Teenagers and Gang Violence in Connecticut - Research Paper Example

?Topic:  Teenagers and Gang Violence in Connecticut must be in the last 5 years Introduction Teenagers involved in gang violence are one big reality in the current society we live in. Gang violence among teens is a subject of great concern as it is a threat to the society as well as lives of teenagers. In gang violence, the teenagers tend to get stabbed, injured or even get killed Teenagers who are engaged in gang violence have the tendency to commit crimes against one another in a rageful moment. Unfortunately, in United States the number of teenagers involved in gang violence is considerably high. Initially, gang violence among teenagers was only prevalent in inner cities of Unites States but now it is spreading in to every part of the country. Connecticut is one such state which is following other states and seeing an increase in teenager based gang violence. The teenager involving in gang violence in Connecticut is slowly increasing and the families and government of the city has a great responsibility to fight this social evil. As per (Hearst Communications)“Connecticut is not immune to gang violence issue. According to the Department of Public Health, 10 percent of teens surveyed were in a physically violent dating relationship last year; 17 percent were in an emotionally abusive dating relationship”. The teenagers in Connecticut City are slowly getting violent and major blame could be put on the domestic violence occurring in the homes of the state. Dating violence and atrocities at colleges and universities are the major concerns for the government and parents in the city. Teenagers can get violent for many reasons and mostly they get an affinity towards violence when they see the same at their homes. The Teenager and Gang Violence activities in Connecticut Recently gang violence have spread to many communities in United States and Connecticut is one of the city joined the group. In United States, much of the violence is caused by the youth gangs. They create violence in neighborhood and schools where they are more active and interact commonly. According to (Brown) “The police in many Connecticut cities only had to look inside the schools to see that the problem of youth violence is on the rise. There's more fights resulting in violence over little things and more violence involving girls”. It is also seen that these violent youths get access to guns as they are sold on the streets .Children as young as 14 year old possess gun and using it at unpredictable situation which give rise to injury and fatal killing. The fights among teenagers start on petty things and move on to become a deadly encounter. Since they are immature to think about the consequences of their action, things get out of their hand. This is a concern among the police authorities as the age of homicide victims are getting younger than ever. There have been many shootings and stabbings happening in the state in the past years that Federal, state and local authorities are highly concerned about the security of teenagers. More of violence is especially observed in the Hartford and Manchester towns of Connecticut State. The gang violence among teenagers has taken over the nature of adult fights and local police are more active to trace the reason for such violence. The teenagers involved in gang violence perform activities like petty theft, vandalism, fights over turf, drug dealing and burglary. Since the teenagers are mostly set free they have the tendency to repeat the same action as they know that there would not be any negative consequences for their atrocities. The involvement of teenage in gangs is what mostly provokes them to end up in violence. In his book(Gerali,32)writes that “ Teenagers who get involved with gangs may begin carrying weapons such as knives, baseball bats, pipes, brass knuckles, hammers, pipe wrenches, and guns”. In Stratford town there happens rapes, brawls and killing which is caused by the teenagers who are member of violent gangs. The police in Connecticut have found out that these teenage gangs also have common identity to affiliate them with. The teenage and gang violence has affected the Connecticut state in an extremely disastrous manner especially the occurrence of dating violence is on rise in the state where the boyfriend is over controlling the girl friend. Dating violence can be of many types like emotional or mental abuse, sexual and physical abuse. It is trend in Manchester city for the gang members to beat up the people who are not of their gang. The non – gang members are hit by clubs or bats and injured badly for not complying with them These gang members usually are in the age range of 12 to 25 years of age and mostly are members of ethnic group .These people are mostly organized and always have a leader to guide them and operates in specific territory. The Reason for Violence among Teenagers in Gangs The reasons for escalating violence among teens can be significantly contributed to their parents, family environment and the neighborhood. As per (Petty)“What started as a fight between Torrington High School students escalated into a bizarre case of a mom chasing a teen in a car and threats of gang violence and retaliation on city streets”. Here we can see that parents get involved in these violence’s when it gets out of control. If they had been more conscious about the behavior at an early stage things would have been in control. Children when grown up in an isolated environment have more tendencies to join gang and engage in criminal activities. They lack care and attention from parents and due to feeling of want of attention and pleasure they get attracted to criminal deeds. There is also a wrong conception among teenagers that joining a gang is a thing of pride. Even there is increase in number of female teenagers involved in gang violence in the state of Connecticut. It is observed that females in between the age range of 12 and 17 years are engaged in fight at school. One reason for gang violence is influence of drugs and alcohol on the teenagers. Parents who are less attentive to their children give unlimited freedom to them and they get addicted to harmful substance and fall into gangs which perform heinous acts. Even children raised in homes where domestic violence is an issue can get motivated to be a member of street gangs. Preventive Measures Taken to Reduce Teenage and Gang Violence in Connecticut The law governing bodies, police officials and child protective service providers all have taken serious steps to reduce the increase in the rate of teenager and gang violence in the state of Connecticut. According to (Ross)“The National Drug Intelligence Center estimates that south-central Connecticut has as many as 2,500 gang members”. The Crime and shooting in the cities of Connecticut states have dropped 10 percent and all the credit for this goes to the sincere effort of anti- gang experts. Event the detectives have done an incredible job by unraveling the youth gangs operating in the state in a secretive mode. These detectives were completely aware of the threats and challenges they face but put all their effort into solve this critical issue the state is facing. Teenage mostly get to know about gangs from television and internet and they try to follow their lifestyle .It is believed that History channel forecast of program on Gangland have had a tremendous influence of youth to adopt gang lifestyle. The Gang Intelligence coordinators of the state are of the opinion that police and politicians are ignoring this issue for years. Even the narcotics units of the state focused on the connection between gangs and drugs and took measures to stop the drug dealing happening in the cities throughout Connecticut State. Even there is other service like Gang Resistance Education and Training and law enforcement officer instructed class room curriculums which have made a positive impact in reducing the teenage and gang violence’s in Connecticut. Conclusion Teenagers get involved in gang violence when they get acquainted with wrong friends and youth who are engaged in violent activities. Teenagers are in a very critical age and they act before they think. Because of this, they tend to end up in fight for silly reasons and when they do not get proper guidance things can get even worse. Usually gang violence among teenagers is seen in socially down trodden communities and societies. But some teenagers who are ignored by parents can also fall into these gangs and indulge in criminal activities. Many gang members carry weapon and also youngster in an attempt to follow media can end up joining criminal gangs. Children also get involved in gangs due to drugs and alcohol influence. The most important factor which leads teenagers to involve in gang violence is the abusive life style of their parents. The violent outburst occurring at homes can induce the teenagers to adopt it. So a proper measure should be taken at home to avoid the teenagers from following gang violence and other criminal issues. Teenagers should also be counseled in order to allow them to think about the negative aspect of gang violence. Event the school authorities need to include classes in their curriculums which teach youth about violence spread by gang members. Government officials of Connecticut State also should alert policy officials, law enforcement officers and intelligent agents to take immediate steps to avoid the spreading of gang violence throughout the state. References Brown, T.A. "Officials Seek Solutions For Youth Violence." Website for Information. Hartford Info, 17-03-2005. Web. 26 Jul 2011. . Gerali, S. What Do I Do When Teenagers Encounter Bullying and Violence?. 1sted.,. Michigan: Zondervan, 2009. 32. Print Hearst Communications Inc., "Promise to end teen dating violence in Connecticut." Website of lawyers. Stamford Advocate, 08 -02-2011. Web. 26 Jul 2011. . Petty,L. "Torrington Brawls Land Teens, Mom Behind Bars." Webstie for News. NBC News, 10-03-2010. Web. 26 Jul 2011. . Ross, C. "Police step up efforts to curb gang violence." Website for News. Yale Daily News, 26-01-2010. Web. 26 Jul 2011.. 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