Street Gangs: Why Youths are Enticed to Join A gang is comprised of a group of individuals with common interests, in a manner of speaking. Generally, gangs have become synonymous with violence. Street gangs are often considered as the usual suspects in various forms of crimes. In school, a gang’s “violent” reputation is often constrained to forms of bullying – forcefully taking a schoolmate’s lunch money, for instance. But if gangs have such a negative reputation, why do people join gangs anyway? The Appeal of Gangs to Kids When kids are in that phase in their lives where they are discovering things about life, where they are trying to create their identities and oftentimes confused about who they are; this is the time when they are most vulnerable – and impressionable. Gangs present a certain kind of appeal to kids because they seem “cool” and they gain a certain kind of “respect” from other people. Unfortunately, respect in relation to gangs is often more out of fear than of genuine respect for each member’s personality or individuality. Belonging Nevertheless, one of the reasons why children join gangs is because they want to feel that they “belong” – never mind if belonging means hooking-up with a group of boys or girls known for their violent or destructive behavior. With a gang, they begin to form their identities albeit negatively. Dislike for Authority Figures Kids also do not like adults “meddling” with their lives. This being said, another factor that attracts them to gangs is that they hold a common dislike for being told what to do all the time. As a matter of fact, they feel that they can relate more to gangs because they share the same angst about life – about parents, school, teachers and every other authoritative figure in their lives. Seeking Approval Kids want approval and oftentimes, they feel they don’t get this from their parents because they see parents’ reminders about doing well in school, extra-curricular activities and pretty much everything else that concerns them as signs of disapproval. When the kids join gangs, they feel that they are finally getting the approval that they seek. Members will often not only tolerate one another’s negative behavior but worse than this, they egg each other on to keep doing what they’re doing with nary a thought to the dire consequences that they will have to face sooner or later.
Negative behavior does not only entail violence or bullying, perhaps worse than this is substance abuse. Abuse of alcohol and prohibited drugs are often at the core of gang memberships. References: http://www.whyguides.com/why-do-people-join-gangs.html http://www.whyguides.com/reasons-why-children-join-gangs.html