The Truth About Youth Gangs

Every young member of American society is looking to fit into a group. However, for
some youth, clichd high school groups, such as the drama club, the jocks, or the brainiacs,
do not fit who they are. Some youth only find their solace amongst gangs. When discussing
youth, we typically refer to those in their adolescence or pubescent years. Adolescence refers to
the ages between twelve and twenty. Over the past twenty years, this age group has become
more involved with gangs. A gang is, by definition, a group of teens or young adults that hang
out together and are involved in joint violent or criminal activity. They generally give
themselves a common name or symbol, and they often choose to wear a certain type of clothing
or display some other identifying item (United States, Facts for Teens 1). Currently every state
has gangs and every state reports that they have some sort of youth gang activity (United States,
Facts for Teens 1). Many people misunderstand the true motivations for joining a gang.
Americans ought to understand the true reasons youth join gangs because there are actually
social influences, such as family and peers, and economic influences, drug culture is not the main
cause as is often stereotyped.
Since the 1970s, gang involvement has become present in every state and is no longer
only an inner-city problem (United States, Facts for Teens 1). However, there are still very few
people who believe youth gangs are a problem because the overall number of gangs and gang
members in the United States [has] decreased since 1996 (United States, Facts for Teens 1). In
addition to the belief that gangs are not as prevalent as they actually are, many Americans
believe that the greatest reason that gangs would be expanding is due to the increase in drug
culture. Despite the fact that drugs provide a source of income, they are not the central aspect of
gang life nor are they the reason for the increase in gang violence (United States, Facts for Teens

1). Through the analysis of an autobiography detailing Reymundo Sanchezs involvement with
gangs (though he chooses to use a pseudonym to protect his and his familys identity), an
interview with a former gang member (who prefers to remain anonymous to maintain his safety),
and various other sources, it is possible to understand the lifestyle in which American youth are
taking part in and how it is possible to limit the youth becoming involved in that lifestyle.
The first social factor leading youth to gang involvement is family relationships. Youth
social life revolves around family; this relationship has a strong influence on how youth develop
and what they see as morally correct. The relationship an individual has with his or her family is
often a driving cause of youth gang involvement. For individuals who grew up in broken
homes, or homes where alcoholism and violence were prevalent (Feldman et al. 160),
sometimes they can follow in their familys footsteps and use the same means for retaliation.
For example, in My Bloody Life, Reymundo Sanchez is abused by his mother and third father,
Pedro. Most of the time he just accepts his fate, but the first time he fought back against his
father, his mother only came to his defense when he was threatened with a gun and then
proceeded to beat him herself (Sanchez 28). Because Sanchez constantly experienced this
behavior from his father and mother, he was accustomed to accepting what came to him. In one
particular case, Sanchez had the munchies (Sanchez 27) after getting high for the first time
with members of a gang called the Spanish Lords (Sanchez 27), resulting in him feeling as if he
was invincible for the first time, provoking him to act on his anger for the first time. At this
point, Sanchez already had some involvement with gangs, although he was not formally a
member. The abuse Sanchez received from his parents and other members of his family began
far before he met any members of the Spanish Lords. However, the more involved Sanchez
became with the Spanish Lords, the more he felt as though he could stand up for himself. Soon

after Pedro threatens him with a gun, Sanchez looks for an opportunity to remove his greatest
threat, the gun, from the house. With the help of his friend, Papo, Sanchez steals the gun from his
father and sells it to another gang (Sanchez 30-31). By removing the biggest threat to his life,
Sanchez finds that he is able to focus more on himself and his life with the gang he eventually
ends up joining (Sanchez 122). The violent experiences in a youths past allow for him or her to
then take the behavior they witnessed and duplicate it into their life. When Sanchez became a
gang member, the violence he endured from his father and mother helped him become a feared
member of society.
The second social factor linking youth to gang involvement are the effects of peer groups.
Reymundo Sanchez met his friend, Papo, outside of school and they were nearly inseparable in
and out of school except for when they had to go home to their families. Papo introduced
Sanchez to his first gang (Sanchez 23) because that was the lifestyle he lived. From that moment
on, Sanchez primarily associated with gang members or other people who associated with gangs.
Eventually, he ended up affiliated with a gang of his own choosing: the Latin Kings. Although
he did not end up joining the Spanish Lords as a result of losing their colors (Sanchez 65) and
their respect (Sanchez 76), as well as deciding to join because [he] was too scared to say no
(Sanchez 122), Sanchez became a very important and active member of the Latin Kings. The
main cause of his immense activity with the Latin Kings was how often he was with the gang.
The more time he spent with the Kings, the more likely it was that he would go with the
members on a mission of sorts, to aid the Latin Kings in a shooting or robbery. As he was
always around the gang, Sanchez became a very valuable asset and a feared member of the Latin
Kings.

Schools are becoming an increasingly popular place for gang recruitment. And as youth
are required to spend a period of their life in school, it is an ideal location for gang recruitment.
It has been reported that the prime recruiting age for new gang members isbetween the ages
of 11 and 15 (Weldon et al. 75), typically students in junior high or middle school. With gangs
focusing more on recruiting members within schools, it is impossible for students to fully avoid
contact with them. As soon as gangs became present in schools, students and their families
became more aware of the presence of gangs in their neighborhoods. Joseph White, a youth
influenced by gang presence in his school, is believed to have willfully brought gang violence
into his school (Hagan et al. 219). During Whites trial, he stated that he was really a [gang]
member through association (Hagan et al. 229) and in an analysis of the trial, it was stated that
Tilden High School, the high school that White attended, was a very popular place for gang
recruitment in that part of Chicago, where at least six gangs were known to have a noteworthy
presence (Hagan et al. 240). Sanchez and White show that as more youth are presented with
ideas of gangs amongst the people they spend time with, the number of people who become
associated and involved with gangs increases.
Amongst their peer group, youth gain a certain reputation defining who they are. The
reputation a person acquires may be used to instill fear in other groups, a usual tactic with gang
members who create nicknames for one another (Egley et, al. 2). For some members of a gang,
gaining a reputation to fear was a goal. For example, Tom, a white, former leader of the Chicago
gang called the Bel Airs, states that when [he] wanted a reputation [He] couldnt stop
fighting (Feldman et al. 153). The reputations that youth are able to gain through gang
membership can be either good or bad and instill fear, all while diminishing the respect people
have for them. When questioned as to whether a reputation is gained by theft or fighting, Tom

brings up Bobby Beagle, a man with a reputation based on what and how he stole things
(Feldman et al. 153-154). Tom is not the only former gang member who believes that a
reputation is important in gangs; Reymundo Sanchez became feared under the nickname Lil
Loco (Sanchez 130). Youth may gain a better idea of who they are through a nickname, but
when they begin to build their reputation off of other peoples fears, they may be heading down a
path that does not acknowledge who they truly are. If youth begin to build reputations on fear,
they will continue to provoke others to recruit them to gang membership or to cause violence
within their schools.
The social factors leading youth into gang membership are numerous and important to be
aware of for Americans to see that the people youth associate with may be looking at them as
potential gang members. However, without also acknowledging that it is difficult for youth to
completely avoid gangs, it is near impossible help them become aware of the neighborhood
surrounding their home and school.
Economic factors are another reason for the growth of youth membership in gangs. Youth
currently have limited access to jobs where they can make money and they often want to make
money quickly. Because gangs are active in schools, they are able to recruit members by zeroing
in on specific groups of students, in this case, the financially unstable (United States, Youth
Gangs 1). Todays youth tend to desire items that are often unattainable due to their financial
constraints. Some youth find that gangs can provide them the money they need if they participate
in them (Doe). By providing a quick source of income, gangs appeal to youth, which further
enables them to gain members, even if for only a brief period of time (United States, Facts for
Teens 2). A former gang member states that [he] sold drugs, committed assault, stole things

from stores, and stole cars (Doe) all in the hopes of getting money to attain the expensive items
[he] wanted (Doe).
While it is true that the first distributers of crack, cocaine and heroin were gangs in the
mid 1980s (Levitt et. al. 755), and many of the methods in which gangs attain their monetary
resources result around the drug market and theft, this is not the selling point for the youth who
join. A major highlight for the youth in need of money is the mean annual incomes in the range
of $20,000-$30,000 that drug sellers may reach. This constant supply of money directly
resulted from the increase in the buyers market is a small light for the youth who desperately
need a source of income. Even if they are only part of a gang for a short period of time, these
youth succumbed to the promises that gang life offered, money being one of them, in order to
access what they needed or wanted at the time. These are also the youth who have given
Americans the idea that gang expansion is directly related to the inflation of drug culture because
they resulted in selling drugs as a means of quickly attaining money.
At this point, Americans need to gain the facts about gangs and what they consist of
before writing them off only as expanders of the drug culture. The youth who become involved
with gangs often have a very dangerous path to even attain membership; females often have to
fight a female member or be raped by other members while a male may have to fight other
members (United States, Youth Gangs 1) or beaten up by a number of gang members to prove
[their] toughness (Sanchez 122). Some people have even gone as far as robbing or shooting
innocent people or shooting police officers (United States, Youth Gangs 1). With initiation
events like these it is hard to imagine why so many American youth are resorting to the dangers
they will become involved with through the membership to a gang. Initiation into a gang may
also directly result in the termination of their school work and an ease of attain weapons (United

States, Gangs in America). However, there are clearly reasons that youth are joining gangs, and
it is necessary to prove to them that the consequences of gang membership are real. One of the
scariest things that many youth do not realize about gangs is that gang members are about 60
times more likely to be killed than the rest of the population (United States, Facts for Teens 1).
The consequences of membership are not necessarily the best either, often resulting in moderate
to severe injuries, imprisonment or death (United States, Youth Gangs 1). Many former
members condemn youth involvement in gangs stating that gang life is an endless battle with no
victories on either side and if [people knew] gang life was so surrounded by death, [she
doesnt] know how anyone could WANT to get into a gang (United States, Youth Gangs 1). By
learning all this, youth should be able to recognize that there are alternatives to joining a gang.
For the youth who are already a member of a gang, getting out is difficult, but not
impossible. Involved youth must first gain the courage to talk to somebody, either a trusted adult
or a teen crisis hotline to find resources to help them get out of gangs. The process for youth
getting out of a gang varies upon the amount of time that a youth has been a member of a gang:
those who are members for only a short period of time may only have to earn the gang a certain
amount of money (Doe), however a long-term member may be more gradual and difficult
(Howell et. al.). By helping the youth who are gang members leave that path behind them,
Americans may also be able to limit the number of youth who are thinking about joining gangs.
Instead of imposing uniforms in schools and keeping children away from things that may be
harmful to them, Americans can encourage youth to spend their time in a more positive manner
and avoid carrying weapons at all times. Americans may also want to collaborate with schools
nationwide to encourage them to add gang and gang violence education to their curriculums
instead of only having sex and health education programs available. The more Americans stop

insisting that gangs are a problem only because of drug culture, the easier it will be to encourage
youth that gang membership is not a solution to lifes problems.

Works Cited
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Weldon, William H., Garth Petrie, and Patricia Lindauer. "Tinker's Gang: Student Expression
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