Bloods (Gang)

Introduction

Gang violence is a problem in every major city in the United States and membership is on the rise. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members. While gangs are less prevalent in rural areas, in major cities, gang violence is responsible for roughly half of all homicides.  Gangs are also becoming more savvy, using computers and other technology to commit crimes

Thesis Statement

The American people are tired of being terrorized. Its not only about Al Qaida, Osama, or Hezbollah. Its about all the different violent gangs. They call themselves Desperados, Crips, Posse Cometatus, Bloods, Skinheads, Locos, Hoovers, the Aryan Brotherhood, Hells Angels, El Rukns, Jamaican Lords, Asian Mafia, Latin Kings, Mexican Mafia, and thousands of other names. Estimates are that there are over 500,000 of young people in at least 16,000 separate gangs that commit over 600,000 crimes each year (Frederick , 19).

Social and developmental psychologists are interested in why people join gangs. Understanding why is the key to developing programs to discourage gang membership and suppress gang activity.

What is a gang and how long they been around?

Children who engage in these behaviors usually do poorly in school and are bullies. Other children and teachers reject them and the bullies join together to form gangs, or are recruited to be gang members. Joining a gang fulfills a basic human need to belong to a group. Many gang members are from single-parent homes, many not even living with either biological parent. Most gang members live in communities where gangs are rampant. So joining a gang gives them a circle of friends, identifies them with power in the community, and often is the family that they don't have. The thing that makes gang membership so enticing also makes it the most dangerous. Nothing is more sacred than loyalty to the gang and gang honor. Retribution for disloyalty or disobeying a leader's order is usually swift and certain death. On the other hand, gang membership can provide protection, respect, and a sense of acceptance and belonging that members never felt at home or in the community. Further, if the gang is involved in drug trafficking, gang membership provides "employment" and income (Frederick , 29).

They know who they are. They threaten our elderly, sell drugs to our children, assault total strangers, rob and burglarize businesses and individuals. They make sure that there is no rehabilitation going on in our prisons, only punishment. They commit murder for the smallest of slights, to make a reputation for themselves, or simply because they like to. They kill children, women, men, mothers, fathers, each other, and each others' families. They molest our youth in heinous ways. In short, they terrorize Americans in such a way that Osama could only dream of. There were over 15,000 murders in 2000, as there will be again this year. Of course that isn't as many as the 60,000 forcible rapes, and no they ...