of street gangs includes regional-level street gangs specially known for their drug dealing. Functional regional-level street gangs include Latin Disciples, Florencia, Fresno Bulldogs, Tango Blast and United Blood Nation. Local street gangs also known as neighborhood-based…

References

Esbensen, F., and Osgood, D.W. (1999). Gang Resistance Education and Training

(G.R.E.A.T.): Results from the national evaluation. Journal of Research in Crime

and Delinquency 36(2):194 -- 225.

Esbensen, F.A. (2000). Preventing Adolescent Gang Involvement. Youth Gang Series.

In the end, the capacity for gangs persist throughout history has shown that they are not merely one-dimensional juvenile delinquents, as they are often portrayed in media. They are also well-organized groups that have the ability to serve social purposes. This also shows that a reason why society still allows them to exist is because of these social functions (Branch 1997).

Nevertheless, media is also responsible for glamorizing the life of the gangsta, which may be a factor in getting adolescent and vulnerable teenagers to join gangs for the sake of being accepted and being part of a family. The outcome of which, if not death or imprisonment, is even if a gangsta decides to become a regular citizen, he will be held with contempt and suspicion by the community.

eferences

Branch, C. (1997). Chapter 1: Since the Days of Knights: Historical and Psychological Overview of Gangs. pp. 9-27. Perseus…

References

Branch, C. (1997). Chapter 1: Since the Days of Knights: Historical and Psychological Overview of Gangs. pp. 9-27. Perseus Books, LLC. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Education Research Complete database.

Branch, C. (1997). Chapter 2: Developmental Aspects of Gang Membership. pp. 28-43, Perseus Books, LLC. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Education Research Complete database.

Gibbs, Jewelle Taylor. (2000). Gangs as Alternative Transitional Structures: Adaptations to Racial and Social Marginality in Los Angeles and London. Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 8(1/2): 71-99. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Education Research Complete database

Ruble, Nikki M. & Turner, William L. (2000). A Systematic Analysis of the Dynamics and Organization of Urban Street Gangs. The Americal Journal of Family Therapy, 28(2): 117-132. Retrieved August 25, 2009, from Education Research Complete database.

Gang Violence Interventions: Pulling Levers Programs

Gang Intervention

Over two decades of studies have shown partnerships between institutions and communities are required for effective and sustainable interventions to reduce gang violence, but the majority of intervention strategies have taken a reactionary approach, such as increasing policing efforts without addressing the underlying causes of gang violence (Gebo, Boyes-Watson, and Pinto-Wilson, 2010, p. 166). The lack of investment cognitive-behavioral interventions is evident by the prevalence of poorly designed studies investigating the effectiveness of such strategies, which makes drawing conclusions about their value difficult if not impossible (Fisher, Gardner, Montgomery, 2008).

A popular intervention strategy, at least among the law enforcement community, is the 'pulling levers' strategy (Braga, 2008). This strategy is essentially a problem-oriented approach to policing that involves choosing a crime problem, assembling an interagency working group, conducting research on the offender population, and coming up with a list of possible…

References

Braga, Anthony A. (2008). Pulling levers focused deterrence strategies and the prevention of gun homicide. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36, 332-343.

Fisher, Herrick, Gardner, Frances, Montgomery, Paul. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral interventions for preventing youth gang involvement for children and young people (7-16). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 2. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

Gebo, Erika, Boyes-Watson, Carolyn, and Pinto-Wilson, Sayra. (2010). Reconceptualizing organizational change in the comprehensive gang model. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 166-173.

To summarize, research on gangs has shown the gang problem to be increasing dramatically. Gang members list many reasons for joining a gang, including protection, peer pressure, economic needs, social needs, power, because relatives are members, a lack of parental or community support, and social status. According to the research, gangs tend to exist in greater numbers in low-income populations, and in single-parent households. Additionally, research has shown that while there certainly are Caucasian gang members, the majority are Hispanic or African-American.

Methods

The purpose of this study was to determine why teenage males join and participate in gang activities. The independent variables were socio-economic status, peer influence, lack of family support, self-esteem, and protection. The subjects studied were from a high population area near Houston, TX, where the majority of residents were of Hispanic decent. This study examined the relationship between gang activities and the independent variables. This section…

References

Arthur, R., and Erickson J. (1992). Gangs and schools. Holmes Beach, FL: Learning Publications.

Aumair, M.(1995). Characteristics of juvenile gangs. Youth Studies, 13, 40-48.

Bowker, L., and Klein, M. (1993). The etiology of female delinquency and gang membership: A test of psychological and social structure explanations. Adolescence, 8, 731-751.

Fleischer, M.(1998). Dead end kids. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Call for backup before attempting pursuit into unsecured potential gang situations

5.. Examples of gangs deploying military weapons and tactics against law enforcement:

2005: Contract assassination attempt against corrections officer in Lakewood, Wash. By United Blood Nation gang member in active service from Bremerton Navy Station (10)

2005: Ceres, California: Active-duty, U.S. Marine Iraq combat veteran gang member shoots two police, killing one, using military tactics (11)

2006: Verbal testimony by several gang members suggests veterans training gangs for combat (12)

2010: U.S.Marine Corps veterans charged with selling assault weapons to gangs (13)

2011: Twenty-seven AK-47s stolen from California's Fort Irwin Army base (14)

2011: National Gang Threat Assessment report: "Gang members are acquiring high-powered, military-style weapons and equipment, which poses a significant threat because of the potential to engage in lethal encounters with law enforcement and citizens alike" (15)

6. ACTION: If you believe you may encounter military-level threat…

References: All sources peer-reviewed, government or considered reliable.

Blankenstein, A. "Marines sold military assault weapons to L.A. gang members, authorities allege." Los Angeles Times L.A. Now, 9 Nov. 2010. 26 Dec. 2011 (4, 13)

Cooley, S. "Findings and proposals from the District Attorney's Office." L.A. County District Attorney. April 2008. 26 Dec. 2011 < da.co.la.ca.us/pdf/LADA_Gang_Crime_&_Violence_APR_2008.pdf > (9)

Federal Bureau of Investigation. "The Continuing Gang Threat." National Gang Threat Assessment 2011 Key Findings, National Gang Intelligence Center. 21 Oct. 2011 (15)

L.A. County District Attorney's Office. "Gang Crimes." Hardcore Gang Division, 1 Nov. 2011. 26 Dec. 2011 (16)

Thrasher (1927) correctly identified the reasons for existence and persistence of gangs: "The gangs… offer a substitute for what society fails to give… it fills a gap and affords an escape….thus the gang, itself a natural and spontaneous type of organization arising through conflict is a symptom of disorganization in the larger social framework." (p. 13)

To prevent the youth from getting into the ills of society parents, teachers, the community and the entire nation should get together and contribute their part to it. Parents and teachers should guide the teens and explain to them about the dangers of becoming a part of a gang. The nation should provide their people with more opportunities so as to better their living conditions. Law enforcing agencies should increase their efficiency to create deterrence among the youth such that they would not indulge in delinquency. It is about time that everyone should recognize…

REFERENCES:

Winters, Clyde a. "Learning Disabilities, Crime Delinquency, and Special Education Placement." Adolescence 32.126 (1997): 451.

Hagan, J. And H. Foster. "Youth violence and the end of adolescence." American Sociological Review, 66.12 (2001):874.

Jeffery, C.R. "An Interdisciplinary Theory of Criminal Behavior." In Advances in criminological theory (1989):69.

Curry, G.D., & Spergel, I.A. "Gang involvement and delinquency among Hispanic and African-American adolescent males." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 29 (1992): 273.

Gangs

The presence of gangs has always been of concern to society, largely owing to their criminal behavior. The solution to the problem, however, lies not so much in police and legal action, but in addressing, the social causes of gang development. In other words, society has to change social conditions such as poverty, family abuse and neglect, the educational system, the Criminal Justice system, employment opportunities and the nature of social programs in order to prevent the development of criminally oriented gangs. Indeed, society would probably benefit a great deal if it could stop punishing such behavior and, instead, focus on the creation of a social environment that could prevent the development of criminally oriented gangs.

The primary cause of gang development, it has been well established, is poverty. This is because poverty causes economic and social pressures that lead to youth developing a poor image of self and…

George Knox, director of the National Gang Crime esearch Center, teaches law enforcement officers how to search WebPages to pick up on gang member's lingo, territories, and rivalries. He also asserts it is crucial for officers to learn how to "read between the lines" when searching gang members' WebPages. Time on the Web, similar to time on the streets, gives gang investigators the ability to read the hieroglyphics of wall graffiti, and understand Web clues. In addition, "gang identifiers, such as tattoos, graffiti tags, colors and clothing often are embedded in each site" (Gutierrez, 2006, ¶ 27). According to Gutierrez, by studying gang blogs for several hours, one can pick up on subtle word choices, which the gang members consider to be almost holy words. Knox contends that some gangs use the Internet to recruit new members.

Other Efforts to Deal with Gangs

Suppression techniques may be one of the…

REFERENCES

ARISE as a gang prevention program. (2007). ARISE Foundation. Retrieved November 6, 2009

from  http://www.ariselife-skills.org/Home/Gangs.aspx  ARISE foundation. (2009). Retrieved November 6, 2009 from  http://www.ariselife-skills.org/Home/Home.aspx 

ARISE life-management skills program. A five-year evaluation. (N.d.). University of Miami.

Retrieved November 10, 2009 from  http://www.ariselifeskills.org/docs/pdf/5yearevalexecsummary.pdf

Hybrid Gangs in South Florida

On Public Policy towards Volatile Movements

South Florida has an increasing prevalence of criminal gangs in their communities and it is posing a growing threat to their security and safety. It is clear that in that region criminal hybrid gangs are spreading violence and fear in their neighborhoods making places like their parks unusable, and even bringing corrupt behavior passages to work and school, stopping legitimate businesses consisting of tourism, and bringing down property values. Right now, there are more hybrid gangs in Florida than ever before, with approximately 400 in South Florida alone, as stated by the latest state study. Hybrid gangs are not a new threat, nevertheless the most recent state study displays the problem is getting worse especially in South Florida. In 1991, there were 160 gangs in the south Florida region, but by 2007 the number jumped to beyond 1,500 with…

The community fails to acknowledge the fact that a hybrid gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community in South Florida. They are not being educated enough to understand. Communities lack acknowledgment of understanding the characteristics of hybrid gangs. They do not understand that Hybrid gang show their uniqueness and unity in obvious ways for instance jewelry, colored clothing, jargon, and signals (Crews, 2014). The lack of acknowledging the problem in South Florida, has caused people to not realize that their key source of income for most hybrid gangs is narcotics which fuels a lot of the violence.

Communities fail to acknowledge Hybrid gang members of all ages and that they are used by the gang in the unlawful sale of narcotics and other illegal actions. It is a wrong belief that hybrid gang only function in less wealthy districts. Hybrid gang exist in virtually every community in South Florida and the communities want to ignore the elephant in the room. South Florida does not acknowledge that the gangs belong to one of two alliances, either "People" or "Folks." They do not even realize that both associations are alive and well on South Florida's streets, and in most circumstances are unpleasant rivals. The "Individuals" hybrid gang all wear their identifiers to the left side, while the "Folks" hybrid gangs wear their identifiers on the right (Roles, 2013). Not knowing these characteristics have caused the community to be in ignorance.

They also do not acknowledge that firearms and gang violence go hand in hand. In one study based on responses from 835 male inmates in 6 juvenile correctional facilities in 4 States, researchers found that movement from nongame membership to gang membership brought increases in most forms of gun-involved conduct. Forty-five percent described gun theft as a regular

20, California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, STEP Act California 186.20 (http://www.streetgangs.com/laws/stepact.html)," as well as any community that has a disproportionate juvenile arrest rate, or a high percentage of gang related criminal activity or a high number of gang affiliated acts of violence.

The Act hopes to reduce crimes of violence committed by gang members by alerting local law enforcement to their identity thereby reducing their feelings of anonymity in committing those crimes.

The Act also supports funding for the purpose of education and offering counseling and other services to current and past gang members in the hopes they will decide to leave the gang and become a productive member of society.

CONCLUSION

The gang problem is a serious one in which the dynamics create a cycle of feeling alone, finding a "family" in the gang membership, committing acts of violence for the gang and becoming incarcerated. The legislative…

References

California 186.20, California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, STEP Act California 186.20 (Accessed 11-04-06)

http://www.streetgangs.com/laws/stepact.html

California 213. Punishment for Robbery (accessed 11-04-06)

 http://www.iir.com/nygc/gang-legis/california.htm

gang development, research and reduction strategies as outlined by Klein and Maxson in their 2006 study Street Gang Patterns and Policies. It incorporates additional research beyond Klein and Maxson, but focuses on the basic analysis of the problem offered in their study. The specific focus of the paper is on finding solutions that work, as distinguished from the numerous failed solutions examined by Klein and Maxson -- with an emphasis on the reasons for failure given in their assessment.

Klein and Maxson's Street Gang Patterns and Policies (2006) offers a sharp critique of existing paradigms of dealing with the problem of street gangs, and in its place offers informed suggestions based on over three decades of research and observation for revising the overall approach to handling this persistent problem. The problem of street gangs is, of course, very old: one of the first-ever sociological studies, written as the discipline of…

References

Coughlin, BC and Venkatesh, SA. (2003). The urban street gang after 1970. Annual Review of Sociology 29. 41-64.

Howell, JC. (2010). Gang prevention: An overview of research and programs. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Howell, JC and Egley, A. (2005). Moving risk factors into developmental theories of gang membership. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 3: 334-354.

Klein, MW and Maxson, CL. (2006). Street gang patterns and policies. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gangs

The Issue of Gangs

History of Gangs in the United States of America

Northeast egion (specifically New York City

Midwest egion (specifically Chicago)

West egion (specifically Los Angeles)

South egion First period

Current Status of Gangs in the United States of America

Types of Gangs in the United States of America

Factors Triggering Indulgence in Gangs

Impacts of Gang Activities on United States of America

ecommendations for Community esponse

This paper will analyze the nature of gang membership within the United States of America by delving into the historical trends and current status of gang membership in the nation. Moreover, the paper will also discuss the factors that trigger the formation of gangs in the state. In addition, it will also put light on the types of gangs that exist in the U.S.A., and the impacts that these entities have on the nation. Furthermore, it will also propose recommendations…

References

Howell, J., Egley, A., Tita, G., & Griffiths, E. (2011). U.S. Gang Problem Trends and Seriousness, 1996-2009, pp. 1-14. Tallahassee: Institute for Intergovernmental Research. Retrieved from  http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/content/documents/bulletin-6.pdf 

Howell, J., & Griffiths, E. (2015). Gangs in America's Communities. [S.l.]: Sage Publications.

Madden, V. (2013). Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Young People involved in Gangs, pp. 3-26. London: Westminster Joint Health and Wellbeing Board. Retrieved from  http://www.mac-uk.org/wped/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Mental-Health-and-Gangs-Report-2013.pdf 

Pappas, C. (2001). U.S. Gangs: Their Changing History and Contemporary Solution, pp. 1-14. Washington, D.C: Youth Advocate Program International. Retrieved from http://yapi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/report-gangs.pdf

Gangs: Coercion and Prevention

The community problem of gangs and related violence is prevalent all over the United States. Young people join gangs for a variety of reasons. Some may feel isolated from their general school or social communities and search out the connections and community affiliation offered by gangs. Others are seduced by the importance attached to generally laudable qualities like loyalty and honor. In a gang setup, however, these are generally proven by violent or criminal activities. Some young people could also be somewhat seduced by the romantic notion of belonging to a group of people who all stand for the same thing and would give their lives for the cause and each other. To curb the danger related to gangs and gang violence and to protect young people from being coerced into gangs, parents, educators, and government officials need to be aware of the various reasons why…

References

Carlie, M.K. (2002). Into the Abyss: A Personal Journey into the World of Street Gangs. Retrieved from:  http://people.missouristate.edu/MichaelCarlie/SOLUTIONS/PERSONAL/creating_healthy_families.htm 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (AJJDP, 2013). Why Do Youth Join Gangs? Retrieved from:  http://www.ojjdp.gov/jjbulletin/9808/why.html

Gangs in Public School

Many schools especially in urban and suburban areas continue to register gang-related activities within their premises and involving their students. This study appreciates the dangers associated with such gangs to the schools and other stakeholders around them. Various laws and regulation have been passed in different states in the U.S. allow parents to withdraw their children from certain public schools. Schools reputed for gang-related problems stand to lose students. This paper provides the scope of action steps in which schools take to intervene, prevent, and suppress the scope of violent gang activity while establishing crisis response plans. The strategies are developed to address potential actions of school violence including gang activity.

Gang members bring in their attitudes, behaviors, and conflicts to the school compounds. The dangerous gang issues and activities of a given community take place within local schools. Gang members take on each other within…

References

Branch, C., (2013). Adolescent Gangs: Old Issues, New Approaches. New York: Routledge.

Garot, R. (2010). Who You Claim: Performing Gang Identity in School and on the Streets. NYU Press

Kinnear, K.L. (2009). Gangs: A Reference Handbook. New York: ABC-CLIO.

Macnab, N. (2012). Uncle Sam's Schoolhouse: Bullying, Predators, and Students. New York: Dog Ear Publishing

Gang Violence Prevention

Gang Violence

Study of each and every society around the world gives us a phenomenon, which indicates at a certain graph related to organized crime. American society has long been associated with such a vice, and there have been many unearths made in this direction. There has been a lot of study and research associated with fact that how these gangs formed and what is the major motivational factor behind such activities. Several studies in this regard have brought forward certain phenomenon which forms the basis of gang formations and majority of which is related to unsatisfied social structure. These gangs are formed in the societies, which are highly disintegrated and have developed into individually functioning micro units. Extensive liberalization of political policies and the general promotion of individualistic approach towards life in most countries have motivated certain individuals in direction of organized crime, and this is…

Bibliography

Alleyne, E., & Wood, J. (2010). Gang involvement: Psychological and behavioral characteristics of gang members, peripheral youth and non-gang youth. University of Kent. Retrieved from:  https://kar.kent.ac.uk/27523/2/Gang_involvement_-_Revised2_ACCEPTED_by_Aggressive_bevhavior.pdf 

Donnellan, M.B., Trzesniewski, K.H., Robins, R.W., Moffitt, T.E., & Caspi, A. (2005).Low self-esteem is related to aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. Psychological Science, 16, 328-355.

Dukes, R.L., Martinez, R.O., & Stein, J.A. (1997).Precursors and consequences of membership in youth gangs. Youth and Society, 29, 139-165.

Esbensen, F-A., Winfree, L.T., Jr., He, N., & Taylor, T.J. (2001). Youth gangs and definitional issues: When is a gang, and why does it matter? Crime and Delinquency, 47, 105-130

When Santano looks back on his old life in prison he comments that Fulsom was the "big time." He had more power there. Before the gang, if someone wanted something from him, "They just took it" because he was weak, but being in the gang stopped that because he became strong. He looks back on prison life with a certain sense of nostalgia and tells his girlfriend, "I loved it in there."

The gang allows him to be competent under horrible circumstances. He has been deprived of all the ordinary, normal experiences we take for granted, such as dancing, learning to drive a car, going to the beach, standing in the moonlight with a girl, and making love. All he has ever known is violence and the need to keep others afraid of him in order to protect himself. He's more or less ruined for life on the outside by…

Government

Since gang-related crimes fall within the jurisdiction of state, this research will give an insight on the need to find solutions that increasingly include all levels of government. Congress needs to pass legislation that will change immigration enforcement laws and make more aliens deportable. In addition, the federal government should take a more active participation in helping local and state jurisdictions develop anti-gang responses. The local, state and federal governments must take a stand, and combine forces to combat the immigration problem that continue to plague this country into the next generation.

Importance of the Study

The die has been cast, there is no turning the clock back now and the Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang have established themselves in the United States and far beyond. The origins of the current situation with MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang date back to the late 1980s and early 1990s…

References

Armstrong, W. (2009, February 16). 'Sanctuary cities' protect murderous illegal aliens. Human Events, 64(37), 8.

Bansal, M. (2006) Chertoff: Street Gangs a Threat to National. Retrieved November 12,

2006 from  http://www.CNSNews.com .

Barber, B. (1996). Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism are Reshaping the World. New York: Ballantine Book.

Local Gangs

Part I Research Process

Using the Internet Explorer search engine, "ergen County Passaic County" was typed in. It returned no results for any gang issues. The search terms, "ergen county Passaic County gang issues in local community" was entered. It returned the results on an article, "State police survey shows gang activity in all N.J. counties" (Fabiano, 2011). The article named ergen County as one in nine counties with higher than average gang presence. The article also talked about law enforcement officials questioning the results of the survey based on the results not adding up to the number of arrests that were gang related. And, another problem of a significant population of illegal immigrants staying isolated from police and being a breeding ground for gangs.

The search terms, "New Jersey gang statistics" was entered. It returned the 2007 State police survey that compared data to the 2004 survey…

Bibliography

New Jersey Announces Gang Suppression Initiative Through Stepped Up Enforcement and Awareness Efforts. (2001, Nov 16). Retrieved from New Jersey's Online Gang Free Community:  http://www.njgangfree.org/gang-news/launch1116.htm 

Gangs in New Jersey: Municipal Law Enforcement Response to 2007 NJSP Gang Survey. (2007). Retrieved from New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety:  http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/info/pdf/njgangsurvey-2007.pdf 

Gangs in New Jersey: Municipal Law Enforcement Response to the 2010 NJSP Gang Survey. (2010). Retrieved from New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety:  http://www.njsp.org/infor/pdf./gangs_in_nj_2010.pdf 

Fabiano, G. & . (2011, Jan 28). State police survey shows gang activity in all N.J. counties. Retrieved from NewJersey.com:  http://www.northjersey.com/news/012811_State_police_survey_shows_gang_activity_in_all_NJ_counties.html

After receiving such pressure, a huge scandal broke within the ranks of the LAPD based on charges of corruption and misconduct. Although the LAPD still maintains a heavy presence within these streets, they are not as vehement as seen in the case of the HAMME era.

Many of those affected by L.A. street life are actually not gang members themselves. The aftermath of gang violence has proven to be too much for many Los Angeles residents, including former gang members, to handle. Many former members are left questioning the idea that the gang life is truly a family atmosphere. Former gang members all over the United States have begun to take action as to prevent future generations from making the same mistakes, (andle, 2003). Many of these former criminals also believe that being open with children about gang violence will help open up dialogue about the negative aspects of gang…

References

Alonso, a. (2008). A brief history of the Los Angeles-based Crips. Retrieved April 2, 2008, from Street Gangs:  http://www.streetgangs.com/crips/ 

Crips. (1995). What we celieve in. Nationwide Rip Ridaz. Quality Records.

Davis, Mike. (1992). City of Quartz. Vintage Books.

Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence (2006). Gangs. Find Articles Retrieved April 2, 2008, at  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2602/is_0002/ai_2602000260

al, 1994). Furthermore, the role of police in a community has to change from merely trying to suppress gang activity to actively trying to prevent gang activity. (Spergel, et. al, 1994).

The proliferation of gangs is one of the most pressing social problems facing modern America. While the primary purpose of gangs may be to engage in criminal activity, they serve other social functions that attract teens as gang members. Each teen who becomes involved in a gang runs a significant risk of not being able to participate in normal, non-criminal society. Therefore, it is important to understand how teens become involved in gangs and to focus efforts on prevention. Although no one theory seems capable of entirely explaining how and why teens become involved in gangs, the various criminological theories and the social disorganization theory are capable of giving insight into why children feel attracted to gangs. These theories…

References

Cantillon, D., Davidson, W., & Schweitzer, J. (2003). Measuring community social organization: sense of community as a mediator in social disorganization theory.

Journal of Criminal Justice, 31, 321-339.

Jones, D. et al. (2004). Street gangs: a review of theory, interventions, and implications for corrections. Ottawa: Research Branch Correctional Service of Canada.

National Youth Gang Center. (2006). National youth gang survey analysis. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from National Youth Gang Center

MS-13 -- the focus of a nationwide crackdown by FBI and federal immigration agents -- has become known in recent years for home invasion robberies, drug dealing and machete attacks on its enemies. however, after the sweeping chaos across America, the FBI has heightened concerns that MS-13 could be far more dangerous than thought.

Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, continues to expand its influence in the United States. FBI investigations reveal that it is present in almost every state and continues to grow its membership, now targeting younger recruits more than ever before.

To counteract this growth, the FBI formed the MS-13 National Gang Task Force in December 2004. Based at FBI Headquarters, this intelligence-driven task force combines the expertise, resources, and jurisdiction of federal agencies that investigate this violent international street gang. It focuses on maximizing the flow of information and intelligence, coordinating investigations nationally and internationally, and helping state…

Reference:

Electronic visa application begins for visa waiver countries. (2009). Foreign Policy Bulletin, 19(1), 40-57. doi:10.1017/S1052703609000525

Boatright, L.R. (2006). "Clear eye for the state guy": Clarifying authority and trusting federalism to increase nonfederal assistance with immigration enforcement*. Texas Law Review, 84(6), 1633-1674. Retrieved from  http://search.proquest.com/docview/203710946?accountid=34899 

Donohue, L.K. (2006). Anglo-american privacy and surveillance. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 96(3), 1059-1208. Retrieved from  http://search.proquest.com/docview/218394830?accountid=34899 

Hamm, M.S. (2009). Prison islam in the age of sacred terror. The British Journal of Criminology, 49(5), 667-685. doi:10.1093/bjc/azp035

A participant in the study notes, "The gang members were scared to come outside, scared to hang out together.' and, 'it is still working.' He noted that graffiti and other signs of gang activity have declined dramatically. He pointed out that a wall near the park had graffiti 24/7, 365 days a year prior to the injunction, but not lately" (Maxson, et al. vii). Thus, gang injunctions control a variety of gang-related activities, but they can help control the spread of graffiti and the actions of tagging crews, keeping neighborhoods not only safer, but less unsightly for the people who live there.

eferences

Alonso, Alex. "Gang Injunctions & Civil Abatement in Los Angeles." StreetGangs.com. 2008. 11 Dec. 2008. http://www.streetgangs.com/injunctions/

Editors. "Gang Injunction." County of San Diego District Attorney. 2008. 11 Dec. 2008. http://www.sdcda.org/protecting/gi_workflow.pdf

Maxson, Cheryl L. Karen Hennigan, David Sloane, and Kathy a. Kolnick. "Can Civil Gang Injunctions Change Communities?…

References

Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." Gutenberg.com. 2008. 11 Dec. 2008.  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5200/5200-h/5200-h.htm

(St. Lawrence). Delivering the intervention while housed in correctional facilities has the advantages of minimizing attrition, maintaining attendance at sessions, successfully delivering greater intervention dosage, and controlling for both the assessments and the intervention delivery. The disadvantages, as indicated above, are twofold: First, incarcerated girls will not have real-world opportunities to practice newly acquired skills between sessions; second, potential concerns exist regarding whether content acquired from an intervention delivered during their incarceration can

be expected to generalize from the institutional setting into their daily lives after they return to their homes (St. Lawrence).

. It is the behaviors of the youth in the gang that are viewed by the larger community as disruptive and harmful to the gang members themselves as well as to the community. Ironically, the sense of solidarity achieved from sharing everyday life with similarly situated people has the unintended effect of drawing many youth into behaviors…

Works Cited

Belknap, Joanne, and Kristi Holsinger. "The Gendered Nature of Risk Factors for Delinquency." Feminist Criminology 1.48 (2006). Print.

Murrish, Helen. "Youth Gang Membership: Gender Difference and Gang Participation." La Follette School of Public Affairs (2001). Web. 15 July 2010.

St. Lawrence, Janet S., Edward C. Snodgrass, Angela Robertson, and Connie Baird-Thomas. "Minimizing the Risk of Pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Disease and HIV among Incarcerated Adolescent Girls." Criminal Justice and Behavior 35.1500 (2008). Print.

Wingood, Gina, Ralph DiClemente Jr., Rick Crosby, Kathy Harrington, Susan L. Davies, and Edward W. Hook, III. "Gang Involvement and the Health of African-American Females." Pediatrics: Office Journal of the American Academy of Pediatricians 110 (2002). Print.

S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. The legislation makes the provision of over $ billion in funding "for gang prevention, intervention and law enforcement programs over five years and establishes new crimes and tougher penalties to deter and punish members of illegal street gangs." (Feinstein, 2007) the legislation proposed by Feinstein would make illegal participation in a criminal street gang a federal crime. The legislation criminalizes violent crimes in furtherance or in aid of criminal street gangs and creates a new criminal offense for murder and other violent crimes committed in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Under the present law, "a felon's criminal street gang involvement can be treated at most as a sentencing enhancement, adding no more than 10 years to a sentence. This bill establishes far higher penalties for violent gang crimes, including the possibility of life imprisonment without parole for murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, or maiming. If…

Bibliography

Matthews, D. And Ruzicka, K. (2000) Proposition 21: Juvenile Crime. Capital Center for Government and Law Policy - California Initiative Review. March 2000 initiatives - Proposition 21. Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Online available at  http://www.mcgeorge.edu/government_law_and_policy/california_initiative_review/march_2000/ccglp_cir_march2000_prop_21.htm .

McKim, J.B. And Rhor, Monica (2007) Justice by Geography (Orange County Register) 3 June 2007. Online available at http://dist08.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7BE917F382-8B46-4C4E-976E-64261965F209%7D&DE=%7BCA01ACE7-2B51-4E14-8DE4-3C7CC3E4DDFB%7D

Governor Scwarzenegger Endorsees Senator Feinstein's Comprehensive Gang Legislation. (2007) United States Senator Dianne Feinstein California. 20 March 2007. Online available at  http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=7189577e-cc9b-d379-16f3-c9194d249b56&Region_id=&Issue_id= 

Velasquez, N. (2007) L.A. City Attorney Delgadillo Establishes New Policy Regarding Gang Injunction Violations: New Policy Enables Check of Convicted Gang Injunction Violators' Residency Status. 5 April 2007. Online available at  http://www.lacity.org/atty/index/attyindex56044369_04052007.pdf .

Girls and Gangs

When people think of gangs and gangsters, they often think of young males. While females may be part of gang culture, they are often viewed as being in the periphery. In many ways, this view of female gang membership is correct. For example, females that are affiliated with gangs have oftentimes been reduced to sexual objections, being used for the gratification of gang members, as a way to lure new recruits (Firmin 2009, p. 15). Furthermore, female sexuality has traditionally been seen as a way to ensnare rival gang members, so that female gang members and females associated with gangs have often acted as spies infiltrating rival gang networks (Aabbad 2012, p.272). However, the traditional view of girls as sexual accessories and playthings for gang members does not reflect the reality of the modern-day gang situation. While women still face significant marginalization and sexual violence within the…

Contemporary Wales, vol. 22, no.1, pp.178-195.

Young, T. 2009. 'Girls and gangs: Shemale gangsters in the UK?', Youth Justice, vol. 9, no.3,

pp. 224-238.

In fact, when it comes to terrorism, strangers are, generally, the ambit of their activities.

There have been some activities, however, that have targeted innocent civilians and the motives and actions, in these cases, have ominously paralleled terrorist stratagems and motivations. A case in kind occurred in December, 2004, when an intercity bus in Honduras, Central America was intercepted and sprayed with machine gunfire and 28 passengers, mainly women and children, were killed first by the gunfire then by the assailants climbing abroad the bus and methodically executing the passengers17. The objective was a protest against the Honduran government who had recently reinstated the death penalty.

Another similarity is in their pattern of operation where, like al-Quida, they operate in a form of loose, unstructured cells that form a global dispersed network. Similarly, too, their individual ceils are devoted to similar activities and some are quite sophisticated. These include activities…

Reference

Bunker, R. J. 'Epochal Change: War over Social and Political Organization', Parameters, vol. 27, no. 2, Summe, 1997

Derbeken, Jaxon Van."Widow pleads for death penalty." San Francisco Chronicle. June 27, 2008.

Del Barco, M. "The International Reach of the Mara Salvatrucha." NPR.org (May 2, 2011).  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4539688 

Elkus, a. Foreign Policy in Focus "Gangs, terrorists, and trade" (April 12, 2007)

There are many factors that are not dealt with within the ambit of the theory; for example the extent to which the Hispanic culture has become a part of the mainstream culture. Therefore there are many critics of this theory who believe that it is an oversimplification of the reality on the ground. "Many scholars of criminology, however, believe the alien conspiracy theory is an oversimplification of the very complex and multi-ethnic nature of crime..." (Historical interpretations on Prohibition and organized crime)

3. Conclusion

In the final analysis Hispanic street gangs are a phenomenon that is strongly related to ethnic and social factors and to the way that the individual perceives of him or herself in relation to the larger society. While both ational Choice Theory and Alien Conspiracy Theory can explain aspects of the Hispanic gang phenomenon, they often do not account for all the factors affecting Hispanic street…

References

Arfaniarromo, A. (2001). Toward a Psychosocial and Sociocultural Understanding of Achievement Motivation among Latino Gang Members in U.S. Schools. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 28(3), 123. Retrieved November 11, 2006, from Questia database:  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000891430 

Boose, D.W. (2003). Rethinking the Korean War. Parameters, 33(4), 175+. Retrieved November 10, 2006, from Questia database:  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002573236 

Coughlin, B.C., & Venkatesh, S.A. (2003). The Urban Street Gang after 1970. 41+.

Duffy, M.P. & Gillig, S.E. (Eds.). (2004). Teen Gangs: A Global View. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved November 10, 2006, from Questia database:  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107029652

prison gang is a select group of inmates with an organized chain of command and an established code of conduct. They operate in secrecy with a view to controlling their prison environment through intimidation and violence meted on non-members. Some of the oldest prison gangs in the U.S. were formed as early as 1950s. Some notable example is Gypsy Jokers that operated in Washington State prisons (Fleisher & Decker, 2001). Violence in correctional facilities in the United States is something that has been with us for quite a while. Prisoners and prison officers have both fallen victims to this violence.

Think of the San Antonio, Texas incident where 281 prisoners were stabbed and 13 slain (The Ledger, 1984). There was divided opinion on what motivated such heinous acts with some prison officials opining that prison gangs who were divided along racial lines were responsible. Some attacks were thought to be…

References List

Fleisher, M.S. & Decker, S.H. (2001). An overview of the Challenge of Prison Gangs.

Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(1), 1-9.

Knox, G.W. (2005). The Problem of Gangs and Security Threat Groups (STG's) in American

Prisons Today: Recent Research Findings From the 2004 Prison Gang Survey. Retrieved from  http://www.ngcrc.com/corr2006.html

S. And maintain approximately as many members (both domestically and abroad) as the Hell's Angels. Their criminal activities are more focused on the manufacturing, distribution, and sales of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamines. The banditos use "puppet" or minor affiliate clubs who are not themselves Banditos but operate with the Banditos' authority and conduct some the parent club's criminal activities on their behalf.

Conclusion:

In the modern era, widespread crackdowns and joint operations initiated by state and federal law enforcement authorities and legislative tools such as the federal acketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations (ICO) Act have greatly reduced the influence of the Italian Mafia/LCN in American society but organized crime still persists, even if on a much smaller scale than half a century ago. However, whereas the power and reach of LCN has been greatly reduced, a significant influx of newer criminal enterprises has filled much of the gap vacated in…

References

Henslin, J. (2002). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Macionis, J. (2003). Sociology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Pinizzotto, a., Davis, E., and Miller, C. "Street Gang Mentality: A Mosaic of Remorseless Violence and Relentless Loyalty." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,

September 2007: 1-7.

Motorcycle Gangs

Is it a gang or is it a club? How did it form and why? What does it take to become a member and what are the reasons? These are all important questions to anyone interested in knowing more about motorcycle gangs/clubs. At the very start, one must decide whether to consider the organization a gang or a club.

The definition of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang interpreted by a recent Canadian Court Decision: Court File No.45646/92 and published in the Blue Line Magazine Feb 1998 is as follows:

They are often used interchangeably with the term "one percenter"

The 1% symbol is commonly displayed on tattoos by members, or on gang colors

Love of the motorcycle, especially the Harley-Davidson

Paramilitary in nature involved in crime close-knit fraternal organization

The definition continues at length, but one is able to perceive the direction of its intent. A gang is not…

References

Blue Line Magazine. Police Motorcycle Gangs - Are They Righteous Outlaws?

As retrieved June 11, 2004 at http://www.law-enforcement-ethics.com/article_archives/Police%20motorcycle%20Gangs.pdfPublished Feb 98 Blue Line Magazine

Glory Riders Christian Motorcycle Ministry as retrieved June 11, 2004 at  http://www.gloryriders.com/membership.html 

Motorcycle Club Colors as retrieved June 11, 2004 at http://www.arnie.co.uk/colours/htmpages 1-4.

Blackjacks gang is motorcycle criminal gang with operations in Arizona and other states in the past five years. In addition to a growing membership that has doubled in the past two years, the gang operates specifically in Phoenix metro area and the southern part of Tucson. The blackjacks not only control adult entertainment venues in Arizona but are also involved in prostitution, extortion, and drug trafficking. In their drug trafficking operations, the criminal gang's drug of choice is Methamphetamine, which is traded in various townships and establishments. Being a diverse and well-established criminal gang with undercover operations, increasing membership, and parental concerns over children's access, obtaining information regarding their activities is critical to countering its threat.

Obtaining Information on the Blackjacks:

As part of the initiative to gather information on the blackjacks, their enterprise, and criminal activities, the plan should include

Using Individual Officers:

To effectively obtain information on the…

References:

"Criminal Intelligence." (2003, July). IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center. Retrieved from Office of Justice Programs -- U.S. Department of Justice website:  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/topics/CI_Paper_0703.pdf 

"Sharing Intelligence to Fight Transnational Gangs." (2009, August 11). The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Justice website:  http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/august/gangs_081109

Risk factors are often found in clusters and their cumulative effect may lead to a greater probability that youth will become involved in crime (Garbarino, 1999). As a result then, there are not one or two factors that could cause someone to join a gang, but rather a collection of factors (Garbarino). It is possible then, by eliminating even one factor among the cluster, that programs could reduce gang involvement.

According to Esbensen (2000), many major cities have introduced gang prevention programs throughout the United States over the past 60 years. Community groups, social workers, and law enforcement personnel manage the different prevention programs in a variety of formats. he national government has also addressed the seriousness of gangs; President George W. Bush has proposed that funding be used for a three-year project to help keep youth out of gangs. First Lady Laura Bush will lead the new effort, Helping…

The approaches to gang prevention for youth have been developed using a wide variety of methods. Individual counseling can be used for behavior modification to decrease aggression, impulsiveness, and inflexible behaviors (Lipsey, M.W., Wilson, D.B. And Cothern, L. 2000). Family involvement using counseling and providing parental training techniques such as modeling, role-playing instruction, and story-reading have been found to be effective (Seitz and Apfel, 1994). School-based programs are offered across the country, which often follow a rigid curriculum over varying amounts of time. Community-based organizations provide a variety of programs using supervised mentors (McGill, Mihalic, and Grotpeter, 1998) and curriculum designed to teach social skills and problem solving techniques (Wong, Catalano, Hawkins, and Chappell 1996).

Utilizing incarcerated or former gang members can also provide a powerful means to reach out to youth. The Gang Violence Reduction Program of East Los Angeles draws on former gang members to influence and prevent youth gang involvement, which was also reported to be successful (National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention, 1994).

Types of Prevention

Young people growing up in Compton, East Los Angeles, and other communities with high rates of poverty, social disorganization, and anomie are exposed to a number of risk factors that are conducive to gang membership. Those risk factors include "poverty, immigration, discrimination, social isolation, limited educational opportunities, low parental monitoring, drug use," and some degree of positive reinforcement for gang membership (Freng & Taylor, n.d., p. 135). Moreover, gangs have historically been entrenched in Los Angeles, and some contemporary gangs can trace their historical roots to the early 20th century, which imbues those social organizations with a relatively high social status coupled with nostalgia and family pressures. esearch has shown that tradition plays an important role in multigenerational gangs in that "the long history of multigenerational gangs, coupled with parents' former involvement with the same neighborhood gangs, brings a sense of tradition to the gangs," ("Gangs, Family, and the Gang…

References

Cahill, et al. (2015). Evaluation of the Los Angeles Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program. Retrieved online:  http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000622-Evaluation-of-the-Los-Angeles-Gang-Reduction-and-Youth-Development-Program-Year-4-Evaluation-Report.pdf 

Freng, A. & Taylor, T.J. (n.d.). Race and ethnicity: what are their roles in gang membership? United States Department of Justice. Retrieved online:  https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/243474.pdf 

"Gangs, Family, and the Gang as Family," (n.d.). Retreived online:  http://family.jrank.org/pages/674/Gangs-Family-Gangs-Gang-Family.html 

Hoover, M. (1999). Where all the madness began. 28 May, 1999. Retrieved online:  https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/gangcolor/madness.htm

Career Development Program Juveniles in Gangs

The intervention plan provides various professional and organizational insights on the program and facilitation service. The program recognizes the relevance of initiating capacity, professionalism and skills of the persons involved while contributing towards the achievement of the strategic priorities and goals. The programs provide consultative information and services for the units of planning, team development and implementation of change processes (Bradshaw, et al., 2013). The system coordinates training in the correctional units. The medium-term goals of the project include providing advice and support for the application and development of staff and organizational development initiatives. The suite of program components will build on professional capabilities, leadership and management skills, organizational knowledge and team performance and development.

Literature eview

Various authors have literature on correctional systems. The practical approaches in gang situations include the need to address service delivery problems. The programs involve different stakeholders and…

References

Anonymous, (2004). Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective. Adolescence, vol. 39, (153): 187

Bradshaw, C. P. et al., (2013). Bullies, Gangs, Drugs, and School: Understanding the Overlap and the Role of Ethnicity and Urbanicity. J Youth Adolescence. Vol. 42:220-234

Holder, Jr., E. H., Robinson, L. O. & Slowikowski, J. (2010). Best Practices to Address community Gang Problems: OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model. National Gang Center

Koffman, S., et al., (2009). The impact of a Comprehensive Whole Child Intervention and Prevention Program among Youths at Risk of Gang Involvement and Other Forms of Delinquency. Children & Schools, vol. 31(4):239-244

The authors do not state that public perceptions of severity should be discounted, but merely that these should not be over-emphasized, as was the case in previous literature.

Another existing mode of measuring crime severity is that of economic models. Economic measures of costs may seem more objective, but given that they also involve speculative losses (such as lost productivity), they are not universally agreed upon. One widely-used model to estimate crime severity is the Bradley-Terry continuum which posits that stealing something less than $5 is less severe than stealing "something worth $5 -- $50, which itself is less severe than trying to steal something worth more than $50. Additionally, stealing or trying to steal a car is ranked more severe than the other theft items. Selling marijuana is also ranked less severe than selling harder drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or LSD" (amchand et al. 2009: 143). The authors…

References

Perry, B. (2003). Where do we go from here? Researching hate crimes. Internet Journal of Criminology. Retrieved:  http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Where%20Do%20We%20Go%20From%20Here.%20Researching%20Hate%20Crime.pdf 

Merl, J. (2013). Victims of 1999 hate-crime shooting endorse Mike Feuer. LA Times. Retrieved:

 http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/18/local/la-me-ln-feuer-guns-20130418

Alignment helps keep both qualitative and quantitative research studies cohesive, meaningful, and valid. The purpose of the study and its implications for policy or practice should be aligned with the research questions, design, and method. Research by Forster, Grigsby, Unger, et al. (2015) illustrates the concept of alignment in a quantitative study. The research focuses on the links between exposure to violence in the community, social ties with gangs or gang members, social self-control, and aggressive behavior. Based on prior research, the authors hypothesize that exposure to violence in the community would be associated with aggressive behaviors. The authors also hypothesize that having friends or family members in gangs was positively correlated with aggressive behavior, and that lower levels of self-control were also correlated with aggressive behavior. All of these hypotheses have the same dependent variable (aggressive behavior exhibited over the past week). These hypotheses and related research questions are…

2. Challenging state legitimacy -- Transnational maras are a significant threat to the authority of legitimate governments. This is especially true in areas where the legitimate authorities are weak or plagued by corruption. It can result in the decreased ability of the government to maintain necessary functions, services, and goods to the public.

3. Acting as surrogate governments -- Transnational maras can completely supplant the legitimate authorities in some regions. In those situations, they establish their own local rules and extort taxes and protection money from the local population.

4. Dominating black market business -- Transnational maras can take over the economic sector by establishing their own businesses, in which case they compete unfairly with legitimate businesses by intimidating them and because they do not have to pay taxes or comply with any of the other restrictions and legal requirements that legitimate businesses must respect.

5. Infiltrating public sector and…

deviance relates to the American Dream

In his book, Always unning: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., Luis J. odriguez uses his own experience and writing talents to tell the story of lives that are caught in the fire of bad luck. Children who happened to be born in some of the poorest neighborhoods of LA in the 1960's, 70s or 80s, as odriguez, were condemned to contamination from the gang life that was going in the streets, around their homes, even creeping into their porches. The U.S. was marching on its way to become a world leader while huge urban areas like those of LA or Chicago were infested and ruled by a way of life that had little or nothing to do with the "American dream." Prostitution, drugs, alcohol and extreme violence, were the four main driving forces of "progress" in the "barrios." Life had little to…

Rodriguez's account of his own life is, as underlined before, a story that makes one think outside one's own little universe. He does not use pathos in his writing, he would rather present the facts as they are, as painful as that might be. Because of his frankness, he writes, some schools have banned his book from their library shelves or taken it out of their reading lists. Those he is writing about are too real and too close to the students who might come across this book. Is it possible that some school officials were afraid that the experiences described here could be harmful for those young minds and sous they were supposed to train for life? Were they afraid the children might get contaminated by its lecture? In fact, the question is: is it possible that the people populating this book could be harmful for the entire American society because they are a part of it and not a separate entity, as they would like to keep it?

Conley, Dalton. 2013. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist (Core Third Edition). W.W. Norton. New York. London Rodriguez, Luis J. 2012. Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A, Open Road Media, Jun 12, 2012

Pacheco, Juan. 2009. March 12 forum at UCLA on "Global Perspectives on Youth & Violence." Available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLCjpX9aDmY

Gang Prevention Programs in Los Angeles

The issue of gangs and the gang related deaths and violence has been a thing of concern across the nation and in Los Angeles in particular due to the alarming high levels of gang activities within the city. Los Angeles City has been described severally as the "gang capital" of the nation, due to the numerous gangs that are in existence as well as the long history of these gangs, going back to 50 years ago. Los Angeles Police Department (2016) there are approximately 450 active gangs in Los Angeles with a membership exceeding 45,000 members. The membership of these gangs has continued to increase over the last five years due to the lucrative narcotics trade. Over the last three years, it is documented that 16,398 violent crimes were associated to gang activities, 491 of these being homicides and 7,0478 being felony assaults, 98…

References

A Better LA, (2016). Funded Programs: R.A.C.E. Retrieved April 29, 2016 from  http://www.abetterla.org/programs/ 

Basheer A., (2016). B.U.I.L.D. Brotherhood for Independent Leadership through Discipline. Retrieved April 29, 2016 from  http://www.streetgangs.com/homicides/build.html 

H.E.L.P.E.R Foundation, (2016). HELPER: Our Mission. Retrieved April 29, 2016 from http://www.helperfoundation.org/

Los Angeles Police Department (2016). Gangs. Retrieved April 29, 2016 from  http://www.lapdonline.org/get_informed/content_basic_view/1396

Gang ecruitment

Self-Worth and the Need to Belong

Juvenile Delinquency Paper

The self-help author Wayne Dyer once wrote that, "Self-worth comes from one thing…thinking that you are worthy." This quote captures the functional role of gangs: they exist because they serve a purpose. Gangs are attractive to recruits because they promise a variety of benefits. Though many members reap material benefits from joining, it is the psychological benefits which play a critical role in the decision to join a gang, particularly as it relates to self-worth and the need to belong. While some gang members often portray themselves with great machismo, think highly of themselves and are proud of what they have become, the majority of youths who join gangs suffer from a negative self-image (Miller, 2001). Opportunities to feel good about themselves in their family or at school are few and far between. Yablonsky (1997) tells us "The gangsters'…

References:

Maslow, A.H. (1970). Motivation and Personality. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

Miller, J., Maxson, C., Klein, M. (2001). The Modern Gang Reader. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Co.

Sanchez-Jankowski, M.S. (1991). Islands in the Street: Gangs and American Urban Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Shelden, R., Tracy, S., Brown, W. (1997). Youth Gangs in American Society. Ann Arbor, MI: Wadsworth Publishers.

Juvenile Gangs

Gangs have been thorns on the flesh of the citizens of the United States no wonder they have occupied a prominent position in American criminological literature. Gang wars between the Crips and the Bloods in Los Angeles are testament to the gang culture among certain communities in the United States. As opposed to the Dutch youth who are interested in music and romance of the West Side Story, especially the video clips and compact disc with gangster rap, the Americans juveniles appear to have negative associations (Klein, 2001). The language of the youngsters perceived to be engaging in juvenile gang activities is characterized by hyperbole and contains refers to competition and violence. The youth style personified by rappers like Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. who appeared to talk about the hard life in their neighborhoods referred to juvenile gangs. This research paper seeks to review literature on criminal…

References List

Defleur, L.B. (1967). Delinquent Gangs in Cross-Cultural Perspective: the Case of Cordoba.

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 4(1), 132-141.

Flores, J.R. (2006). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Retrieved from  http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED495786.pdf 

Klein, M. (2001). The Eurogang Paradox: Street Gangs and Youth Groups in the U.S. And Europe. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Monkey Wrench Gang," by Edward Abbey [...] issue, where does Monkey Wrenching (the type of political activity in the Monkey Wrench Gang) fit into protest politics as a bridge to mass movement politics? Is Monkey Wrenching a part of the fabric of participatory democracy? Monkey Wrenching is clearly extraordinary politics, but does it have a place in our participatory representative democracy?

THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG

Participation in America may seem like a dying art, but every day, thousands of Americans participate in their communities, take care of others, and spout their political beliefs for the betterment of all. From grandmothers who read to children in their local library, to college student protesting the war in Iraq, citizens in America have the right to change the world, one person at a time. Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang" is a novel of participation at its best. The motley gang of four…

Bibliography

Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang. New York: Perennial Classics, 2000.

Attendance at this meeting for you and members of your group will be
beneficial in both long-term and short-term ways. This ways are not
limited to but could include the portrayal by your group of its civic
responsibilities and how seriously they are taken by your group.
The agenda for the meeting will include a short introduction by our
Mayor concerning the details of the activities under question and a time
set aside for open discussion(s) by group leaders and members with the
attending officials. If time is available, committees can be designated to
coordinate any decided on actions. With the prominence attained by your
group in other official capacities, it is almost certain that you and your
members will be chosen to head several of these committees.
If any concerns or questions arise before the meeting that you feel
must be addressed, please feel free to call me or…

Murder Inc. by Graham K. Bell
 

Book Summary

Starting from the 1920s, the American crime landscape underwent a complete transformation under an all-star gang of thugs, garrotters, and snipers. Ethnic and religious diversity was evident in its members. A majority of them hailed from New York City itself, chosen from its toughest neighborhoods, including Ocean Hill, Brownsville, and Flushing. The exorbitant amount of crime they perpetrated led the media to name them "Murder, Inc.."This merciless gang, considered the innovation of Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and other elderly gangsters, was quick to catch the entire nation's attention, and made headlines across the country for more than twenty years. Graham Bell highlights the sinister history of the most infamous Mafia crime organization, including the men's identities and the forging of their partnership (Arcadia Publishing, 2010).

The media labeled 1930s-40s organized crime gangs "Murder, Inc.."These gangs were said to work on behalf…

The Gambino crime family began to fall apart after the head of its founder died. It had split into two factions. This book centers on the more ruthless Brooklyn faction. Away from the scrutiny of the Manhattan police, for many years it could do what it wished. Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci spare no details in detailing the cruel jokes these men told to one another while they engaged in their killing spree, nor the callousness of their attitudes towards their victims. The reason that these criminals were so effective at getting rid of bodies was because they were willing to do the unthinkable -- maim the corpses, and bury them piecemeal to avoid discovery. Some of the maiming they engaged in was gruesome without even a practical point to the violence. One of Roy's cousins was called Dracula, because he specialized in training the blood from the bodies.

The…

Works Cited

Mustain, Gene & Jerry Capeci. Murder Machine. New York: Onyx, 1993.

Street Drug Trade Is One of the Most Important Social Institutions for Young People in Detroit

From his perspective, Bergmann writes that the street drug is one of the most important social institutions for young people in Detroit. As an institution, the drug dealings and everything surrounding it are becoming a transforming force taking people in a certain way of life and perception. Detroit is known to be a major region of the drug trade, including heroin. Like any other society, it suffers consequences of this in many ways, including the economic, cultural, social, and even psychological repercussions arising from the presence of the drug. Drugs are commonly effective and, in some way, change the way people behave, live, and interact. This is seen from his submission that "drug dealing governed the seasonal cycles of their lives and taught them about the nature and power of the state, capitalism and…

Therapist Name:

Case Name/#:

eason for eferral:

The client is a 15-year-old male who has issues with anger management. The client is also a gang member and given his age and background he is considered to be at risk for a number of antisocial behaviors.

Presenting Problems:

Clinical concerns: Anger management/acting out.

Clinical concerns: Interpersonal isolation/relationship issues.

Clinical concerns: Underage cigarette smoking.

Client is a high potential risk for substance abuse.

Clinical concerns: Client is at a high potential risk for depressive symptoms.

Contextual considerations:

The client has been in counseling with another counselor for four months before being transferred to this counselor's caseload. According to the reports from his previous counselor this client had made very little progress and was uncooperative.

He was uncooperative during the initial assessments and did not wish to discuss his feelings or acknowledge that he has difficulties with managing his anger. He tends to…

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.-text revision). Washington, DC: Author.

Beck, R., & Fernandez, E. (1998). Cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of anger: A meta-

analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 22, 63 -- 74.

Boxer, P. & Goldstein, S.E. (2012). Treating juvenile offenders: Best practices and emerging critical issues. In Grigorenko, E.L. (Ed.), Handbook of juvenile forensic psychology and psychiatry (pp. 323-340). New Haven, CT: Springer.

ibliography

Alonso, Alex. 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles County Street Gangs.com, 2002 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.streetgangs.com/18thstreet.html.

estofSicily. The Mafia estofSicily.com, 2008 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.bestofsicily.com/mafia.htm.

urton, Fred. Mara Salvatrucha: The New Face of Organized Crime? Strategic Forecasting, Inc., 2006 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.stratfor.com/mara_salvatrucha_new_face_organized_crime.

CrimeLibrary. Yakuza: Origins and Traditions CrimeLibrary.com, 2008 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html.

Franco, Celinda. "The Ms-13 and 18th Street Gangs: Emerging Transnational Gang Threats?" 21. Washington, D.C.: Domestic Social Policy Division, 2008.

Friedman, Robert I. Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America. 1st ed. oston: Little, rown, 2000.

SonofItaly. Omerta SonOfItaly.freeservers.com, 2008 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://sonofitaly.freeservers.com/photo2.html.

Valdemar, Richard. Exceptions to the Gang Rules: How the Intricacies and Idiosyncrasies of the Gangs in Your Jurisdiction. Policeman.com, 2007 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.policemag.com/Channels/Gangs/2007/08/07/Exceptions-to-the-Gang-Rules.aspx.

Valdez, Al. California's Most Violent Export StreetGangs.com,…

Bibliography

Alonso, Alex. 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles County Street Gangs.com, 2002 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at  http://www.streetgangs.com/18thstreet.html .

BestofSicily. The Mafia BestofSicily.com, 2008 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at  http://www.bestofsicily.com/mafia.htm .

Burton, Fred. Mara Salvatrucha: The New Face of Organized Crime? Strategic Forecasting, Inc., 2006 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.stratfor.com/mara_salvatrucha_new_face_organized_crime.

CrimeLibrary. Yakuza: Origins and Traditions CrimeLibrary.com, 2008 [cited May 12, 2008]. Available at http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html.

She has the right to call witnesses on her behalf and have them testify for her and she has the right to face and question any witnesses that are brought forth by the opposition.

There are several possible alternative solutions to this problem. The first solution is that the girl can be grandfathered in. Being grandfathered in means that a situation existed before a particular situation was decided upon. In this case the girl had the tattoo long before the decision was made to seek out and stop gang symbols. If she was grandfathered in it would mean that her tattoo would be ignored because she had it on her hand before the new rules applied.

Another possible alternative solution would be to have the student cover her tattoo when she was in school. Many times businesses will ask their teen employees to cover any facial piercing that they may…

Works Cited

BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 403 ET AL. v. FRASER, a MINOR, ET AL.

SUPREME COURT of the UNITED STATES

478 U.S. 675

July 7, 1986, Decided

Merton also incorporated Durkheim's observations of the difference between intrinsic motivation for work and economic profit and purely superficial extrinsic motivation for the tangible trappings of success and/or social status. Since post-Industrial evolution social values tended to focus so much more on acquisition and less on contributing to society through work, individuals experiencing psychosocial strains from the lack of available opportunities for legitimate work often sought to acquire the same outward social status through deviant and criminal means (Schmalleger, 2008).

The documentary traced the evolution of organized neighborhood protection and political rights organizations in vast criminal enterprises after the discovery of the economic profit potential associated with selling illicit narcotics. In Los Angeles, a parasitic relationship developed wherein the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) extracted protection money from the gangs while simultaneously increasing their official budget to upgrade their facilities and equipment on the basis of the increasing firepower and…

References

Gerrig, R., Zimbardo, R. (2005). Psychology and Life/. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Henslin, J. (2002). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Macionis, J.J. (2003). Sociology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Schmalleger, F. (2007). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st

Social Ordinance: A Means to Foster a Spirit of Community

There are usually a set of social features that are provided to man so as to regulate their behavior according to the norms and values that have been set. Some people in a community might fail to conform to these norms. The failure to conform to these norms that have been set within the community is termed as deviant behavior. In short, the violation of law that is in existence within the society is known as deviant behavior. Deviant behavior in a community includes criminal behavior, drug abuse, and gang membership and so on.

Description of changed deviant behavior

These deviant behaviors are not permanent as people who exhibit these behaviors change their ways at some point in their life. People end up changing their deviant behavior and become completely different people in the society. These people get tired of…

References

Kai T. Erikson (nd). On the Socialogy of Deviance. Retrieved August 28, 2012 from http://fasnafan.tripod.com/sociologyofdeviance.pdf

The Connexions Project, (2014). Deviance, Crime and Social Control. Retrieved August 28, 2012 from  http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SOC101_Introduction-to-Sociology_Chapter-7.pdf

F-ratio is designed in such a way that there is no individual difference with reference to contribution between denominator and numerator. The numerator of F-ratio measures the means difference that exists between one treatment to the other and the F-ratio is designed in such a way that both denominator and numerator measure exactly the same variance and when the null hypothesis is true, and there will be no systematic treatment effect. When there is no treatment effect, the F-ratio balances the numerator and denominator because both are measured exactly in the same variance, making F-ratio to have the value equal to 1.00.

When a research finding concludes that F-ratio is equal to 1.00, the research will conclude that there will be no treatment effect, thus, the research will fail to reject the null hypothesis, and the null hypothesis is true. However, when the treatment effect exists, this contributes to the…

Reference

Gravetter, F.J. (2011). Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, (9th Edition). Cengage Learning.

Judith, S.B. Tao, D. & David, B.W. (2007). Drug abuses by Fathers & their adolescent children: longitudinal predictors of adolescent aggression. American Academy on Psychiatrists in Alcoholism and Addictions / the American journal of addictions. 16, ( 5): 410 -- 417.

Olate, R. Wright, C.S. & Vaugnn. (2012). Predictors of violence and delinquency among high risk youth and youth gang members in San Salvador, El Salvador. International Social Work. 55(3) 383 -- 401.

Platt, R.W. (1998). ANOVA, t- tests, and linear regression. Journal of The International Society For Child And Adolescent Injury Prevention. 4, (1): 52 -- 53.

Gender, Age

This particular vignette details a family that is in a very bad position. There is a tremendous amount of conflict within this house coming from at least three different parties -- from Mr. Flores, from his daughter, and indirectly coming from his wife who is caught in a struggle for power between both of them. The source of these conflicts essentially stems from Amanda Flores, the daughter. However, it is exacerbated by a number of issues that will be revealed at length in the remainder of this document, and pertains to the entire family.

Differences

One of the principle differences between the clients and the counselor that may have contributed to this particular vignette is one that relates to culture. Specifically, Amanda's part of the gang culture is something that most counselors may be familiar with through work, but cannot comprehend in the same way as those who…

S.-Mexico boarder. Not only this, but the strengthening of the drug trade, as well as the potential for human trafficking and the smuggling of terrorists poses a potential catastrophe for the United States. While the U.S.-Mexico boarder has always been an area of contention among policy makers, the MS-13 gang makes the argument less about social policy and the future of immigration, but about criminal activity and the safety of citizens. If the gang is able to successfully organize, a network of criminals stretching between some of the world's most dangerous regions and the United States will have been established, allowing for the potential crumbling of the United States from within. At this point, the criminals would not even need to cross the boarder to communicate, as they could engage in communication through electronic means or word-of-mouth without even risking an attempt to cross the boarder. A second terrorist attack…

References

Department of Justice. (2009, April 22). MS-13 Leader Found Guilty of 2007 Murder in Springfield. [Press Release]. Virginia: United States Attorney's Office.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2009, May 1). A Courageous Victim Taking a Stand

Against MS-13. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Web Site:  http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may09/ms13_050109.html 

Federal Bureau of Investigation: Baltimore (2009, May 11). MS-13 Member Sentenced to

Gangs in Prisons in the United States and the Affect Rehabilitation Programs to Help Inmates Upon Release

Prison Gangs are one of the most challenging entities that have to be tackled by the authorities. Their growing influence in the prison setting concerns not just the inside of the prisons, but also the outside world, as when they are released, the members continue causing problems for the society. A lot of rehabilitation programs have been formed in order to provide guidance and a fresh start to the inmates who are released, which helps them overcome their criminal life and lead a normal one. This paper discusses the phenomenon and existence of criminal gangs and how the rehabilitation programs affect them after their release.

Introduction

According to Lyman (1989), a prison gang is a criminal entity made up of special group of chosen prisoners that is governed with some sort of code…

Bibliography

Fleisher, M., & Decker, S. (2001). An Overview of the Challenge of Prison Gangs. Corrections Management Quarterly, 1-9.

Gilligan, J. (2012, December 10). Punishment Fails. Rehabilitation Works. Retrieved from New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/18/prison-could-be-productive/punishment-fails-rehabilitation-works 

Lyman, M.D. (1989). Gangland. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.

Miceli, V. (2009). Analyzing the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Programs. Senior Honors Project, 1.