As a male person grows up from his childhood to adulthood, he is faced with a lot challenges. The nature of challenges he faces depend on his age or stage of life. This means that males may face and respond differently to the challenges they face during their childhood, teenage and youthful stage of their lives. However, it can be argued that the most challenging stage of life of a male is his time during college. At this stage, most males are forced to look for ways to fit in with their peers. A question, therefore, arises in regards to what causes college males to act in certain ways in order to fit into their society.
In a bid to determine why college males try to fit into society, this paper shall analyze why college males join fraternities or gangs. It has been observed that joining gangs and fraternities act as very popular actions taken by males in order to fit in their society. This paper will, therefore, aim to determine the factors that cause males in colleges to join gangs and fraternities as ways of fitting into the society.
It is important to first understand what gangs and fraternities are in order to understand why college males join them in order to fit in society. Gangs can be described as an association of more two or more persons who share some common characteristics or identity e.g. way of dressing, graffiti or hand signs. Most gangs are made up of members aged between 12-24 years. Criminal activity is a common characteristic of most gangs. Fraternities, on the other hand, can be described as societies comprised by students with the intent of engaging in social activities. In order to join a fraternity, interested members are supposed to complete some form of initiation or trial. However, some fraternities recruit new members through passing invitations.
There have been a number of reasons that have been given to explain why college males join gangs and fraternities. From a general analysis, most if not all gangs seem to engage in criminal or illegal activities. However, most fraternity groups are just associations meant to build some social status as opposed to the commission of criminal or illegal acts.
The first reason why college males join gangs arises from an individual need to join an association of people who will offer some form of family bond and protection. It has been observed that a lot of males join gangs as a result of the emotional suffering they experience in their dysfunctional family structures. Many college males join gangs if they feel that their families cannot give them love and protection. Males from such families, therefore, join gangs with the aim finding people who will care and protect them.
Some college males are also forced to join gangs in order to find protection from the dangers they face as a result of living in neighborhoods filled with crime. Many college males, especially those living in neighborhoods that are mostly inhabited by Black Americans and Latinos, are forced to join gangs in order to achieve some level of safety. This is because most gangs protect their own members from any dangers and threats posed to them by other members in their society.
A research done by the University of Leicester also established that college males who had antisocial personalities also had a huge probability of joining gangs. In most cases, College males who have antisocial personalities have problems of associating with other people even though they have a feeling of a need to have friends. Such males often result to joining gangs with the hope that they will find people who have characteristics to one’s they have.
After discussing some of the reasons why college males join gangs, it is prudent to also discuss some of the reasons why they also join fraternities in order to fit in society. The first reason why college males join fraternities is their quest to establish some level of social acceptance in their immediate society. It has been established that freshmen in colleges form a significant number of new members who join fraternities. Freshmen usually find themselves joining fraternities with the aim of finding some comfort zone. The need for freshmen to find a comfort zone stems from their new experience in colleges or campus. Freshmen usually find themselves in a new environment and a way of living in colleges. Since they are not used to the new kind of life and the challenges posed by college life, they are forced to join fraternities.
Peer pressure is also a major reason why college males choose join fraternities. It is a common occurrence for college males to find themselves in a situation where all their friends are joining or have joined fraternities. In order to fit in and to avoid being labeled as aliens among their friends, college males are forced to join fraternities. The phenomenon of joining fraternities as a result of peer pressure can also be explained by the fact that college males also need some form of association and popularity. They, therefore, join fraternities in order to take advantage of the opportunity of knowing more people especially those who have a good social status in their society.
It would also be prudent to explain that some college males join fraternities due to the networking opportunities available in such associations. Networking opportunities arise from several sources. First, fraternities have some level of recognition in universities. Therefore, college males who become leaders of their fraternities often enjoy opportunities to interact with some influential people in society whenever they attend official university occasions and gatherings. College males who are fraternity leaders use these meetings as platforms to connect with influential people who can benefit them in one way or another. Secondly, fraternities offer networking opportunities through the bonds and friendships that college males make during their period of membership. Such bonds and friendships give college males a feeling of appreciation and belonging.
Works Cited
Bobby, Rio. " Joining a Frat in College: The Pros and Cons." 13 January 2009. tsbmag.com. 4 November 2012 <http://www.tsbmag.com/2009/01/13/joining-a-frat-in-college-the-pros-and-cons/>.
Brian, Juan and Mike. "Questions about Joining a Gang." 28 May 2010. www.gangsandkids.com. 4 November 2012 <http://www.gangsandkids.com/gquestion0j.html>.
Daley, Patrick. "Reasons Why Guys Join A Fraternity." 2012. The fratenity advisor. 4 November 2012 <http://thefraternityadvisor.com/reasons-why-guys-join-a-fraternity/>.
Michie, Creg. "Gangs: For Adolescents." 15 September 2009. http://www.cedu.niu.edu. 4 November 2012 <http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~shumow/iit/gangs2.pdf>.
University of Leicester. "Antisocial people most likely to join gangs: Study." 14 November 2011. http://cordis.europa.eu. 4 November 2012 <http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.document&N_RCN=34023>.
