Pre-Writing #1

Question: Why do people join street gangs?

First and foremost what is a street gang? The answer to the question is, an street gang is basically a group of individuals who perform violent acts together and claim their community as their "territory." They also have this known leadership and internal organization. Gangs in general have been around for centuries, dating back all the way to the 1700s, but the seriousness of gangs didn't get real until the 19th century. Street gangs primarily originate in large cities and urban areas. According to Wikipedia and The United States Department of Justice approximately 30,000 gangs, with 760,000 members, impacting 2,500 communities. They also found 4 main reasons why people join gangs.

One reason people join gangs is a desire for money, and gangs are a huge source of money. Most of their money comes from drug trade/trafficking. Selling drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, etc. Also from other illegal activities such as robbery, and profiting off their territory.

Another reason is for protection,because many of these individuals don't love in the best of neighborhoods. They are constantly pressured by this "if you can't beat them, join them" phrase. Once someone joins a gang they become apart of this "brotherhood",and has brothers the will protect one another.

There are other reasons why people join gangs, but those are the main two reasons. Overall people join gangs because they have a low level of those four factors I mentioned before. Also joining a gang could be apart of the "growing up" process, because that individual is surrounded by people they can relate, and been through their same struggle.