Exploring the Challenges of Gang Violence and Membership in the US

Abstract

Institutional Affiliation: Book Report: Gangsta in the House In Gangsta in the House Mike Knox explores various themes associated with gangs in the United States and the challenges faced by members, law enforcement officers, and the community in dealing with gangs. These groups threaten violence to the society and individuals intending leave a gang to pursue their life goals (Knox, 1995). Gangs take advantage of the challenging lives the prospective members encounter to facilitate the recruitment and retention process. According to the author, considering the unifying factors of these gangs could facilitate the measures used by the law enforcement to counter the violence they cause in the community. Additionally, it is critical to consider the unique challenges faced by girls in gangs including gender violence and sexual abuse (Knox, 1995). Mike Knox provides an alternative approach for perceiving gangs and violence that could improve the measures used by law enforcement officers to deal with the violence they cause in the streets in the United States. Gang membership and the associated violence is a challenge for parents, law enforcement, the government, and the community in general. News about the violence is published in the media demonstrating the extent to which individuals have to undergo terror from these gangs. Gangsta in the House describes the challenges associated with dealing with the issue of gangs and their effect on members and the society. When most people hear about gangs and the violence they cause on the streets, their immediate response is to develop a method to end these groups. Some people may suggest the need to jail or kill all members associated with gangs as the only solution. Knox presents an approach to view and deal with gangs based on the experiences and the perspectives of the children involved in these activities. As the community or police officers investigating gangs, it is easy to fail to focus on the issues increasing the likelihood of children joining these groups. Frustrations associated with failure in school and the inability to connect with adults at home is a key factor affecting the membership of children into gangs (Knox, 1995). When students have challenges succeeding in activities that other people view as normal, they establish their own fantasies that turn failure into successes. For instance, gang members view themselves as brave for skipping classes since they were unable to achieve their goals in other academic measures. The perception that lack of fear is success is the result of lacking connections with adults and other children at school. Knox describes the process of recruiting and retaining members in gangs which makes it challenging for the community to intervene. In particular, the author describes the three lies and a myth that increases the membership of these groups and retains the children for as long as possible. The recruitment and retention process draws from the fear of children and provides the members with alternatives of love and care they may appear to lack from home and school. The first lie is that gangs provide the members with protection on the streets. Enlisted members are informed that they need to belong to a gang to be safe on the streets filled with violence. These gangs use the violence they cause as examples of incidents where the potential members would require protection (Knox, 1995). Secondly, the author describes that the members will be respected by other people on the streets once they belong to their gang. Another lie told to potential members is that the gangs will become their family and that they will have fun together with the other members (Knox, 1995). Such lies enable the members to recruit children who may be exposed to certain fears, emotional distress, and lack of support from their family and friends. The myth that members of gangs cannot leave keeps children dependent on these groups for long periods of time without the option of leaving. For law enforcement officers to deal with the problem of gangs in the United States, they have to understand these...