Gang Violence in the United States Essay - 1192 Words

Gang Violence in the United States Gang violence in America is reaching alarming proportions. Chicago police Commander Donald Hilbring states, Gangs are everywhere. All throughout the city of Chicago, the suburbs, throughout the state, throughout the nation. Chicago police state that so far this year, more than 100 gang-related murders have occurred. Everyday an other report on the evening news relays the tragedy of a child accidently caught in gang crossfire. The image of black, inner-city teenagers selling crack on neighborhood street corners and shooting it out over drug turf comes to mind whenever we hear the story told. What can we do to understand and remedy this problem before an entire generation is lost?†¦show more content†¦Gang violence is simply not limited to Black or Chicago youth. Suburban high school children are carrying guns and killing each other over gang rivalry also. In the Gary Post Tribune, Deborah Diddie reported on an incident in the quiet, white, middle-class town of Crown Point. Two adolescent boys tried to coax a 16 year old rival gang member from his home to shoot him in a nearby park. As we can see, all children, black, white or brown, in the cities and the suburbs, are at risk for gang involvement. Solutions for stopping the spread of gangs and gang violence must be discovered. Gang activity is present in every city and many suburbs in our country today. Parents and other community members must first acknowledge that gangs exist in their neighborhoods and then take action to keep their kids away from gangs. Recently, several Crown Point community groups, including the police department and the school corporation, sponsored a gang awareness meeting for parents and other adult members of the community. Guest speaker, Andy Rodriguez, a youth counselor at the ALSE Clements Center in East Chicago, Indiana, said the gang problem is no longer only an urban concern, but it has spread into the suburban areas as well. He also said the days of people ignoring the gang problem are past. Although many experts agree that todays youth are falling prey to gang involvement because of a basic lack of love and concern, whatShow MoreRelatedGang Violence And The United States1470 Words   |  6 PagesGangs have been a part of American culture in the United States since the early 19th century when immigrant youth organized themselves into street gangs as a means of urban and economic survival. Today, gang violence has reached an almost catastrophic level in the United States. Criminal street gangs have become one of the most serious crime problems in California. Gang violence accounts for one of the largest personal threats to public safety for nearly all the cities in this state. Salinas, CaliforniaRead MoreGangs and Violence in the United States Essay810 Words   |  4 PagesIn todays United States we have a huge problem affecting society, gangs and the violence that follows them wherever they go. These days’ gangs aren’t just compiled of grown adults, they often lure in young teens to do dirty work and to add numbers to their turf. Despite laws aimed straight at these gangs they still defy the law and wreak havoc upon the territory that they claim. The members in the gang have a gang first mentality and will do everything possible to provide for and protect their fellowRead MoreThe Crime Of A Gang1293 Words   |  6 PagesThe country we live in has been affected and influenced by something that we now call a â€Å"Gang†. According, to Dictionary.com a gang is defined as a group of youngsters or adolescents who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, especially such a group engaging in delinquent behavior. Since the early 1900’s The United States of America has been affected by gangs. They originated from the Italian immigrants that were closely related to the Sicilian mafia and others that were locatedRead MoreViolence Is An Everyday Act That We Have Seen In Society,1588 Words   |  7 PagesViolenc e is an everyday act that we have seen in society, and in result has become a problem. Gang violence, on the other hand, has been a social problem of violence for decades in the United States. In particular, it has been a serious problem in California that is has been known to be the â€Å"gang capital† in the United States, and a problem in a local scale. According to â€Å"FBI.org† , there are over 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs(FBI, 2015). Consequently, this bringsRead MoreViolence And Culture : A Cross Cultural And Interdisciplinary Approach By Jack David Eller1208 Words   |  5 Pagesglobal competitiveness. One can see how the rankings that America is top in are those that promote violence in one way or another. In the book Violence and Culture: A Cross-Cultural and Interdisciplinary Approach by Jack David Eller, the author discusses violence in American society in one of his chapters. In this chapter, he mentions some social cha racteristics that represents and plays a role in violence in America. The three of the four that will be discussed are gender, race, and youth. We will alsoRead MoreThe Problem Of Gang Violence1356 Words   |  6 PagesGang violence has grown to be a great problem in El Salvador in the last 30 years. Gangs have grown into large, complex organized crime units; the two largest gangs, MS13 (also known as Mara Salvatrucha 13) and Barrio18 (also known as Calle18), now encompass large parts of Central America. Both gangs rely heavily on local drug-peddling, which drives most of the general gang violence. The desire for control over certain areas had forged a fierce rivalry, in which civilians are often endangered whenRead MoreThe Gang Resistance Education And Training ( Great ) Program1298 Words   |  6 Pagescreation for the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, America’s inner cities was experiencing a substantial increase of gang membership along the youth l iving in impoverished communities. During the early 1990s, many viewed gang activity as a particular community’s problem, but as youth and gang violence was increasing drastically across the United States’ inner cities, the public’s perception about this social issue changed. Due to the rapid rise of gang violence and youth membershipRead MoreEssay on Gangs in America787 Words   |  4 PagesDetail that agencys plan of action to combat the violence of a particular gang. List real world examples. Discuss what is currently being done to combat drug violence, and describe the effectiveness of these tactics. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, thoseRead MoreDrug Trafficking877 Words   |  4 PagesDrug Trafficking in the United States Americans like to hide thoughts of the bad in society, one of these thoughts often hid or forget about is drug trafficking. Drug trafficking effects everyone from the one-percent down to the people of poverty. Billions of dollars of drugs are bought and sold, with billions more being spent to fight the trafficking of illicit drugs in the United State. With all the money spent to prevent drug trafficking Americans need to understand the harmful effects. Drug TraffickingRead MoreGangs and Teenage Violence Essay1413 Words   |  6 PagesGangs and Teenage Violence A gang is a group of people who interact among themselves. Teen violence is contributed to these gangs. Most gangs claim neighborhoods as their territory and try to control everything inside that territory. This kind of antisocial behavior is a major problem in American Society. Gang members are typical members of the same ethnic group. Fear and hatred for people of another race is called xenophobia. People who are victims of racism are often racists

Location Bhogpur village, Dehra Dun district, India Free Essays

Location: Bhogpur village, Dehra Dun district, India Introduction: The CAS project spanned two days in Bhogpur village. As a group of 32 students, we decided to combine creativity, action and service into one positive approach to work in the village in the short time we were there. Day 1 Total number of hours: 4 hours Total distance trekked: 4 km After lunch, our group decided that it was important for us to find out the problems of people in the area and to attempt to address them in whatever ways possible. We will write a custom essay sample on Location: Bhogpur village, Dehra Dun district, India or any similar topic only for you Order Now To do this, it had been suggested that the group divided itself into pairs of two and went door to door in the village, interacting with the villagers. Although I believed that the idea was, on the whole, a positive one I was still apprehensive about the approach. Nevertheless, forcing myself to throw out any negativity, I decided to participate wholeheartedly in the interaction with the people of the village. Initially, my friend Shivaan and I had a hesitant start. I was extremely self-conscious and felt downright idiotic expecting unknown villagers to pour out their problems to strangers. But as we kept trekking through the village, I realized that the distance was merely in the head. The villagers ranged from old women to middle aged families and young adults. Some were very hesitant in talking to us but soon started interacting openly. Others were extremely vocal throughout. Shivaan and I noticed an underlying set of problems that pervaded the entire village. These included a water problem, an economic divide, gender issues, etc. I mulled over all these problems in vain. What was the solution that I could provide in a day, in a flourish to people who were far removed from who I was or where I lived? In the evening, my perception underwent a change. We decided to put up a program that would encompass two plays, a dance routine and a panel discussion. I was part of both the plays and enjoyed outlining the storylines and acting and directing at the same time. As we practiced, I thought about the initial negative attitude that I had had regarding the solutions we could provide to the villagers about the issues that they faced. Day 2 Total number of hours: 4 hours Total distance trekked: 2 km This was the day of the performance. Before an early breakfast, we moved to rehearse and have a run through of the entire performance one final time. Although there were occasional glitches, I managed to keep calm and be confident. We then trekked to the village area. After literally tugging villagers out of their homes to create an audience for our performance, we started. All four items were great successes. The smiles on the faces of the children and the curt nods between the adults said it all. Although it would have been far too optimistic to believe that we could make a huge difference in merely a day, I am sure that we did make a difference. We did ensure that the villagers realized what their problems were and also offered rudimentary, individualized solutions. With a smile on my own face, I realized that the entire effort resulted in success – we had, in some way or the other, managed to positively affect the villagers’ lives. How to cite Location: Bhogpur village, Dehra Dun district, India, Papers

The Reader free essay sample

The Reader BY Anne89 n part II, chapter eight of Bernhard Schlinks The Reader, the first-person narrator Michael describes reading the account written by a concentration camp who had survived along with her mother, the soul survivors in a large group of women who were being marched away from the camp. He says, the book creates distance. It does not invite one to identify with it and makes no one sympathetic The same could be said of The Reader. The book is written in such a way as to distance one from the characters. It prevents people from sympathizing with Hanna or Michael or nyone else, taking a sort of detached viewpoint from their problems. This can be paralleled to the efforts of the German people towards Vergangenheitsbew ¤ltigung, or coping with the past. In coping with Germanys Nazi history, the Germans attempted to distance themselves from it and the moral implications it presented. We will write a custom essay sample on The Reader or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They tried to understand it without involving themselves in it, since involving themselves could implicate them. The one person in the book who cannot distance herself, Hanna, is still unsympathetic because everyone else distances themselves rom her, making it impossible to sympathize with any aspect of her plight. Hanna is symbolic of German history in this respect. As the narrator, Michael is particularly hard to sympathize with. The way he guides the story eschews emotional attachment. He himself feels detached from almost everything: . 1 felt nothing: my feelings were numbed. His detachment transfers to the readers. None of his traits, or any of the situations he comes up against, makes one feel particularly sorry for him. Nothing makes one want to understand what hes going through or where hes coming from. He is simply there, dictating the story, elling us about his feelings without us getting involved. Further alienating is his tendency to fall into tangents which dont relate to the main narrative. These tangents are even harder to muster interest in than the true point of the book and dont serve any discernible purpose, in the end causing us to separate even further from the story. Michaels feelings of numbness and alienationand, subsequently, the feelings of numbess and alienation that are produced in the books audiencereflect the attempts made by the German people to distance themselves from the spectres of the Nazi past. By detaching and looking at it emotionlessly, they felt, it would be easier to shove it away and ignore it. The past became a sort of gap in German history, a break extending from the end of the Weimar Republic to the Allied occupation. In this sense, the past was not dealt with at all, no Vergangenheitsbew ¤ltigung took place; the whole matter was sort of shoved aside on an emotional level. This is not true of everyone, perhaps, but Michaels detachment is the fervor of his fellow students but cannot hold it long; he attempts to condemn Hanna outright but finds he cannot. He cannot successfully bring the past into the motional realm. Hanna is Just the opposite. She cannot help but bring the past into the emotional realm, because she was there. She experienced it first-hand, and was indeed a part of itperhaps not an integral part, but it cannot be denied that she took a hand in supporting the Nazis; she was an officer of the SS. She is a living symbol of Germanys Nazi era and therefore inseparable from it. However, everyone else wishes to separate from her, to sentence her and imprison her and forget about her. She is made into a representation of all that the German people wish to leave behind. Because of that, however, Hanna is Just as unsympathetic as Michael is. Since everyone wants to be detached from her, thats exactly what happens to the audience as well; they become attached from Hanna and unable to feel for her or even care about what shes going through. The readers become as aloof as Michael, seeing the situation only through his emotionless eyes. His former love for Hanna totally fails to register during the trial and sentencing, even when he sends her the tapes; he is merely going through the motions the entire time. If there is any feeling behind his ctions, the audience is unable to perceive it, therefore making it irrelevant overall. Michaels aloofness consumes his narration and forms a barrier against caring about anything that happens. Thus, Hanna is dealt with the way Germany tries to deal with its tarnished history: it is separated from, suppressed, and forgotten. The war crimes trials are held and a new government with new laws is put into place; on a parallel level, Hanna is imprisonedand then later kills herself, preventing her memory from surviving even after her release is granted. Although Michael does make a donation n her name to a literacy program, the gesture is tacked on and after the fact, quickly losing any value it mightVe had as a memorial. Overall, attempts at establishing sympathy towards the characters of this book are ineffective. This does not make the book a bad one, for it is in a way a reflection of the way many Germans tried to come to terms with the Nazi past. It expresses the peoples alienation and the desire to Just forget about everything that happened. While one might argue that that is not the best approach to Vergangenheitsbew ¤ltigung, it is nonetheless the one presented in the book. (The Reader, Bernhard Schlink)