The Psychology Behind Gangs Pt.1
About 5750 people (mostly children and teens) were killed in the Los Angeles County alone in the past ten years. Gangs have reported to recruiting members as young as eleven. I was interested in looking into what psychologically drives someone to feel the need to join a gang. By looking into the reasonings behind gangs, I feel that is the first step in minimizing gang violence and eventually ending gang mentality completely.
The idea that gangs act as a sort of surrogate family for young adults has been a big topic of discussion. They also provide a sense of power, control, and prestige. Joe Killian, a writer for the News and Record interviewed 40 gang members who reported feeling as if their gang members were family and that everyone took care of each other. People who may not have had a stable family growing up might be interested in joining a gang to feel that sense of belonging and security. Many of the gang members mentioned how it made them feel like they were not alone in the world. This psychological theory, known as “the need to belong”, talks about how people’s sense of belonging is a fundamental human need.
Gangs are also glamorized in pop culture and media with many famous rappers such as 50 Cent and Tupac rapping about the money, girls, power, and fun being part of a gang is. This portrayal of gang life causes young adults to craze that sort of “rags to riches” lifestyle, especially if they are living in poverty or do not have activities to keep them busy. And if many members are recruited as young as eleven, their brains are not even close to being fully developed and lack the maturity to make logical decisions. Many kids may not understand how violent being part of a gang is and once you are in, it is extremely hard and dangerous to leave. Around the age of 11 kids undergo what is known as Adolescent Egocentrism where they as if everyone around them is judging them and caring intensely about how they look and act. If a kid is living around others who may be members of gangs, they may feel this psychological pull to join one also so others will not judge them or look down on them.
Most people greatly dislike gangs and the violence that comes with them, but by taking a look at the psychology behind gangs, it changes our perspective on the motivations behind joining. Especially at a young age, and living in an environment that is not loving or supportive, it is easy to feel lost and alone and for some, joining a gang may be there any way of feeling like they have a real “family”.
The idea that gangs act as a sort of surrogate family for young adults has been a big topic of discussion. They also provide a sense of power, control, and prestige. Joe Killian, a writer for the News and Record interviewed 40 gang members who reported feeling as if their gang members were family and that everyone took care of each other. People who may not have had a stable family growing up might be interested in joining a gang to feel that sense of belonging and security. Many of the gang members mentioned how it made them feel like they were not alone in the world. This psychological theory, known as “the need to belong”, talks about how people’s sense of belonging is a fundamental human need.
Gangs are also glamorized in pop culture and media with many famous rappers such as 50 Cent and Tupac rapping about the money, girls, power, and fun being part of a gang is. This portrayal of gang life causes young adults to craze that sort of “rags to riches” lifestyle, especially if they are living in poverty or do not have activities to keep them busy. And if many members are recruited as young as eleven, their brains are not even close to being fully developed and lack the maturity to make logical decisions. Many kids may not understand how violent being part of a gang is and once you are in, it is extremely hard and dangerous to leave. Around the age of 11 kids undergo what is known as Adolescent Egocentrism where they as if everyone around them is judging them and caring intensely about how they look and act. If a kid is living around others who may be members of gangs, they may feel this psychological pull to join one also so others will not judge them or look down on them.
Most people greatly dislike gangs and the violence that comes with them, but by taking a look at the psychology behind gangs, it changes our perspective on the motivations behind joining. Especially at a young age, and living in an environment that is not loving or supportive, it is easy to feel lost and alone and for some, joining a gang may be there any way of feeling like they have a real “family”.
I think the most interesting thing to consider is that the concentration of gangs is in areas that have much less fortunate living circumstances. For example, we do not see any "Gang members" on the streets here in the Los Altos- Los Altos Hills area, but if we simply travel towards the city of Mountain View you will begin to see a slight change in the street culture, gangs being one. Especially on the outer skirts of Mountain View in places with government assisted living is where they can mostly be found, in this case as you mentioned the "Rags to riches" concept they are driven by the poverty they see their family living in and develop this mindset that they can somehow get their family out of this by either selling drugs, and completing other duties that should not be done especially at the young age the majority of them are.
ReplyDelete