STREET GANGS Thi

This research examines contemporary street gangs in the United States from a perspective of social psychology. Addressed specifically in this research are initiation, group functioning, and psychological effects of gang participation.

It is all too easy and simple minded to state that contemporary street gangs coalesced around the illegal drug trade. Masters (1988) contends that the energy of the young has always been channeled into groups, and that contemporary gang activity is just an extension of that process. Contemporary street gangs, however, represent far more than just an outlet for the energy of the young. More than anything else, these gangs provide a place to belong for groups of young people who are disaffected from their society and from their families.

A variety of reasons underlie the disaffection of young people from their society and their families. One of these factors is divorce, and the accompanying abandonment of the family by one of the parentsusually the father. Divorce should not be considered in the legal sense of the word, for marriage does not necessarily characterize many of the homes from which gang members are drawn, and abandonment by one of the parents need not necessarily stem from legal divorce.

The divorce rate per 1,000 persons of marriageable age in the United States increased from 1.6 in 1920 to 5.3 in 1981 (U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1989). Since 1981

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at the riots could have been prevented if the necessary social services had been provided (National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968). To provide services at the levels required to preclude urban riots, however, would require the expenditure of vast amounts of money which cities do not have, and which the federal government is unwilling to spend. Further, it is charged that federal programs seldom provide a coherent perspective at the local level, and that state programs most often target rural areas (National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968). It has also been suggested that many of the urban riots could have been prevented, if the abrasive relationships between police and minority citizens had been alleviated (National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968). Based on much of the data presented in this examination, however, it appears that police actions are often used as an excuse to riot, rather than themselves being a causal factor. In the 1990s, the street gang activity in the nation's major urban areas are yet another manifestation of many of the same conditions which spawned the urban riots of two decades earlier. The alienation of significant segments of American society continues
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Approximate Word count = 2182
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)