Gangs in America Essay -- Social Issues

Gangs are very dangerous to everyone in society. â€Å"Gangs are groups of people (mostly young males) who band together for protection and a sense of belonging. The U.S. Department of Justice officially defines a youth gang as a group of young people involved in criminal activity† (Gangs 1). There are about one million gang members in more than 20,00 criminally active gangs in the United States. Also, that group of about one million people, are accountable for up to eighty percent of our nation’s crimes. Since 2005, gangs have nationally added about 200,000 members (Targeting Gangs 1). This is why more action from the community needs to be taken to help with the growing gang-related crimes here in America. To start off, origins of gangs are unclear, but some researchers say that gangs came to America in the early 1800s. These first gangs were in New York and Philadelphia and members of these adult gangs were from the Irish, German, and Italian ethnic groups. Youth gangs did not start to form until after World War II (Opposing Viewpoints Gangs 109-110). Additionally, what kind of people are in gangs? Well first off, there are Latinos, which make up forty-nine percent of gang members'; African Americans, thirty-four percent; White, ten percent; Asian, six percent; and the other one percent is just the other category (â€Å"Facts About Gangs† 109). Also in 1996, according to the National Youth Gang Survey, the members of gangs were fifty percent under eighteen years old and fifty percent were eighteen or older. In that survey during 2006, the number of juveniles dropped to only being thirty-six and a half percent of member, on the other hand, the percentage of adult gang members consisted of sixty-three and a half percent of the gang pop... ...members have, we need to make it possible for them to get these personal benefits without feeling that it is necessary to join a gang. Of course, it's not possible for us to make them be able to get fast money like some of them want (or need) but other things like a sense of belonging or companionship are possible. Knowing about these benefits will make it easier for everyone to be able help out in the stop of gangs. As one can see, it may never be possible that gangs and gang violence will be stopped, but with our help from the community in every city and town it is possible to stop and decrease the large number of gang members and gang-related crimes. Remembering that there are many possibilities for decreasing the population size of gangs in America; such as better alternatives to being in a gang, educational programs, and arrest some hard-core gang members.