Gang Programs in California - Research Paper Example

Gang Programs in California Abstract The increasing rate of crime perpetrated by organized criminal gangs in California is a matter of concern to the criminal justice system in the state and the public. To control the spread of criminal gangs, various measures have been put in place including implementation of STEP Act, which advocates for stiffer punishment to the offenders. Other measures include controlling illegal immigration, monitoring and regulating access to firearms among others. These measures have, however, failed to control the spread of criminal gangs. This study investigated the effectiveness of implementing juvenile programs to control criminal gangs in the state by examining the factors that motivate young people to join the groups. The study established that poor social economic status contributed significantly to the increasing number of criminal gangs in California. The study recommends implementation of juvenile programs to reduce the prevalence of criminal gangs in California. Introduction High prevalence of criminal gangs in California has contributed to widespread insecurity in the state. California is infamous for high incidents of homicides attributed to organized criminal gangs. Los Angeles County, for instance, has been reporting a gradual increase in the number of gang related murders since 1979. In 1979, gang related homicides accounted to 18.1 percent of the total number of murders reported in the county. By 1994, the number of people killed by the criminal gangs accounted to 43 percent of the total murders reported in the county. For a period of two decades from 1981 to 2001, criminal gangs were responsible for the violent deaths of 10,000 people in California (Randall, Sharon, and William, 2001). Besides the brutal murders, gangs in California are engaged in a series of crimes including credit cards and medical insurance fraud, armed robberies targeting automobiles and other valuable items (State of California Department of Justice, 1996). The gangs’ criminal activities cost Californian taxpayers an average of two billion US dollars annually (Yoshino, 2008). To control the spiraling rate of crimes perpetrated by the gangs, California legislature enacted the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (STEP Act) in 1988 (VPC, 2008). The STEP Act proposed heavy punitive measures on criminal gangs, but it has been criticized for violating human rights. To address the issue of criminal gangs more effectively, it is important to implement juveniles programs in the state of California. This research study investigated the effectiveness of juvenile programs controlling and eradicating criminal gangs in Los Angeles County. The research is important because it provides pragmatic approaches of addressing the underlying problems that encourage Californian youths to join criminal gangs. Several research studies investigating the most effective ways of eliminating criminal gangs have been undertaken in California for several years. Yoshino (2008) investigated the challenges of implementing the STEP Act in the criminal and justice system of California and examined the effects of heavy penalties imposed on individuals convicted for violent crimes in the state. The amendments in the STEP Act increased the jail terms of members of criminal gangs guilty for the specified felonies by several years to a maximum of life sentence depending on the type of crime and on whether the convicted person was a repeat offender (Yoshino, 2008). In the research study, Yoshino (2008) noted that the STEP Act was consistently challenged in courts because it violates constitutional rights of people particularly the first amendment that grants all Americans the freedom of association. In addition, the definition of “criminal gang” in the STEP Act is constitutionally vague (Yoshino, 2008, p. 118). Yoshino (2008) reported several incidents where law enforcers arrested innocent people mistaking them for being members of criminal gangs. Moreover, the research study reported that the criminal gangs are not liable for about 50 percent of the charges brought against them in Californian law courts. These factors undermine the effectiveness of the justice system in eradicating criminal gangs in California. The State of California Department of Justice (1996) conducted a study that investigated the nationalities of gang members in various criminal gangs and the distinct crimes that the gangs were engaged in. The study indentified three types of criminal gangs in the state namely Russian, Asian and American criminal gangs. Russian criminal gangs were highly involved in sophisticated criminal activities such as fraud of insurance and financial institutions in the state (State of California Department of Justice, 1996). Criminal gangs from Asian origin were mainly involved in violent robberies, drug and human trafficking, prostitution, murder and theft of computer chips. In addition, Asian criminal gangs are involved in illegal gambling and other types of extortion. State of California Department of Justice (1996) attributed the increasing number of Asian and Russian immigrants to the raising criminal activities in California. The research study established two major factors that contributed to the increasing number of Asian and Russian criminal gangs in California. These factors include illegal immigration and lack of proper regulation and monitoring in gambling, insurance and banking industries. To address the problem of criminal gangs, the study recommended Californian authorities to take stern measures of preventing illegal immigration and stringent monitoring of financial and insurance sectors to prevent fraud. A research study conducted by VPC (2008) attributed the increasing number of criminal gangs to proliferation of firearms in California. According to the study, the increased accessibility of firearms in the American market since 1970s coincided with a rising number of gun related violence, especially robberies and murder. To control the activities of criminal gangs, VPC (2008) recommended implementation of stringent gun control measures in the state. The measures include standardizing and improving the information of the firearms in California and enhancing methods of collecting data that link gang violence and use of guns (VPC, 2008). The findings of these research studies do not address all pertinent issues associated with the increasing number of criminal gangs in California. Poor implementation of STEP Act in the criminal justice system of California violates the freedom of association of people. Associating particular gang crimes to specific nationalities perpetuates discrimination of the affected individuals in the American society. The shortcomings of these research studies highlight the importance of implementing juvenile programs to address the diverse factors that motivate young people to form and join criminal gangs in California. Programs that promote healthy living and increased activity discourage involvement of young people in criminal gang activities (Valdez, 2000). Therefore, enforcing programs for juveniles in California criminal justice system will prevent the spread of the gangs. Methodology To establish the effectiveness of promoting juvenile youth programs in reducing their engagement in criminal gangs, I randomly selected a group of 10 youths from a criminal gang in Los Angeles County. The criminal gang consisted of four women and the rest were men aged between 18 to 29 years. All members of the groups were African Americans. To collect data relevant to the study, they filled a questionnaire consisting of three parts. In the first part, they entered their personal details and in the second part, they submitted information concerning the age at which they joined the criminal gang and their living conditions during childhood. In the final part, they listed diverse factors that motivated them to join the criminal group. Three variables were used to determine the motivations for their involvement in crime. These included the economic status, education level, and availability of recreational facilities. The data was analyzed qualitatively to establish the relevant themes of the study. The major limitation of the study was the small number of participants in the study. In addition, the study investigated one criminal gang in California and hence the findings do not reflect the actual image of all gangs in the state. Results and discussion Majority of participants in the study started engaging in criminal gang activities between the ages of 12 to 17 years while the rest joined in their adulthood. An overwhelming majority of the members reported living in poor and degrading environment during their childhood. The environment was characterized by lack of proper nutrition, insecurity, poor housing and lack of access to good medical care. No member of the gang had attained high school qualifications. In addition, the members reported lack of access to recreational facilities in their neighborhood. The study established that poor social economic status and lack of social amenities contribute significantly to the increasing number of criminal gangs in the state. Therefore, implementing juvenile programs addressing the social economic factors that motivate young people to join criminal gangs would reduce the criminal gangs significantly in California. These programs should focus on providing recreational facilities, education, health and employment opportunities. References Howell, J. (2003). Preventing and reducing Juvenile delinquency. A comprehensive framework. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Randall, S., Sharon, K., & William, B. (2001). Youth gangs in American society. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. State of California Department of Justice. (1996). Organized crime in California: Annual report to California legislature. Retrieved on May 30, 2012 from http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/orgcrm96.pdf Valdez, A. (2000). Gangs: A guide to understanding street gangs. 3rd ed. San Clemente, CA: LawTech Publishing Company. VPC (Violence Policy Centre). (2008). Youth gang violence and guns: data collection in California. Retrieved on May 30, 2012 from http://www.vpc.org/studies/CAgang.pdf Yoshino, E. (2008). California’s criminal gang enhancements: Lessons from interviews with practitioners. Review of Law and Social Justice, 18(1):117-152. Read More