Why Minors Join Gangs

Peer pressure plays a particularly large role in the lives of everybody. The Encyclopedia illustrates a gang as being an organized group of criminals or a group of children or youth from the same neighborhood, who gather together and who may or may not participate in criminal activities. Gangs have been existing since the seventeenth century and till this day gang participation is rising, it is one of the nation's fastest growing problems within recent history. Several people assume that the reason why minors join gangs is because they don’t have a family encouraging them to succeed. However, there are several factors as to why youngsters are joining gangs for instance, many of them aspire a family ,desire protection, it’s a family tradition
Teenagers seek for a family or look for comradeship because they are alone in search of an identity. In a gang they refer to each other as sisters and brothers therefore a gang fills in for the family and the love they are desperately yearning for. As a minor you desperately feel the need to fit in. Especially the teens with a low self-esteem they tend to be the most vulnerable when it comes to entering a gang. These adolescents feel accepted; the sense of being gladly received makes them feel like in fact that is where they belong. In addition, some minors take part because they want to be “cool” they think it will be a fun experience; they are attracted to gang affiliation. Nevertheless some of them grow up with a family that is already in a gang. The same family members recruit them and it becomes a family tradition. Gang members tend to glamorize the gang lifestyle to persuade
According to Solomon Asch experiment peoples own opinions and actions are influenced by those of a majority group. Any how this experiment portrays two kind of people the ones that conform and the ones that do not. When minors grow up in a family that is in a gang they tend to be pressured into entering and they accede because they don’t want to be an outcast. In spite of that you will have that one family member that will not conform himself to the life of a gang member and therefore will not accede to the pressure of others. Some youngsters foresee their life as being part of a gang and don't like it. A critical factor to keep in mind is also that once you join a gang there is no going back so they think their decision thoroughly and realize that they do not want to take part in a gang. They also don't have a clear idea of what to expect so they become fearful of getting involved in such a