The Non-Ending Menace of Gang Crimes - Coursework Example

Most gang members may decide to abandon their activities but face other challenges that force them to continue engaging in gang crime. There exists the notion of alternatives in which one may reverse his decision on the grounds that those alternative methods are either unavailable or their rewards are lower than expected. With the full knowledge of the consequences may opt in taking a risk. The size of a gang may limit the probability of an individual being caught and increase the chances of benefits in that if a gang member is caught the remaining members may still reap from their actions. Farrall and Bowling (1999) attribute this to the failure of human beings to leave up to their decisions as circumstances change over a given period.

Gang crimes operate mostly on the assumption that their number creates a vulnerability effect on their victims in that they use their number to intimidate and organize their actions. The vulnerability aspect encourages the gangs to operate with less worry about the likeliness of being caught (Gottschalk, 2013). Those caught in criminal gangs and then released due to either completing their jail term or lack of evidence may tend to ignore the risk involved in crime (Farrall & Bowling, 1999). The fear of uncertainty is what deters a person from committing a crime and once experience the consequences involved in a crime some prefer to engage in crime life.  Routine-based crimes are what have attributed to the continuous growth of gang-based crimes.

Social rationality is also, what determines an individual’s choice in joining a gang group. The existing social inequality in, the judicial service and the unfairness of the community in terms of revenue allocation may prompt individuals with similar grievances to form gangs and recruit a sizeable number. The social aspect at this point runs paramount to the risk assessment effect of the rational choice theory. Once a group is formed under the same circumstances, they tend to bond from a long-lasting partnership. The gangs tend to reduce the chances of being caught by monitoring and mastering police strategies including patrols (Gottschalk, 2013).

In conclusion, gangs operate in a manner that those joining them are aware of the consequence and asses risk with an effort of innovating new ways to reduce the probability of being caught. This fact explains why the gang problem continues to escalate despite the consequences of gang crimes being obvious. People make decisions best on the situation at hand and risk consequences to ensure they reap huge benefits.