Moises Gutierrez

ENG 114B

Professor Turner

May 21, 2017

Institutions

Gangs exist around the world, but here in the United States they are a major problem;

more specifically in the Los Angeles area where this type of institution begins to affect the local

community socially and economically. In Los Angeles, gangs have been increasing a vast

amount. Gangs are an organized group of criminals, meaning that the objective of a gang is

nothing but negative. Here in California, specifically speaking about the Los Angeles County

which by the way is the gang capital of the nation according to www.lapdonline.org. , there are

almost 50,000 active gang member and about 500 gangs in Los Angeles alone. This institution is

negative because to an extent, it affects the people within the community and it affects the

economy of the state.

In Los Angeles the so called gangs started to form around the 1920s with Hispanics and

African Americans being the main contributors of gang formation. Hispanic gangs formed in

order to have unity within their community or their barrio. It was not until the 1980s when

gangs that incited violence and that is when the white, and Asian gangs formed.

Los Angeles is notably one of the largest cities in the country, meaning that it is more

prone to gangs since Los Angeles is one of the biggest cities in the country. With gangs

increasing there will be an increase in violence that will affect the people that live within the
community. According to www.lapdonline.org, During the last three years, there were over

16,398 verified violent gang crimes in the City of Los Angeles. These crimes include 491

homicides, nearly 7,047 felony assaults, approximately 5,518 robberies and just under 98 rapes.

These are just the crimes that get confirmed that it was due to gang violence, but there are crimes

that go unnoticed and are not reported that they are due to gang violence.

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, I came to realize that gang violence was a

reality. I have had experiences in which gang violence is present within my community. Within

the community I live in three large gangs are separated by three cities that are closely related to

each other. These three cities are San Fernando, Sylmar, and Pacoima. These gang are well

known by the people because teenagers or people in their early to mid-twenties are who form

these gangs nowadays. Some of my friends have fallen victim to this gang epidemic and it is sad

to see that the life they could have chosen would have been way better had they not joined a

gang in the first place.

Moreover, gangs affect not only one person, but the community as well. Gangs and gang

violence affect the people closest to the member of the gang. I have had friends that have passed

away because of gang violence. More specifically, I had a really close friend that I had played

soccer with and had known for a long time and he fell victim to a gang; he became a member of

the gang in Pacoima. He was a very calm and cool human being that liked to have fun when he

was younger, but as he grew older he got involved with the wrong crowd and was influenced by

his older brother to be in a gang since he was in one. Recently he got shot in the stomach once

and could have died but luckily survived. My friend was shot because he was part of a rival gang

of the gang that shot him.

 Additionally, my friend had another incident where his house was shot at because the

gang knew where he lived. This caused him to move and live in Mexico in search of a better life.

The irony is that many come here to America in search of a better life, but my friend left due to

the gang violence he was experiencing here. I cannot even imagine how his mom felt knowing

that her son was being searched and sought after by other gangs and getting shot at because he

was part of a gang.

Additionally, gangs affect not only the person involved in the gang. Parents get scared

because kids can grow up to hang out with the wrong crowd and this should not be happening in

society. Parents should not have fear that their kids will grow up to become shooters in gangs or

people who steal in gangs. I say this because I was surrounded by this epidemic and I never got

the point of joining a gang because in the end what are you really representing? Just a piece of

land that is not even yours in the first place because it belongs to the city.

Furthermore, gangs affect society because the people in the society are the ones who end

up paying the price literally of gangs. According to Legislative Analysts Office, the cost to

incarcerate an inmate in California is roughly 71,000 dollars. People who pay taxes suffer

because the people are who pay to keep people in jail. This is the truth about society and it

should stop because why do the people have to pay for something that they do not even incite to?

At least all that money people pay to keep someone in jail should go towards something different

that will help individuals such as education.

Since gangs are growing, that means the number of crimes will go up and the number of

people in jail will too. According to the U.S. department of Education, the U.S. holds 5% of the

United Sates population but 20% of the worlds incarcerated population. That is insane because

that means that there is a vast amount of people in jail.

 In a similar way,this also ties in with the documentary 13th because it demonstrates how

African Americans are discriminated and put to jail due to their skin color. For the most part this

might seem true but there are gangs that are predominantly African Americans. For example, the

Piru Bloods and the Compton Crips are two gang that formed in Los Angeles and are responsible

for the crimes that occur in the Los Angeles County. The documentary exemplifies how officers

target African American youth because of the area they live in. Police officers knowingly enter

what are considered to be bad neighborhoods and make their arrest knowing that at least one

person in this area will have committed some type of crime.

Additionally, the United States knows and understands that institutions such as gangs are

negative. Policies are constructed in order to help, however, they only target specific races. This

can be seen through the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. These two

presidents administrations called for a war on drugs. This war on drugs was not directly aimed

at minority groups, but the policies vastly affected these groups the most. During this time there

was more arrests and the incarceration rate skyrocketed. This is directly influenced by gangs and

gang violence, because as previously stated, police officers would enter neighborhoods in which

they knew they would fine some type of crime. By entering neighborhoods that were typically

dominated by minority groups and gangs, officers were sure to make arrests.

Furthermore, due to this sudden rate of mass incarceration, minorities began to be

stereotyped as criminals. Gangs had already given them this name, however, the policies during

the Nixon and Regan eras further added to this. During this time, more people were being

incarcerated for very insignificant crimes that would then allow the officer to arrest him for more

than the original crime. The fact that gangs also existed during this time, added to the realities of

these administrations. Due to the fact that gangs were alive and running, gave reason for the
United States government to institute policies that seemed to be free of race and color, but

greatly affected minority groups.

During this time, there were harsher jail sentences and government housing became

harder to get due to the fact that one was not allowed to have been arrested or been convicted of

a crime. In a sense, gangs provided for the racism that felt amongst minority groups because they

were a prime target for incarceration due to what these gangs meant and stood for. Gangs aided

in negatively affecting not just their local area, but the nation.

In addition, due to the mass incarceration that gang violence helped caused, more and

more people were left on the street without homes and without a way to help their families. In a

sense, the government contributed to the creations in gangs in the same way that gangs aided in

mass incarceration. The government at the time was so intent on cleaning up America that they

failed to help America stay clean. These policies got gang members off the street and into jail,

but when these gang members had completed their sentence, there were no options and choices

for them. There was no way for them to get a job, apply for government housing, or support their

families with a criminal record on them. The government, instead of forming ways in which they

could help these gang members adjust to society after jail, they continued to form ways that they

could get gangs and drugs off the street.

Furthermore, the fact that the United States government was so persistent on

incarcerating people at this time instead of helping their people, increased the number of gangs

and crime. As mentioned, gang members being released from prison had no options. A way for

them to get and make money would to go back to the thing that got them in jail in the first place;

they went back to gang banging. There was no option but to do this because the way in which

America was structured, they wanted criminals to be put away and put away for good. They did
not want to aid people and help them get back on their feet so that they would not fall victim to

gangs once again.

Although some may say that gangs are created to form a brotherhood and love that one

might be missing in their life, it does not justify for the reasons as to why there is crime involved

in gangs. Yes people might be living without the love of their parents and find a gang as an

alternative but there are other resources that can benefit ones life instead of something that

damages it. That is crazy to think of because nowadays gangs are recruiting younger people

because they know a teen is willing to be more loyal than an adult. Teens do not think clearly and

they would do whatever a gang tells them to do like kill someone or a different kind of

delinquency.

Government was not trying their best for helping those who were incarcerated due to

gang violence so other people took matter into their own hands. People are making an effort into

trying to help those who are in gangs because they know that gangs are not a bright road to take.

Artists such Kendrick Lamar have aided into helping those who are in gangs and trying to unite

them. For example the music Kendrick makes is so mainstream that even gangs find him

influential. Kendrick talks about topics that other people would not talk about because it is very

risky. Gangs respect what he does and try to unite one another. I am not saying that gangs are

going to end because it is such a mass institution that it will take years for an institution like this

to decrease, but it is a way to make it seem as though they are not so bad and that it is society

who depicts them as bad due to their history. Other resources such as Homeboy Industries have

advocated for helping those who have suffered due to gang violence. The person in charge was

an ex-gang member and now he helps those who are taking the wrong path like he did and tries

to help them get a better lifestyle.

 Gangs have been around for many years and now more than ever there is a vast

amount of gangs in the United States. In the Los Angeles County gangs have has a negative

effect in society and its community. Overall gangs will not stop but there is ways in which people

can try to go another path and not follow the path of a gang member. If we all try to help those

who are stuck in this epidemic just like Kendrick Lamar and Homeboy industries then we can all

help gangs deter from violence.