A vulnerable child seeks love, protection and the acceptance of his or her peers. Youth who lack parental guidance and support, or opportunities for positive involvement with their peers, often turn to a gang to meet those
Juvenile probation is the career I am most interested in. As I was growing up in a ghetto and urban environment, where gangs and drugs are all around it can be easy for a young teenager to go down the wrong path. I have made mistakes that could have put me in jail and might have even ruined my future. But with the help of family and role models I was able to change my ways for the better. Lots of adolescents don’t have the family support to let them know that there is a better life outside of their community.
Along with the lifestyle up bring that a juvenile is surrounded by, the neighborhood and the company they keep can lead them down the path of destruction. “Conformity to peer group behavior and pressure may promote deviance. This is particularly likely among young people, where peer pressure may encourage them to adopt forms of deviant behavior (such as truancy and underage drinking) (Explanations for Patterns of Crime, n.d., p. 2). Because of the peer pressure that most teenagers face, committing these acts is a way to gain social
In nearly every case of gang allegiance, the individual seeks gang membership because he is unable to find these rewards elsewhere. Additionally, there are a variety of cultural factors contributing to gang membership, both within individual communities and society in general. The failure of the police force and judicial system to adequately deter drug trafficking is a primary reason that gangs exist. Poverty, unemployment, fatherless households, and the insidious breakdown of the family structure are all contributing factors to the proliferation of gangs. It is argued in this paper that gang membership is a logical response by young individuals to socio-economic factors beyond their control.
Community Involvement have been reaching out to our at risk juveniles. Community Involvement offers some many things for juveniles. In the community there are programs such as big sister, big brother, boys and girls club. These programs offer juveniles a place to belong to instead being on the streets getting into trouble. Community Involvement is also when the community come together and teaches juveniles how to maintain their community by letting them clean graffiti off walls and help out the elders that cannot help themselves by giving young juveniles the opportunity to do their community hours in their neighborhood.
Assumptions The assumption is that youth join gangs to feel involved and have a support system which they do not have within their homes. According to the lecture, “Gangs allow for feelings of acceptance and gangs can provide structure and purpose” (lecture, 1/24/12). Other assumptions are that youth join gangs for protection from bullies or from other gangs, as well as for respect. Limitations The limitations for my point of view when examining the issue, is mainly the fact that I have never personally had prior experiences with gangs or have known anybody that has had experience with gangs. The most experience that I have had when it comes to looking at the issue of
In doing so, this gang becomes his family. He then "works towards the gang's antisocial goals” (www.Prison-gangs.com). If, for whatever reason, the new inmate is not suitable to gang life, he is often then the prey of gang members. Those who do not submit to becoming a gang member or who are not wanted by the gangs
The family is the foundation of the society. The Pope Pío XII said once “The society is for the family, not the family for the society” (5). The most important reasons why adolescents join gangs are that they are looking for protection, attention, support, and because they do not feel themselves as part of their families. The Article “Why teens join gangs” states “Most of the times when a children’s family is messed up, they end up spending more time on the streets and the gang becomes like their second family” (3). For this reason, the government has to create programs where the juveniles can find support instead of becoming a gang member.
Many people are afraid to walk down their streets these days and parents whose kids join gangs often do not know how to handle this situation or how to help them out of this lifestyle. Many of the young teenagers joining a gang end up in prison destroying their futures. As many gangs perform violent crimes that affect a lot of people, it is important to understand the causes of why they form, why kids are eager to join them and what can be done to prevent them from doing this. The functionalist perspective is a good angle to look at this problem and shows how the breakdowns of various social institutions are leading to gangs and why kids join them. This perspective holds that problems of social institutions
Working, even at Burger Barn, takes away these teenagers free time in which they could have been negatively influenced by other teenagers. Other poor teenagers that Newman showed us worked to help support their family. Working at Burger Barn has proved to be a safe place for these teens to go after school. Managers at Burger Barn encourage school and success to their workers. Grades determine how many hours the teens will get at Burger Barn.