Gang Crime and Related Theories - Essay Example

The advocates of left realism argue that crime, which mostly affects the middle-class members of society cannot be reduced by solutions that only serve to increase the repression of the perpetrator, but instead only help in making things worse. They argue that repressing such individuals through things like the prison system and policies that are only designed to stifle their freedom will only make them turn to crime even more as they feel they have already been submitted to the worst that the government and correctional institutions have to offer and thus have nothing to lose.

The left realism advocates suggest more solutions that are concentrated on rehabilitating the criminal rather than punishing them for their actions in order to reduce the level of crime that is rampant in the country. They suggest that this can be done by searching for better alternatives other than prisons, for example, community service and a reduction of the number of people who are sent to these correctional facilities. Using this theory, it can be argued that gang crime is only enhanced by the restrictive measures that are put in place by the correctional facilities and government policies that are made as these individuals join in the prisons and form alliances that continue once they are released.

Though the left realism advocates may have a valid point about trying to rehabilitate criminals rather than punish them, it should be noted that prisons are not the only source of gangs, and many individuals are incarcerated while they are already gang members so it would not serve to reduce the instances of gang crimes in the streets. On the contrary, their solutions may actually help to keep these gang members on the streets which may not yield the desired results.

Right Realism
The right realism supporters argue that initiatives need to be taken in order to prevent potential criminals from breaking the law, and if these initiatives fail to deter the person then they have to be punished for their misdeeds. The right realism advocates concentrate on means of preventing crime from happening in the streets and not on ways in which they can rehabilitate individuals who commit these crimes. They advocate for a more direct approach whereby they deal with the crimes and not the causes of the crime (that is, what makes an individual perpetrate these crimes).

The right realists argue that there is no better deterrent to criminal activities than the threat of detection, therefore, in order to avert crimes from occurring, it is essential for more vigilant policing measures to be taken by communities making it harder for one to engage in crime without being caught therefore reducing the rate of crime in the process as people will not be tempted to commit a crime unless they think that getting away with it will be possible. This theory can be used to argue that gang crime is a result of a non-vigil society resulting in a confidence boost for the members of these gangs as they are not afraid of the ramification of their actions.

The theory can argue that a zero-tolerance to crime and its perpetrators will reduce the number of gang crimes that occur in an area. Although this may be true, one should point out that punishment alone without rehabilitation measures will result only in an individual enduring their punishment and coming out unchanged. This may mean that as soon as they are out on the streets again they will back engaging in the same criminal activities that they were before they were locked up.

Labeling Theory
This theory argues that criminals emerge as a result of doing what society expects of them as a result of negative labels that they are handed. They can be seen as a form of stereotyping whereby the victims give in to the conformations that society has placed upon them.

This can be used to argue that gang crimes are a result of the negative labels that have been placed on these individuals and thus if a more positive outlook was extended towards them then there might be a chance that they could change their ways. Though this may be true, there are still are a number of individuals who turn out negatively despite the lack of labeling, and thus it cannot be said that theory explains the emergence of gangs in a neighborhood.
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