Gang Homicides:Gang activity has been kept separate from other types of violence because of the underlying reasons behind the violence,
Gang activity has been kept separate from other types of violence because of the underlying reasons behind the violence, which is often revenge or illegal activities. Gangs in the United States have been around since the 1800s, especially in places like New York City, where poor European immigrant kids sought to both protect themselves and find ways to make money (for example, the 5 Point Gang, an Irish gang in the 1820s). There were nativist anti-immigrant gangs in New York as well, like the Bowery Boys. Many of these gang members had working class or day labor jobs (Howell, 2015). European immigrants were the main population from which gangs drew their members through the 1950s, although Hispanic and black gangs began to appear as well. While gang fights and violence were part of the gang narrative of this time, the use of lethal violence was limited by the types of weapons available.
The number of non-white gangs began to increase after World War II, with an increase in public housing, a continuation of segregated communities, and decreasing economic opportunities in cities. By the 1980s, the predominant gang composition was non-white (Howell, 2015). Starting in the 1970s, the formation of the Bloods and Crips in the Los Angeles area became a major turning point for lethal violence among gangs as local street gangs joined together under federated alliances to increase resources and opportunities for members. Starting in the 1980s, the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs brought gang violence, and crime in general, to a critical point (Howell, 2015). Gangs consisting of more diverse immigrant populations from Central and South America have also become commonplace, with gangs like MS-13 making national news as part of a renewed narrative about “bad immigrants.”
The National Gang Center (2012) estimates around 31,000 gangs exist in the United States, with two thirds in large cities or suburban areas. Gang-related homicides account for around 13 percent of all U.S. homicides. Peaking in the early 1990s with the drug wars, gang violence has remained a significant cause of victimization for U.S. urban centers. The rate is often higher for major cities with high concentrations of gang members, such as Los Angeles, where 58 percent of all homicides in 2006 were gang-related (Murr, 2007). Many police departments in urban areas cite the same three things as leading to the trends in gang homicides and the increased rate of homicides in these areas: violence associated with the drug trade, the sheer number of guns in the United States, and violence and retaliation that is associated with gang membership (Sanburn & Johnson, 2017). Some cities, such as Dallas, San Jose, Phoenix, St. Louis, and Memphis, are seeing jumps in their gang-related homicides.
Much of the increase in homicides in the 1980s and 1990s had to do with the increase in gang violence, both in Chicago as well as across the United States. This violence is directly tied to the War on Drugs and the crack epidemic. Image: Homicide rate in Chicago 1870 to 2015. Authored by: Delphi234. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Homicide_Rate.svg#/media/ File:Chicago_Homicides_each_Year.svg. License: CC-0
The majority of gang victims mirror the U.S. gang populations: they are primarily young, minority males living in poor communities in urban areas, meaning that gang violence is disproportionately impacting communities of color, especially black and Hispanic, but also Asian Americans and Native Americans. In addition to street violence, concern is also growing about the connections between social media and gang violence. Recent research by Patton, Rambow, Auerbach, Li, and Frey (2018) shows that not only are gangs impacting the lives of community members, but there is also now a growing connection between social-media threats and real-life threats by gang members toward both other gang members and community members.
Gang violence continues to be a significant problem in large and medium-size cities, where high rates of poverty and disenfranchisement create opportunities for gangs to recruit young members. Often gangs require new members to commit an act of violence (called “blood in”), often against rival gang members. This increases the potential for gang members to become victims as well as perpetrators. Image: An MS-13 suspect bearing gang tattoos is handcuffed. Authored by: FBI. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marasalvatrucha13arrest.png. License: CC-0
Of course, gangs are the symptom of underlying problems of long histories of poverty, racial segregation policies, and neglected communities in which good-paying jobs are hard to come by, especially for those with only a high school education or less. Many programs that are seeking to stop gang violence are working to combat these issues, as well as prevent gang membership. Because victims are often also gang members and their families, targeting the root cause of gang violence is an important and growing strategy to prevent victimization.
Communities are trying to assist gang victims and their families in creative ways. Wayfair, a program that was started in Los Angeles, was developed to help families of victims throughout the entire recovery process. They help provide mental health and grief counseling and help with funeral expenses, relocation costs, and serve as victims advocates throughout court proceedings. The goal of Wayfair, and programs like it, is to assist the families and develop relationships with relatives and community members that can help catch and convict perpetrators (Salazar, 2017).