GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS

Gang Mental Illness Versus Dropouts

Your Name Here

e3 Civic High

Mental health is a big concern in the United States, and it is a contributing factor to both

gangs, and school dropouts. The common mental health issues in gang members are fairly
GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS
2

similar to the typical mental health problems in high school dropouts. Many separate prior

studies have shown the similarities. However, dropouts and gang activity could be minimized by

adding mental support, and stimulation inside and outside of classes. The main challenge is that

focus is not placed enough on counseling. It is rehabilitation based instead of preventative.

Problems should be solved before they become prevalent, and problems can only be caught that

early if kids are monitored. Mental health issues are the main contributors to the biggest

problems facing U.S. teens; gangs and dropping out of highschool. High school aged kids need

to be occupied mentally and physically during school and after school. The safety and success of

the younger generation depends on the way that schools handle mental illness now.

Method

Researching this topic showed that there was a lot of interest in causes of high school

dropouts, and why teens join gangs, but relatively few that put the two together. The research

done was mostly secondary, with a few primary sources. The study on psychnews was done with

male British gang members, and psychnews asked questions about their mental state and their

usage of psychological support. The site that gave the most diverse information, was

betterhighschools.com, which was all secondary research, from different places, but the

information was brought together by a student at National High School Center at AIR. The next

study analyzed by Catharine Paddock was done with 108 gang members, and turned up

disturbing amounts of substance abuse in gangs. Psychcentral analyzed some data and it

showed that gang members had high mental illness rates, a fact that all sites spoke about. PBS

was able to gather data about the financial implications of finishing high school versus not, and

show the difference in the two lives.

Results
GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS
3

These studies show that there are some similarities between high school dropouts and

gang members. Men in gangs, show very high rates of mental illness and psychiatric

utilization... (Moran) which means that many men who are in gangs have problems with

keeping a normal, stable mental state. All studies on gang members had similar results, in

conjunction with other drug and social problems, however, an estimated 30% to 40% of female

high school dropouts are because of teen pregnancy. In gang members, in a survey of, 108 gang

members, over half were drug dependent, two-thirds were alcohol dependent and over 85% had

an antisocial personality disorder. (Paddock, 2013). Antisocial personality disorder is when a

person has, no regard for right and wrong and often disregards the rights, wishes and feelings of

others (mayoclinic, 2013). Antisocial personality disorder is common amongst both gang

members and high school dropouts.

During the 2004- 2005 school year, nearly half of students struggling with an emotional

disorder dropped out of high school. One could wonder about just how many teens have

experienced something like depression, More than 20% of youth ages 1217 who were

identified as having experienced a major depressive episode in 2007 (Gourley, 2009).

Antisocial personality disorder (which is also somewhat common in high school dropouts) is also

an emotional disorder, so those gang members were also 45% more likely to drop out of high

school. There is a definite need for increased and improved mental health service funding in the

United States.

However, for the 2002- 2003 school year, schools had a 70% increase in need for mental

health services, and no additions funding wise. Added funding would obviously be appreciated

by these future productive citizens, which betterhighschools.org makes this point well by saying,

School nurses spend 33% of their time provididng mental health services. (Gourley, 2009).
GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS
4

School nurses should be able to deal with the injuries and sick kids and added counselors and

mental support staff should be added to schools, to monitor and ensure that kids who need mental

support are getting what they need. By simply reaching teens with mental illnesses, gang

numbers could reduce as well as the percent of kids dropping out. Cdc.com says, doctors and

educators should work together to help reduce dropouts. (Paddock, 2013) reducing dropouts

would also show reduced gang activity, and it would help communities, like San Diego, curtail

the two biggest hurdles between high school students and high school graduates. One of the

most striking statistics found was in a study by Northeastern University, which said a high school

dropout (between 16 and 24) is about 63 times more likely to end up in jail. This is not related to

the actual act of dropping out, but is rather another showing of character by that person. In

addition, the National Gang Crime Research Center writes, In Illinois, approximately 80 to 90

percent of the inmates coming into the prison system were gang members on the streets. (Knox,

2012), and that means only about 10% to 20% of new arrests that go to jail have gang

affiliations.

Discussion

Prior studies done about minimizing gang member numbers and school dropouts have

been right, these are deeper problems than simply behavior. The main thing that all this research

seems to point to is that a person may join a gang and commit a crime, but going to jail will not

prevent future crimes, because there is an underlying problem that will not be fixed without

counseling and work on the actual cause of the crime; mental illness. Similarly, the most major

factor in someone who drops out of high school going to prison later is not that they are a worse

person, it is just two different examples of that persons character, which likely has some

underlying mental illness woven in. Of course the easiest and yet seemingly the least likely to be
GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS
5

implemented solution is to start early. Most conditions can be detected when a child is in

elementary school, before it becomes prevalent. If the condition is found before the child starts

to really act on it, or they start to stand out from other kids in a negative way, they can be helped,

much more easily than if it is caught in a rebellious, uncontrollable teen. Betterhighschools.com

says, In 20042005, 45% of students with an emotional disorder dropped out of high school

(Gourley, 2009) meaning that only a little bit over half of the students with an emotional problem

were able to stay in school, and as stated above, a dropout is 63 times more likely to go to jail,

these people are far less likely to be successful, and that is a crime commited by the United

States education system, against students with mental health problems. There is no better way to

solve both problems which lead youth to failure.

Counseling, monitoring, and therapy is not without faults, may kids who do not need it

would waste their time and funding, and some people could see it as an invasion of privacy. But

it would be easy enough to allow families to opt out, and it would not be very invasive to talk to

every student once or twice per year to check their mental stability. To break the loop of

mentally ill teens going to jail, educators and doctors need to acknowledge that students become

gang members and high school dropouts because of their problems that existed prior to doing

these thing.

To conclude, the problem facing youth today is the school to prison pipeline. The

middlemen in this epidemic, are more often than not gangs and dropping out. The schools push

kids with even the slightest mental problem away, causing kids to join a gang to get the support

that they do not have at school and may not have at home. Schools need to take action to stop

the school to prison pipeline, and ensure that this generation and all future generations get a good

education, but not at the cost of their life long success.

GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS
6

References

Antisocial personality disorder. (2013, April 12). Retrieved November 27, 2014.

Breslow, J. (2012, September 21). Dropping Out of High School. Retrieved November 29,

2014.

Freudenberg, N. (2007, October 1). Reframing School Dropout as a Public Health Issue.

Retrieved November 27, 2014.

Gourley, B. (2009, July 1). Mental Health and Dropping Out. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
GANG MENTAL ILLNESS VERSUS DROPOUTS
7

Knox, G. (2012, January 1). American Prisons Today. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

Moran, M. (n.d.). High Rates of Mental Illness Associated With Gang Membership. Retrieved

November 28, 2014.

Paddock, C. (2013, July 12). Gang Memberships Tied to Mental Health Problems. Retrieved

November 28, 2014.

Wood, J. (2013, July 13). Study Finds Gang Members Suffer High Levels of Mental Illness.

Retrieved November 30, 2014.