Why young people join gangs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Why young people join gangs - Essay Example A gang is a relatively durable, predominantly street-based group of young people who see themselves (and are seen by others) as a discernible group who engage in a range of criminal activity and violence, who identify with or lay claim over territory, have some form of identifying structural feature and are in conflict with other similar gangs (Centre for Social Justice, 2009, p. 21). Youth make a conscious choice to join a gang during adolescence, and multiple personal and environmental factors influence this choice A youth gang can also be defined as a self-formed association of peers having these characteristics: a gang name with recognizable symbols, identifiable leadership, a geographic territory, a regular meeting pattern, and collective actions to carry out illegal activities (Howell, 1997, p. 1). The majority of gang members are male and almost half of them are under the age of 18 years (Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, 2011, p. 2). This research will try to look at the factors and pre-conditions that make gang life an attractive and desirable option to the young people. The themes that will be espoused in the essay will be education and employment, gender, family, poverty ethnicity and peer pressure. The main conclusions to be drawn from the research are that the provision of basic amenities and opportunities will go a long way in preventing young people from engaging in gangs and gang related activities. The social development of a child is rooted in the opportunities, skills and the recognition that builds up through early interactions with family members, friends and teachers (Stefan Hounslea, 2011, p. 9). Education to the progression of a young person is significant. Thornberry discovered that 71.5% of ‘stable gang members’ had dropped out of secondary education compared to 33.6% of non-gang members (Thornberry, 2003, p. 169). He also found that the youth who transitioned smoothly from secondary to