HOW DOES BEING A MEMBER OF A GANG AFFECT THE WELLBEING OF TEENAGERS?

References

A. (Ed.). (2014, April 15). Teenagers and Gangs. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Teenagers-and-

Gangs.aspx

This website is published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and contains a wide

variety of information about the health of children. This reference is for a specific page

that gives an insightful overlook about the effect of gang membership on the lives of

teenagers. The webpage begins by providing information about the number of gangs

present in the United States and how it fluctuated throughout the 1990s. The percentage

of youth gangs present was declining towards 50% nearing the year 2000. The webpage

also highlights that although gangs are prevalent in large cities, they are both an inner-

city and suburban presence, with some even being present in rural areas. The webpage

also states that the number of female gang members has also increased in recent years.

Following these statistics, the webpage dives into why being in a gang can be dangerous,

especially for teens. Many teens are drawn to gangs due to the want to belong, peer

pressure, and the feeling of rebellion and drama that they believe comes with being in a

gang. The article makes the point that being in a gang does not mean that a teenager

become involved in crime, even saying that many don’t, but that it increases the chances

that they may do so since being in a gang often causes one to act in ways that they

wouldn’t have before due to the sense of security and anonymity. Specifically, the

webpage says older gang members tend to be involved in criminal activity (drug-dealing

in particular). The webpage ends by providing information on changes that may indicate

a teenager has joined a gang and the conditions someone could experience that may make
HOW DOES BEING A MEMBER OF A GANG AFFECT THE WELLBEING OF TEENAGERS?

them more susceptible to gangs. This website appears to be a reliable source due to it

being published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but it may be slightly outdated

since it was last updated in 2014. The information provided was biased for it took an

opinion that was against gangs (specifically when involved with crime), but did

acknowledge that most gang members are not criminals. The facts provided on the

webpage are well documented and comes from a scholarly source.

This webpage fits well into my individual inquiry assignment due to its inclusion of

statistics and insightful information about why teenagers could choose to join a gang. It

included some information about how gang membership could affect a teenager’s future,

but the webpage would be more helpful if it included more. Nonetheless, the information

it does provide is a good general overview from a scholarly, reliable source. In particular,

I appreciated how it mentioned that not every gang member is a criminal, for I feel that

often that generalization is made which is a problematic mentality.

Hagedorn, J. M. (1998). Gang Violence in the Postindustrial Era. Crime and Justice Journal, 24,

365-419. doi:10.1086/449283

Krohn, M. D., Ward, J. T., Thornberry, T. P., Lizotte, A. J., & Chu, R. (2011). The Cascading

Effects of Adolescent Gang Involvement Across the Life Course. American Society of

Criminology, 49(4), 991-1028. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00250.x

Lucas, T., & Valentine, G. (1998). Youth Gangs and Moral Panics In Santa Cruz, California (T.

Skelton, Ed.). In Cool Places: Geographies of Youth Cultures (pp. 146-161). London:

Routledge.
HOW DOES BEING A MEMBER OF A GANG AFFECT THE WELLBEING OF TEENAGERS?

Tostenson, L., Little, D., Bell, B., Russell, D., Ohnesorge, S., Tapases, L., & WBTV. (2009,

November 13). Teen Summit aims to open dialogue about gangs and violence in

Charlotte. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from http://www.wbtv.com/story/10157190/teen-

summit-aims-to-open-dialogue-about-gangs-and-violence-in-charlotte/

This brief article was published by WBTV Channel 3 News channel in November of

2009. The article focuses on the Grier Heights community in Charlotte, NC. The purpose

of this article was to inform the public about a series of gang prevention programs that

were organized to take place in the Grier Heights Community. These meetings were

sponsored by Andrea Long, a mother who lost her two sons to gang violence and hopes

to make a difference by bringing awareness to her situation. These meetings were held at

accessible locations in the neighborhood and were targeted to teenagers ages 11-17.

These meetings were designed to be an open, honest, and safe conversation for teenagers

and the community to have about the impact of gangs on all of their lives. This program

also worked to promote the improving of local parks, greenways, and recreational

activities for teens to enjoy.

This article can be considered from a reliable source since it is from a generally neutral

new channel. The article is unbiased because it provides just the essential information for

the reader to understand what is happening and how it came to be. No opinions or

contribution is included from the news channel in the article. This article is important

because it provides useful information to the community about a program that is available

to them, such as time, location, and what will be happening at the meetings. The article

fits well into my individual inquiry assignment because it is an example of a local

addressing of teenage gang membership. It focuses on how having an open, honest

HOW DOES BEING A MEMBER OF A GANG AFFECT THE WELLBEING OF TEENAGERS?

conversation with teenagers about gang violence and promoting more recreational

activities and safe public places. The source indicated that they believe such can be

beneficial to promoting teenager’s well-being and helping them live a purposeful life. In

particular, I appreciated the notion of having a conversation with teenagers, rather than

accusing and criminalizing them. The article could have been more informative by

providing statistics about teenage gang membership in Charlotte, but it is still a useful

source displaying community activism.