Social Problems - Essay Example

This paper will discuss gangs and gang culture as a social problem and how the methodology of social construction is applied to gangs and gang culture. To begin with, gangs use violence as a basic operating procedure, which they do by instilling fear and creating distrust to gain power and regulate selling of drugs. They may use weapons to kill their rivals in business or generally those that they feel are opposing their criminal acts, which sometimes result to killing of innocent citizens by mistake.

Today, violence is a major concern in our society and many people often view it as one of the most damaging acts currently faced by the society. Basically, gangs and their violence go against morals the members of society have set for one another to obey, and sometimes go to an extent of controlling the government, as is the case with Mexican Cartels. These gangs and their criminal acts not only go against our laws and morals, but also show a lack of respect to humanity. Prisons in many countries are overflowing with suspects and sentenced gangsters, which has forced most governments to allocate more resources to prisons.

This money is allocated to prisons in order to keep gangsters in prison as well as hiring more police officers and also paying for more time dedicated to various efforts in trying to stop gang violence. Gang activities are dominant in low income neighborhoods and ethnic ghettos with economic hardships, where in most cases underprivileged children below 18 years of age get recruited. These youths are easily recruited since they crave role models, which can be easily sought out in a gang. By joining gangs, most of these youths who feel oppressed overcome prejudices due to the unity shown in gangs, which offers members a sense of security and belonging (Bell, 2009).

This is due to the fact that most of these gangs fight against inequalities that stem from racism and from certain