Abstract
Gang Lifestyle is a lifestyle wrought with fear. It begins at childhood with young minds getting crippled with hatred, from a life of deprivation of necessities of life, love and compassion. Gangs rule by fear and absolution, and life is unpredictable and death is the only way out for them. Following is an article on gang lifestyle and the use of fear as the true way of living.
Introduction
The word “Gang” has a very wide set of meanings. Old English referred to the word “Gang” as any set of people or things that would go together, set off on a journey of similar purpose. In the modern day it refers to a group of young people who meet regularly for any purpose. But gangs are known to be much more than just a group of young people in the modern day society. Gangs are organized groups of criminals, mostly young men and women, and in some cases adolescents. Gang culture is very common throughout the world. Every city, small or large, has areas demarcated as places for gang activities. Gangs try to control and rule these areas, by brute menace at extreme instances. Although most gangs rule by fear, every gang has its own set of codes and rules for its gang members. This kind of lifestyle begins at the hand of depravity of any key aspect in a person’s life from social to economic. What follows is an article that discusses gang lifestyle, the reason for its emergence and its implications on the society.
Discussion
A drive through the downtown is enough to make anyone aware of the existence of gangs in the city. Gangs are groups of people who occupy an area and try to control it, mostly by fear. There are different types of gangs, from motorcycle gangs to territorial controllers. Different gangs have different set of rules and some do not have any at all, except for the one rule where each gang operates in its demarcated territory. Gangs control these areas and try to act as the true authoritative body, irrespective of the law and order or the legal and police system present in place at the given area. Most of these gangs act as a rebellion against a society that gang members believe have wronged them. Gangs mostly participate in organized crimes, from smuggling narcotics to ransom and even murder.
The true reasons for emergence of criminal gangs have always been subject of research for sociologists. There has always been a consensus amongst philosophers and sociologists that gang culture began due to deprivation and has existed ever since society and civilizations have been put into place. Ancient Roman cultures depict gangs that would try to assert their own free areas of operation. New York had street gangs named Dead Rabbit and the Bowery Boys as early as the late 1800s (Asbury, 1928). Essentially these gangs were organized into areas and worked rackets of smuggling and narcotics, and fought against each other.
However, the question arises as to what kind of deprivation can drive young men and women to such methods of living, where ruling by fear is the norm. Men and women deprived of their basic rights at a young age turn to do called gang fraternities. Most of these men and women belong to families that cannot meet their basic necessities, or cannot provide the protection, values, love and care that a family must provide. In some cases neo family cultures like the development of highly liberalized nuclear families with working parents and practically no elder guardians for the children. Due to the lack of a value based family background young people turn to gang fraternities for love, appreciation and support. Other reasons of formation and growth of gangs is oppression of minority population and ethnic groups. The legacy of feeling disenfranchised from mainstream culture and needing an outlet to express one's anger at that supposed disenfranchisement make youth join gangs as they see it as a means to perpetrate revenge upon the culprits, which in many cases is the society as a whole (Stacey, 2009). These gangs use fear and glorification as tactics to control men and women within and outside groups. Prison gangs in particular use a rank system, recruiting street thugs and gangs, cultivating their culture in a way that they would glorify reaching the prison gang status as the highest status possible. Many gangs, especially African American and Hispanic gangs follow a tradition of symbolization, with tattooing themselves with gang symbols or graffiti-ing walls of areas that they control. This gives them a sense of respect and belonging in the ranks of the gang. The more notorious a gang member gets, the more tattoos adorn his or her body.
Becoming a gang member requires the satisfaction of particular demands. Some gangs recruit people only when they have killed someone, preferably someone from an opposing gang. Sometimes it takes a first impression of brutality to get recruited (Le'Taxione, 2008). Gang members measure reputation with the amount of fear they can generate using their gang members (Dichiara and Chabot, 2003). The more formidable a person is in looks and intellect, the more fearful people will be of them, and more reputation can be generated.
Street gangs are a very common place. American gangs are responsible for an average of 48% of violent crime in most jurisdictions, and up to 90% in other jurisdictions (Johnson, 2009). Gang activities include traditional gang-associated gambling, drug and arms trafficking, white collar crime such as currency counterfeiting, identity theft and fraud, and non-traditional activity of human kidnap, trafficking and prostitution (Dichiara and Chabot, 2003).
Gangs can be classified into different categories and sub-categories. The main types of gangs are prison gangs, motorcycle or popularly named biker gangs, organized criminal gangs, juvenile gangs etc. Ethnicity forms an important aspect in the gang culture. Hispanic and African-American gangs are very common in the United States. Ethnic gang culture in the African-American community began in the 1960s. This period saw two radical events, the shift of liberalization towards anti-social activities and the Black Socialist movement. This culminated into formation of the famous African American gangs “Crips” and “Blood” (Stacy, 2009).
Gang culture begins at the streets and escalates to a global level with organized criminal gangs (Dichiara and Chabot, 2003). These gangs participate in almost all possible criminal activities, from kidnap, ransom, extortion, gambling etc. to contract killing and terrorist attacks. Higher crime rates and highly organized crimes make jurisdiction difficult. As gang problem escalates anarchy becomes imperative, as more and more people resort to unlawful methods of livelihood, disregarding law and ethics. There is a global fear of lapse of law and order due to increasing gang culture and law enforcement agencies need to work night and day to keep gang activities at bay.
With so many impending implications of gang lifestyle, society needs to think as to where it goes wrong in its conduct. There is definitely a need to bring about social equality and a collective rejection of preconceived notions and prejudices. Education, equality, right parenting and liberal thinking can help resolve this issue (Le'Taxione, 2008). Ethics should be reinstated. Capitalism and consumerism should be downsized and avoided as much as possible. Social disparity will always remain in some way or the other. What needs to be done is to bring in compassion and reject hatred towards the ones who are not fortunate enough to avail a better living.
Conclusion
Gangs have existed in the society for many hundreds of years. Social inequality, deprivation and atrocities stemming from distorted beliefs have been some of the many reasons of gang culture to survive and flourish. Modern day society faces the problem of gang culture, and the threat keeps increasing each day, with new gangs emerging very often. Fear is the main weapon gangs use to control people. Gangs grow more and more frivolous, ruthless and fearless in their anti-social activities each day. The culprit lies in the very thread of our dissected society. What is to be understood from the lives of gang members is that they are misled individuals who need love and compassion and a sense of belonging. Many ex-gang members who try to turn their path around and lead normal social lives carry a sense of impending guilt. Their lives have been filled with hatred from a very tender age and they quote many reasons for turning to such ways, all of which speak volumes of the depravity they faced in their lives. Acceptance and compassion are the best ways to bring back people to normal living. Evil cannot always be treated with evil, and handling hardened gang criminals with strict punitive measures can only worsen the case. What is needed is a restructuring of the society, a promotion of equality and the need to understand and follow ethics of human living.
References
Asbury, H. (1928) The Gangs of New York : An Informal History of the Underworld. Reprinted in original format 1989 Dorset Press; ISBN 0-88029-429-9. Republished in 2001 with a foreword by Jorge Luis Borges
Dichiara, A. & Chabot, R. (2003) “Gangs and the Contemporary Urban Struggle: An Unappreciated Aspect of Gangs”. Gangs and Society: Alternative Perspectives. New York: Columbia University Press.
Johnson, K (2009). "FBI: Burgeoning gangs behind up to 80% of U.S. crime". USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-29-ms13_N.htm
Le'Taxione (2008) Original Diamond Boy: Psychology of a Gang Banger. University Behind Bars course at Monroe Correctional Complex. ISBN: 9781432724504
Stacy, P. (Director) (2009). Crips and Bloods: Made in America (TV-Documentary). PBS Independent Lens series.
