Gangs, Violence and Crime

Gangs, Violence, and Crime

The origin of gangs in the United States dates back as early as the late eighteenth century (Lewis, 1). They thrived in large cities during the Industrial Era due to the immigration and population shifts of the era, which brought a rush of poor people living in poor conditions. Gangs become more regular when such factors as new immigration, poor living conditions, and greater availability of addictive drugs are present.

Criminal gangs flourished in a society burdened with heavy taxes, and poor living conditions (Lewis, 2). Sick of poverty, gangs began to commit crimes such as robbery and smuggling. By 1791, the government of Philadelphia recognized that the criminal gang circles were dangerous to the public good and welfare, and thus called a meeting to address the predicament (Lewis, 2). This social problem affected people of all age groups. For example, the Forty Thieves Gang thrived in New York and soon created the Little Forty Thieves Gang that consisted of children as old as ten. By 1825, the government of New York recognized their own problems with criminal gangs, and the rising murder and other crime rates (Lewis, 2). Soon, the federal government of the United States began to realize that criminal effects of gangs were not confined to their local states; they became a national problem.

The problems associated with immigration induced many new immigrants to the United States to assemble themselves into gangs. Forced to flee their homelands due to reasons such as war, poverty, and depression, many immigrants came to America in search for a new life (Lewis, 1). However, the process of assimilation and adjustment was very difficult, and poverty and lack of opportunity caused many new immigrants to turn to crime in order to survive in their new country. The immigrants who did not succeed in making a new life organized themselves into gangs and began committing crimes to support their families or to feel a sense of community in a new and strange land. An example of an organized gang made up of particular demographic immigrants would be the Irish gangs of New York. Forced to leave Ireland because of the potato famine, many Irish immigrants came to America to seek a better life for themselves and their families. While the successful immigrants lived a happy new life, the unsuccessful ones organized themselves into gangs such as the Roach Guards and Dead Rabbits (Lewis, 2). Immigration thus greatly affected the growth of gangs in America, by supplying such groups with a steady supply of new and struggling members.

Gangs started trafficking in drugs by the end of the American Civil War (Lewis, 3). Soldiers who were wounded in the war came back home addicted to morphine, a drug that acts as a painkiller. Gangs began to use other drugs such as laudanum and cocaine (Lewis, 3). Cocaine was, and still is, very addictive, while laudanum, an opium-based drug, became very popular among the Chinese gangs. The original use of laudanum was to stop headaches, toothaches, depression, as well as other ailments. Gangs began to misuse laudanum as knockout drops to make criminal activities such as theft or murder easier to accomplish quickly and quietly. They also used this drug to get high themselves; and therefore, drugs began to dominate gang life.

Gangs of the modern era owe their structure and present conditions to the gangs of the past. Large cities, which had the state of poverty, discrimination, and hopelessness, were home to many gangs. Such conditions have never fully been eradicated in the modern era. Therefore, in many large cities where the living conditions are poor and where there are large groups of struggling immigrants and a highly profitable trade in addictive drugs, gangs will always flourish.

Solutions to the Gang Problems of the United States

In the last century, there have been many legislative and social attempts to resolve the problem of gang-related criminal activity. Some of the proposed solutions were effective, whereas others created more social problems on top of the underlying condition. There were two coexisting efforts to address the same problem: those members of the affected communities at the local level, and the state and federal police and legislature at the governmental level. Efforts by both the general society and the greater government led to the recognition of gangs and their influence on society, and the increase in the output of law enforcement, and the establishment of immigration laws.

Because gang activity increased due to the increased immigration of poor and rebellious people into poverty-stricken communities, one of the proposed solutions to the resulting gang problems was the establishment of immigration laws. It was deemed necessary to secure the border into the United States. However, the creation of these immigration laws would stir up another social problem, illegal immigration, leading to the creation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Department of Homeland Security (previously, the Immigration and Natural Services, or INS) (Mandelblit). ICE would design Operation Community Shield to arrest, imprison, and deport gang members. The local affected communities generally supported ICE's operation, and ICE continues to dismantle gang organizations by targeting its members and leaders (Mandelblit).

By recognizing that gangs exist in America, the local communities have come up with many community-based responses to gang influence and culture. Gangs OR Us, a program honored by the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, was designed to provide an average person with the basic knowledge they need to recognize gang activity in their community (Walker). Society and the government of the United States support this program. The program is designed to try to keep young people out of gangs and to provide them with other alternatives and social support (Walker).

The United States government developed another solution to gang violence and criminal activity. The government would aid the over-burdened local and state police by increasing the federal regulation of gang-related activity. Although this solution seems simple it was highly effective, as the possession and sale of drugs became federal offenses, as well as other gang-related criminal activity such as certain types of gun and drug possession. However, some state and local police powers would argue that the federal government has gone too far in its regulation by violating the Fourth Amendment (Dangerous). Schools were given the right to drug test students (Dangerous). Also, there are many activists who believe that the drug laws are too harsh, particularly with respect to the zero-tolerance policy in federally subsidized housing, which is often deployed to evict