Female involvement in gangs.
Most females involved with gangs, were not directly interested in gang activities, almost
all of them were just the girlfriends of gang members. Unfortunately this is not the case any
longer and as females grow more independent they are now assuming the same responsibilities
as the males. Recent studies show that females make up between 10 and 30 percent of all gang
members are females (Kinnear, 1996).
Females are joining gangs exactly for the same reason as male, and performs exactly the
same duties, although gangs in its majority still dominated by males. The National Council on
Crime and Delinquency ranked “young females as the fastest growing offenders in the national
juvenile justice population” (F.B.I., 2009). Girls also join gangs for protection from other girls or
just because they want to rebel and wanted to feel the power and freedom.
Organized crime is everywhere; this is a very difficult area for law enforcement to keep
control over, which creates never ending battle against something that will always gain new
members. New members join for various reasons and come from mainly distress and un-oriented
families (Kinnear, 1996). A gang doesn’t necessarily have to be an established group of
organized crime; it can simply start with a few members or even friends that begin to do things
27
that catch negative attention. Such endeavors can slowly progress until they become a “gang”
and are identified by law enforcement as organized crime. Gangs in my opinion will never be
stopped but we can try our best to prevent negative actions from occurring.
28
Chapter Four
D
iscussion and Conclusion
A growing number of teens are becoming involved in gangs. Gang violence is quickly
becoming a greater threat to the well-being of our society and is predicted to "spiral out of
control" by the year 2000 (Price, 1996). Originally thought of as just an "inner-city problem,"
gang violence is spreading to the smallest of America's cities.
The gang activity that used to consist merely of vandalism, petty theft, and battles over
turf in the 1950's, have now become those of burglary, extortion, and drug dealing. One study
shows that "during 1992 alone Los Angeles County, California, for example, saw more than 800
gang-related homicides, and over 12,000 injuries caused by gang activities" and that "in 1987
such killings in Los Angeles County totaled 387 and had risen to 420 in 1988" (Schmalleger,
1996). Researchers believe that gang members aren't significantly affected by the justice system
and that most of the time they are set free, that is, if they ever get caught at all. Studies show that
"80 percent of the most serious and frequent offenders escape detection and arrest." and that
barely one person goes to prison for every 100 crimes committed" (Price, 1996). In many
experts' opinions, "there is simply not enough of a deterrent [for crime] for youthful offenders"
(Sharp, 1996).
