Assignment: Gangs and Delinquency
Delinquency, from the sociological perspective, can be considered as "an offence or misdeed, usually of minor nature, especially one committed by a young person". The term "gang", from the perspective of criminology can be defined as "a group of criminals or hoodlums who band together for mutual protection and profit. The primary reason behind selecting the topic, the relationship between gangs and delinquency, is that, gangs and gang members influence youths to defy law and order and allure them with a wrong means of authority and the consequence of such influences is the rise in the number of delinquents which in turn is break down the social environment of the United States. Gaining more knowledge about the cause and effects of delinquency is an important one and so, this topic must be analyzed thoroughly.
Outline:
Gangs and delinquency are related because the negative influence of gang members and their criminal supremacy in the society influences youths and turn them into deviants and delinquents.
1. Peer group relationships always play an important role in giving rise to delinquent behaviors.
a. Gangs are primary sources of negative peer pressures as criminals tend to influence and corrupt law abiding youths and youths having proneness to defy laws, and turn them into delinquents.
b. Youths who monger power and authority thinks it right to join gangs as gang members have negatively gained powers over the other members of the society.
c. Youth who are crime-prone tends to get easily influenced by gangs and they are more prone to become future gang members and delinquents.
d. Youths with antisocial bend of mind seek like-minded peers and gangs provide them with ample chances for them to meet such people.
2. Gangs promote delinquency by infusing delinquent mentality within their members and by protecting them through forming a distinct criminal organization with an identifiable leadership, division of labor, rules, rituals, and possessions.
a. Gang members often promote delinquency by establishing commitment among their young members towards criminal activities.
b. Gangs provide security to delinquents and thereby, encourage them to carry on with their negative behaviors without providing any scope for them to become social and mentally positive.
c. Cohesion among like-minded peers play an important role in encouraging a particular behavior among all the group members and gangs through this element of cohesion strongly establishes criminal behaviors and delinquent mentality among their young group members.
d. Gangs contribute to the growth in the rates of delinquents because primarily, they appeal to the longing of the adolescent's for gaining raw and unchecked power and secondarily because "gangs are a natural response to lower-class life".
3. Conclusion: Gangs and gang members influence youths to defy law and order and allure them with a wrong means of authority and the consequence of such influences is the rise in the number of delinquents which in turn is deteriorating the social environment of the United States. It is a fact that Gangs and delinquency are related because the negative influence of gang members and their criminal supremacy in the society influences youths and turn them into deviants and delinquents.