Question

What is basic understanding of the perceptions and realities related to gang violence? What would be the subsections for the various topics with gang violence and how would you address those topics?

Answer 1

• Violence is a social phenomenon. For an action to be considered violent, it needs a victim or a group of victims.  In the past, some violent acts were integrated into society by either justifying the violent actions or by attributing the actions to individual psychopathology. In the family environment, the violent male was seen as enforcing a natural rule that men should direct the activities of their wives and children.
• Elementary school boys make threats, deride weaker boys, and encourage aggressors leading to gang violence. In this male social reality, the person who can be victimized deserves it; being dominated in any way is a source of humiliation. For the young male, winning is the only thing that is important. Young men's stories revolve around potential if not actual violence, and violent episodes are a necessity if one is to really validate one's masculinity.
• The visibility and group nature of much youth crime lends itself to gang explanations for juvenile offending. That is, most youth crime involves more than one person, it is usually easier to detect and the activities of young people tend to be more public than other groups.The vast majority of youth crime tends to be episodic, opportunistic and trivial in nature, and either arises out of the spontaneous activities of social groups or is linked to a small number of chronic offenders who account for the bulk of juvenile crime.
• Subtopics could be related with how race and culture play a role in gang violence,role of females in such gangs,how society is responsible for gang violence,government strategies to reduce gang violence etc.
• These topics can be addressed by conducting researches with such communities,working with organizations who help to overcome violence among youth,interacting with the police and government agencies.