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A study conducted by the best writing services shows that the membership in a gang influences one’s perception of disorder and fear. That is, individuals tend to commit more and serious crimes when they are members of a gang than when they are alone. However, gang membership as a single factor may not have an adverse effect on juvenile arrest. Apart from mere gang membership, issues such as race and socio-economic status have also contributed to juvenile delinquency. The blacks face more youth arrests compared to whites. It is also clear that the youths from poor neighborhoods are more prone to engage in criminal activities than those from higher social levels. Thus, juvenile arrests can not solely be attributed to gang membership.
To a given extent, it is true that gang membership contributes to delinquent behavior of an individual. This relationship is possible by means of selection, facilitation and enhancement. Through selection, the record of the individual in the past, present, and future determines the criminal behavior and not mere membership in a gang. Thus, an individual may influence others in the gang. Secondly, facilitation may trigger the criminal activities based on the features of the gang itself. For example, in the case of the structure of the gang, more organized and established gangs are more prone to committing many crimes. The rivalry among the gang members is also another key issue. Some of them may quit their felonious activities due to rivalries. This reduces the rate of crime as well as that of juvenile arrest. Finally, the cohesion of the gang members can also determine the delinquency levels. It is definite that crimes are expected to increase in a case of a united gang membership.
Thirdly, enhancement amalgamates the effect of both facilitation and selection. It is believed that the traits of each member significantly affect the crime level of the group. In addition, there is an increase in criminal activities during gang membership as a result of facilitation compared with youths who do not belong to any gang. Thus, the gang group attracts other recruits who incline towards delinquencies resulting in higher offending rates and, consequently, juvenile arrest. The gang institutionalization has also resulted in self reported crimes which are independent of the peer influence crimes. Gang membership makes an individual more suspicious and visible to the eye of the patrol police. This is due to the frequency of the collision of the police and the gang. The police actually get to know the existing gangs when making their patrols and eventually hunt these gang members down for a possible arrest.
Gangs who have an organized structure commit serious offences, which increases their rate of arrest. This is because, organized gang have a greater influence on achieving both the group goal and the individual goals. Furthermore, gang membership usually dictates the rules of behavior to individuals. That is, an individual will act according to the norms established by the group for fear of being expelled. The group activities of the gang will definitely increase the rate of crimes at an individual level. Finally, the composition of the gang members in each group will determine the type of offences committed. As a rule, gang groups which have members with a history of a criminal lifestyle cause serious damage; consequently, the arrest rates rise.
The adolescents who are members of a gang tend to commit more violent offences than their non-members counterparts. In general, the number of crime cases committed by juveniles who are gang members is considerably higher compared to number of those committed by individuals who are not in the gang institutions. Furthermore, the effect of gang membership is something that lasts even after a person leaves the gang. It is indicated that an individual continues to be a criminal even after denouncing his/her membership to a gang. Despite the fact that the rate of criminal activities goes down, the person may still commit severe offences. Though older members of the gangs do commit more serious crimes than the younger ones, they have learnt the tactics of being in the gang and how to escape the punishment. This means that they are not easily arrested like their juvenile counterparts. Furthermore, the younger members are always sent on the frontlines of the offences, which results in more arrests of the tender aged members.
The fact that gang members are involved in a risky lifestyle increases their rate of victimization. Also, the mere rivalry between gangs or establishment of territories always result in shootings and thus their arrests. Though gang membership tends to protect their colleagues from simple crimes, it also increases their involvement in serious offenses. That is, as the members are assured of the security provided, they will not fear to commit the deadly crimes which eventually increase the probability of their arrest. Moreover, the initiation process of new members into the gang also poses greater risk of arrest.
Though gang membership is largely responsible for the increase in juvenile arrests, there are other factors that contribute to it. As much as membership in a gang should arouse the suspicion of the police, the risk of arrest is limited. The police focus on areas of racial minorities, and youth in these neighborhoods become their major targets. Furthermore, the police share the belief that such localities are more prompt to crime and they organize their patrol taking into account class and racial factors. Studies have shown that, in the U.S., blacks encounter more arrests than whites due to rigorous patrol in their neighborhood. More patrol units are always assigned to areas inhabited by blacks compared to places populated by whites. This suggests that blacks are more hostile compared to whites. This prejudice can produce resentment among the blacks which may lead to delinquent behavior thus increasing the chances of arrest.
The socio-economic status of the victims also influences the level of juvenile detention. Poverty or poor master status increases the chances of the arrest. The police have further developed a stereotype to identify the status of the criminal as poor and discreditable. Due to the fact that the police can access the private space, the activities of the poor class becomes injudiciously observable. The youths belonging to the high social class are less likely to be arrested than the members of the low class. In reaction to the extreme scrutiny from the police, the gangs may team up, thus increasing the risk of the groups. The police also use their power of discernment more regularly in arresting the blacks than the whites.
When gang membership and the social status are considered concurrently, it is realized that the frequency of arrests among individuals of low socio-economic status may reduce. Hence the gang youths are able to commit serious offences as the police will be less harsh on them with the intention of obtaining information. In addition, high social class level gang youths like spending their time in lower class neighborhoods regardless of where they live. Since they are out of place, the police may come into contact with them thus increasing the probability of their arrest. Thus, the low class youths face more juvenile arrests than the individuals belonging to high class.
In conclusion, it is evident that gang membership is not solely responsible for the increase in juvenile arrests. Other factors such as one’s economic and social status, race and age are also partly responsible for this trend. Gang membership has been explored in three different forms of juvenile delinquent behavior: selection, facilitation, and enhancement. It is now evident that the youths in these organizations are more violent and commit more crimes. This is what leads to the increased risk of their arrest compared to non-gang youths. However, it is also clear that black youths are at a higher risk of juvenile arrests than the whites. In addition, the adolescents have also proved to be a notorious social group, which facilitates their arrests. Similarly, the youth of low social background face more arrests than their counterparts who are high class members.
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