Gangs

Don't like school? Struggle in school? Nothing good in your life?
 * Wanna Be a Gangster? **

Joining a gang is an option. There are other options this page will help you explore. If you do decide to join a gang here are some statistics (facts) recorded by the Los Angeles Police Department

"90% of all gang members are arrested by age 18. 70% will be arrested twice by age 18. 95% will not finish high school. 60% will be dead or in prison by age 20."

Did you know that there is not an agreed definition of a "gang" in the United States? Gangs have likely existed in the United States since the Revolutionary War. Click on the federal definition used by the Department of Justice to find out what the official definition of a gang is.
 * What is a gang?**

The most common age for youth to join a gang is between 13 and 15. Here is a list of risk factors that significantly affect a youth’s chance for gang-involvement according to the U.S. Government, Find Youth Info:
 * Who Is Likely To Join a Gang? **
 * Aggressiveness,
 * Early initiation of violent behavior,
 * Parental criminality,
 * Child maltreatment,
 * Low levels of parental involvement,
 * Parent-child separation,
 * Academic failure,
 * Lack of school connectedness (the link here is geared towards teachers and parents),
 * Truancy and school dropout,
 * Frequent school transitions,
 * Delinquent siblings and peers,
 * Peer gang membership,
 * Poverty,
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Substance use (e.g. illicit drugs and alcohol),
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Community disorganization,
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Availability of drugs and firearms, and
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Exposure to violence and racial prejudice.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">Gangs are most often found in high crime, socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. If you are in gang territory you need to be aware of the clothing you are wearing. Here is a guide prepared by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Association and state or regional gang associations. It is a basic overview of symbols and identifiers of some of the major (does not include all street gangs) street gangs in North America.
 * Where are there gangs?**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">Here is a list of some of the gangs found in the Bay Area:
 * Hayward and surrounding areas
 * Oakland and surrounding areas
 * San Francisco and surrounding areas

You are more likely to join a gang when you believe or do any of the following
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">When Do Most Kids Join Gangs? **
 * Use drugs or don't believe drugs are harmful
 * Do poorly in school both academically and behaviorally
 * See advantages to join a gang because you feel it makes you more attractive to your friends and girls
 * Check this study that took place over 10 years of 13 year old kids that others thought were cool. See how they are doing as adults.
 * Provide opportunities to do something more exciting like making money selling drugs


 * Why young people join gangs (** from **Los Angeles Police Department)?**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Gang members join a gang by either committing a crime or undergoing an initiation procedure wherein they are beaten by fellow gang members to test their courage and fighting ability. Their motivations for joining the gang are varied, but usually fall within one of the following:


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">**Identity or Recognition -** Being part of a gang allows the gang member to achieve a level of status he/she feels impossible outside the gang culture.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">**Protection -** many members join because they live in the gang area and are, therefore, subject to violence by rival gangs. Joining guarantees support in case of attack and retaliation for transgressions.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">**Fellowship and Brotherhood -** To the majority of gang members, the gang functions as an extension of the family and may provide companionship lacking in the gang member’s home environment. Many older brothers and relatives belong, or have belonged to the gang.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">**Intimidation -** Some members are forced to join if their membership will contribute to the gang’s criminal activity. Some join to intimidate others in the community not involved in gang activity.
 * **<span style="color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Criminal Activity - **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #545352; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"> Some join a gang to engage in narcotics activity and benefit from the group’s profits and protection.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Thinking about joining a gang? Figure out why you want to join a gang and talk to someone first. Find an adult you respect to talk to.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">How To Make The Best Decision About Gangs **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">12 Year Old Boy Who Immigrated From Mexico <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">12 Year Old Latino Boy <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">13 Year Old Girl
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">Stories About Kids In Gangs **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">11 year Old African American Boy (Xavier McElrath-Bey was sentenced to jail at the age of 13 for first degree murder) who was in foster homes beginning at age 6, now older <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">media type="youtube" key="Us_puGjEJ9w" width="420" height="315"
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">Videos About Teenagers Who Were In Gangs: **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> = Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. Paperback  = <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">by [|Luis J. Rodriguez] (Note: This book is banned by many libraries for explicit language)  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The award-winning and bestselling classic memoir about a young Chicano gang member surviving the dangerous streets of East Los Angeles, now featuring a new introduction by the author.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;">Good books ** (see notes, some books are explicit) ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,;"> about gangs:  **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, hailed as a //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">New York Times //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> notable book, and read by hundreds of thousands, //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Always Running //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> is the searing true story of one man’s life in a Chicano gang—and his heroic struggle to free himself from its grip.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">By age twelve, Luis Rodriguez was a veteran of East Los Angeles gang warfare. Lured by a seemingly invincible gang culture, he witnessed countless shootings, beatings, and arrests and then watched with increasing fear as gang life claimed friends and family members. Before long, Rodriguez saw a way out of the barrio through education and the power of words and successfully broke free from years of violence and desperation.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Achieving success as an award-winning poet, he was sure the streets would haunt him no more—until his young son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Always Running, //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">a vivid memoir that explores the motivations of gang life and cautions against the death and destruction that inevitably claim its participants.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">At times heartbreakingly sad and brutal, //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Always Running //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> is ultimately an uplifting true story, filled with hope, insight, and a hard-earned lesson for the next generation. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member Paperback by [|Sanyika Shakur]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Written in solitary confinement, Kody Scott’s memoir of sixteen years as a gangbanger in Los Angeles was a searing best-seller and became a classic, published in ten languages, with more than 300,000 copies in print in the United States alone. After pumping eight blasts from a sawed-off shotgun at a group of rival gang members, twelve-year-old Kody Scott was initiated into the L.A. gang the Crips. He quickly matured into one of the most formidable Crip combat soldiers, earning the name “Monster” for committing acts of brutality and violence that repulsed even his fellow gang members. When the inevitable jail term confined him to a maximum-security cell, a complete political and personal transformation followed: from Monster to Sanyika Shakur, black nationalist, member of the New Afrikan Independence Movement, and crusader against the causes of gangsterism. In a document that has been compared to The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice, Shakur makes palpable the despair and decay of America’s inner cities and gives eloquent voice to one aspect of the black ghetto experience today. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Good Movies about Gangs: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">**Curriculum for Educators:** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
 * Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) is an [|evidence-based] gang and violence prevention program built around school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula. The Program is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership for children in the years immediately before the prime ages for introduction into gangs and delinquent behavior.