Growing Problem of Gang Violence

Can gang violence be ended with more people with money coming together against them? Gang violence has tainted the streets of the world with their presence. When a gang is instituted into an area, they are more than likely to make their presence known. Gang violence is an issue that is ongoing and has to be addressed before they have the chance to increase in size. Other people in the world and the government are vital in stopping gang violence. In society, gang violence has dominated over many poor areas in the world, causing various complications and affecting other people’s lives, so a solution to the violence would be giving back to poor communities.

Various governments have tried to deal with gangs in their vicinity, but many have failed to stop them. A solution to gang violence must start with a complete crackdown on gangs alone from both citizens and governments and by building up communities. Many operations must be initiated to prevent gangs from spreading and causing more havoc amongst communities. With operations there must be money to give. Governments must come to the critical realization on what is really going on in their communities and get in depth feedback on how gang violence is affecting the neighborhoods. The government must consider every person who is in a gang and breakdown the gangs at the center by establishing laws against them and building up communities at the same time.

Gangs have taken over and try to play by their own rules. The gangs are only fronts for other activities. Most gangs are used to distribute narcotics for major cartels. Gangs have polluted the streets and affected them tremendously. Some gangs have basically controlled the police force: “Corrupt officers in the Honduran police force have reportedly moved far beyond taking bribes or tipping off criminal gangs; they have been accused of acting as killers and enforcers for the country's criminal interests” (Fox 1). Gangs mainly try to take the innocence of the youth as an advantage and corrupt them from a young age. MS-13 is a prime example of a powerful gang who tend to recruit young people: “Gangs provide them with a sense of friendship, camaraderie, and family-things that they are not receiving at home or school” (Friedrichs 9). Gangs are the cause many other illegal activities along with the violence such as, drugs and money laundering: “A drug trafficking gang that ran crack through East Harlem's AK Houses has been taken down after a 10-month investigation, the city's top narcotics prosecutor said” (Clark 1). The many acts of violence committed by gangs do not go unseen and other people are aware but, many are afraid to confront the issue.

Gangs try to establish themselves by using certain tactics, such as violence or threats. Many gangs use excessive force to display their message to society. Gangs rule and maintain control over some areas by terrorizing the people in it. Pablo Escobar, the leader of the Medellin Cartel, controlled Columbia and almost got elected as president. This goes to prove how powerful gangs can be when given so much power in a poor country such as, Columbia. Gangs use their vulgar methods of killings to reflect on their image: “a key witness in a drug trafficking case against the gang's feared leader, had been relocated by authorities… for his safety. When the 27-year-old father pulled into his driveway with his wife and her two young kids, a gunman walked up and opened fire” (Meisner 1). A various amount of hitmen also led people to live in fear of their lives. In an article, a Mexican hitmen admitted to killing at least 30 people in 9 years: “Nine years later, he says, he has eliminated 30 people — maybe three in error. He sometimes feels sorry about the work he does but has no regrets, he says, because he is providing a kind of public service, defending his community from outsiders” (Igula 1). People who show no remorse for killing a human being must be stopped at all costs. Governments must work overtime to put gang members behind bars. Gangs are using force to spread their tactics across the world. People such as terrorists and murderers use the same measures of force in order, to affect society’s tendencies: “The new charges are related to the July 2015 slaying of 16-year-old Jose Alexander Aguilar-Villanueva, also known as Fantasma, who was found behind a bench at South Common Park with multiple stab wounds” (Valencia 1). Certain measures are taken into account when trying to take down a gang, even it means setting up a whole organization primed for a gang takedown.

Groups are set up against gang violence in order to protect the innocent people who are afraid of living in certain areas. Chicago is the home of one of the most murders. Organizations are put into play designed for gang reduction: “the Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project targeted mainly older members (ages 17 to 24) of two of the Chicago area’s most violent Hispanic gangs, the Latin Kings and the Two Six (Spergel 1)”. The organizations are even taught to locate the main targets such as gang shooters, who do the killings: “Specifically, the Little Village program targeted more than 200 of the “shooters” (also called influential persons or leaders) of the two gangs.” (Spergel 3). Some programs are even established to help with struggling children in certain neighborhoods stricken by gang violence: “This involvement is known as the Jeopardy Program. This is a gang prevention program for boys and girls ages 8 through 17 and their parents to decrease truancy, improve grades, increase graduation rates, improve self-esteem, decrease the risk of gang involvement” (Erikson 14). Some people are living their lives in fear of dying in their own household: “A 2-year-old boy was killed and a 3-year-old girl was wounded by stray bullets in a possible gang-related, drive-by shooting in Minneapolis” (Boroff 1). People have no choice but to live in specific neighborhoods due to income. Neighborhoods are not thriving because of gang violence. Some neighborhoods are getting stuck in a cycle of poverty.

Gangs are some people's’ last resort in response to feeling some type of way in their environment: “There is nothing else to do; they have no hope and see no alternative but to join a gang, they feel their survival may depend on joining a neighborhood gang. They fear for their safety and believe that being in a gang gives them protection” (Spergel 3). Some people are only trying to make a way in life and they have to find a way somehow, even it means joining a gang: “It is an avenue to gain respect and money. Gangs can provide lucrative economic opportunities, status, and prestige--especially for youths that do not believe they have employment opportunities, or who have no job skill (Spergel 3). The solution to fixing the gang violence in society today, is to help the poor communities with resources that they need. The way people who are born into poverty are virtually stuck and forced into negative situations. People are taught to go get the money but, how would they get money without opportunities. The people sometimes are only the product of their environment, so why not help the less privilege thrive.

We overlook the positive effects of what these groups do for these young children especially when it comes to the media aspect. Gangs are linked with “incumbent violence, drugs, guns and sexual misconduct”. Many of the people that join gangs look at the benefits of these groups instead of the consequences. “To the majority of gang members, the gang functions as an extension of the family and may provide companionship lacking in the gang member’s home environment. Many older brothers and relatives belong, or have belonged to the gang.” They seek for the family that they never had so they are willing to commit crimes in order to be apart of the group and also for protection from other rival gangs. “For me, gang is simply another word for tribe. In essence, gangs are good for society. In a healthy state, they are about the formation of groups that operate under ethical and moral codes of conduct upheld and enforced by the elders of the community. If these codes are based in a fundamental respect for society and the individual, there's absolutely nothing wrong with gangs. If the elders in the gangs have been supported and steered into responsible adulthood and are able in turn to guide and contain the fiery energy of future, younger gang members, society will be a far richer, more connected and ultimately less fearful place”(Walsh, 2011). As I said before, if we had more people coming out and speaking against gang violence then there will definitely be some changes in the community. If we also had more gangs coming together and hashing out their differences then there would be more peaceful communities and a sense of unity amongst one another.

Gangs are the results of how people live their lives. The relationship between the poor countries and cities and more gang activity is increasing. The poverty-stricken countries will continue to be terrorized by gang violence because there is no hope and changes to the communities. The poor environments make it easier for gangs to operate because they are exposed to less resources such as, law enforcements and housing for protection. The gangs are deemed ruthless and will not stop until they are forced out of their environments all at once. Society must stop gang violence by succeeding in lessening the poverty gap in the world. In society, gang violence has dominated over many poorer areas in the world, causing various complications and affecting other people's’ lives, so a solution to the violence would be giving back to poor communities and creating more opportunities and more outreach. There are gangs out there that are trying to uplift their members and make them law abiding citizens but when you have the media showing the bad light of things, it can become challenging. People must be able to put themselves in another’s shoe and try to understand the reality of those communities.