Reasons for Gang Membership
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This paper will examine the reasons that lead to gang membership in our society. While there are exceptions to the general circumstances of gang membership, they are amazingly few. Unquestionably, the same reasons occur far more often than not. "Gangs, like most other social groups, originate under conditions that are typical for all groups of the same species" states Thrasher (1927) in paraphrasing of Park and Burgess (p. 4). Consequently, it is no accident that gangs in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles share the same roots and background. The exterior of these gangs may appear different, but the interior dynamics that brought them to the place they now occupy are identical. In other words, gangs, and therefore gang members, share a common basis for their existence in our society. Gang members grow up in poverty. They are raised in families that experience pervasive racism and unemployment. Gang members are the product of a milieu that affords them little opportunity for education and economic success in mainstream society. Sixty years ago, Frederic M. Thrasher published a study of over one thousand Chicago gangs. Today, his book is still considered one of the definitive references on the subject. Thrasher's observations and conclusions give a clear picture of what a gang is and what leads to gang membership. One of the reasons for the timelessness of his observations is that while Thresher used Chicago for his study, his major conclusions hav
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" (p. 235). Indeed, Campbell cites as an example the Monyhan Report which she believes attempts to implicate the very victims, "That Blacks had brought about their own downfall by failing to adhere to mainstream white family structure and morality" (p. 35).
Moore, in Homeboys contends that it is important to under-stand that, while the Mexicans settled the Southwest, they have remained almost powerless politically. Moore brings home the reality of her argument when she declares, "About one and one-quarter million Mexican American citizens of Los Angeles County have no elected representative in city or county government" (p. 19). Consequently, the Chicano feeling of alienation and of being a stranger in their own land is deep. The poor, barrios of Los Angeles are old and now in isolation, but a few miles away are exclusive Beverly Hills and Malibu. The Chicano people sense that they are "entering an alien land that is denied them by prejudice, income, or both. Gang membership means that while a boy may not have the power to change the hopelessness of his homelife but when he is with the gang, explains Moore, "he does have the power to enter an intense relationship with boys his own age" (p. 54).
It is both Moore's and Cam
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Approximate Word count = 3729
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)
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