Demographics of Youth Gang - Research Paper Example

Running Head: DEMOGRAPHICS OF YOUTH GANGS Demographics of Youth Gang Introduction: Gang culture is one of the well discussed one of the modern history. The history of gang inworld politics and society was started way back. Generally the word Gang always refers to a bad group of people who are involved in some form or other illegal activities within the society. In the recent years, the term gang is more or less identical with the troubles of youth ethos and its inescapableferocity, drugs, guns most dangerously various kinds sexual misconduct. As a matter of fact therenumber of rooftop shouting and table hitting about the failure of teenage society all over the globe. Common men and economists in their view have mentioned various points as the reason behind the increasing number of young gang all over the globe. These are poor education, dysfunctional families, no respect for the older generations etc. (Walsh, 2011). In this paper the main focus is on discussing about the demographics associated with the youth gang all over the globe. In this paper the main analysis is about the characteristics of various young gangs in various parts of the globe, with their mode of functioning, reason behind their growing numbers and steps taken by various governments in different countries to prevent the growing number of young gang in the modern world. How the concept of Young Gang Evolved: In recent time, there is very common story about continuous rise in youth crime. However, the truth is, youth crime is always a part of the society. As Walsh in his review has mentioned that “it is how society deals with it that dictates its trajectory. Much of the reported rise in youth crime is in direct relation to the huge population increase in recent decades and, crucially, in the way the media choose to report youth crime.” (Walsh, 2011) generally people who belong to young groups are always looking for boundaries. As a matter of fact, this specific nature of the young group is reconnoitered in gangs along with in their social connections with one another and also with the people who are not belonging to the gang. As a matter of fact, the young people used to push the limitations up until they “reach a wall they are either unable or unwilling to break down. This is an essential part of the process of growing up and becoming an active, law abiding member of society.” (Walsh, 2011) Why do youth join Gangs? There are several theories to discuss and analyze why the youth used to prefer joining gangs in various European countries as well as in the USA. Decker and Van Winkle (1996) in their review have mentioned that there are both push and pull factors associated with the reason behind youth joining the gangs. Generally pull factors associated with the attractiveness of joining any gang. Joining a gang can increased the prestige of any youth among his or her friend circle. Especially the boys used to believe that joining any gang can create hype about their image among the girls. (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996) Likewise, joining any gang used to offer other eye-catching breaks such as the chances for exhilaration by vending drugs and making more money. (Pennell et al., 1994)Likewise, Social, economic, and cultural forces push many adolescents in the direction of gangs. Protection from other gangs and perceived general well-being are key factors. (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996).Some researchers also pointed out the fact that the status or concept of “underclass” often encouraged youth to join gang. Generally youths used to believe that joining any gang can give them a sense of identity. Vigil and Long (1990) in their review has categorically mentioned that very often, gangs deliver a approach of resolving social regulation problems, mainly the trials and tribulations of youth and it is also a key push factor that encourage the youth to join gang. (Vigil and Long, 1990; pp. 55) Demographic Characteristics of Young Gang: Generally, it is a very common trend across the globe that average age of the youth gang members are between 15 to 18 years. But in various cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, where the concept of young gang is very old, the average age used to be older than the above mentioned trend. If one considers the overall range of age of the members in the young gang, then the range is varying from 12 to 24 years. In the recent years the trend is changing as more and more young member are getting attracted to join the gang culture but it is still the older membership which is increasing the most.(Curry and Decker, 1998). Moore and Hagedorn (1996) in their review have mentioned the fact that “male gang members outnumber females by a wide margin, and this span is greater in late adolescence than in early adolescence.” (Moore and Hagedorn, 1996; pp. 208-210) Generally, the size of the youth gang varies country wise. In many countries the number of members in each young gang is over 100, and at the same time in other countries, the main characteristics of the youth gang is very less number of members. Block and Block (1993) in their report has mentioned that traditional gangs on an average used to have 180-200 members and on the other hand some of the specialty gang such as drug trafficking etc. generally have very few members in their group (25 maximum in most of the cases). In some major cities, there are few gangs in which the member count is over thousand as well but these gangs are very few in number. In the early part of the 19th century, majority of the gang members in the USA were Irish, Jewish, and Italian by origin and it was the common trend in the country. (Sante, 1991) But this patter is now started to change. Sante in his analysis has mentioned that, the ethnicity of the gang members are considerably different from the past, where 48% are African-American, 43% Hispanic, 5% white and 4% Asian. But there was a significant difference in result when the same survey was conducted among the student groups. Esbensen and Osgood, (1997) have conducted a survey among 6000 students across 8 cities. Among them, those who stated that they are gang members; 31% were African-American; 25% Hispanic; 25%White; 5% Asian and 15% were from other ethnic groups. Bursik and Grasmick (1993) pointed out that, “Despite the disproportionate representation of minority group members in studies as compared with white youth, blacks and Hispanics have no special predisposition to gang membership. Rather, they simply are overrepresented in those areas most likely to lead to gang activity."(Bursik and Grasmick; 1993) Changing composition of Yung Gang in The USA: The popular image of youth gangs is that they are becoming more formally organized and more threatening to society, and therefore should be feared. Super gangs with thousands or tens of thousands of members, including adults, have existed at least since the 1960s Like other gangs, they grow in times of conflict or crisis and decrease in size at other times (Spergel, 1990). Klein (1995) in his review has mentioned that “the old, traditional gang structure of past decades seems to be declining."(Klein, 1995, p. 36) In the past, the young gangs were commonly consisted of over hundred members and were divided into various subgroups based on age. But in the recent time, classification within a gang based on age and geography become less common. At present there are “relatively autonomous, smaller, independent groups, poorly organized and less territorial than used to be the case" (Klein, 1995; p. 36). Leadership among the young gangs is “complex, fluid and responsive, more diffuse than concentrated, and depends in large part on the particular activity being conducted" (Miller, 1974; p. 217)Klein (1995) in his review has also mentioned that the cultural structure or alignment of gangs also seems to be shifting towards a new direction. The predominant groups of the past like African-American and Hispanics are still share the majority of the members in various gangs, but various Asian and South Pacific groups along with increasing number of white gangs are started to come into operation in recent time. (Klein, 1995) Conclusion: Youth gang problems are proliferating across the various countries in the world along with in the USA also. In recent time, the pattern of youth gang violence and other activities have changed drastically. Even the small cities and towns are also started to come under the fi\ring lines of the young gang. Likewise, the composition or the demographics of the young gang is also changing along with the time with more and more young people from various ethnic group other than African-American. Hispanics are now started to get involved with the gang activities. In various part of the world and also in the USA as well, smaller, less structured gangs are now started to emerging as the concept of division in a large gang on the basis of age group is now started to get abolished slowly. The most striking part is that, the drug gangs are functional and dominant in nature compare to past decades in various part of the USA.Likewise, the racial/ethnic configuration of gangs also is shifting, and gangs are now getting more and more organized in operation. To control their functioning, it is very essential for the governments across the globe and especially in the USA to design various control measures effectively and accordingly based on the nature of functioning as well and design of the composition of various young gang in various parts of the globe. References Block R. and Block, C.R, (1993), Street Gang Crime in Chicago. Research in Brief; Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs; National Institute of Justice. Bursik, R.J., Jr., and Grasmick, H.G. (1993), Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimension of Effective Community Control; New York, NY: Lexington Books. Curry, G.D and Decker, S.H; (1998), Confronting Gangs: Crime and Community. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury. Decker, S.H and Van Winkle, B; (1996); Life in the Gang: Family, Friends, and Violence. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press Esbensen, F., and Osgood, D.W; (1997); National Evaluation of G.R.E.A.T. Research in Brief; Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs; National Institute of Justice. Klein, M.W; (1995), The American Street Gang. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Miller, W.B; (1974), American youth gangs: Past and present. In Current Perspectives on Criminal Behavior, New York, NY: Knopf. Moore, J.W and Hagedorn, J.M; (1996), What happens to girls in the gang? In Gangs in America, CA: Sage Publications. Pennell, S. et.al; (1994), Down for the Set: Describing and Defining Gangs in San Diego.; San Diego, CA: Criminal Justice Research Division, Association of Governments. Sante, L; (1991), Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York. New York, NY: Vintage Books Spergel, I.A. (1990), Youth gangs: Continuity and change. In Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, vol. 12, pp. 171-275. Vigil, J.D and Long, J.M. (1990). Emic and etic perspectives on gang culture: In Gangs in America, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Walsh, C; (2011), Gangs are good for society, The Guardian, retrieved on 18.6.2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2011/nov/10/gangs-good-society-youth-crime Read More