Slausons Gang

Gangs have been a growing issue across the United States for many decades now. Youth gang violence may have started around the ‘50s, but did not become a serious issue until the ‘80s and from there went through a downward spiral in some cities like downtown Los Angeles, which was where the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs both started. First, let’s simply define a gang as a group of people, mostly men ranging for ages 14-30, who claim territory and use it to make money for themselves and their neighborhood through illegal activities such as trafficking drugs and weapons. There are many reasons and components that are factored in when conducting research to hypothesize “why do people join gangs?” That is why it is necessary to compare and contrast all the social, biological, psychological, developmental, and substance abuse aspects and relate it to joining a gang. It is also important to touch base on the differences between males and females that join gangs, such as power differentials, social learning differences and social stratification differences.

When individuals decided to get involve in those type of activities many of them do it for specific reasons. For example, people join gang for acceptance, protection, and some are forced into it, because of their family are gang affiliated. Gangs partake endlessly in finding different method for individuals to more effectively get the things they want, particularly power. Therefore, people that are easily influenced tends to gravitate toward gang activities for recognition in the community. According to Goldman, Giles, & Hogg (2014), “Gang members’ actions impact other gang members as well as the wider community; everyone is at risk of being a victim of gang violence” (p. 825). Gang violence goes further than racial issue, but it more intensely touches African American and Latino communities.

Gang involvement and its associated violent crime have become a rapidly growing problem for the United States. Generally, gangs consist of young people of the same ethnic, racial, and economic background. Usually of a low socio-economic status, these gangs engage in illegal money making activities and intimidate their neighborhoods and rival gangs with violent crimes and victimization. Gang members exemplify a high value for group loyalty and sacrifice.

Gangs originated naturally during the adolescent years of a child. They started from small play groups that eventually found themselves in conflict with other small groups of youth. Due to the conflict between the two small groups of youth it became a part of a child’s mind set to come together as a gang and protect their rights and satisfy the needs that their environment and families couldn’t provide. There are about 24,500 gangs in the U.S and out of those gangs 40% of them are juveniles (Hess, Orthmann, Wright, 2013). There are numerous reason why a child would join a gang, and the

Qualitative descriptions suggest that, for many, gang membership represents 104 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2005an opportunity to enhance social capital as a means to cope with a multitude of problems. Although on balance gang life appears to be neither very rewarding nor satisfying (Hagedorn, 1988), identification with the gang is solidified in response to conflict—often with other gangs—as members pursue their individual and collective interests.

Alleyne, Emma & Wood, Jane L., (2011). Gang Involvement: Social and Environment Factors. Crime and Delinquency 60 (4) 547-568.

The most commonly known gang in the area are the Bloods. According to many of the detectives in the office, they are the most vicious and most violent gangs they have ever encountered. State versus Gillens and Mercer are one of those encounters. The Bloods, or the United Blood Nation, was developed around 1972. The Crips were dominating the streets of L.A. and were battling with multiple street gangs. After a rumble with the street gang Pirus and murdering an L.A. Brim, the street gangs had enough of the Crip’s intimidation. They decided to unite all the street gangs which consisted of the Piru Street Boys in Compton, L.A. Brim, the Pueblos, the Bishops, Athens Park Boys, and the Denver Lanes. Soon enough they called their new gang the Bloods and took on the color red to show their opposition against the Crips (Savelli, 2002). In 1993, the Bloods made their way over to the East Coast and developed within the New York City jail system on Riker’s Island George Mochen Detention Center. It was formed as a means of protection for African American inmates from the Latin Kings (Savelli, 2002). Soon enough, the East Coast Bloods flooded out of the jail system and onto the streets of New York and New Jersey.

While most of these so-called small “groups” can usually be found hanging out around the blocks of southern Philadelphia. Even though they are not as well known as other gangs such as the ”Bloods” and the “Crips”, but they are just as dangerous. They are carrying guns and committing the same criminal acts as the other well-known gangs do.

“Gangs have morphed from social organizations into full-fledged criminal enterprises” (Thomas, 2009, para 5). Gangs are highly sophisticated and more dangerous then ever. The number one reason to join a gang is money; and 95 percent of gangs profit comes from drug dealing

“Look then, if you dare, at South Central through the eyes of one of its most notorious Ghetto Stars and the architect of its most ghastly gang army- the Crips” (Scott 1993:xv). Sanyika Shakura, birth name Kody Scott, explains to his readers the violence, attitudes, and brutality he experienced first hand in the 1980s when he joined a gang called The Crips at age eleven. According to Kontos and Brotherton (2008), writers of The Encyclopedia of Gangs, define the name Crip as “the combination of the word crib and the acronym R.I.P. that denotes the intergenerational nature of the gang and membership from birth to death (Sloan, 2005)” (p. 43-44). Shakura, referred to as Scott throughout this piece, walks us

The 1960’s or 1970’s is when gangs were originated. Gangs became a formation of protection against racial crimes being committed by whites. There were quite a few popular gangs such as the Slausons,

They were heavily involved in the making and selling of cocaine. March 11, 1979 was a terrible day for the Crips, its where they collapsed. Tookie Williams one out of two of the first leaders of the Crips got arrested for drugs and the murders of four others. He was sentenced to lethal execution in San Quentin Prison, one of the scariest prisons in the world. He died December 13, 2005. About five months after Williams was arrested on August 8, 1979 Raymond Washington was killed in a drive by shooting. Once Stanley Williams and Raymond Washington were both out of the picture chaos struck the Crips, and it struck hard. Almost all of the 45 sets were at war with each other. For the Crips nothing was going right, not only was there chaos within the gang but outside the Bloods, their biggest rival gang was on the rise. Crips started dieing not only from other members but also the other gangs. The other gangs saw this chaos as a chance to strike and took it. By 1980 the Bloods had become bigger and bloodier. The chaos started to lower when cocaine hit the streets. This gave the sets something to agree upon and helped them start to grow again. When they kept selling more and more cocaine they were able to put more money into expanding across the United States. The money also helped them invest in more weapons and members. Therefore the Crips were grooving again and also started to regain many

“According to statistics from the National Youth Gang Center, more than 24,500 gangs, consisting of more than 770,000 members, exist in about 3,300 cities in the U.S.” (Rank 1). Although it is not illegal to be a member of a gang, it should be noted many gangs participate in illegal activity for funding and will use the money as a way to entice new membership. The “money begins flowing, and with that comes all of the things associated with material wealth that is usually beyond the reach of these adolescents without the criminal activity of being involved in a gang” (Nawojczyk 3).

The sociological analysis of gang membership explores the different types of effects that arise due to criminal involvement. Because of the social conflicts that are associated with gang membership, this paper will explore the different theories of social learning and both personal and control issues that relate to the recent surge in crime across Chicago. As we open the doors of a crime ridden society, the truth begins to unfold. It isn’t just the thought of helping, it is the action that remains the barrier between living a life of crime or a life that carries hope.

The look and study of street gangs have been shifting over the past 4-5 decades due to changes in the tactics taken by sociologists. There were many books written about these gangs including “The Gang” , by Thrasher, which was recognized as one of the first or if not the first gang related to sociological views. People ask questions such as, “Why do people join these gangs and why do most of them end up causing havoc and violence within a city.” This is a question a normal person that isn’t looking at these people as subjects due for change but rather people who aren’t “normal”. Sociologists look at these people and ask questions like, “Where do they live? Who are they friends with? How and why did their social practices and cultural values change?” These are questions a sociologist would ask simply because there are many factors which come out when determining the choices of deviance within a person.