This study was carried out to investigate the parts played by family unity, self-worth and peer pressure in the involvement of youths in gangs. Findings indicate that although the three factors aforementioned contribute largely to gang involvement, gender and family unity are the only factors that influence gang involvement over time. Males have a higher likelihood to get involved in gangs than females, and greater unity within the family unit was also seen to reduce the likelihood of youths getting involved in gangs. Findings from this study indicate that emphasis on positive relations among peers and increased family interventions have the ability to reduce the involvement of youths in gangs.

Reasons for the Study

According to studies carried over time across the world, gangs mainly comprise of youths and are formed when the members are at a tender age. In the US for instance, it is estimated that there exists close to 30,000 gangs with a total of over 700,000 members. Out of the 700,000 members, around 250,000 are adolescents, meaning that around 30-40% of gang members are adolescents. Many more members continue to get involved in gangs even into their adulthood. Latino’s and Hispanics make up around forty five percent of the gang members; African Americans make up around thirty five percent; Whites make up around twelve percent while seven percent comprises of mixed ethnicities. According to Weerman et al. (2009), gangs are street oriented and durable youth groups whose identity is largely inclined towards illegal activity.

The US and the UK have gangs recruiting members at the earliest ages of between 12 and 18 (Rizzo, 2003). Once these adolescents are recruited, many retain their membership into their twenties and some even into adulthood (Bullock & Tilley, 2002; Shropshire & McFarquhar, 2002). According to researchers and gang members who have openly shared on their gang involvement, the kind of bonding that takes place within a gang acts as a family especially for disadvantaged children who are easily lured into joining the gangs. Immigrants and newcomer youths who face possible cultural, social or economic isolation are also easy targets for gangs. Senior members of gangs are quick to offer, affection, guidance and warmth to new recruits who in many cases lack these from their families or the community around them (New York City Youth Board, 1960).

Witkin (1991), suggests that youths join gangs for a couple of reasons. A low self-esteem and also the need for recognition were however, rated as the top reasons for gang involvement among youths. Older members were also noted to recruit youngsters who would peddle drugs on their behalf since the penalties for such crime tend to be lenient with minors as opposed to adults. According to a study carried out in Wisconsin, all gang leaders interviewed revealed that they had prematurely left school and fighting was cited as the cause for their expulsion from school (Brantley & DiRosa, 1994). Other studies reveal that youths join gangs in order to experience the thrill and power of gang activities and to feel more secure as gangs offer security to their members from other gangs or even arrests by police.

Youths with a low self-esteem caused by peer rejection, family issues or failure in school tend to find self-worth and a new identity by joining gangs. Short and Strodtbeck (1965) are of the opinion that gangs also offer solutions to the troubles that are associated with adolescence. Brantley and DiRosa (1994) also support this and indicate that youths voluntarily join gangs in an effort to satisfy other aspects or needs of their lives not met by their families or those around them.

Majority of those joining gangs have issues such as lack of a caring home environment, lack of a founded family structure, lack of a sense of direction and belonging in life as well as the lack of chances to grow economically. Hence, gangs offer the friendship, protection and identity that families may not always provide to these youths. During their developmental process, youths come close to numerous gang formation dynamics. According to Ponce (1994), youth reaches a certain age where they prefer to bond with peers as compared to adults. This is usually a stage of self-identity and autonomy.

Studies have also revealed that the affiliation of youths to delinquent groups is related to a defect in personal, social and family relationships. This causes the youths to find peers with whom they share similar situations or predicaments and hence offer each other the necessary moral support. However, gangs may be created with different intentions, and this determines the behavior of the gang members; whether they can be violent or not. For example, while some gangs may be formed primarily to fight, some may be formed in order to protect the members from attacks raged by other gangs. Others may be made for the sole purpose of making money. The prevalence of violence largely depends on the gang type and studies reveal that gang involved cases of homicide and violence are more pronounced as compared to the drug menace. According to Lawson, some youths believe that gangs, drugs and guns are the easiest way out of their situations and the means to meet their basic needs and desires.

Study Aims and Objectives

The main objectives of the study were: to establish the effects of family unity on involvement of youths in gangs, to establish how self worth is impacted when youths engage in gang activities and to understand the effects of peer influence on the involvement of youths in gangs.

Methodology

The study involved 343 youths as respondents, and they were from the northern states. Twenty-six percent of the respondents were female while seventy-four were male. Data collection was aided by the use of questionnaires that consisted several questions. These questions were designed to disclose the respondent’s to joining of a gang and are included in the table below.

Descriptive Statistics
		Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
id	343	1	343	172.00	99.160
Age of juvenile	340	11	18	16.37	.989
Sex of juvenile	342	1	2	1.31	.464
Race of Juvenile	339	1	3	1.32	.480
What parents do you live with?	340	1	24	1.73	1.539
How old is your mother?	328	1	3	2.81	.415
How old is your father?	299	0	3	2.88	.370
Did your mother graduate high school?	340	1	3	1.14	.357
Did your father graduate high school?	311	0	2	1.11	.319
Has your mother ever been convicted of a crime?	341	1	2	1.96	.185
Has your father ever been convicted of a crime?	309	0	2	1.92	.285
Does your mother drink alcohol?	341	1	2	1.79	.409
Does your father drink alcohol?	311	0	4	1.66	.500
Does your mother use drugs?	341	1	2	1.97	.169
Does your father use drugs?	311	0	2	1.94	.260
How many brothers and sisters do you have?	338	0	15	1.94	1.801
What type of house do you live in?	340	0	5	1.41	.945
How long have you lived at your current address (in months)	327	1	240	88.77	70.164
How many homes are there in your neighborhood that are boarded up or have broken windows?	328	0	60	.57	3.598
School grade	308	0	12	10.46	1.482
Are you involved in any clubs or sports in school?	337	1	2	1.39	.488
Do you have a curfew at home?	335	1	2	1.24	.427
When are you required to be at home (combinations represent multiple responses)?	266	0	234	20.11	42.208
How many hours a week do you spend with your parents (not counting sleeping)?	280	0	170	21.10	22.480
Do you ever go to church?	335	1	6	1.36	.540
How often have you skipped school?	336	1	7	2.43	1.885
What kind of alcohol have you consumed (combinations represent multiple responses)?	339	1	234	52.09	93.201
How often do you consume any type of alcohol?	203	1	146	4.20	10.248
Have you ever used illegal drugs (combinations represent multiple responses)?	286	1	234678	1855.42	19667.487
How often have you used drugs?	59	1	6	3.49	2.037
Have you ever been in trouble with the law over drugs or alcohol?	280	1	6	1.97	.332
Have you ever been in trouble at school because of drugs or alcohol?	283	1	2	1.97	.176
Have you ever skipped school because you had been drinking or doing drugs?	282	1	2	1.93	.251
Do you think guns are becoming a problem in your neighborhood or school?	284	1	2	1.55	.498
Have you ever seen anyone at your school with a gun?	285	1	2	1.56	.497
Have you ever been in a group where someone was carrying a gun?	282	1	2	1.62	.486
Have you ever carried a gun out with you when you went out at night?	283	1	14	1.89	.807
Do you regularly carry a gun with you?	257	1	2	1.94	.235
Are there people in your neighborhood or school who say they are in a gang?	282	1	2	1.37	.483
Are you in a gang?	275	1	2	1.92	.272
How long (in years) have you been in a gang?	26	0	24	3.88	5.231
Have you ever gotten into a fight with a gang member?	257	0	2	1.77	.428
How many times have you been arrested?	282	0	24	.30	1.567
How many times have you committed a crime but not been caught?	270	0	1000	6.13	62.831
How many times have you been convicted of a crime?	278	0	2	.10	.350
Have any of your arrests involved a firearm?	240	0	2	1.93	.334

Discussions

From the results in the table above the youth captured for the study were in the age bracket of (11-18) majority of them being male, and a small number were female. White youths were in a greater number than the non-white. A large number of the respondents live with both there parents while just a few don’t have parents, are sing parent or stay with their grandparents. A maximum (3) number of the respondent parents are at the age above 40 years while a minimum of them are way below 40 years, and most of their parents graduated from high school. The results show that most of their parents have not been convicted of any crimes.

Most of the respondent’s mothers do not take alcohol, but half of the respondent’s fathers take alcohol this as indicated by the std.dev (.500).The results show that the majority of the parents do not use drugs, and they do have brothers and sisters and they live in a house their neighborhood or home most suggested that they do have, and there are bordered houses with broken windows too.

Most respondents in this study are in the 12^th grade and are involved in clubs and sports activities in school. When they were asked if they have curfews at their neighborhood or home most suggested that they do have, and there are bordered houses with broken windows too. This makes it a requirement to the majority of them to be in the house early. Majority of the respondent spend most of the time with their parents, and they do go to church also they do not skip school.

When respondents were asked the kind of alcohol, they have er drugs. Also, none of them has skipped school due to cases of drugs.

Majority of respondents think that guns are becoming a problem in their neighborhood and school since most indicate that they have seen people with guns, and some have been in groups where people have guns. However, majority of them have never committed a crime nor have they been convicted of a crime. Most of the respondents suggested that there are people in their neighborhood who claim to be members of a gang, but they are not members of any gang. Although there are minority of the respondents who have agreed to have been, at sometime, members of a gang for a period of two years, they have never been into any fight nor been arrested, despite agreeing to the fact that they have committed a crime quite a number of times. Most of them have never been convicted nor involved in firearms arrest.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate that the youth join gangs for several reasons. Some of the main reasons they reported are friends, socialization, protection, and power. The result of this study indicates that the youth join gang to fulfill developmentally appropriate needs that are lacking in the home, at school, or in their communities. Friends give youth a sense of acceptance and belonging. At the same time, a gang becomes a social domain for youth who may be searching for an identity.

Protection and power can be seen as opposite sides of the same coin. The protection the gang affords gives teenagers a sense of security at home, in their schools, and in their communities. They may not otherwise feel safe and protected if they were not in a gang. However, gangs typically provide protection through displays of power. These displays can include violence or threats of violence. Engaging in these types of activities can be very rewarding, particularly for adolescents who have felt downtrodden most of their lives.

In summary, the findings of this study suggest that the youth experience a sense of isolation and discrimination from the larger community. These youths search for friends who understand them and the reality that they face. Hmong youth may also be experiencing a sense of boredom, as well as a sense of hopelessness about the future. Joining a gang increases a youth’s chance to get these needs met and fulfill what is missing in his/her life.

Recommendations

The gang issue is a widespread concern for every community across the United States. For community leaders and professional workers to work toward reducing the youth gang issues, special community resources will need to set aside to address the core issues. The data reveals pattern that these youths lack the necessary community supports and protections they need. Consequently, they feel rejected and isolated from their families and the general population.

To counter this, Programs could be developed within the school system to reduce the attractiveness of gangs. First of all, students need to feel safe at school and the officials need to do all in their power to maximize the subjective feeling of security on the part of the students. This can be accomplished, in part, with a comprehensive conflict resolution program. Such a program must deal promptly and decisively with small difficulties, thereby preventing youth from seeking protection from gangs.

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