Organized Crime and Street Gangs

Organized Crime And street gangs

Abstract

Gangs and Organized Crime in the United States is on the rise. With the increase in turf wars, position and the financial gains, gang wars and Organized Crime are linked together in many ways. Within this paper, I will show how they are all tied together in. The M-13’s are the largest reported gang controlling large areas of our states. However, the main area to which the MS-13’s control is within our own capital, Washington D.C. Their leaders instruct all the gangs from inside El Salvador. I will discuss other gangs, and their ties into Organized Crime.

Introduction

The paper generally discusses, the organized crimes in relation to street gangs. As I was doing my research, I was shocked to discover the number of gangs residing in the United States. The kind of activities they engage in are unethical and they put the lives of United States citizens at risks. These unscrupulous deeds include murder, kidnapping, carjacking, drug trafficking and rape. Due to the increased number of gangs, the news reporters are broadcasting the likely motives why people join street gangs. Among the reasons that they gave include; fame, security, wealth and lack of awareness to youths about the risks of joining a street gang.

During our course study, we have come across number of things regarding the criminal justice system. We have covered various theories of criminal behavior, why they do the things they do and also why they get involved in the various illegal activities. Two theories that clearly explains the reasoning and behaviors behind becoming a member of the gang are the Neutralization Theory (NT) and Social Control Theory (SCT).Within the Social Control Theory (SCT),”Travis Hirsch explains that people engage in criminal activities if they are not attached, involved or committed to any society activity. “In Neutralization Theory (NT)”David Matza and Gresham Sykes explains that people are permanently conscious of their moral responsibilities to abide by the law, and that they have similar moral obligation inside themselves to evade unlawful acts (Domash, 2009).”

There are five stages that operates within the NT theory. Stage one, the denial of responsibilities whereby the delinquents repudiate the offense was their fault and they might claim they were forced to commit it. The next stage, denial of injury, the offenders believe their activities did not cause any destruction or damage; their actions justify their means. For example drug users, believe if they are only doing harm to