Part 1 of 3: Why the Gang Culture Exists
Gangs in America flourish in an environment where basic social institutions such as family, role models, and education are weak. Often found in ghettos and poor, lower class neighborhoods, gangs can also thrive in rural and suburban areas.
Four behavioral contributors permit the festering existence of these angry cultures:
- The lack of stable, positive societal influences between the ages of 0-to-13.
- Impressionable self-image and vulnerable self-esteem.
- Peer influenced doubt about which of a young person’s “three heads” matter most: how he or she wants to appear to others, how he or she does appear to others, or who he or she really is. Young people are especially vulnerable to being accepted.
- The inborn human desire to be loved and admired. When gangs are a person’s primary source of self-esteem and admiration, little outside the gang will matter.
More than 30,000 gangs have combined membership approaching one million in 2,500 communities in all fifty states. Latino gangs are growing fastest; the violent gang MS-13, with 10,000 members and growing, is comprised primarily of Central American immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. MS-13 has a major presence in metropolitan areas in Northern Virginia, New York, California, and Texas, as well as growing numbers in smaller, less expected areas like Oregon City and Omaha.
Factor 1: Life from 0-to-13
Regardless of social class, by the age of 10 an American child will have seen 8,000 murders on TV. Life in broken homes or impoverished areas is not happy; many are exposed to sex, alcohol, drugs, and violence at very early ages. Forced exposure increases the likelihood that a child will yield to surrounding pressures. Violence is an observed behavior that becomes embedded in the adolescent.
How a child is raised and his or her influence factors between the ages of 0-to-13 shape the core values of the future adult that child is likely to become. After the age of 13, significant emotional events continually reshape us as adults. When positive influence factors are lacking, odds are stacked against someone becoming a positive adult. When negative influences rule our lives, it’s much more likely our outlook is negative.
With gang life is idolized in movies, television, music, and fashion, youngsters often emulate gang members; they hope for recognition and acceptance. Law enforcement officers find children ages 8-to-10 implicated in a variety of street crimes. Because older gang members are subject to arrest for drug possession, juveniles often do the selling. The juveniles (male and female) who actually commit the crimes are not prosecuted because of their young age.
As gangs grow, their weapon arsenals often become larger than the law enforcement agencies challenged with containing them. Because of their habitual disregard for law and order, gangs terrorize neighborhoods through fear, intimidation, and violent retaliation—which make it perilous for citizens to report or stand against crime.
Factor 2: The Hunger for Self-Image and Self-Esteem
Left too much on their own, kids without a strong home life are susceptible to weak self-image and self-esteem. Self-image is what they think of themselves; self-esteem is how they feel about themselves. Kids, by nature, are hypercritical of each other, a reason nicknames in the gang world—which are bestowed based on someone’s skill or responsibility—are valued. Nicknames are a form of recognition. Recognition, to a kid, is vital.
Violence plays a large role in gang life but gang activity is not always violent. Lack of employment, tight money, and few recreational outlets cause many gangs to “hang out” together as a form of socializing.
Factor 3: Juggling Three Heads is Difficult for Impressionable People
Gang life teases its members with the lure of power and quick money, so gangs often do not aggressively seek new recruits. Since power and money can take a lifetime through education and the traditional climb-the-ladder job market, many see the gang as a shortcut—a quicker, easier way to amass wealth and material badges.
Since members are brought together by their inabilities and faults more than a shared belief in a common goal, having little else of value to live for (such as a job or family) spurs gangs to fight for recognition within their peer community and rival gang members.
This hunger for recognition—to “be somebody”—is an inborn desire in all of us. Its chosen method of pursuit, violent or non-violent, is shaped largely by our upbringing and core beliefs—hence the importance of solid influences during formative years. Gangs typically chase it among themselves via social anger and aggression.
The three heads of behavior—how I want to appear to others, how I do appear to others, and who I really am—are very difficult for maturing kids to balance. Gang influence is built on the first two and sacrifices the third.
End, Part 1 of 3