Teens Get Involved in Gangs Term Paper

al, 1994). Furthermore, the role of police in a community has to change from merely trying to suppress gang activity to actively trying to prevent gang activity. (Spergel, et. al, 1994).

The proliferation of gangs is one of the most pressing social problems facing modern America. While the primary purpose of gangs may be to engage in criminal activity, they serve other social functions that attract teens as gang members. Each teen who becomes involved in a gang runs a significant risk of not being able to participate in normal, non-criminal society. Therefore, it is important to understand how teens become involved in gangs and to focus efforts on prevention. Although no one theory seems capable of entirely explaining how and why teens become involved in gangs, the various criminological theories and the social disorganization theory are capable of giving insight into why children feel attracted to gangs. These theories make it clear that no gang prevention strategy will be successful unless it attacks the root causes of teen disenfranchisement and involves the community in its efforts to eradicate gangs.

References

Cantillon, D., Davidson, W., & Schweitzer, J. (2003). Measuring community social organization: sense of community as a mediator in social disorganization theory.

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Jones, D. et al. (2004). Street gangs: a review of theory, interventions, and implications for corrections. Ottawa: Research Branch Correctional Service of Canada.

National Youth Gang Center. (2006). National youth gang survey analysis. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from National Youth Gang Center

Web site: http://www.iir.com/nygc/nygsa/

Osgood, W. & Anderson, L. (2004). Unstructured socializing and rates of delinquency.

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Silver, E. & Miller, L.…