The Sociological Concept of Gangs

Abstract

This paper discusses the sociological concept of gangs. It defines the term gangs and differentiates the concept of gang from normal bunch of peers. The paper focuses on the reasons why adolescents involve themselves into behaviors like gang involvement. The question remains why they act in such a way and what are the possible ways to avoid youngsters to be involved in gang associations. A number of research papers and peer reviews are analyzed to explore the idea. The paper also discusses the types of threats that the individuals of gangs can have on the society as a whole. The old concepts of the formation of gangs have been challenged and a new concept of emergence of gangs is discussed in detail. The role of parents and families is discussed as an important part of upbringing of individuals. The possible measures that can be taken to avoid such behaviors are also discussed.

Key Words: Gangs, Peers, Family, Society, Criminal issue, adolescent.

Introduction4

Overview of Gangs5

A criminological issue5

Role of Family and Rituals6

Possible Reasons7

Ways Avoid or Eliminate gang formation7

Conclusion8

References9

The Sociological Concept of Gangs

Introduction

There has been a long controversy in defining a gang. To understand the sociological concept of gang, it is very important to consider in what terms this word is being used. A simple group of teenagers that we see in our daily life are also sometimes called as gang but they are just a group of kids, not a gang. To have a better understanding of gangs, it is necessary to differentiate the phenomenon of a bunch of kids and fully fledged gang.

There is a very silver line between the point where the innocent peer group ends and the concept of gang begins. This gives a rise to the controversy of 'at what point of time they should be called a gang.' Different researchers, like Hagedorn (1998), have accepted to define the term ganging as 'a normal peer activity of juveniles within a range of behaviors that can be from conventional to rough' (Hagedorn, 1998, pp. 366-368).

In this context, it is important to recognize that this Sociological Concept of Gangs has become important to the society. The young generation is the one that will determine the future of the country. They are small kids who are somehow involved in this act. There can be many reasons for them to join this group. There have been many researches for answering these questions, however very few researches have been able to provide quite a good concept (Wattenberg & Balistrieri, 1950, pp. 744-752).

Overview of Gangs

According to Hagedorn (1998), for some researchers, only those peer groups are termed as gangs who are involved in any kind of criminal activity, for others, it is not the only distinction to call them a gang. However, the trend has shown that most of the peers involved in any gang are mainly male youths. These members of gang do perform illegal, wild and offending activities which are socially unacceptable to the ...