Inner City Gangs Essay
Inner City Gang Memberships
Inner city gang memberships involving the youth have become a problem across the United States. There are more and more young adults becoming involved in gangs and committing the crimes and violence that come along with the enrollment into the gangs. Parents today worry about their teenagers becoming involved and although they try to keep them out of the gangs they are unsuccessful at it. This paper talks about the gang membership for a young person living in the inner city and will discuss the reasons, the benefits, and the potential costs.
There are many different reasons as to why a young person may join a gang that lives in the inner city, however for this paper, only a few will be discussed. One reason that a young person may join a gang is peer pressure from other teenagers and the need to fit in. A young person growing up in a family that has gang members in it is another reason for a young person to join a gang. “One way to know about gangs is to know gang members, to live with gang members, to see gang members on neighborhood streets” (Cadwallader 2002). If a young person is exposed to gangs then the chances are good that they will join that gang so that they fit in or to make their family members …show more content…
Although initially gangs were mainly in the inner cities they have now become prominent throughout all communities. When a family member is involved in a gang this can entice a young person to want to join the gang as well. “The finding that adolescent gang membership has significant consequences in adulthood beyond criminal behavior indicates the public health importance of the development of effective gang prevention programs” (Gillman, Hill, & Hawkins, 2014). Hopefully by getting programs in place to help the young people fully understand the consequences of joining a gang, as a society we can prevent and close gang activity in our
Inner city gang memberships involving the youth have become a problem across the United States. There are more and more young adults becoming involved in gangs and committing the crimes and violence that come along with the enrollment into the gangs. Parents today worry about their teenagers becoming involved and although they try to keep them out of the gangs they are unsuccessful at it. This paper talks about the gang membership for a young person living in the inner city and will discuss the reasons, the benefits, and the potential costs.
There are many different reasons as to why a young person may join a gang that lives in the inner city, however for this paper, only a few will be discussed. One reason that a young person may join a gang is peer pressure from other teenagers and the need to fit in. A young person growing up in a family that has gang members in it is another reason for a young person to join a gang. “One way to know about gangs is to know gang members, to live with gang members, to see gang members on neighborhood streets” (Cadwallader 2002). If a young person is exposed to gangs then the chances are good that they will join that gang so that they fit in or to make their family members …show more content…
Although initially gangs were mainly in the inner cities they have now become prominent throughout all communities. When a family member is involved in a gang this can entice a young person to want to join the gang as well. “The finding that adolescent gang membership has significant consequences in adulthood beyond criminal behavior indicates the public health importance of the development of effective gang prevention programs” (Gillman, Hill, & Hawkins, 2014). Hopefully by getting programs in place to help the young people fully understand the consequences of joining a gang, as a society we can prevent and close gang activity in our