Picture this….
You see a group of youths hanging around the mall parking lot, smoking and leaning against cars. Is it a gang, or a just group of kids who might cause some trouble if provoked?
There is a distinct difference between a gang and a friendship group, and ways you can tell them apart.
Gangs are:
A gang is a group of three or more people who share an identifiable feature and are involved in criminal or anti-social behavior.
If you have a group of five kids who are harassing others, stealing cars, or committing crimes, but they do not have an identifiable feature, they are not technically an organized gang.
A gang uses some physical marker (usually an item of clothing, or a symbol on their clothing) to let others know they are part of a gang and to identify other members easily.
Friendship groups are:
A friendship group has a lot of movement in and out of the group. Kids will easily come and go from time to time.
There may be three or four close friends who form the core of the group, but a new friend or girlfriend may be brought into the group, then later leave.
A friendship group can commit crime and behave anti-socially, but there is an ebb and flow of people coming and going. Their motivation is friendship and peer acceptance.
Friendship groups are obvious in schools because of their physical positioning. A friendship group will stand in a circle facing each other. They are focused on the group, on each other, and not interested in outside influences.
A gang does not work that way.
They are a solid group with rituals, initiations, and rules. It can be difficult to get into a gang, and difficult to leave.
Gangs are motivated by common goals, which may be drugs, money, or simply power. The physical positioning of a gang is much different than a friendship group.
Gang members will stand with their backs together, looking out. They are looking for potential targets or threats, and protecting their group.
An established youth gang is not always searching for recruits; in fact, it is usually the other way around. The gang provides the social environment and sense of belong the new recruit is looking for.
To protect your child, you need to look at him or her from within: are they searching for belonging?
Do they feel they are missing something in their lives? Invest time in your kids to identify these needs and try to fill them before outside influences, the kind that are negative and potentially deadly, step in to take up the slack.
Tags: gangs, youth crime
