Gangs on the Street and in Prison

Violent crimes committed by juveniles are not diminishing, as other crimes, as reported by the Justice Department statistics, are. We see that juveniles have more access, and more use of the weapons of violence, including gang affiliation.

The problem from the law enforcement angle is: "who is in charge?" There is a see-saw effect between the government or various governmental agencies and the parents. Of course, the focus is on dysfunctional families, frequently one-parent, over-burdened, poverty-stricken families. There are two choices for society: to completely turn their back, as is happening all too often, is to do something to provide an opportunity and a look at a better future for disillusioned, frustrated, angry juvenile offenders.

So why do young people join gangs? First of all, the gang members are overwhelmingly minorities- Hispanic, African-American, Asian. There are two basic reasons for a young disadvantaged youth to join a gang: protection, and a sense of the "family" which he does not have at home- assuming he still has a home to call his. While these two basic reasons are true both on the streets and in prison, the "protection" aspect is certainly far more important in jails, where there are always factions- especially Hispanics against African-Americans, and minorities against white inmates.

There was a time when juvenile "gangs" were romanticized in the movies. The Dead End Kids and the Bowery Boys were depicted as funny and clever street kids who really would not do anyone, except crooks, any harm. Those days are long gone. But, who are these "gangstas" in prisons and on the streets? Delinquency is not an inherited trait, like some forms of diseases or alcoholism. It is acquired through parental neglect, poverty, environment, frustration at society, and, perhaps most important of all, peer pressure. Juvenile delinquency is no different from adult delinquency. It is a blatant and often persistent disregard for law and order, for moral and ethical standards and for the rights of others.