Is youth gang crime the result of differential opportunity structure - Essay Example

Is youth gang crime the result of differential opportunity structure Introduction Youth gang crime is a term which caused serious debates and discussions about the existence of criminal court system and became a controversial issue among the media and public. ‘Is youth gang crime resulted differential opportunity structure’ has often been regarded as a highly controversial topic among the researchers. Especially, youth crime and opportunity structure draw the attention of educators, academicians, researchers, and policy makers of criminal justice and criminology. Youth gang crimes are mounting in a harmful way and authorities have often failed to handle this social evil. Differential opportunity structure is theory introduced by Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin in with the background of delinquent and criminal socialization. A young person who may have actually committed a relatively small crime could end up being labeled a criminal. The crime promotes opportunity disorder in social and cultural life both gang members and other people who lived in the same society where youth gangs engaged. Youth gang crimes have differential opportunity structure in their own lives and other’s. A youth who may never commit another crime in his life can end as a criminal because he is seen as capable of being one by the society that he or she lives in. Anyway youth gang crime is comparatively a serious issue in contemporary England. Analyzing the social and econometric background of Britain one can easily comprehend the fact that youth gang crimes have played a vital role in various fields of social and cultural life such as higher education, employment, justice, and healthcare. Differential opportunities in education, justice, employment and healthcare have affected manly young people and often it strengthens the concept of angry young man. Denial of opportunities in justice and healthcare are always resulted further risk factors that promote gang involvement. The effects of youth gang crime and differential opportunity structure in social and cultural life Gang crimes always make negative effects in individual and social life of a person. Generally Government and public never show their willingness to accept the gang members as equals to their fellow beings. Identity of a gang member, who once practiced gang activities, forces him to withdraw to his own isolated group. The society and its accessible norms and policies never permit him to engage in the activities of mainstream life. Differential opportunity structure affects him in different ways and after effects of this crisis prevents him to engage his duties and responsibilities to the nation. Justifiable opportunities to pursue socially and culturally approved goals are structured and distributed to the society for each and every individual who led a cultured or civilized life. Youth gang crimes often paved the way for opportunity disorder through their efforts to engage illegitimate activities. The worse is the problem of defective opportunity structure which affects not only the gang members but it prevents the surrounding society also. Society never accepts the gang members in to be the part of the main stream. For achieving their status, social integration and honor in existing society gang members always practiced both mental and physical efforts. Members of a gang family have their own ideologies and the community treats them as anti-social people and discards them from social activities. The book entitled Principles of Criminology helps the reader for an easy comprehension about opportunity crisis in social life of a gang member. As the authors comment; “When persons become criminal, they do because of contacts with criminal behavior patterns and also because of isolation from anti criminal behavior patterns” (Sutherland, Cressey, & Luckenbill 1992, p. 104). Issues related with youth gang crimes that prop up the risk of differential opportunity structure in social or personal life are many and varied. They are dilemma in family life, poor attainment at school, truancy and school elimination, substance abuse and alcoholism, mental illness, and dispossession. Generally it leads young people either to stay in poor housing or making them homeless. This kind of physical or emotional alienation always resulted defective opportunity structure in his life. Studies have underlined the fact that gang members were subjected to opportunity crisis and most of them lived as isolated from the commercial areas of the city. It is clear that defective opportunity structure in economic background among the gang members. “In New York City, gang members typically live in neighborhoods that are isolated from the commercial centers of the city, such as Brownsville, East New York, Bushwick, East Harlem, Jamaica, and the South Bronx” (Tumarkin, Browne, & Hunt, 2007 p. 5). Issue of differential opportunity structure in the field of education Analyzing social and cultural background of an area where affected youth gang crimes, one can come across that opportunity structures are distributed unequally in the society and it promotes severe social issues to the nation. The right to utilize education and the performance compositions are included in the existing social life and all the people were subjected to this system. As a result of these differential opportunity structures, misfortunes happen in society. The performance structure is based on the standards and talents associated with the exacting responsibilities assigned for them. It is a part of common knowledge is that the civic structure of a society that establishes the way to education and performance configurations. Some of the gang will take the criminal principles and the abilities and they were involved in the theft and robbery to show the power and prestige of the team. The clash gang arises when their chances are blocked and they try to attain it through the fighting, cruelty and their inter-team differences. These gangs are also combating to accomplish the esteem positions among them. Some other gang comes up when they were deprived of the accomplishments. These gangs will be involved in prostitution, drug business, etc., which may scam the life of the youth. As a result of this young people have lost their opportunity to gain education. As Robert M. Regoli et al comment; “Most incarcerated youths are at least two years behind their peers in basis academic skills and have had higher rates of absenteeism, suspension, or expulsion from school” (Regoli, John, & DeLisi 2009, p. 561). Gang members have developed low teaming skills and understanding academic and social failure at school from a near the beginning age. Some of the gang members are uninterested with, or feel inadequate in class room activities and drop out from school in early stages. They have lost the opportunity to identify teachers and school staffs in a structured way and also lost chances to prove both academic and non-academic excellence.Young children are who turn out to be engaged the street gangs ate higher danger than youthful criminal who are not the component of street gang. They are more expected to be the sufferers of the illegal activities to occupy in substance violence and be unsuccessful at school and therefore be eliminated from the universal social milieu Young people who involved in gang activities have contributed imbalanced distribution of education and employment opportunities among the youths. Young people from immigrant communities have involved in gang activities than others in Britain. Differential opportunity structure in education, justice, employment and healthcare resulted aggression among the youths. The online article entitled Gangs - Defining Gangs, Gang Formation, Symbols Of Gangs And Gang Membership, Gangs And Crime, Gangs And Neighborhoods helps the reader by commenting; “In this period, many immigrants settled in ethnic enclaves in inner-city neighborhoods characterized by several features: a large, culturally diverse population; deteriorating housing; poor employment prospects; and a rapid turnover in population” (Gangs - Defining Gangs 2010). In case of youth gang members, lacks of opportunity in higher education acts as a block in achieving specialized jobs. Differential opportunity structure in employment have resulted criminal attitude and aggressive behavior among the youths. An effective education system can, to a large extent, help in bringing up a generation that will be technically and administratively capable of shouldering their responsibilities. But other overriding concerns regarding more serious areas like youth crime and its increase have become more and more important. The twentieth and the twenty-first centuries have witnessed a rising trend in this context. Youth gang crimes prevent the youths to gain proper education and because of poor language proficiency, cultural isolation, and lack of higher education became a major disadvantage for young people among the immigrant community in labor market. This unequal distribution of job opportunity motivates young people to gang involvement. “The effects of schooling, having controlled for qualifications, are weaker for minority ethnic groups” (Blackaby, et al. 2000 p. 13). The fact that a higher proportion of the ethnic minorities live in the relatively prosperous South-East of the country, where the cost of living is generally higher, means that an analysis of nominal wage differentials may under estimate the degree of labor market discrimination. Youth gang crime and differential opportunity structure in work field or employment Existing labor market conditions in the United Kingdom are related with crime, in other words individual’s especially youth’s predispositions to commit criminal activities are altered by moving labor market opportunities. The growth of crime rates among the youths who worked in law paid jobs is comparatively faster than others. Difference in opportunity structure in the field of employment paved the way for finding alternatives for financial sufficiency. According to Kirstine Hansen and Stephen Machin; “More tied to society and therefore more constrained by social controls this group will be less likely to commit crimes” (Hansen & Machin 2001, p. 8). Because of the absence of job vacancies that offered high financial benefits enhance the involvement of illegal activities to gain stable financial status. It is clearer in the life of immigrant youths. One who engaged in gang activities cannot come back to his previous life and he forced to break existing social systems. Identity of a criminal prevents a gang member to get job opportunities. The youth in modern society are tended to lead comfortable and luxurious life and all they want is nothing but drink, smoke and take intoxicating drugs. All this comes at a price. In case of a youth who engaged in gang activities cannot satisfy these needs with his existing financial status.Even though they are not cheap, these items are easily available. The youth attempt more and more crimes not because they are interested in it but they are in need of the money to satisfy their needs for leading a posh life. They were failed to satisfy their financial needs and seek another ways to earn money. Theft, petty theft, burglary, shopliftings have been included in these kinds of petty crimes. Gang involvement come into view to increase individual involvement in substance abuse, gun careering, drug trafficking and other types of violent activities. Frequent involvement in criminal activities heaves back young people to enter work field. “Still others,especially organizations working directly with gang members, have asserted that social exclusion and a lack of educational and job opportunities for at-risk youth are perpetuating the gang problem” (Ribando 2005, p.2). This opportunity disorder affects not only the gang members but also affect the life of their victims. Gun careering and homicide attempts promote mental and physical handicap ness among the life of the victims. Differential opportunities also act in terms of access to illegal methods for gaining personal or cultural goals. Many studies and researches have put forward opportunity provision and other policies as an effective gang preventive strategy. Implementation of opportunity provision makes positive results controlling gang involvement. Marilyn D. McShane, Franklin P. Williams examine that; “Criminal subcultures were most likely to develop in communities characterized by a high degree of integration between criminal and conventional opportunity structures” (McShane & Williams 2003, p. 64). Job markets in a country always require skilled workers or specialized employees and gang members were excluded from these opportunities. Youth gang crimes have resulted cognitive impairment, physical injury, death from violence, physical injuries, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infection and it create barriers in work fields. The risk of differential opportunity structure always withdraws the victims to enter specialized jobs. Imbalanced distribution of opportunities in the field of justice and healthcare Normally criminal activities are excluded and gang members practiced illegitimate ways to satisfy their judicial and healthcare needs. Government and other legal authorities have treated the gang members with a prejudiced perception. Denial of legal rights acts as a catalyst in gang involvement among the youths. Another important legal problem is that frequent gang involvements resulted negative response from low enforcement and judiciary. Youth gang crime contributes defective opportunity structure mainly in the field of education and work field. In spite of these two lacks of opportunities in justice and healthcare and it led many young people to involve in the dark team and to be a part of the unpromising gang in the world. It is clear that the youth gang crimes are the consequences of the differential opportunity configuration. Because of criminal identity a gang member may face prejudiced perception from authorities. Activities of gang members endorse physical injuries, property loses and other problems among the life of innocent people. Some times victims forced to present various legal procedures and it often make barrier in their personal or professional life. The unemployment in the world is increasing and even the peoples with high degrees are coming out as jobless and this makes them to thinking of making money easily through illegitimate means. The community itself has to blame for these matters turning the fruitful life of youth to a frenzied one. Existing judicial system in the United Kingdom dispose of justice in gang related activities. So gang members have practiced illegal ways to catch the attention of police and judiciary through various means such as blackmailing, kidnapping, burglary and substance abuse. In case of healthcare youth gang members have engaged in different health risk behaviors, such as violence and sexual behaviors, and substance abuse and this caused for the risk for a range of defective healthcare outcomes in healthcare industry. Conclusion For the conclusion, researcher can put forward some relevant points about the issue, ‘is youth gang crimes resulted differential opportunity structure?’ Consequences of youth gang crime in society are visible and it results differential opportunity structure. A gang member always discarded from his opportunities in both social and cultural life. Researches have emphasized the inevitable fact that gangs may lead many young people to dangerous situations. The problem of differential opportunity disorder has played a vital role in current social scenario in the United Kingdom. Youth gang crimes in many occasions act as a preventing force in the life of people to get legitimate opportunities for achieving social and cultural goals. Identity of youth crime forced one to achieve academic Excellencies. The problem of opportunity structure in education and work field affected the life of gang members in cities like New York and Chicago. The most significant thing is that the problem of differential opportunity structure affects not only the gang members but, many innocent people. Excluder social status forced the gang members to seek differential opportunity structure for acquiring their own personal or collective needs. Gang activities cause the risk of negative healthcare outcomes and also show the way for physical injuries, sexual abuses, death resulted violence, and severe substance abuse. Negative approaches from low enforcement, judiciary and healthcare are also included in the after effects of youth gang crimes.   Reference List: Blackaby, et al. 2000, White/Ethnic Minority Earnings and Employment Differentials in Britain : Evidence from the LFS, viewed 9 Nov 2010, http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:852iioSp6HEJ:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.27.8427%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+The+effects+of+schooling,+having+controlled+for+qualifications,+are+weaker+for+minority+ethnic+groups&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgkIurpCFDZBluRF9Mo59Czp6a5zZAks2SY9tLdoePrn4W6Kbg8NsP1X6qVa14DYKdSF5APAQl0_Ta2avKOxFHidp3o-pzW4nGIxfOU-wJRYr597pqqgAEaXTdIHg09WZlX-up6&sig=AHIEtbTiBRdU0sPZkRq2f_qMha_36TVabg Gangs - Defining Gangs, Gang Formation, Symbols Of Gangs And Gang Membership, Gangs And Crime, Gangs And Neighborhoods, 2010, Net Industries and its Licensors, viewed 9 Nov 2010 . 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