Youth Gangs
Gangs are not a new phenomenon yet is often an ignored one. Many Americans
believe gangs to be an urban issue and only consider what they hear and see depicted in
the media to define them. Gangs, however, are found in all communities, rural, suburban,
and urban. The prevalence and rate of acknowledgment is just more recognized in the
latter. One consideration that cannot be ignored is the susceptibility and impact gangs
have on our youth. As technological advances increase so does the instances that youth
gangs are ever more present in our own communities, in our own homes. This makes a
more in depth look at youth gangs ever more important. Exactly what constitutes a youth
gang, what causes youth to join a gang, what youth gang activities means for a
community, and how communities can and should be protected from this ever growing
phenomenon are all important considerations.
Gangs can be defined in many ways. These definitions often are dependent on the
location, the prevalence, and the acknowledgement they receive. The definitions become
more narrow and definitive when reflecting on youth gangs alone. “Youth gangs consist
of adolescents and young adults- usually from ages twelve to twenty-five- who share a
collective identity” (Wiener, 45). This identity is generally expressed by a unique name,
language, and symbols. Youth gangs generally establish a “turf” and strive to be
recognized and acknowledged, often by engaging in repeated illegal activity which
ensures they acquire a reputation, but not always. It is important to consider that by
defining youth gangs, it is not defining gangs in general, but “denote(s) a specific types,
not universal characteristics of gangs,” additionally, the broadness of the term must be
considered, “if a broad definition is used, then a wide variety of groups, such as college
fraternities, athletic teams, play groups, street corner groups, and other collections of
individuals can be defined as gangs” (Franzese, Covey, & Menard, 14).
It is imperative that the seriousness and scope of youth gangs in America are
examined; unfortunately this proves to be a very difficult challenge. “Youth gangs are
found in almost all fifty states” (Spergel, 26) however, “it is not possible to devise
meaningful estimates of the exact or even approximate number of youth gangs in the
Unites States, partly because, (…) there is no standard or national definition of “gang”.
Often the terms delinquent group, criminal organization, and sometimes a simple
“aggregation of youths on a street corner” are used as equivalent to the term gang”
(Spergel, 27). This demonstrates the importance of law enforcement defining and
recognizing youth gang activities in their jurisdictions. When surveys have attempted to
collect data on the amount of youth in gangs “some have observed numbers grossly
underestimates the number of gangs and gang membership because of a response of only
2.2% from local police agencies” (Franzese, Covey, & Menard, 27). This lack of response
may be due to police departments not wanting to alarm the public, however, this
“reluctance and the overall dynamics involved with youth gangs and youth gang
membership that make coming up with an accurate assessment of the number of youth
gangs a most difficult challenge” (Franzese, Covey, & Menard, 28).
Some contradictions when viewing youth gangs, is the concepts that gangs and
gang problems are synonymous along with delinquents and gangs. It is entirely possibly
for gangs to exist without problem. Likewise, not all delinquents join a gang and not all
gang members are delinquents. The distinctions between these are often marred by not
only the media, but often gangs themselves. “Gangs themselves create myths as part of
what (Felson) calls their “Big Gang Theory.” The process often transpires as follows:
Youths sometimes feel that they need protection on the streets in their communities; the
gang provides this service; however, few gangs are nasty enough to be particularly
effective in protecting youths; hence they need to appear more dangerous than they
actually are to provide maximum protection” (Howell). Similarly, the media often
misrepresents gangs and “tend(s) to sensationalize the youth gang phenomenon. Almost
invariably, newspaper accounts, popular magazine articles, and electronic media
broadcasts on youth gangs contain at least one myth or fallacy” (Howell).
The single most important thing to examine when contemplating youth gangs may
be the reasons youth may have for joining a gang in the first place. If these could be
pinpointed it could be hoped that this could end gang activity all together. Unfortunately
this hope is often dashed when collective reasoning appears to be so vast. When looking
at gangs more broadly and not restricting it to youth in gangs it is established, almost all
inclusively, gang members join when they are youths; “gang memberships at older ages
typically represents a continuity of gang membership that began in adolescence or earlier,
rather than initiation of gang membership in adulthood. A possible exception to this is the
prison gang; inmates who were not previously gang members may join a prison gang for
protection in prison, but many members were also gang members before they were
imprisoned” (Franzese, Covey, & Menard, 10). This implies that gang membership is
truly an adolescent anomaly, which may persist into adulthood. There is an extremely
large and broad spectrum of reasons that youth may turn to gang involvement. Some of
these reasons youth are susceptible to gangs devolves from things such as frequent
exposure to crime and violence, few positive role models, unstable families, environment,
lack of employment, the desire to “live large” despite lacking skills or education, their
culture values immediate gratification, low self-esteem, physical safety, sense of
belonging, and to obtain a sense of control and power (Roleff); amongst numerous other
reasons and factors.
Youth who are often exposed to crime and violence may become desensitized to
it. They no longer view it as outside the norm and may even believe it is the behavior
expected of them. The violence and crime is not viewed as an issue to them but as normal
behavior and therefore may not even consider the ramifications or moral convictions
behind it. Often youth who join gangs are lacking positive role models at home. They
may be actively seeking a role model in older gang members or may be acting in a way
that negative role models at home have demonstrated. Often youth gang members may
describe being in a gang as a “family thing” (Roleff, 51). The role models that have been
active in their lives are gang members and it simply seemed to be the road that was
chosen. This often occurs despite the possibility of parents who are positive, loving role
models. If other adolescents in the family, such as siblings and cousins, were related to
gang memberships, the likelihood of joining increases despite elder positive role models
attempts to dissuade such activities.
The mass media also often becomes a role model in the lives of youth, especially
with the advancements of technology. This remains a highly debatable topic. Some
believe that our youth are not persuaded by the media to the extent others implies. There
