In the last few years law enforcement and public schools everywhere have experienced a virtual epidemic of youth violence that is spreading from the inner cities to the suburbs. Many kids feel the need to join gangs and participate in acts of violence. These acts are a response to larger issues, and how can this epidemic be prevented are questions that have failed to be answered. Gang membership is not just the child's problem; it is directly related to families, schools, media, and society. Little or no family structure for young kids mostly from low socio-economic classes living in dysfunctional neighborhoods sets up an environment built around crime, drugs, and the pressure to join a gang, with underlying problems such as unemployment and poor education are the main factors that create an environment in which gangs are likely to form. The short answer to a solution is that there is no solution. We as a member of the educated, privileged class don't know what it's like in gang environments. To retard the growth of gangs, communities need leaders in the neighborhoods, it takes a strong leader to help persuade those to change and make plans that are feasible. The drawback to this approach is that it requires one-on-one confrontation, which limits the range of effectiveness. Although the solutions are uncertain, prevention, intervention, and community organization seem to be the most appropriate strategies to solve gang problems in communities.

The gang patterns reflect not only chronic social problems associated with race, social class, and immigration, but rapidly changing contemporary conditions relating to the economy, weapon availability, drug markets, and the arrangement of street gang territories. (Simms: 19)Gangs merely speak to most adolescent needs such as the need for affiliation and for status or at least estimation. They provide a sense of family and group membership through numerous friends and camaraderie to unloved and often unwanted youngsters. I am not able to judge based on my personal background and upbringing how and why kids join gangs, as if I would not do the same if from birth I grew up being exposed to violence and abuse, maybe my mother was just an unprepared teenager or I was abandoned, and learned that drugs and alcohol were a way of life. Much of the problem rests in poverty and desperation among parents who lack all kinds of skills especially parenting skills. It is estimated that substance-abusing parents directly affect 9 to 10 million children under the age of 18("Gangs&Hispanic"). Most gang members report to have come from single parent families, as well, attributing divorce or single parents as factors that put kids at high risk for joining a gang. If the parents are not interested to step in with moral and ethical values, a potential recruit learns and is persuaded through close interactions with gangs. One member reported when asked why he joined a gang, replied, "My gang had been more of a family to me than my own"("Black Gangs"). In one case study, teens who thought highly of and respected their parents or other extended family members were often those who were non-gang affiliated. Parents in impoverished neighborhoods were not educated on parenting topics and strategies known to the more educated members and families in society. Many parents who want to get out of the slums both work to support the family and hopefully to move to better areas still leave the kids unsupervised. Poverty is another primary factor that influences family structure and its impact on the children and adolescents.

At the crucial point, somewhere between grades six and eight, between childhood and adulthood, many grow weary of the harsh living conditions, or never having any spending money, and of waiting for love and reward from remiss parents. Children surrounded by racial segregation, indigence, and poverty have an inordinately narrow passageway to mainstream accomplishments or jobs and success. Furthermore, as more stable working families move further away from impoverished and crime ridden areas, it leaves behind a lack of role models for kids who do not have anyone at home. In their absence, the neighborhood is left with nothing but unhealthy norms and no sanctions against the violent and dysfunctional behavior (Nat'l Research Council: 32). The gang often understands the individual's pain and hopelessness. Several studies have shown that children who live in perpetual poverty are traumatized and even as adults frequently suffer from posttraumatic stress syndrome (Nat'l. Researxh Council: 29). These kinds of neighborhoods yield obscenely high drop out rates as well, probably not so much as a result of the actual fact that these kids are poor, but the fact that they lack structure. Many members of the extended family and parents themselves reported a desire to move away from such areas, but most are financially trapped in a city where rents are exorbitant and moving costs are prohibitive. As previously mentioned, others work two jobs and long hours, but their unskilled labor produces low wages.

Although education seems to be a realistic and healthy answer for kids and adults alike, possibly providing upward mobility, harsh socio-economic reality does not advance education as a realistic option unless there are parents or extended family members who promote hard work and striving as a value. It appears that for youths in poverty-ridden areas, success in education becomes a fraudulent aspiration. As a result, getting a decent job, let alone a high-paying job is also unattainable. Because of the poor job market in economically disadvantaged areas, for minority youth there is no real "future" ("Politics,". .Conshire). However, one must also acknowledge that there are kids on the same streets, in the same environment who do not join gangs, or participate in illegal activities, who also get beaten up, but rise out of these environments successfully. The difference, according to current research, is having a parent, or parents, a grandmother, uncle- or other family member who is supportive and with whom the youth has a bond that he or she would do nothing to jeopardize ("Violence Prevention"..Noguera). There is also the entire notion of status and reputation that is utterly exaggerated and skewed in this kind of environment from the rest of the world. Especially among the young men, more than the young women, expressed a need to maintain an image and reputation, craving recognition as fervently as a star struck youngster coveting fame("BlackGangs"). Being in a gang causes others to fear them, and in their reversed value system, striking fear in others gives status and bolsters their reputations. Claiming turf is a vital part of the gangs' reputations. To insult a member via signs, trespassing onto turf, or any other seemingly inconsequential transgression, is to insult reputation with all the significance it carries.("Gangs&Culture"). These infractions then become triggers for violence between youths, fighting for a reputation that is in reality only a mirage.

Other reasons why kids join gangs are for protection, driven from the idea "if you can't beat em, join em." Protections including everything from getting one's lunch money stolen, to being physically assaulted on the way home from school. When youngsters can not find love at home, when their needs are not met, and self esteem and moral values are not instilled, youngsters are naturally going to look for these things elsewhere, and that's where gangs step in. Whether one becomes a full-fledged member, an associate, a "wanna-be," or just "hanging out", methods of intimidation, instigating crimes, and the attraction to the visual raciness of the gang persona easily lure these youngsters in to a destructive life pattern.("Black Gangs"). Youths are learning that one's threshold for pain makes him or a strong man or woman. Being 'jumped" into a gang is, for this purpose, an initiation rite in which the recruit is tested for his or her ability to stand up in a fight. These young (predominately males and in the case of few females) initiates are forced to grow up the hard way, often missing the tender years of being and behaving as free children. As this is the case for over 300,000 kids in the U.S. who are members of gangs, we must fmd as a society more productive ways to help our future generations of young children from turning to a life of crime and violence.

Of course, issues of race cannot be ignored in looking for solutions to the gang problem. Latinos really cannot look at Blacks or other gang members straight in the eye as a result of these racial tensions. For Latinos, traditions of unity and group run deep. However, unfortunately violence is also a significant problem for the Latino community. Latino gangs began forming in California during the early 1920's. They started as groups banding together for unity and socializing in the barrios where the same culture, customs, and language prevailed.("Latin Kings"). Today, Latino males have the highest homicide rate in the country.("Politics ofEducation"..Conshire). Internally discrimination in the barrio (neighborhood), Latino against Latino, lies in loyalty to country of origin; thus Mexicans are sometimes not fond of Guatemalans, who are not fond of Honduranians, who think Columbians are conceited, and so forth.("Latin Kings"). Add to this the rejection experienced by most Latinos from the predominant culture and it becomes easier to conceptualize the inner need for acceptance that is expressed by so many Latino youths. Immigrants especially suffer from isolation and discrimination in schools and even in the barrios where indigenous Latinos generally will not associate with them ("Violence Prevention".. Noguera). Consequently, many young Latino males turn to violence as a way to compensate for their lack of self-esteem, by fighting for turf and against rival gangs, as a way to "prove" their selves. The Latin Kings, a well known, large and notoriously violent gang, pledges, "We in the 'Almighty Latin King Nation' must remember the humanity, glory, and suffering of our ancestors and honor the struggle and sacrifices of the 'Almighty Latin King Nation."'("Latin Kings"). Their pledge proceeds to state that they "must respect the quest for the so called 'American Dream,' which obviously does not include us, and pursue our own vision as a self-reliant, self determined people ready to defend ourselves against all contradictions here in the wilderness of 'North Amerikkka ("Latin Kings").

African-American gangs began forming in California at the same time, 1920s. However, they were not territorial and rarely violent, until around the early 1960s when the Crips and Bloods- two of the most violent African-American gangs-originated. Other African-American gangs began to form simultaneously to protect themselves from the Crips and Bloods. During the 1970s, these gangs and other smaller sets of these main groups began to claim certain neighborhoods as their territory. Today, these gangs continue to fight each other for narcotic-related profits and in defense of territory( "Black Gangs"). It has become a battle over the drug trade for many African-American gangs, while the Latinos fight for similar reasons, but with more emphasis on retaliation between opposing ethnic groups. Sometimes because Latino and Black gang activity is largely directed at their own ethnic groups within their own neighborhoods, the rest of society presume that they need not concern themselves.(Sirnms: 27). As a result, funding for solution oriented programs is an ongoing problem.

The solutions to the growing epidemic of youth violence are complicated and in some regard involve slightly different approaches for Latino and African-American gangs, the majority of members being either one of the two. Rather than trying to suppress the actions of gangs, more appropriate strategies are those which emphasize prevention and intervention. Police surveillance is often inefficient and incarceration gives the individual prestige among peers. Also, the publicity that gang violence generates satisfies the adolescent's hunger for recognition. However, this is the wrong kind of recognition that we as a society should be given for its short-term gratification for the youths. However, the solution does not rest on the shoulders of a few, but society as a whole. The literature shows repeatedly that gangs do not survive in areas where the citizens unite and work with law enforcement against gang activity ("Violence Prevention".. Noguera). Though, officials must recognize there are no way the police or community recreation center can compete with the sense of belonging that the gang subculture offers. It certainly cannot replace the money to be had by selling drugs on the streets("Black Gangs"). The real solutions lie outside the realm of the police, but in the community and primarily in the home. Instead of spending on prevention, schools are spending on metal detectors and safety plans, although focusing on student behavior seems far more effective than targeting style of clothing or using "get tough" approaches.

Many of the prevention programs, such as the project support group, Los Angeles Unified School District, are directed at elementary students in inner city schools, which include drug/gang policy awareness, drug and gang prevention education, racial and cultural sensitivity development, after school alternative programs, tutoring and mentoring, community service opportunities, career awareness instruction, and parent education.("Gangs & Hispanic"). It is crucial to instill values and make an impression on young minds at the most impressionable ages, because once a kid joins a gang, it is very for him or her to get out of that gang. Even though in current studies it is stated over and over again that most gang members will outgrow their gang involvement, this is provided of course that they will live long enough. In addition if he or she is lucky and survives, most often they have acquired criminal records that will effect their job opportunities and lives for the future. Other options consist of moving away from the area, getting "jumped" out which not all members would survive. Another technique is to have "an ol'lady and a kid." In one study, males with both were left alone and not expected to participate in many gang activities("Gangs & Culture"). Nonetheless, for many members wanting another way of life, it is very difficult to leave or to be left alone.

An important question that officials are wrestling to answer is the effect of non-gang affiliated youths and their impact in pulling at-risk youths or even inducted gang members out and away from the gang, or should we keep the non gang affiliated further away from those on the edge. It might well be that the greater the proportion of gang affiliated friends an individual accrues, the greater the social forces sucking that person into the gang and into more and more gang activity( Simms: 39).

So, like I said in the beginning, there are no easy answers. To think that one single problem area or one single solution can be the answer to gang problems is foolish and unrealistic. The truth is, we are trying to treat symptoms, without trying to treat the causes. It makes more sense to think that if we help cure poverty, then we can destroy the environment that fosters gang development, rather than thinking if we eliminate gangs, then poverty will evaporate. Yet that is the mentality the government, the media, and society at large take to solving the problem. America's social conscienceness at large has lost sympathy for gang members. We are therefore devoid of the sympathy and concern needed to solve as big of a problem as this is. Unfortunately, the American government knows we don't care about gangs, so they don't have to care either. And since gang members don't have a PAC, unions, or the will to vote, they cannot fix the problems themselves, even if they wanted to. The beginnings of real, substantial change will most likely have to start on the grassroots level, with widespread national support, including middle- and upper class America. The only thing that is needed is a spark, but it is scary to think what that spark might be.

Bibliography

"Black Gangs in the Inner-City", http://www.hitech.com/cgia/gangs2000/afica8os.html

"Gangs in African-American Culture" http://www.hitech.com/cgia/gangs2OOO/africa90s.html

"Gangs in Hispanic America", http://www.hitech.com/cgia/gangs2OO2/hispanic8os.html

"Latin Kings", http://www.locall041.org/latin_kings.html

National Research Council. A Common Destiny. Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1980

Simms, Margaret and Malveauz, Julianne. Slipping Through the Cracks. New Brunswick, CT: Transaction Books, 1987.

"The Politics of Education and Recent Immigrants as Gang Members", Harold Conshire, http:www.csun.edu/~hcchs006/15.html, May 15, 1999

"Violence Prevention and the Latino Population", Pedro Antonio Noguera. In Motion Magazine. June, 1996.