In Discussion Forum 6, Reply to at least two classmates’ responses from the post “
Why do some gangs become a danger to their broader communities?
“
These are the 2 responses that need replies. they need to be at least 250 words a each:
RESPONSE #1
by Leigh –
Why do some gangs become a danger to their broader communities?
Number of replies: 1
Gangs have become a major menace to society, causing significant negative impacts and affecting people’s lives. Most gangs become hazardous to their communities because they possess a broad and strong membership and are the community’s most orderly and organized groups. This is true, particularly in impoverished regions where gangs have massive resources to fund and support their criminal conduct. In such areas, gangs can threaten and intimidate individuals who try to defy them, making them dangerous. The lack of gang oversight in such communities makes it easy for such entities to purchase firearms, exacerbating their violence and endangering the lives of community members caught in the crossfire of such acts.
Gangs are also more dangerous to the communities they operate in because they produce, smuggle, and distribute drugs, which can increase opioid addiction in such neighborhoods. Addiction is one of the most common risks associated with gangs because of the easier accessibility of addictive substances like cocaine and heroin. This may entice young people to attend to utilize those drugs, resulting in addiction, which may affect the capacity of the youth to attend schools and be integrated into gangs. Drug abuse can be a predecessor of other hazardous illnesses, including anxiety and depression, making individuals feel like they do not matter, lowering their self-esteem, and reducing the mortality rate. This ensures that the community’s future generation is lost, ultimately affecting societal growth and development.
Additionally, gang members may retaliate and cause havoc if one of their members befalls harm or is executed by either the police or other society members of the community, which can have significant adverse effects on the parties involved. Family members may be killed by other members as a show of power and solidarity to their fallen brethren, fueling chaos in the community, which can cause casualties of innocent people with no affiliation to the gang members’ death.
RESPONSE #2
by Trenton –
Number of replies: 1Why do some gangs become a danger to their broader communities?
The presence of gangs can produce a broad range of impacts affecting many parts of the community, from a short term to long term timeline, and from the individual level, to the community as a whole. Crime might be the most obvious negative impact of gangs, but the problem goes deeper than just a series of acts perpetrated by an offender on a victim. The link between gangs and crime is well established and can involve a range of acts from nonviolent to violent, and against rival gangs and outsiders. As crime increases, the environment of the community changes to one where businesses close, property values decline, investments decreases. Under the “Broken Windows” theory, the damage done to the community done by crime serves only to increase the rate of criminal activity, resulting in an accelerated downward spiral that can turn neighborhoods into run down zones of despair. This environment means increased exposure for youth to crime to the point where it become normalized so they may have less of behavior to engage in criminal behavior themselves. Youth in these communities are also more likely to be victims of violent crime which further increases their propensity to join a gang. The poor state of schools and lack of businesses and economic opportunities means that youth have few alternatives to break the cycle of crime and poverty. Thus, the problem of gang presence in a community is that it is self-reinforcing. As gangs become more entrenched, their impact through crime increases, which creates conditions for youth to be more likely to join gangs, and the cycle repeats.