Youth and Gangs-Why Do They Join?
The issue of youth gang involvement has increased over the years. More and more youths, particularly in low-income areas, are joining gangs. For most, if not all, of these gangs, violence, and aggression are among the major criteria for becoming a member and being differentiated from non-gang members. Some researchers view the joining of gangs by the youth as being comprised of both pushes and pulls (Leverso, J., & Matsueda, 2019). Pulls relate to the attractiveness linked with gangs. Gang membership is likely to boost status or prestige among friends, particularly girls (for boys), and offer opportunities to be with them (Juvenile Justice Bulletin 2018). Additionally, gangs offer other attractive opportunities like a chance for excitement by making money through the sale of drugs or violence. Steiberg (2007) claims that risk-taking behavior is common among adolescents and is quite inevitable because it is driven biologically. Therefore, many youths consider themselves as making a rational choice when they decide to join a gang. They view it in terms of personal advantages to gang membership.
There are various cultural, economic, social, and personal forces that push most adolescents in the gang direction. Some scholars argue that the “underclass” status of most minority youth serves to push them toward gang membership (Taylor, 2013). Feeling marginal, most adolescents join gangs for purpose of social relationships that provide them with a sense of identity and belonging. According to the LAPD (2020), being part of a gang enables the gang member to attain a level of status that might be impossible outside the gang culture.
Furthermore, for most of the gang members, the gang functions as an extension of their family and may offer companionship that is lacking in the home environment of the gang member. In fact, most scholars claim that the risk factors facilitating gang membership are as likely to originate from the individual’s home life as the protective factors (Taylor, 2013; Osman & Wood, 2018; Densley, 2018). The earlier the low frustration tolerance, inner conflicts, and anxiety begin, the more probable they are to have stemmed from the home life. Such frustrations can be due to parental separation (Osman & Wood, 2018), violence at home (Quinn et al., 2017), constant lack in the household due to poverty and unemployment (Amali, Moshood & Iliyasu, 2017), or lack of parental and adult role models (parental criminality, siblings with anti-social behaviors and parents with violent attitudes (Leverso & Matsueda, 2019). Gangs offer release from and expression of bad feelings and frustrations that originate from the home environment. Individuals consider these gangs to be their sole families and vow allegiance to them.
For some youth, gangs offer a way of solving social adjustment problems, especially the challenges linked to adolescence and low-income neighborhoods. Some youth are highly disturbed and aggressive and need a way to express their emotions. In some communities, members are forced to join gangs, and others feel that it is the only way to ensure their protection and backup in case they get attacked. Some are virtually born into gangs as a consequence of the neighborhood traditions and the involvement of their parents in criminal activity or gang participation. According to Burnett (2019), gang violence is considered a survival strategy in low-income neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are generally associated with high levels of crime. Poverty is one of the common factors behind the high rate of crime. Gangs can be a way for individuals to ease their frustrations. These gangs also offer the promise of prestige, and therefore, individuals believe that they can make money through their involvement with the gangs. They indulge in illegal activities like theft and selling of drugs. Poverty is also linked with poor performance in schools (Wickham et al., 2016). For most adolescents, the inability to perform well in school can lead them to seek other avenues of success, and joining gangs could become an option for them.
Besides the sense of identity and family offered by gang membership, popular culture seems to play a key role in making gang membership highly admirable. Pop culture portrays gangster life as one that is filled with ease, fortune, power, and excitement (Muller, 2013). Musicians like 50 Cent and Tupac Shakur portray gangster life in a manner that is highly appealing to adolescents. Their life is filled with wealth, women, and ease. Experts claim that most adolescents simply fall prey to the “rags to riches” fairytale that is glamorized in gangster life in popular culture. Since adolescents joining gangs are as young as 11 years, they lack the critical thinking skills and maturity to fully grasp the negative consequences and dangers of joining such gangs.
In sum, the rate of gang membership and violence has been on the rise. Various aspects related to family, community, and individual issues play a major role in enhancing the probability of joining gangs. The family is a major risk factor as well as a protective factor against gang involvement. Strengthening families, encouraging positive role models, and helping teachers and parents to deal with disruptive or problematic youth can help lessen the rate of youth gang involvement. Furthermore, addressing the root causes, such as poverty, will also be important in the reduction of gang involvement. Dealing with gang involvement and violence requires a highly comprehensive and multifaceted strategy, with various individuals, institutions, and organizations joining forces to successfully battle this endemic disease.
References
Amali, S. E., Moshood, I., & Iliyasu, M. B. (2017). Impact and implications of youth involvement in urban gangs: a case study from Nasarawa, Kano State, Nigeria. Acta Criminologica: African Journal of Criminology & Victimology, 30(5), 150-169.
Burnett, C. (2019). Gang violence as a survival strategy in the context of poverty in Davidsonville. Society in transition, 30(1), 1-12.
Densley, J. A. (2018). Gang joining. In Oxford research encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice.
Juvenile Justice Bulletin. (2013). Why Do Youth Join Gangs? Retrieved from https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/jjbulletin/9808/why.html
LAPD. (2020). Why Young People Join Gangs. Retrieved from https://www.lapdonline.org/la_gangs/content_basic_view/23473
Leverso, J., & Matsueda, R. L. (2019). Gang organization and gang identity: An investigation of enduring gang membership. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 35(4), 797-829.
Muller, R.T. (2013). Poverty, Broken Homes, Violence: The Making of a Gang Member. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-trauma/201308/poverty-broken-homes-violence-the-making-gang-member
Osman, S., & Wood, J. (2018). Gang membership, mental illness, and negative emotionality: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 17(3), 223-246.
Quinn, K., Pacella, M. L., Dickson‐Gomez, J., & Nydegger, L. A. (2017). Childhood adversity and the continued exposure to trauma and violence among adolescent gang members. American journal of community psychology, 59(1-2), 36-49.
Steinberg, L. (2007). Risk-taking in adolescence: New perspectives from brain and behavioral science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(2), 55-59.
Taylor, S. S. (2013). Why American boys join street gangs. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 5(9), 339-349.
Wickham, S., Anwar, E., Barr, B., Law, C., & Taylor-Robinson, D. (2016). Poverty and child health in the UK: using evidence for action. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 101(8), 759-766.
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Question 
Overview:
We find ourselves in frequent discussions lately concerning Youth Violence in our
country and how to improve upon this. Daily tragedies are reported throughout our
country involving school, gang, and domestic violence, all with a similar constant theme
which is they involve a youth under the age of 18.
Youth and Gangs-Why Do They Join?
Instructions:
Use the topic of Youth Violence in our country as a platform for this written assignment
topic. You can then choose your own more direct area of concentration to further
discuss in 2-3 pages of content.
Examples of areas of concentration:
• Gun violence and its effect on youth in our schools
• Youth and Gangs: Why do they join?
• Relationship Violence/ Domestic Violence
• Youth and Incarceration: Do we lock up our kids?
• Parenting and Role Models: Are we to blame for our kids’ behavior?
Requirements:
• Two to three pages in length, excluding the Title and Reference page.
• APA format, including an in-text citation for referenced works.
• At least three resources (not including your textbook).