Deviant gangs in America
Criminal gangs refer to organizations, groups or associations which consist of three or four members who engage in criminal activities. Gangs in most cases have identities which can be used to easily identify them such as similar names, common signs and symbols, particular dress code, specific language which can only be understood by members, similar rules and guidelines which the members are supposed to adhere to.
America just like most countries is faced with the problem of gangs who engage in unacceptable behavior which is in most cases of criminal nature. For example, most gangs are engaged in drug trafficking, robbery with violence, murder, witness intimidation, assassinations, and assault, among others. Gangs have existed for a long time in America and thus have a deep rooted history which is mostly why getting rid of them has not been very successful so far. The only difference is that in present, they pose greater threat to the society and therefore the need to continue the fight against them. In America, the emergence of gangs can be mapped out from the period when there was a great influx of Europeans into the country. These Europeans moved to the East Coast in the quest of a better life for themselves and their families. When they got there things turned out to be different from what they expected as they exhausted their savings quickly forcing them to borrow funds in the form of loans from various institutions which charged them very high interest rates. To most this kind of life was unbearable and many died as a direct result of poverty and diseases. This led to many children being orphaned, with no one tom look out for them in America and no funds to cater for their travel expenses back home. Around the mid 1700s, most of these children were placed in church managed orphanages in different cities as opposed to finding alternative homes for them. The conditions under which such children lived in these orphanages were mostly dreadful as they were not governed by any rules or principles. Even the apprenticeship programs that were put in place at the time did little to help salvage the situation as those who were charged with the duty of taking care and offering guidance to the children did not to so thereby making juvenile delinquency inevitable. The teenagers and children mostly roamed the streets in most cases stealing clothes and food as well as engaging in mischievous behavior. At this point in time, the groups of youth were considered to be mostly a nuisance as opposed to being violent groups which brought fear to members of the society. But with time this changed and crime rates started soaring.
Due to the burden that these people experienced, there emerged gangs, mostly in coastal cities which engaged themselves in activities such as burglary and smuggling. Adult gangs such as the Doane Gang also cropped up. In 1971, gangs were such a major problem that city officials held meetings to discuss how to rid their cities off them as they were already engaging themselves in organized criminal activities. The social divisions that emerged in the 1800s caused the continued growth of gang grouping into different age groups mostly comprising of people from a similar race and cultural background. With time other gangs also cropped up such as the forty thieves, the little forty thieves, the plug uglies and the dead rabbits among others.
This trend has continued even today, leading to the emergence of even more severe gangs who engage in ruthless crimes. Miami-Florida is no exception to this kind of thing as it also harbors some of Americas most dangerous gangs such as the Latin Kings, the Crips, the Bloods, the Gangster Disciples and the Insane Gangster Disciples. Due to the presence of these gangs, gang related crimes are on the rise. Most of these gangs are formed on the basis of shared interests, loyalty to city members or neighborhoods and streets. Despite the fact that most of the gangs have loose structures and carry out their activities in specified locations, they tend to cause a lot of trouble with their violent streaks and rivalries with other gangs. The following are some of the gangs which can be found in Miami-Florida. (Scaramouche, 2008)
Latin Kings
The Latin Kings refers to a gang whose existence dates back to the 1940s leading up to the present. It is mostly associated with Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Mexicans and has its branches in various states of the United States of America, Spain and Canada with a very large following. It engages in criminal activities such as assault, assassination, drug trafficking, document falsification, witness intimidation especially for those who intend to testify against them after observing their involvement in specific crimes as well as murder, especially of rival gang members. Their allies include the Bloods and People Nation while their foes include the Crips and Folk Nation. The gang has a very large following in the United States. At the beginning the Latin Kings was a male gang but later started integrating women into the gang forming their sister gang the Latin Queens. Despite their affiliation, the Latin Queens has a more positive approach which includes supporting their families, empowering themselves, respecting themselves as well as working towards their own independence. Initially the Latin Kings was a self defense group meant to defend and bring together the members of their community as they struggled in their fight against the oppression, racism and discrimination they experienced.
With time this changed as they lost sight of their original agenda making them one of the most notorious criminal gangs found in America. Members of their gang involved themselves in criminal activities with violence becoming one of their most recognizable features. The Latino Kings are organized into a hierarchal form of structure with different chapters spread across different states, each accountable to a regional officer referred to as an Inca. The overall heads of the criminal associations are known as Coronas which is Spanish for crowns. Just like for any other gang, they have symbols which distinguish them from the rest of the gangs and people alike. Their tattoos are drawn in the shape of a crowned lion with other gang signs of a three or five point crown with their initials or words spelled in full such as ALKN and ALKQN. The Latin Kings and Queens alike are expected to adhere to the values of Kingism which portray their aspiration to boost the status of their people from societal oppression to the status that is commonly associated with Kings and Queens. Their guidelines are contained in the King ManifestoConstitution. In order for one to become a member of this gang, they must undergo a series of three stages, namely the primitive stage, the conservative stage and finally the new king stage
The Latin Kings derived their title of the most feared gang due to their reputation of killing the states correctional officers, disobedient members and violence against enemy gangs. Such acts require tremendous discipline as well as structured fear which is generated among gang members. For example in 1989, one of the leaders of the Latin Kings Colon Gino ordered the killing of a Statesville correctional officer by the name Lawrence Kush. The officer used to conduct searches in inmates cells to check for weapons, money and drugs which the gang members said was getting in the way of their drug business operations within the prison. (Knox, 2000) Over time there have been more documented crimes said to have been committed by the Latin Kings gang and most of them have been prosecuted and sent to jail while others have managed to escape the Law. This has however not deterred the gang from committing even more crimes. In order to conceal their illegal business operations from the Public and Law enforcement agencies, the Latin Kings have been known to use cover businesses such as garages, pool halls, car washes, restaurants, video stores among others. These make good covers for activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking and as such the gangs make a lot of money which they use to enrich themselves and also hire lawyers when they get into trouble (Knox, 2000).
Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13)
Another gang that has members in Miami is the MS 13. It has its roots in Los Angeles since the 1990s and over time has spread to other parts of Canada and the United States. Gang membership is mostly as a result of ethnic affiliation to the Latinos and as such engages people from Nicaragua and Honduras and Guatemala. It is mostly involved in the smuggling of arms, drug trafficking, carjacking, contract killings, extortion and smuggling people into the United States. The gang was initially created to protect its members from other gangs which were already well established but later this paved way to other activities which were mostly crime related. One of the most recognizable crimes by this gang was the execution of civilian passengers in an intercity bus in 2004 as a protest act against a proposition by the Honduran government to reinstate the death penalty. The bus was sprayed with bullets and later a gunman went in and executed the rest of those who were on board. The symbols used by this gang are in form of tattoos which mostly have initials of the gang name and that of the sub group the members belong to. They make signs with their hands as a way of identifying themselves and communicating with other members.
The Crips and the Bloods
These two gangs have been established in Miami as well as other cities in America. They are mostly affiliated with the African American community. These two gangs have been great rivals since their formation and have engaged in criminal activities both against each other and against other members of the society.
Gang related crimes have become such a menace to society and especially to law abiding citizens that the State of Florida has come up with a legislative solution that seeks to ensure that public order was maintained, to take action against crimes committed by gangs in order to ensure that crime rates reduce and to increase the penalties and sentences of those found guilty of engaging in criminal gang related activities. Floridas Attorney General also came up with a strategy in 2008 that was meant to reduce the number of gangs in the state. The establishment of the Security Intelligence Threat Intelligence Unit is also a positive step towards the fight against gangs and their related criminal activities (Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness, 2009).
Despite all the efforts that are being made by different stakeholders to create awareness on gangs and how to deal with the members of such gangs, they continue to thrive in different cities in the United States while at the same time being a menace to the society through their engagement in deviant behavior. This leads many people to ask questions such as why gangs are formed in the first place and what prompts people to join gangs and engage in behavior that is considered against both legislative law as well as social principles.
Why Gangs are created
Gangs have been known to crop up due to various reasons, some of which seem to be reasonable at first but later change into feared groups which engage in violent activities that go against societal norms as we know them. Most people who join gangs do so mostly when they are in their youth. This age in ones life is accompanied by a lot of rebellion especially towards authority and authority figures as well as experimentation with different behaviors that one is usually warned against such as drug intake and what seems to be harmless crimes at first. Different gangs recruit their members based on different issues and as such there are diverse reasons as to why gangs emerge and why people affiliate themselves with one gang and not the other. The most common reasons associated with gang development and maintenance can be grouped into structural factors and psychological factors.
Structural factors have to do with class structures mostly those from lower classes and minorities who feel that they are being oppressed as compared to other members of the society. Most young people fall into these categories as they are not working and if they do work most of the time they feel as though they are being exploited as what they make is not enough to cater for their needs. Most gangs provide a way out as they offer ways for such people to make a living without necessarily following the correct and legal channels. For example, drug trafficking offers an easy way of making money and as such gangs may be formed to traffic drugs in order to make quick cash and in effect rise in the ladder of class structures. The fact that selling drugs is against social norms and the law is not seen as a problem especially by those who chose to engage in such activities.
Psychological factors that have mostly been associated with the formation of gangs include
The need by a member of the society to acquire a certain social status and such status at times can result from ones affiliation to a certain gang.
Most people who join gangs and participate in gang related activities acquire a sense of belonging and identity by affiliation. This is mostly the case by the young people who lack individual identity and a sense of self-esteem and for them it does not matter if acquisition results from engaging in deviant behavior.
With this in mind, it is fair to say that when people who have such issues come together, they will find a way of making themselves better through engaging in wrongful acts as long as it gets them recognition. This is why in most cases you will find people with common characters, backgrounds, way of thinking and incapacities in given gangs. Once such gangs are formed, their growth and maintenance are determined by other factors such as opposing institutions like churches, law enforcement agencies and the like which attack them and as such increase gang cohesiveness. Such institutions tend to force gang members to do what is morally or legally right and the gang members act in defiance of these rules. The idea of gang members that things will not improve for them also makes them act against stipulated societal norms. (Roper, 2004)
What makes individuals decide to join gangs
Different individuals get into gangs because of a variety of explanations some of which include
Protection
Most people join gangs in order to get protection especially in areas where law enforcement agencies have failed to accord the necessary protection to the community. If one does not belong to such gangs then there is a greater chance of their life being in danger, especially from those who are already in gangs as well as members of other gangs. Gangs also offer a sense of security to their members and also provide some sort of family for those who do not have real families.
Peer Influence
People and more often the young people join gangs as a result of the influence of friend so that they can fit in with the crowd and not feel left out. The thought that ones friends expect them to join gangs may also lead one into believing that they should join gangs. Being in gangs also makes one popular. What most people do not realize is that it only makes one popular among the gang members and not other outsiders.
Economic Reasons
People also join gangs in order to enrich themselves economically as the gangs provide platforms through which they can make money quickly but forgetting that it is in an illegal way and also portrays deviance from the expected norms of the society. For example, the smuggling and sale of illegal arms and drugs enable one to earn a lot of money in a short time.
Experimentation an Easy Access
Most young people join gangs as they experiment with different forms of lifestyles and eventually find themselves unable to leave. Gangs also provide easy access to drugs and alcohol which is otherwise not easily accessible as their consumption is regarded as being wrong by most members of the society.
Other reasons
Other people join gangs just for the sake of it as they do not have other activities that can keep them busy and as such gangs provide them with a more thrilling way of passing time. It is also possible that people join gangs as a way of rebelling against the society. In every society, people are expected to behave in a certain manner and not to engage in certain behaviors and gangs offers an avenue for people to go against these expectations.
Conclusion
Gang members always engage themselves in deviant social behavior despite the reason behind the formation of the gangs. The continued threat to the society that gang presence brings with it has led to different reactions by different members of the society as well as different institutions. Social institutions and groups have been formed to create awareness among the society and to offer other ways out especially for teenagers so as to prevent them from being lured into joining gangs. Law enforcement agencies have also come up with special units that are created for the sole purpose of dealing with gang related crimes and activities so as to ensure that the dangers they cause are greatly reduced. The legislature has also come up with more severe sentences for those found to have been involved in gang related crimes. The continued persistence of gangs in the different states of America should be taken as a sign that more needs to be done in order to bring about more positive results as far as dealing with gangs and their engagement in deviant behavior is concerned. People should also be made aware of the negative effects of joining gangs and the danger this causes to them as members of the community in a bid to prevent them from joining gangs in the first place as it is easier to discourage people from joining them as opposed to dealing with the issue after they have become members. For example, youths should be provided with alternative ways of passing time as well as more viable opportunities of making money to stop them from joining gangs for the wrong reasons. This does not however mean that there are right reasons for joining gangs. Gangs are dangerous and a menace to society and should thus be avoided at all costs.
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