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PART ONE
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| Youngster, Gunster Gangster. A Growing Problem In Our Nation. |
An example of a bad group is a band of youth and/or adults who join together to commit crimes or physically fight with other similar groups. This type of group is referred to as a street gang.
BELONGERS ARE EVERYWHERE
Concerned parents don't need to know everything about gangs to be successful in keeping their children out of gangs. The most important thing to know about gangs is that they really do exist. Perhaps the most important statement that can be made about gangs is:
Gangs exist not so much in the eyes of the beholder as in the eyes of the belonger.
Belongers are everywhere. And they are getting younger and younger. Because kids as young as seven are joining gangs, there is a real possibility that your child will eventually meet or interact with gang members attending his or her school. With this in mind, let's look at the four primary types of gangs and why they exist.
THE FOUR PRIMARY TYPES OF GANGS
Drug Gangs.
Although there are some 31,000 street and youth gangs nationwide, there are basically four types of gangs. These four types of gangs are:
1. INNER CITY GANGS.
1. INNER CITY GANGS.
These are the most numerous of the four types of gangs, and they are the ones that receive most of our attention. More often than not, these types of youth and street gangs are involved in some form of criminal or antisocial activity, including drug dealing, robbery, murder, illicit gun sales, vandalism and extortion. There are typically four types of inner city street gangs.
Turf Gangs.
These are inner city gangs which vie, or fight, for territories, of which other gangs are forbidden to enter under threat of bodily harm, including murder. In a real sense, turf gangs are a criminal form of neighborhood watch groups.
Turf Gangs.
These are inner city gangs which vie, or fight, for territories, of which other gangs are forbidden to enter under threat of bodily harm, including murder. In a real sense, turf gangs are a criminal form of neighborhood watch groups.
Drug Gangs.
Because turf gangs grow tired of fighting each other and eventually get bored with scribbling over each other's graffiti -- but mostly because there is much money to be made from dealing drugs -- territorial gangs quickly transform into drug gangs. Drug gangs are the most ruthless, deadly and powerful of all street gangs. They are also the fastest growing group.
Racial Or Ethnic Gangs.
Racial Or Ethnic Gangs.
These are inner city gangs which are formed around one's skin color or ethnic or cultural background. These inner city gangs may also claim territory, but to a smaller degree or size than turf gangs.
Tagbanger, Tag Bragger And Wallbanger Gangs.
Tagbanger, Tag Bragger And Wallbanger Gangs.
These are small- to medium-size groups of "taggers" (kids or young adults who band together in a "crew" for the express purpose of painting gang graffiti), but who are also involved in other forms of criminal behavior, including robbery, extortion and even murder. Tagbangers are gangbangers who like to scribble or "tag brag" their own gang symbols and signs over a rival gang's "can-writing" (graffiti) as a sign of disrespect or turf takeover.
2. SUBURBAN GANGS.
2. SUBURBAN GANGS.
Youth in affluent or middle-class suburban and rural areas start and/or join these copycat versions of inner city gangs as a way to appear novel, cool or hard-core, as a way to protect themselves from other gangs, or as a way to be defiant and rebellious. They may or may not be into drug dealing or the thug life mentality, but they do mimic the behavior of the turf, racial and tagbanger gangs, cliques, sets and posses of the inner city to some degree. Vandalism and tagging (scribbling graffiti on walls, buildings, signs and sidewalks) are two of the more familiar behaviors of suburban gangs.
3. HATE GANGS.
3. HATE GANGS.
In recent years, youth and adult hate gangs have resurfaced in this nation. Skinheads are the best known type of hate gang, and they are usually violent against anyone they choose to hate. Skinheads are not just skinheads anymore. They also wear spiked hairdos, Mohawks or tightly cropped cuts. These types of youth gangs usually spring up when the economy is bad and people are looking for someone to blame, especially those who are of a different race or color. Youth gangs are usually affiliated with adult supremacist groups to some degree.
4. OCCULT OR SATANIC GANGS.
4. OCCULT OR SATANIC GANGS.
These gangs, or groups of individuals, are usually middle- to upper-class kids who become involved with satanic devices and activities and occultic phenomenon associated with death and destruction. Abused youth are the ones most commonly lured into these types of toxic youth gangs. Due to a growing interest in New Age and eastern religions, occultic and satanic gangs are on the increase in this nation.
Parents should not only be concerned that their child might feel pressure to join a street gang; they must also be on the alert and become alarmed if they sense or become aware that their son or daughter is being pressured to join a suburban, hate or occultic/satanic gang as well. The truth is, any of these four primary types of gangs can cause a family -- and other families as well -- much grief, pain, misery and mayhem.
Parents should not only be concerned that their child might feel pressure to join a street gang; they must also be on the alert and become alarmed if they sense or become aware that their son or daughter is being pressured to join a suburban, hate or occultic/satanic gang as well. The truth is, any of these four primary types of gangs can cause a family -- and other families as well -- much grief, pain, misery and mayhem.
**Watch for Part Two of THIS GANG THANG in an upcoming Endless Easter article.This article is excerpted from KEEPING KIDS AWAY FROM DRUGS & OTHER FATAL ATTRACTIONS, a 300-page guidebook by Tom Alexander. A Soul Wars Publication**
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