Gang Violence Prevention

In some communities, gang violence has become unmanageable. Violent actions of gang members continue to devastate families.  Victims’ families and ex-gang members are left with a life time of physical and emotional scars. Many still fear for their lives as gang violence continues.  Gang Violence in our communities can be controlled or prevented if more intervention programs were created to help educate and encourage misguided adults and youth.

What is a gang? Gangs are described as a self-formed association of peers, bound together by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership, well-developed lines of authority, and other organizational features, who act in concert to achieve a specific purpose or purposes, which generally include the conduct of illegal activity and control over a particular territory, facility or type or enterprise. (Boulton, 2011) Organized groups such as, Drug Cartels, Bloods, Crips, Italian Mafia and Chinese Triads are examples of gang units. Gangs contribute to the cause of crimes committed in our communities, schools and jails.  These groups are known for committing the worse crimes mentioned in this country today.

History proves that controlling through fear gives them power. Some targets have been innocent people including members of their own society. Crimes such as rapes, murders, robberies, assaults and drug distribution are often the crimes of choice. Gangs recruit and attack without discrimination. The elderly, women, children including their own family members are not excluded.

Recent reports show, in 2008, juveniles in the United States accounted for 16 Percent of all violent crime arrests and 26 per cent of all property crime arrests. Homicide was the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24 years. Also in 2008, l, 280 juveniles were arrested for murder, 3,340 for forcible rape, and 56,000 for aggravated assault. (Hughes, 2012). Most youth have been exposed to this type of behavior since childhood. When interviewed and asked, “why join a gang and commit crime” many gangsters answered this question the same way, “This is all I know”. Most youth and adults use gangs as an outlet, seeking a way to escape their current condition. Some join for a confidence boost, a feeling of belonging, protection, friends, a place to live or money (Carlie, 2002).  Gangs are support systems. They provide all resources needed for survival.

 Providing information and encouraging support to people, who are interested while motivating them to utilize the positive resources available instead of negativity, can prevent and reduce the rate of gang violence. There has been an increase in gang prevention programs. In North Carolina a program named Elements has been created. Elements gang prevention program provides intervention outlets in hopes of controlling gang affiliation and violence. “The mission of Elements is to prevent children/adults from joining gangs, to intervene with young people who have gang affiliation, divert youth and adults from continued gang involvement and to suppress those who seek to prevent any of the above." (Hughes, 2012) . For youth, many of these programs are located within their school. To be specific, G.R.E.A.T is a prevention program that’s located in a middle school. G.R.E.A.T stands for Gang Resistance Education and Training. Their focus is to create prevention strategies for youth hoping to teach them to avoid gang membership. Additional strategies are to prevent violence and criminal activity including teaching our youths to develop positive relationships with law enforcement. (Esbensen, 2012) With this type of program, most will make better decisions instead of committing crimes. Possibly, some will leave or detour from joining a gang.