To fully understand the negative impact that gangs have in our community. One must study it's root causes and it's history in the United States. Take the time to read this brief but informative background on gangs.
In modern usage, gang often refers to loosely organized groups that control a territory through readiness to use coordinated violence, especially against other gangs. Violence also serves to maintain organization within the gang and to control gang members (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996; Horowitz, 1983; Sanchez-Jankowski, 1991; Yablonsky, 1962)[9]A gangster is a criminal who is, or at some point almost invariably becomes, a member of a persistent violent crime organization, such as a gang. As an adjective it can be used as an unflattering depiction of the violent and devious methods commonly used by mobsters, and the derived form gangsterism it implies such methods as practice or habit. The term gangster is most commonly used in reference to members of the criminal organizations associated with the American offshoot of the Cosa Nostra and the American prohibition, such as the Chicago Outfit and the Five Families, and individuals such as Al Capone, Chase Maracle and Bugsy Siegel. Gangs are as diverse and dissimilar as the ideologies and belief systems which influence and motivate them.[10] Extremist and hate groups in some states have acquired the label, as the extremist groups operate very similarly to corporate gangs.[11] While hierarchy, colors, and turf are not emphasized as much within these extremist groups, symbols, signs, codes, special languages, and group collaboration and participation in patterns of criminal activity, especially crimes against human rights and civil liberties, are as much a part of the gang type behavior as they are to more traditional 'street gangs'.[12] 'Terrorities' have expanded to include the Internet for some gangs. Crips, Bloods, MS-13, 18th Street gang, and other ''web bangers'' are among some gangs posting on personal and social networking Web sites taunting other gangs, boasting of illegal exploits, and, according to George W. Knox, director of the National Gang Crime Research Center[9], influencing and recruiting new members.[13] Tod Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University in Virginia states: ?“Gangs already have their own alphabet, their own language, their own hand signals, so why not use the Internet??” Gang members, using home computers communicate with each other using their own coded language to brag about criminal exploits and to organize crimes on the street, including fights with rival gangs.[14]White Aryan Resistance (WAR) and the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) are two American-based white-supremacist or neo-fascist groupuscules or gangs who have been quick to exploit the advantages the Internet and the World Wide Web offer for organizing, recruiting, and developing their small, splinter groups of extremists. While the Internet provides these gangs with the opportunity to communicate with a wider audience, the threat of increased influence on disenfranchised and underprivileged youths may be exaggerated.[15]Gang members have also been joining and organizing within the U.S. military and learning military skills in Iraq, a phenomenon an FBI report calls ''a threat to law enforcement and national security.''[16]In environments with few social supports, gangs provide young members a sense of belonging, and protection from other gangs; often, where prospects for gainful employment are poor, they also provide an illegal means of earning a living.
Knowledge is power - Be Safe
In modern usage, gang often refers to loosely organized groups that control a territory through readiness to use coordinated violence, especially against other gangs. Violence also serves to maintain organization within the gang and to control gang members (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996; Horowitz, 1983; Sanchez-Jankowski, 1991; Yablonsky, 1962)[9]A gangster is a criminal who is, or at some point almost invariably becomes, a member of a persistent violent crime organization, such as a gang. As an adjective it can be used as an unflattering depiction of the violent and devious methods commonly used by mobsters, and the derived form gangsterism it implies such methods as practice or habit. The term gangster is most commonly used in reference to members of the criminal organizations associated with the American offshoot of the Cosa Nostra and the American prohibition, such as the Chicago Outfit and the Five Families, and individuals such as Al Capone, Chase Maracle and Bugsy Siegel. Gangs are as diverse and dissimilar as the ideologies and belief systems which influence and motivate them.[10] Extremist and hate groups in some states have acquired the label, as the extremist groups operate very similarly to corporate gangs.[11] While hierarchy, colors, and turf are not emphasized as much within these extremist groups, symbols, signs, codes, special languages, and group collaboration and participation in patterns of criminal activity, especially crimes against human rights and civil liberties, are as much a part of the gang type behavior as they are to more traditional 'street gangs'.[12] 'Terrorities' have expanded to include the Internet for some gangs. Crips, Bloods, MS-13, 18th Street gang, and other ''web bangers'' are among some gangs posting on personal and social networking Web sites taunting other gangs, boasting of illegal exploits, and, according to George W. Knox, director of the National Gang Crime Research Center[9], influencing and recruiting new members.[13] Tod Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University in Virginia states: ?“Gangs already have their own alphabet, their own language, their own hand signals, so why not use the Internet??” Gang members, using home computers communicate with each other using their own coded language to brag about criminal exploits and to organize crimes on the street, including fights with rival gangs.[14]White Aryan Resistance (WAR) and the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) are two American-based white-supremacist or neo-fascist groupuscules or gangs who have been quick to exploit the advantages the Internet and the World Wide Web offer for organizing, recruiting, and developing their small, splinter groups of extremists. While the Internet provides these gangs with the opportunity to communicate with a wider audience, the threat of increased influence on disenfranchised and underprivileged youths may be exaggerated.[15]Gang members have also been joining and organizing within the U.S. military and learning military skills in Iraq, a phenomenon an FBI report calls ''a threat to law enforcement and national security.''[16]In environments with few social supports, gangs provide young members a sense of belonging, and protection from other gangs; often, where prospects for gainful employment are poor, they also provide an illegal means of earning a living.
Knowledge is power - Be Safe
