Children Joining Gangs - Essay Example

Children Joining Gangs Introduction Perhaps the most painful thing that you can watch happening is to see a youth in your neighbourhood, worst case if it is your relative, joining a gang to carry out delinquent behaviours. I have come close to this topic and it draws my attention since my nephew has been recruited by a delinquent gang in his neighbourhood. It is therefore a passionate part of research that I will engage in, having that close point of interest. Due to the defiant status that their development stage leads them to, children around this bracket are usually stubborn and oblivious of the dangers that linger ahead of such associations. Some of them will still join the gangs even after being warned and having enough exposure to the appropriate advice against such behaviours. It therefore follows that there are some very pressing challenges that these children who join the gangs face, under the blanket of identity crisis during adolescence. The most potent of all factors leading to the stubborn insistence on social vices by adolescents and youths are internal factors that the developing personality tries to come to terms with. At such a time, these children require the appropriate conditioning that will encourage them to make the correct decision for instance in joining helpful friendships. In this paper, there are certain factors that appear to have the most determining forces that these children face leading to joining the wrong groups. Academic research shows that while some children find difficulties in cultivating the appropriate friendship patterns due to the environment that they are brought up in, there are chances that they would still behave the same if the environment was changed. Likewise, there are chances that environment would not affect yet another section of the youths’ population. The important thing is the realization that various factors contribute to marked differences in the life of the children. Kids join gangs for a number of reasons, among which are for protection, to gain of sense of belonging, or to get into illegal activities. Firstly, according to the Juvenile Justice Bulletin (1), children who are brought up in a neighbourhood where the environment for the cultivation of a positive social integration is poor always find the wrong footing into social life. The Bulletin finds strong links in the presence of gangs in such neighbourhoods to the lack of the appropriate positioning and empowerment for making social decisions in the youths. Poor neighbourhoods present challenging development factors for personalities and perceptions regarding sources of protection. In such neighbourhoods, there is a high level of delinquent behaviour since the social fabric is also roughly and amorphously established. The society in the locality seems insensitively attached to the wellbeing of the children thereby creating a loophole in the way the children are brought up. In a rough neighbourhood, nobody supervises the general association and friendship patterns that children make since there is lack of social integration for the various age groups. Capitalism perhaps contributes to the hands off experience that modern neighbourhoods present to the children, since it appears to be in antagonism with social philosophy of a neighbourhood. Chaotic arrangement of the neighbourhood therefore occasions a risky association vulnerability to the children and presents a challenge in dealing with gangs. In such a setting, the children are exposed to poor role modelling factor and in turn get tempted to think that their delinquent friends would offer the appropriate protection from fear of self-inadequacy. By so doing, they facilitate the chance of achieving self-worth and achieve the feeling of safety amid the social deficiency in the neighbourhood. Apparently, it can be expected that the life that these kids have in the neighbourhoods is exposed to similar trends of existence of gangs. In such a case, the continuity of joining gangs to avoid bullying by other gangs would act as an appropriate way of dealing with the class issues of the social groupings that the gangs present. According to Gangs and Kids (1), there is a high chance that children growing in a neighbourhood with a tradition of gang formation and affiliation are vulnerable to joining one of them. Kids who live in rough neighbourhoods are often forced to join gangs just for self-protection. Secondly, kids who are loners or who come from a dysfunctional family may be lured into a gang to gain a sense of belonging. Perhaps failure of the family to offer the appropriate environment for the children to experience a positive youth life may force them to look for comfort outside the family. The failure of the parenting factor that these children rely on to shape up their lives is one of the elements that the family may fail to offer to the gang-joining children. Apart from the absence of an appropriate supportive parenting role, the child’s siblings may act as a hindrance to happiness of a delinquent child. By promoting a pleasant coexistence among children, the family contributes to social skills that the child may need. If children do not have siblings with whom they can relate with during the vulnerable age, the extended family becomes very important to offer the required social support needed for the appropriate behaviour cultivation. Failure of the family to offer an environment that facilitates discovery of a feeling of identity and belongingness to the youth exposes them to the temptations of joining gangs. The general impact that the affiliation to a gang has on the overall family cohesion is severely damaging (Suman, 158). According to the author, children who join gangs due to family factors are less likely to recover since the damaging impact that the families experience is irrecoverable. However, with the proper assistance of understanding of the risks that the children are exposed to, families can be empowered to change the situation, instead of banishing them for joining such groups. With the wrong parenting roles in the life of a child, it is possible for the loss of an influential force to create the inadequacy demonstrated by the search of life lessons elsewhere unfortunately landing in the wrong hands. Finally, kids who are misguided may join gangs to gain a sense of power, leading into doing drugs or stealing. More often, delinquent gangs would venture into a number of curious experimentation among which engagement with drugs is inevitable. Gangs usually seek power and recognition since the feelings of self-inadequacy during adolescence confirms unfounded powerlessness fears, resulting in explorations that would boost personal power. Since it is a risk factor that exposure to the illegal world faces such delinquent gangs, there is the highest possible possibility that by joining gangs, drug abuse follows suit in an attempt to raise confidence levels of powerful statuses. According to the Juvenile Justice Bulletin (1), virtual power rendered by drug abuse is enough to propel the gangs into violence since it feels powerful such that it feels it can overpower the society. According to Dukes and Stein (416), it is possible for such a gang to partake in several other criminal activities such as possession of illegal weapons and extortion of money from those they deem weak. The author illustrates the disparities in gender participation due to the natural aggression that one gender inherently possesses and associates the need for power to some biological factors. However, due to the legal protection that the society has over illegal use of force, the gangs must apply a blind eye which is significantly achieved by drug abuse. Rural settings might contribute to low gang membership in any region as compared to the urban setting which has exposure to delinquent supporting factors. It is therefore correct to associate violence in gang membership with the location that the gang is located in. one of the vibrancy reasons for the urban gangs can also be facilitated by the high variety of youth origins due to the urban diversity of populations. This may act as a factor for youth recruitment into the gangs, since the influence and elements of power are equally strong and convincing. In conclusion, it is evident that the most potent force that the youths face regarding the temptation to join illegal gangs is defined by three main factors; neighbourhood of bringing up, family inefficiency as well as need for a sense of power. However, a different approach on the topic could also highlight the other side of the factors behind this delinquent behaviour. Apart from the above enumerated points, it is substantially correct to state that children would be tempted to join gangs due to a different set of factors other than those outlined above. Parents ought to take caution on the initial perceptions that children have to friendships and social life. This implies that the above factors do not operate in exclusion of the case specific factors that parents and the society might be able to observe and correct in good time before the damage has been done. References “Why Kids Join Gangs,” last modified 28 May 2010. Retrieved from: http://gangsandkids.com/gwhyjoin.html Dukes, R. L. & Stein, J. (2003) “Gender and Gang Membership: A Contrast of Rural and Urban Youth on Attitudes and Behaviour,” Youth and Society, 34(4):415-440 Juvenile Justice Bulletin (1998) “Why Do Youth Join Gangs,” Retrieved from: http://www.ojjdp.gov/jjbulletin/9808/why.html Suman, K. (1998) “Youth Gangs and their Families: Effect of Gang Membership on Family’s Subjective Well-Being,” Journal of Crime and Justice, 21(2):157-172 Read More