What do we know about turf wars? Gangs in the inter-city back in
the 1900's were growing rapidly according to Frederic Thrasher who published
"The Gang" discovering 1313 gangs in 1927. Gangs definitely attribute
to the chaos that goes on in the inner city making it harder for any government
or state financial benefits to act upon the poor and the unsafe environment.
Now what if there wasn't gang violence in the inner city of Chicago? Crime
rates would definitely decrease, but would poverty in these urban areas change
at all? I would have to say they would. Gangs are a bad influence on many young
teens and adults due to unemployment and poverty, gangs will continue to become
part of the problem because the members of these gangs don't know any better,
have no other way to make a living, and recruit others that are living in the
same poor conditions they are making becoming a gang member in these
communities is almost a routine because it’s the only way they know how to
survive. This comes from the lack of resources that can be obtained by the
people within these poor urban areas. Residential segregation also becomes part of
the problem for the gang violence that goes on in the inner city. By putting a
specific group of people in one area and cutting of their resources to survive
doesn’t foreshadow violence, then I don’t know what doesn’t foreshadow
violence. Residential segregation is “the concentration of ethnic,
national-origin, or socioeconomic groups in particular neighborhoods of a city
or metropolitan area—is widely perceived as the antithesis of successful
immigrant integration.” This idea has been affecting people all over the
metropolitan area and is still affecting people to this day. Turf wars is when “the
great majority of gang homicides involve a firearm and took place in public
suggests that inter-gang conflict and retaliation (perhaps territory disputes,
personal beefs or just defending reputations) as the main causes of killings.”
References:
Great blog Shawn! I totally agree with your blog. I used to live in a neighborhood infested by gangs (one of them being the Latin Kings which appears on the map.) I agree with gangs being the only way some people can achieve income specially when they are young. I have many friends who are in gangs and many who have left that lifestyle and when asked why they joined they would always say that it was a way to make money quick and easy and that they already knew people in the gang so it made it easier to join. One of my best childhood friends is also in prison now for attempted murder as another gang killed one of his guys so they had to retaliate. I have noticed though that more and more kids who live in these neighborhoods are starting to go to college as most of my friends whom went to high school with me are either in community college or a four year university. Even though I see this happening I do not believe gangs will die out as long as there is inequality in such neighborhoods.
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