Why do you think youth join street gangs?

Question

stuipidity ?

social isolation?

finances ?

or

lack of support from both the surrounding community and family?

Other ideas are welcomed and appreciated

Answer 1

not stupidity but i can say, lack of knowledge or just curiousity and immaturity. also, peer influences. social isolation? maybe. and also because of feeling of "fitting in". finances? maybe also. and the most is lack of support from both the surrounding, community and family. because if a child is happy within the family, have a feeling of belongingness, why would he join street gangs,eh?

Answer 2

From the point of view of the youth:

Go to college and work my butt off to make a good amount of money but still have many school related debts to pay.

or

Join up with these guys, who keep telling me how cool and exciting things are, and make the same amount of money in a short amount of time without any taxes in them or have any debts to pay.

They don't think about the long term affects of their actions, most youth think only about a week or so ahead in life.  So they really don't get that things will turn bad on them later on down the road.  Not to mention how MTV glamorizes the gangbanger life style.  Don't get me wrong there is money, drugs, and women but none of it is as good as it seems in the movies and music videos.  Well unless you are into poisonous drugs and women with STDs where you get sloppy firsts.

Answer 3

The majority of them join gangs because they lack support & love within the family system.  The family is dysfunctional & lacks the education & knowedge to raise children, so the child goes out to find something that will help him/her some kind of capability .  They will associate with other youth who have similar backgrounds.  Together these youth form a bond that they lack in their homelife.  They just want to "Belong" to something no matter what the cost.  They do not know any thing else because their home life is dysfunctional.  How can you correct a child if the parents are dysfunctional ?    The damage has been done.  This child will grow up hating authority figures & cling to being destructive because it has become a way of life, a means of survival.

Answer 4

Money, power, influence, safety, friendship, s*x, respect.

Answer 5

The reason that many youths join a gang is because they are either social outcatss at school.

Or they dont have a family support in there house hold. So they go out into a gang and think that they are their family know.

Sometimes they just want to fit in or its a way to show there family relationship. Because i interviewed a sureno member and he said the reason he joined was because all of his cousins and brothers where part of it.

Answer 6

Growing up around it. Pressure. Confusion. Don't really know what they are getting into. A lot of things. The fact is that the justice system still isn't fair to every region or race yet. Some places still aren't reformed and have poor educational systems. The schools that don't graduate their kids have a high turn out of teens that get put into jail for committing crimes. Financial problems probably curb this pattern, too. It's hard to tell, each person probably does it for different reasons. It's not all about money think about all of the NFL or NBA players caught with guns, or rappers who have plenty of money who are in gangs. It's sad to see or hear of people dying from things like this. Community Organizations should become more prevalent in these areas.