One of the issues that many people in the United States are facing is gangs. Gangs have been a problem that many lawmakers and taxpayers have been trying to deal with for the past few decades. The problems with gangs are the numbers of violence these groups brought to its communities. Violence such as the increasing of drug using within young adults, the fighting among different groups of gangs claiming for ownership of territory, the levels of injuries/deaths causes by stabbing and shooting and the influences on youths being drop out of school to commits criminal acts. Gang in general is a broad topic; however, there are two particular types of gang that I would like to shared, “street gang” and “prison gang.”
Street gangs and prison gangs are two separate forms of gangs that are very similar in terms of structures and organizations. Street gangs are groups of people who form allegiances for a common purposes, who engage in criminal activity, and who conform to one or more of the following traits: share a common group name, share common symbols, tattoos, or graffiti, share a common style of dress, Frequently congregate upon, or lay claim to a geographic location and Associate together on a regular or continuous basis (Walker, 2011).
Prison gangs also known as Security Threat Group (STG) are defined as a group of inmates, designated by the Commissioner, who may gather together regularly and informally.
Street gangs are more dangerous than prison gangs in the act of violence against the communities. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “Street gangs operate throughout most of the country are a significant threat because they are the largest and control the greatest geographical areas (FBI, 2009). The reasons street gangs are more of a threat to its community is because they have more freedom within the community. In this case, they canfreely discussed gang related activity with fewer restrictions on them. Also, street gangs have a larger population inside and outside their community. They are more mobility to operate from one location to another and have more access to drugs, alcohols, weapons and money which makes them more of a threat to society.
However, although street gangs are views as more of a threat to society, the real threat still remains inside our prison walls. Prison gangs are more notorious and dangerous compare to street gangs because of their highs levels of influences over both gangs. “Members typically return to their home communities and resume their former street gang affiliations, acting as representatives of their prison gang to recruit street gang members who perform criminal acts on behalf of the prison gang” (FBI, 2009). These members will resume their roles when they returned to the outside world. Sometimes they become more notorious than before because of their experiences and interactions with their elderly gang members or leaders duringincarcerations.
Another reason prison gangs are more dangerous is because most of them are hardcore members from the outside street gangs. While incarcerated, hardcore members formed together to become more organized and violence’s toward other. They become smarter and organize better in prison to influence their gangs on both the inside and outside communities. Not only do prison gangs have the most hardcore members, but they also controlled the drugs trade within prisons and their gang community. According to the National Gang Threat Assessment of 2009, “Prison gangs often control drug distribution within correctional facilities and heavily influence street-level distribution in some communities. (FBI, 2009). These prisons gangs are influencing the drugs and violence that goes on outside the prison system. In most cases, prison gangs also have controlled over the street gangs because some of them are leaders to both sides. Nevertheless, prison and street gangs are an interesting issue that can affected every person across America.
Bibliography
FBI (2009, January). National Gang threat Assessment 2009. Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/national-gang-threat-assessment-2009-pdf
US Legal. (2011, September). Security Threat Group (STG) Law & legal Definition. http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/security-threat-group-stg/
Walker’s, Robert (2011, September). Definition of gangs: what is a criminal street gang? Gangs Or Us. http://www.gangsorus.com/definition.html
I agree that gangs are a major issue the United States faces today and the negative effects can be seen in local communities as well as nationally. I think both prison and street gangs are similar is because they both have the same ideals and goals, but it is just in a different environment. I personally think that prison gangs are more violent because of the fact that for prison gangs, if someone has a hit on you, you have no where to hide. You are trapped in a metal box. Where as for street gangs, even though it is as dangerous and cut throat, gangs claim territories and they can be avoided to prevent trouble. I also think that prison gangs have an umbrella outside the metal bars, controlling the drug and weapon trade in the outside communities while also having the prestige to formulate hits and violence all from prison cells. I definitely think that we as a nation have to recognize the problem these groups create, while also trying to teach our younger generations, the future, that joining a gang is not worth all the negatives that come along with the gang-banging life style.
ReplyDeleteThis is an issue that we should focus on. Prison gangs are taking over the streets. They are the individuals who are calling the shots. They make the decision. They individuals on the outside world are just their puppets. I feel like government officials should do something about this. They talk about eliminating the crime, but if the crime is coming from the prisons, that's where they should go. I believe that if they stop the communication from inmates to the outside world, it will be much easier to eliminate this issue.
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