Dangerous
Youth Gangs in our Society
Leslie
K. Penny
Chancellor
University
Module
5 Written Assignment 3
Abstract
Upon reading through
each link that the FBI website offered and the information provided, some of
the most dangerous street youth based gangs include Crips, Bloods and Mara
Salvatrucha or better known as MS-13.
Considering the fact that the FBI has a task force specifically for one
particular gang, MS-13, one can assume this gang poses the highest threat. The following essay will briefly describe
MS-13 answering questions such as who belongs to it, its origins and location(s),
size, and current organizational structure, why it exists, and its appeal to
youths as well as describing a specific area that MS-13 exists in and
suggestions of social changes or programs that are provided that might help to
diminish the appeal of gangs to local youth.
Dangerous
Youth Gangs in our Society
Youth gangs run a muck in our cities and towns while
maintaining control of the street crime that they enlist in. Youth gangs make and distribute drugs. They steal anything, especially cars and
personal property. They commit heinous
crimes including rape and murder. Gangs
involve themselves in all varieties of illegal activities and one will commit to
any illegal activity asked of them in order to become a member of a gang
including a "jump in/beat in: getting beaten up, burned, or tortured by
other gang members; stealing a car, weapons, or other things for gang leaders;
and/or killing someone in a rival gang or someone they care about to prove
their loyalty to the gang" (What is a youth gang?, 2012).
Unfortunately, our youths are involved in numerous street
gangs. Some of which stand out more than
others due to their size and the dangerous threat they pose to our
society. Upon reading through each link that
the FBI website offered and the information provided, some of the most
dangerous street youth based gangs include Crips, Bloods and Mara Salvatrucha
or better known as MS-13. Considering
the fact that the FBI has a task force specifically for one particular gang,
MS-13, one can assume this gang poses the highest threat. According to the FBI website, MS-13 "is
one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the U.S. and Central
America" (United Againsat MS-13, 2009).
MS-13, whose motto is "rape, control, kill",
has been around since the 1980's where they formed in Los Angeles by immigrants
from war-torn El Salvador (Fard, 2011), Guatemala, and
Nicaragua (MS-13). The refugees that ended up in Los Angeles
lived among mostly Mexican Barrios of East Los Angeles where the Mexican gangs
ruled the local underworld (MS-13). The perfect element for "war-hardened
immigrants to quickly organize themselves into competing groups with Mara
Salvatrucha coming out as the strongest (MS-13).
MS-13 gang members
murder, assault, rape and rob their victims as well as run underage
prostitution rings in the D.C. area and no telling what other cities throughout
the U.S. (Fard, 2011). Some experts believe that the 13 in MS-13 is
from the 13th letter of the alphabet which is M for Mara, which stands for the
English term "gang" (Fard, 2011). Fard goes on to say that "MS-13 is made
of cliques with names such as the Sailors, Normandy, Peajes, Unions and Fulton's"
just to name a few and they work together within a partnership called "La
Hermandad" or "the Brotherhood" across the District of Columbia,
Maryland and Virginia (Fard, 2011).
Many that belong in MS-13 are between the ages of 16 and
18 (Fard, 2011) and "is
estimated to have over 10,000 gang members in the United States, with several
thousand more in Central America (Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13),
2013). Apparently the gang has spread further into
California, beyond Los Angeles, because of anti-gang efforts and due to the
demand for low-skilled workers across the U.S (Fard, 2011). With some relocating to the Washington area
as well as Northern Virginia (Fard, 2011). MS-13 is not just a threat to the U.S.,
"the gang's reach now extends from Central American nations like El
Salvador and throughout Mexico and Canada" (MS-13).
The FBI explains that for MS-13 to have such a far reach
across the world, it shows they have increased their level of organization by
surpassing street gang status and becoming a transitional criminal network (Morse, 2007). It appears that many different cliques help
the organizational aspect of MS-13 by arranging regional meeting where MS-13
members can "meet, greet, and discuss activity among the various cliques
in the area" (Morse, 2007) who "take
orders from central leadership in the United States and El Salvador (Mara
Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), 2013). There is evidence of one clique, such as the
Teclas, loaning weapons to members of another clique, the Sailors, where
"both groups would gather with the others from the Silvas or Coronados on
the weekends to hunt rival gang member or travel to destinations where known
gangs hang out, presenting a unified MS-13 force against rival gangs" (Morse, 2007). It is fascinating how they can either operate
individually as cliques or as a group of several cliques but still be the same
gang.
This particular gang exists and continues to grow because
of "aggressive recruitment of new members and expansion into new
areas" where they create and run into turf wars with other gangs (Mara
Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), 2013). shockingly, MS-13 recruits kids as young as
10 and are known to hang out at middle and high schools to "lure
prospective members with 'skip parties' that offer sex, alcohol and drugs" (Mara
Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), 2013). Other reasons for the appeal into street gangs
include "safety, friendship, status, recognition, curiosity, excitement,
money, out of a sense of tradition due to generational commitment, peer
pressure, drug abuse" and the "sense of power and control over a
specific geographic area, a certain group of people and even their own
lives" (Gangs 101, 2010).
Considering the areas MS-13 covers such as Las Angeles
and the lifestyle they are associated with, anti-gang programs in schools as
early as second grade would be an idea to diminish the appeal of gangs to local
youth. Better relationships with
parents, teachers and authority figures are always a given in these types of
situations. Another idea would be for
more jobs or volunteer opportunities for adolescents to protect themselves for
the times they are out of school and not under the care of their parents. Another suggestion would be to spread
awareness on "flipping out" a gang member which is basically helping
a youth breakaway from the gang they are in (Gangs 101, 2010).
To conclude, youth street gangs have a hold on many of
our youths for several reasons. None of
which are good. There needs to be a
flood of awareness, attention, resources, and willing participants to help our
youth steer clear from gangs and to help them get out of a situation they have
found themselves in. Youth gangs will
most likely stand the test of time but saving as many as possible will also
stand the test of time. Organizations
like the FBI gang task force will not quit in this pandemic and future programs
will continue to arise to combat the problem.
Works Cited
Fard, M. F. (2011, 11 14). MA-13: What you need to
know about the Mara Salvatrucha street gang. Retrieved 08 01, 2013, from
The Washing Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/ms-13-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-mara-salvatrucha-street-gang/2011/11/14/gIQAqituKN_blog.html
Gangs 101. (2010). Retrieved 08 01, 2013, from University of
Maryland:
http://gangs.umd.edu/Downloads/Prevention/Gangs%20101%20-%20Understanding%20the%20Culture%20of%20Youth%20Violence.pdf
Mara Salvatrucha 13
(MS-13). (2013). Retrieved 08 01,
2013, from HIDTA Gangs.org: http://gangs.umd.edu/Gangs/MS13.aspx
Morse, S. L. (2007,
02). MS-13 Organization & U.S. Response. Retrieved 08 01, 2013,
from University of Maryland:
http://gangs.umd.edu/Downloads/MS-13-Organization-and-US-Response.pdf
MS-13. (n.d.). Retrieved 08 01, 2013, from InSight Crime:
http://www.insightcrime.org/groups-el-salvador/mara-salvatrucha-ms-13
National Gang
Threat Assessment. (2011). Retrieved
08 01, 2013, from FBI:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment-emerging-trends
United Againsat
MS-13. (2009, 11 10). Retrieved 08
01, 2013, from The FBI:
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/november/calee_111009
What is a youth
gang? (2012). Retrieved 08 01, 2013,
from Kids help phone: http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/Teens/InfoBooth/Violence-and-Abuse/Gangs/What-is-a-Gang.aspx
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