STREET GANGS A Growing World Plague LAS BANDAS CALLEJERAS Epidemia que Asola al Mundo

A Growing World Plague LAS BANDAS CALLEJERAS Epidemia que Asola al Mundo

Why do so many youngsters join gangs? A que se debe que tantos jovenes se unan a las pandillas? Why is it so hard to get out of a gang? Porque es tan dificil dejarlas? How can you protect your children from them? Como puede proteger a sus hijos?

What is a Gang? The slang term “gang” has been fearfully and romantically used to indicate a group or band of persons bonded together because of common emotional and social needs, whose behavior is antisocial and criminal. Are groups of people who interact among themselves to the exclusion of other groups.

Structural Characteristics: Claim a neighborhood or other territory. Engage in antisocial behavior on a regular basis. Thrive on Membership, Codes and Loyalty (Gang is more important than anything) is Mandatory. Member are typically young teenager of similar ethnic or racial backgrounds. They have a Group Name.

Why do so many youngsters join gangs? Needs not being met. Provide Youth with a sense of family. Acceptance. Maintaining strong ethnic identity. Lack of parental supervision or breakdown of family units. Lack of educational opportunities. Poverty

Four factors are primary in the formation of Juvenile Gangs

First: Youth experience a sense of alienation and powerlessness because of a lack of traditional support structures, such as family and school. This can lead to feelings of frustration and anger, and a desire to obtain support outside of traditional institutions.

Second: Gang membership gives youth a sense of belonging and becomes a major source of identity for its members. In turn, gang membership affords youth a sense of power and control, and gang activities become an outlet for their anger.

Third: The control of territory is essential to the well-being of the gang, which often will use force to control both its territory and members.

Fourth: Recruitment of new members and expansion of territory are essential if a gang is to remain “STRONG” and “POWERFUL”. Both “willing” and “unwilling” members are drawn into gangs to feed the need for more resources and gang members.

Why is so hard to get out of Gang? Members have to undergo a violent beating by several members before they are permitted to leave a gang alive. Some may actually had to suffer being shot. If they survived, they were permitted to leave!

What can we do about Gangs? Acknowledge the problem. Assess the problem. Understand it. Establish cooperative relations between schools, police, media, churches, and community organizations. Act on the problem. Involve parents and neighbors.

How can you protect your children from gangs? Talk with them. Listen to them. Hug them. Be sure they know that they are very important to us. Teach them good things such as honesty, to be helpful, how to have a good life and how to be kind to others.

Let your children know that they can come to you at any time with any problem. Support your children by getting acquainted with their teachers and friends. Do not resolve problems by yelling or using violence. Be the family that they are looking for outside the home. Love them. Provide what they need.

For more information, please contact: STAR Program(Services to at Risk Families) 804 S. Main St Loop 256 Jacksonville, TXPalestine, TX (903) (903) Or Visit us at: Link to STAR Program Brought to you by: Universal Prevention Program Crisis Hot Line: Around the clock services In Spanish and English Funded by Department of Family Protective Services