Robert Attridge (Fgcu Social Problems) Gangs and the Effect on Society

Since America was a colony it has had to deal with the problems of gangs. Traditionally a gang was a group of people from similar socio-economic standings, who identified with each other and helped each other in an attempt to prosper. In today’s world a gang usually refers to a group of criminals working together, and common crimes they commit are drug smuggling, theft, arson, assault, murder, rape, and prostitution. Although gangs have been around for a long time in the past few decades gangs have evolved into powerful criminal organizations that have surpassed the abilities gangs possessed in the past. Around the 1960s and 1970s gangs were around, but not in the numbers and strength as in todays world. In the 60s and 70s gangs that exist today such as the Crips or Latin Kings were around, but as local gangs that really did not have a large area of control. Today you can find Latin Kings in almost every state in the nation, as well as a few foreign countries. In today’s world gangs are taking the position that the mafia once held in the criminal underworld. With the introduction of the R.I.C.O. Act as well as changing beliefs in who is allowed to join criminal organizations, the mafia does not hold the same place that it once held in society. Gangs in the past were more prone to fist fights and just collection protection from shop owners, but now gangs have focused on trafficking and selling drugs, as well as changing the idea of fist fights into drive-bys. With gang members predominately coming from low income housing their goal is quite clear, to make money and to improve their quality of life. The problem nowadays is that with the introduction of new and powerfully addictive substances much money stands to be made. This leads to different dealers fighting over the rights to areas and this leads to the creation of a gang, a group of friends working together to protect their area and their product. In the 60s and 70s although it was not uncommon to hear about someone dieing in a gang fight it was nowhere near as bad as it is today. In the past what could be settled with a “rumble” can only nowadays be solved with a gun. In modern times gangs have gotten access to more dangerous and powerful weapons that in the past. Nowadays gangs have assault rifles, rpgs, grenades, and plenty of ammunition. Gangs have also started to recruit people at younger and younger ages, some gang members even being only nine years old. These youths are used to benefit the older members of the gang. The youth are usually the ones doing the majority of illegal activities, just in case they get caught, because the law is much less severe on juveniles than adults. These youths are also much younger than the older members and are much more impressionable, making them easier to convince to  commit crimes. These gangs usually provide a family environment that most of the people who join the gang are lacking, that is why there are so many recruits waiting to become members. These reasons along with the potential for these youths to make large sums of money that they would not normally be able to have make the gang life very appealing. Although I don’t see a solution in sight, better education of our youth as well as increased efforts from the community may help this destructive situation.

This entry was posted on 7. December 2009 at 21:59 and is filed under Social Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.