Discussion Question

Please respond to the following:

  • Identify at least three specific attributes that lead to gang violence within a community. 
    • Next, discuss how these attributes might have an impact on the gangs of a community. Provide support for your response.
  • Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts.

Response

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Hello Professor Camero and Classmates,

During this week’s reading from the textbook, I was able to identify three attributes that lead to gang violence within a community. Although there are more than just three attributes that lead to gang violence the attributes I found that stuck out most to me were; drugs migrated gang members and immigration.

When it comes to drugs concerning gang violence police believe the expansion of illegal drug markets has increased the existence of gangs in communities because the distribution of illegal drugs offers incentives for the creation of new gangs and promotes the development of widespread networks of drug trafficking gangs within these communities. Migration, when it comes to gang violence is due to the exhaustion of the drug markets or faced violent competition from other drug-dealing gangs in a well-known community where gang violence is prevalent. When it comes to competition this motivates the gang members to then migrate into communities that have not previously had problems with gang violence or gang members in smaller communities; for example communities in the country and outside city limits. Although, I did also read that some researchers disagree with gang member migration and they believe the spread of gang violence in suburban communities is the result of the development of loosely organized cliques of age-graded neighborhood adolescents who are growing up in areas characterized by declining economic conditions and growing poverty. Lastly, I believe the increase in immigration is an attribute of gang violence within communities. According to the textbook throughout the past 40 years, immigration has brought in many waves of immigrants who are Asian, Southeast Asian, and Latin American. From these immigrants that came into the United States, their children within many communities then have formed gangs in the tradition of Irish, Jewish, and Slavic Immigrant groups during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

Nicole Bottomly