Street Gangs in the United States - Coursework Example

Street Gangs in United s By 12th, May, Urban Conditions and Street Gangs in the United s from 1950-2010 Introduction People living within urban areas display a range of behaviors different from those demonstrated by their colleagues living in rural areas. These disparities observed are in aspects pertaining to types of crime and routines of committing felony. Urbanization results in altered social structures as well as personality, increased rationality, which greatly contributes to altered behaviors that at times infringe societal and legal norms. Great diversity in culture races and ethnicity resulting from increased immigration in United States has greatly contributed to extensive relations thus distorted manners and even caused emergence of street gangs. A gang is a group of organized people alleging control over a territory and involving themselves in aggressive or violent actions. Violent crimes committed by gangs in urban areas within United States include murder, robbery, rape, and aggravated assault. Gangs often involve themselves in illegal endeavors such as drug trafficking. Youths join gangs for different reasons, which include companionship, access to things such as drugs, pecuniary gains, while those living in areas fraught with street gangs may join one in search of sanctuary from aggravation. Others have a history of crime and join street gangs to boost their doings. Tendency to get into crimes especially among the youth is therefore due to social, economic, and psychological factors. This paper focuses on how urban conditions contributed to the emergence and growth of street gangs in United States between 1950 and 2010. Fully organized gangs are believed to have emerged from East Coast principally New York in the 1820’s before spreading to the rest of the United States. By 1960’s, the gangs had infiltrated almost every geographical region within United States. Initially, gangs were formed along ethnic and racial lines but in the 1960’s most gangs were hybrids of different races as well as ethnic groups. Most multiethnic street gangs are composed of Hispanics and whites. Some universal factors contributed to gang emergence while other factors were specific for the distinct regions. Most gangs are mainly composed of males only while others may include some females most of who are used as sex objects. However, there exist a number of independent female street gangs but their pervasiveness is not apparent. Some gangs are associated with families and may run through numerous generations (Howell & Moore, 2010, p.4). Gang activity is categorized into four regions of United States, which include South, Midwest, West, and Northeast. In the urban centres within Northeast as well as the Midwest, factors such as poverty as well as immigration are the major factors that led to materialization of street gangs. Immigrants from different parts of the world who moved into these regions from Europe in search of jobs faced discrimination from the natives. They were also less capable in terms of finances hence settled in slums where poverty levels were high which eventually led to surfacing of gangs (Howell & Moore, 2010, p. 12-14). In the western sections, gang emerged from existing Mexicans. However, behaviors such as territoriality and graffiti show some relation between the Mexican gangs and Hispanic gangs. Some of the Mexican street gangs split and migrated to areas such as Los Angeles where they adopted strong territorial orientations especially in the beginning of 20th century. This came at a period when blacks from the south were migrating and occupying ghettos in Los Angeles. They organized themselves into gangs in an attempt to combat resistance from whites in the region (Dunworth et al, 2010, p. 12-13). Social factors in urban areas such as the immediate environment determine whether youths get themselves into crime. Break down of social organizations such as families, which are observed in some urban centres especially ghettos within United States leads to augmented crime. This is because most people especially the youth become vulnerable to pressure and may adopt alien behaviors such as crime and drug abuse. Families act as prime institutions of character molding due to constant contact between parents and children (Howell & Moore, 2010, p. 7). Families also have the capability of regulating the activities of children and youths as well as instilling values such as discipline. Family members living within a family set up are shielded to crimes relating to victimization such as rape and molestation. Good morals encouraged in children in unbroken families prevent them from engaging in crimes such as incorporation into street gangs as they dread embarrassing their families. In stable families, provision of basic needs is enhanced sheltering the children from engaging in crime in search of fundamental necessities like food. Families from financially unstable families with single parents are more likely to involve in street crimes such as aggravated burglary. Most people in street gangs originate from ghettos (Goldson & Muncie, 2006, p. 3-4). However, not all families discourage their children from engaging in criminal activities. Most family gangs involve family members across different ages and are involved in crimes such as drug trafficking. Youths from families with domestic violence or alcoholism may join gangs in an attempt to escape from the stressful conditions. Living in neighborhoods such as slum makes it hard to find employment. Unemployed youths will tend to congregate in search of encouragement, which can eventually lead to emergence of street gangs (Adamson, 1998, Web). In the 1960’s, there were vibrant changes connected to family organization which added to elevated crimes rates. The changes were related to increased divorces, more children were also born to single mothers thus more children were living outside family environs thus ended joining street gangs. Some of the parents in broken families are incompetent thus incapable of monitoring movement and behavioral change in their children single handedly. In the 1960’s most parents got into formal employments and dedicated less time in fostering their offspring’s thus it was hard to monitor their movements (Ungar, 2011, p. 174-180). Another social related factor that explains the trend of crime from 1960- 2010 is the age structure. The people most likely to commit crime are the youth. After the Second World War, the number of young people was low but began to augment in 1960 and grew swiftly in the 1970’s, which also marked a period of intensified crimes. Another social factor explicates the crime trend in United States is the changes in the drug market. Drugs are addictive and play a critical role in altering behaviors resulting in crimes such as rape. Street gangs play a central role in drug trafficking which is in itself a crime. The need for capital to purchase drugs can lead to individuals coming together to commit crimes such as robbery to get funds. Street gangs also play a vital role improving the bargaining power thus drug users join street gangs to easily access drugs and at a reduced price (Sugrue, 2005, p. 275). In 1960’s, there was increased availability of drugs such as heroin and cocaine hence more street gangs erupted. Increased drug trafficking resulted in additional aggression among gangs and use of firearms became rampant. Tendency to enroll more youths into gangs ferociously also increased, as territorial battles required gangs have vast numbers of members. Psychological factors such as stress especially in children facing physical or social abuse from parents or other persons may lead to youths associating with gangs while seeking refuge (Goldson & Muncie, 2006, p.20-30; Griffin, 2002, p. 49-54). Economic stress especially immediately after the wars greatly contributed to high level of crimes. Economic strain can be determined using factors such as poverty levels, unemployment, earnings, as well as other financial strategies such as inflation. In the 1960’s economic stress were preferably assessed using factors such as unemployment and median earnings. The rampant increase in crime in the 1990’s is partly attributed to economic anxiety, which was portrayed by the low federal expenditure shortfall in 1996. Increased immigration of persons to America from different parts of the world has resulted in increased population. The consequences of rampant population growth include unemployment, which is a contributing factor to street gang creation. Crimes related to robbery and violence follows a certain tread. The crime was very widespread particularly in the 1990’s such that it is predicted that in every year around five million American are victims of offenses such as murder and rape while about 19 million fell victims’ crimes linked to property (Griffin, 2002, p. 49-54). Conclusion Most gangs emerge in urbanized areas with high poverty levels characterized by underdevelopment where a lot of social disorganization is evidenced. Another common factor resulting to gang formation in urban areas within United States is discrimination of immigrants. If such immigrants are unemployed, they congregate in search of social identity and may ultimately form gangs. Most gang emerge from families in urban areas that are incapable of either providing basic needs or are broken thus the youths characters are not nurtured or lack parental protection. Most gangs are a source of violent crimes and delinquency though a few are formed by homeless youth in an attempt to support each other. Works Cited Adamson, C 1998, Tribute, Turf, Honour, and the American Street Gang: Patterns of Continuity and Change since 1820. Viewed 11 May 2012 Dunworth, T et al 2010, Evaluation of the Los Angeles Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program: Y1 Report. Reduction. Urban Institute, and Harder +company Community Research. New York. Goldson, B & Muncie, J 2006, Youth Crime, and Justice: Critical Issues. Pine Forge Press, New York. Griffin, E 2002, Criminal Deportation: The Unintended Impact of U.S. Anti-Crime and Anti-Terrorism Policy along Its Border. Caribbean Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 39-76. Howell, J & Moore, J 2010, History of Street Gangs in the United States. National Gang Center. United States. Sugrue, T 2005, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton University Press, New York. Ungar, M 2011, The Social Ecology of Resilience: A Handbook of Theory and Practice. Springer, New York. Read More