Female Gang Involvement

Female Gang Involvement

Introduction

Confronting Gangs: Crime and Community is a very comprehensive and wide ranging textbook on the subject of gang responses, gang policy, and gang research. This book offers an unbiased and complete evaluation of the traits of the gang members and their behavior. Thus, in this paper we will write a critique on the major findings and concepts presented in this book,

Discussion

The book Confronting Gangs: Crime and Community written by David Curry and Scott Decker explains that criminologists are all the time more exploring the extent and nature of gangs in the U.S., particularly the gang activities among females. According to the National Youth Gang Survey carried out in the year 2004, gangs, their members, and the homicides related to gangs primarily focused on big cities with huge populations, even though, in rural areas one in 8 law enforcement organizations report gang issues. Global interest in the issue is also rising. Due to terrorism and violence, global relocation, and an overabundance of technological progressions, there is now a better insight of gangs from both global and American perspectives.

Critical Analysis

The prevalence of males in gangs must not sidetrack from mounting the research on the presence of females in gangs. By means of a noticeable rise in female gang participation, their traits and experiences is worthy of more cautious investigation not only in the U.S. but all over the world, particularly in nearby Mexico.

The United States Census of 2000 revealed that Hispanics as the biggest minority group in the country, exceeding African Americans. In particular, from the year 1991 to 2000 the population of Mexican Americans rose by 59 percent and formed over 62 percent of all Hispanics, with major and extensive increase in the Mexican population expected to augment in the 21st century, provided high fertility rates and incessant migration from Mexico.

The book also discusses the fact that people can better recognize the comprehensive nature of gang expansion by concentrating on the particular scenario of the presence of Mexican American women in gangs, together with initiation, recruitment, membership standard, roles, organizational structure, delinquency and major gang-related activities.

Moreover, the gangs are predominately found in the metropolitan areas of a city; however, they do work in rural and suburban areas of a city as well. Thus, studies and researches have revealed that gang members are mostly over 18 years of age and are males, with females accounting for just about ten percent of gang association countrywide. Even though the media depicts an observation that female gang activities and membership are increasing, the United States Department of Justice has reported that this is not true. On the other hand, a report published in 2009 explains that female entrance into gangs which are dominated by males has burgeoned.

Research has time after time supported preceding sexual abuse as a reason to strong forward planner of female wrong doings. Given this truth it is not shocking that researchers have discovered that sexual abuse in the childhood is a conduit for female start into young ...