The Notorious

     Across the country within schools there are vast amounts of gang activity that affect our juveniles. Our young juveniles are being drawn in at a young age, they are targeted because they're so easily influenced in order to find ways to fit in. Scott H. Decker and Barrik Van Winkle view joining youth gangs as "consisting of both pulls and pushes. Pulls pertain to the attractiveness of the gang. Gang membership can enhance prestige or status among friends, especially girls (for boys), and provide opportunities to be with them. Gangs provide other attractive opportunities such as the chance for excitement by selling drugs and making money.

    A gang is defined by Julia Dunn of Stanford as "an interstitial group, originally formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict; it is characterized by the following types of behavior: meeting face to face, milling, movement through space as a unit, conflict, and planning. The result of this collective behavior is the development of tradition, an unreflected internal structure, solidarity, morale, group awareness, and attachment to a local territory" Within America the most noticeable and the most thought about gangs are the famous Bloods and Crips. These gangs identify themselves with the colors red and blue. Blood which identifies with the color red while the Crips identify themselves with the color blue. These two affiliations have been the most notorious rival street gangs within the United States.

     

    Many gangs would continue to follow their way, growing just as large as the Bloods and the Crips, but rather hard to gain the reputation that these two have created for themselves. The newer gangs may even be factions or branches of one of these popular gangs that make them affiliated while still "reppin" the set of a Blood or a Crip. For example, the Piru is a linked gang to the Bloods, but instead of wearing a pure red, they wear more of a burgundy colored shade. A good example of their paraphernalia is a a throwback Philadelphia Phillies hat which is all burgundy and has a capitol P on the front of it standing for Piru. 

    After an interview I had with my cousin Ben Castiglioni, who is the head of the Juvenile Probation Gang Unit in Berks County informed me that the bloods are the only well known gang that has this sort of satellite system of gangs that operate within one another. The Crips or the popular Latin Kings do not have this type of operation. I believe this is why the Bloods are so continuously well know and are an ever growing gang. 

   African American gangs formed in California during the 1920s. They were not territorial; rather, they were loose associations, unorganized, and rarely violent. They did not identify with graffiti, monikers, or other gang characteristics as gangs nowadays do. These early gangs consisted generally of family members and neighborhood friends who involved themselves in limited criminal activities designed to perpetrate a "tough guy" image and to provide an easy means of obtaining money. From 1955 to 1965, the African American gangs increased with larger memberships and operated primarily in south central Los Angeles and Compton. This was partly due to more African American youths bonding together for protection from rival gangs. These gangs were then noticed as the famous Bloods and Crips (Hoover, 1999). These gangs began as strictly African American, but again after information received in an interview I conducted with the head of a Juvenile gang unit, will show that in the Bloods and Crips of today now accept members of all ethnic backgrounds, including Hispanic and even White. 
    The video below shows how violent and how and how serious these gangs are taken. Mobs of Bloods and mobs of Cribs have serious fights, some to the death. This is a sad truth as to what is going on in today's streets, and the fact that our young juveniles are becoming involved in such violence at such a young age.

 

    Hispanic gangs began forming in California during the early 1920s. They started as looseknit groups banding together for unity and socializing in the barrios (neighborhoods) where the same culture, customs, and language prevailed. Gang members were male youths ranging from 14- to 20-years-old. Property crimes such as burglary, strong-arm robbery, and vandalism were their crimes of choice (Hoover, 1999).
    Along with the Bloods and the Crips, there is another gang that dominates across the country. They are represented by the colors of gold and black, normally with a gold flag (bandana) and fend for themselves in the streets across the country with no affiliation to either the Bloods or Crips. A gang that I thought only stuck to one particular group of ethnic background. The Latin Kings were thought not to associate with any other ethnicity other that those of Hispanic decent, but according to George Knox of the National Gang Crime Research Center he states, "We have routinely found white and Black members of the LKs, as well as members whose families recently moved to Chicago from Iraq, Palestine, Poland, Asian countries, etc. In regard to ethnic composition, the Latin Kings are predominantly Latin (Mexican and Puerto Rican, and Cuban), but clearly their membership is a veritable "rainbow" when it comes to ethnicity and race" (2000). This was shocking to me as I found this bit of research; that a gang called the Latin Kings would have members in their gang that are not of Latino decent. Then again it goes back to how the Bloods and the Crips continued to reinvent themselves allowing other members of a different ethnicity join their gang in order to strengthen their numbers and keep their gang strong. Knox also presents some powerful statistics within his research, he shows various averages as of when a Latin King member will begin their life of crime. For example, the average Latin King member will first hear about gangs at the age of nine years old; at the age of eleven they will have fired their first pistol or revolver, have seen someone killed or severely injured, and have been arrested for their first crime; at the age of thirteen is when they get their first gang tattoo and their own gun. Knox presents some very shocking and scary facts for our youth. These gangs are getting a hold of the children of our nation at a very young age and are exposing to a life of crime that some of them end up calling home. Below is a video of an ex Latin King member with an active member who both look to be no older than sixteen years old, conducting one of their gang handshakes. Within the video closer to the end you see the hand signs presented by the gang members that represented their affiliation.

References

Decker, S., & Van Winkle, B. (1998, August 1). Why Do Youths Join Gangs? Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.ojjdp.gov/jjbulletin/9808/why.html

Dunn, J. (1999, July 26). Los Angeles Crips and Bloods: Past and Present. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/gangcolor/lacrips.htm

Hoover, M. (1999, May 28). Where All the Madness Began: A Look at Gang History. Retrieved January 21, 2015, from https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/gangcolor/madness.htm

Knox, G. (2010, January 1). Gang Profile: The Latin Kings. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from http://www.ngcrc.com/ngcrc/page15.htm