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=Gangs =



=__What are Gangs? __=  A gang is a group or association of three or more persons who may have a common identifying sign, symbol, or name and who individually or collectively engage in, or have engaged in criminal activity, which creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Criminal activity includes juvenile acts that if committed by an adult would be a crime.

=__How did gangs get started? __= Gangs have been in existence for as long as there have been inhabitants of this world. The word thug dates back to India in the year 1200 AD and it refers to a gang of criminals (Thugz) that roamed the country pillaging towns in their course. These Thugz had their own symbols, hand signs, rituals and slang. In the United States, we grew up with tales of our own form of thugs like pirates and gangsters, therefore, gangs, undoubtedly, are not a new concept.

=__Why do people join gangs? __=  To join gangs the usual reasons include:  The kids who join usually have low self-esteem, too much unsupervised time, come from a poor background, have a violent or nonexistent home life and some are born into the gang life.
 * fun
 * excitement
 * a sense of belonging
 * need for attention or status
 * companionship
 * intimidation
 * peer pressure
 * financial gain
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">protection
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">failure to understand what being in a gang really means

__**Videos of gangs and other's perspectives**__ [] [] =__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What are the ages of gang members? __= = = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The typical age range is 14-26; however gang members have been seen as young as 8 years of age and as old as 40 or 50. The older members may have gained status as an OG'S (original gangsters).

=<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Top Cities with Gang Affiliation = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Los Angeles, California Oakland, California Memphis, Tennessee Detroit, Michigan Atlanta, Georgia Brooklyn, New York Chicago, Illinois Flint, Michigan New Orleans, Louisiana Baltimore, New York

=__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Why do gangs have hand signs? __= <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Hand signs are a way that members show their gang affiliation. Creating letters and or numbers with their fingers make the most common signs. There are known hand signs that tell other members of danger, even to attack an individual. There have been cases where the showing of a hand sign has started violence, even cases where deaf mutes using American Sign Language were mistakenly thought to be throwing gang signs and were shot.

=__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Graffiti __= = = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">As you know graffiti has been around since the cavemen. It was and is a means of communication, a way of telling a story. That is how the gangs use it. They mark their territory by scrawling their gang's name on walls or anything that is blank, issue challenges by crossing out other names and writing their own, call for meetings even put out death warrants. These markings range from simple to elaborate.

=__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">An Expert's Viewpoint __= <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For our interview, we interviewed Susan Baylore from Michigan Neighborhood Partnership, an organization that is aimed at reducing the level of gang participation in Detroit. Here are the questions we asked:

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Has gang activity risen in Detroit in the past few years?
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Yes, it has within the last 5 years. We have had to talk to more youth, specifically in Detroit Public Schools, about the dangers of being in gangs.

I feel that it is hurting our youth terribly. With all the schools in Detroit being closed down, the teens have nothing better to do. They feel that being apart of a gang is like a family to them, it lets them escape from their day to day issues.
 * What is your personal viewpoint of gangs?**

We in conjunction with the Detroit Public Schools, the Detroit Police Department's Gang Squad, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and several other faith and community based organizations, will implement a community demonstration project aimed at reducing the level of gang participation in Detroit. This project will identify high-risk youth in the Brightmoor Community and work with the families of these youth to ensure that they have the support necessary to help them achieve positive youth development outcomes. Through services such as family counseling, mentoring, academic support, parent workshops, vocational exploration, entrepreneurship training and/or employability development classes these families will also have resources made available to them that will help to strengthen the family. In addition, this project will yield a cadre of volunteers skilled in new approaches to community development. This demonstration project will incorporate best practices and is expected to be suitable for replication locally and nationally. An external evaluation team will be retained to chronicle the process and determine project success.
 * How is MNP trying to fix the gang problem in Detroit?**

Yes, I am very pleased with what we have done so far. I've seen countless number of teens come in and change and become a better person. One boy in particular, Daren Williams, was a great student until he got involved in a gang. I talked to him and his family and he is now attending Eastern Michigan University and is doing well for himself. They just need talking to to help them realize their decision is wrong.
 * Do you feel that MNP has helped so far?**

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**What are MNP's plan for the future?** We plan to have fundraisers to help these teens have activities to attend to on the weekends instead of hanging with their gang members. Hopefully this will lead them out of their gangs and open new doors for them. Also, we'd like to get groups of teens together to just talk about their problems for a better way to get things off their chest.

=__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Organizations dedicated towards gang resistance __= <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**G.R.E.A.T.** Similar to DARE, GREAT Is a school based program instructed by law enforcement officers. GREAT focuses on prevention as its primary objective and attempts to influence youth against delinquency, youth violence and most importantly, gang membership. With the partnership of community, parent, school and law enforcement agencies, the GREAT program consists of four components, a 13 session middle school curriculum, an elementary school curriculum, summer programs and family training programs. Great also offers five regional training centers where their lessons focus on providing life skills to students as well as encouraging positive problem solving in order to live a safe and successful life.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**The National Gang Center** The National Gang Center was founded in October of 2009 with the merger of the National Youth Gang Center, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the National Gang Center, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The organization's approach is that gang violence transcends all age groups. Thus, they have created a unified front where researchers, practitioners and the public can more efficiently access gang research, anti-gang programs, tools, databases and other resources necessary to fight and resist gang violence. With the help of the National Gang Center and their boundless data collected by the National Youth Gang Survey of 2,500 US law enforcement agencies, visitors can implement effective gang prevention, intervention and suppression.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Michigan Neighborhood Partnership
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Michigan Neighborhood Partnership (MNP), in conjunction with the Detroit Public Schools, the Detroit Police Department's Gang Squad, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and several other faith and community based organizations, will implement a community demonstration project aimed at reducing the level of gang participation in Detroit.

=__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Catholic Social Teaching __= = = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Catholic teaching promotes peace as a positive, action-oriented concept. In the words of Pope John Paul II, "Peace is not just the absence of war. It involves mutual respect and confidence between peoples and nations. It involves collaboration and binding agreements.” There is a close relationship in Catholic teaching between peace and justice. Peace is the fruit of justice and is dependent upon right order among human beings.

=
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Condemning class struggle does not mean condemning every possible form of social conflict. Such conflicts inevitably arise and Christians must often take a position in the "struggle for social justice." What is condemned is "total war," which has no respect for the dignity of others (and consequently of oneself). It excludes reasonable compromise, does not pursue the common good but the good of a group, and sets out to destroy whatever stands in its way." ======

=__<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Works Cited __=
 * K. Wilson, Ellen. "What Are Gangs?". suite101. May 10, 2010 <http://peacesecurity.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_are_gangs>.
 * Kruijt, Dirk. "Gangs and Drugs". Gangs. May 10, 2010 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=lom_mercyhs&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&contentSet
 * Vigil, James Diego. "Gangs and Youth Violence". Race and Racism. May 12, 2010 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=lom_mercyhs&tabID=T003&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=6&contentSet
 * Department, Gainsville Police . "Gangs". Gainsville Police Department. May 13, 2010 <https://www.gainesvillepd.org/index.php/crime-prevention/gangs>.