Mexican American Gangs Essay Research Paper MexicanAmerican

Mexican American Gangs Essay, Research Paper

Mexican-American Gangs: The Other Side of the Tracks

Origin

Originally the word gang did not have a negative meaning. In Old English, a gang can be defined in four basic ways: 1) an organized group with a leader, 2) a unified group that usually remains together during peaceful times as well as times of conflict, 3) a group whose members show unity through clothing language, etc., and 4) a group whose activities are criminal or threatening to the larger society (Moore, 1978). Gangs are one of the results of poverty, discrimination, and urban deterioration. Some experts believe that young people, undereducated and without access to good jobs, become frustrated with their lives and join gangs as an alternative to boredom, hopelessness, fear, and devastating poverty. Studies have attempted to determine why gangs form in certain communities, but there has been no definite answer. Gangs have multiplied in the Mexican American populations of southern California and other regions, spreading from low-income neighborhoods in the Southwest to working and lower-middle class suburban areas.

The development and institutionalization of gangs have involved many factors, including racial discrimination and economic barriers faced by Mexican American immigrants and their children; immigrant parents loss of control over their children during the struggle to adapt to urban American culture; and the inability or unwillingness of other social institutions to meet these children s needs (Hernandez, 1998). The sense of isolation and alienation that many Mexican American youths feel is associated to multiple conditions dealing with home-life, economic structure, and cultural factors. What began as limited option kids hanging around the street, almost detached from family influences, unfamiliar with and uncommitted to schools, and in fear of the law, gradually became rooted as a new subculture: the street gang. People working to solve gang problems have great difficulty. They find the situation overwhelming, and the violence continues. Gangs were not that big of a national problem as long as they stayed in the lower class ghetto.

Chicano gangs were once confined to low-income barrios (neighborhoods) in the southwestern United States. Today, they appear to be spreading into working class and middle-class white suburban areas, in many instances recruiting white youth as gang members. Now it is being identified in the national spotlight as a major problem that needs to be addressed. Members are usually males between the age of 13 and 24, and Los Angeles is considered the nation’s gang violence capital (Vigil, 1988).

Early Gangs In America

No groups completely fitting the above description of gangs existed in America until the mid to late 1800 s, but from the beginning of the European settlement in America there was some gang-like activity, especially when class distinctions came into being. Gang members tended to be from the poorer classes and tended to be from the same race or ethnic background. They stayed together for protection, recreation, and financial gain. It was not until the 19th century that “criminal” gangs first formed. They formed as a result of a worsening of the economy, a growing population, and increased competition for jobs (Takaki, 1997). Gangs began to specialize in crime that played a major part in America s larger cities. The worsening of the economy led to a larger gap between the rich and poor.

Mexican Immigration to the U.S.

Gangs have been reported in all 50 states and come from many backgrounds (Huff, 1996). For example some Chicano gangs form in large-scale immigrant communities populated by recent arrivals from Mexico, Latin, and Central America since the 1920 s. A study taken in 1998 stated that nearly one of every five children (14 million) born in the U.S. is the child of an immigrant, and the proportion of children in the United States who are non-Hispanic whites is projected to drop from 69 percent in 1990 to about 50 percent in the year 2030, and over 40 percent of under-18 children of immigrants live in California (Hernandez, 1998). In his first national survey, Miller (1975) estimated that 47.6 percent of gang members in the six largest cities were black, 36.1 percent Hispanic, 8.8 percent white, and 7.5 percent Asian. In a later survey by Miller (1982) found that 44.4 percent were Hispanic, 42.9 percent black, 9 percent White, and 4.0 percent Asian. Miller speculates that illegal Hispanic immigrants, especially from Mexico, may have played a large role in the increasing numbers of gangs in California and in their spread to smaller cities and communities in that State.

Traditional Chicano gangs in certain parts of East Los Angeles have declined in membership, but that membership in immigrant gangs from Mexico and Central and South America is on the increase (Duran 1987). Many immigrant parents lost control of their children during their initial struggle to adapt to urban American culture while still retaining some rural Mexican identity. Next, they too had to cope with economic hardships compounded by prejudice and discrimination. The parents are sometimes working two low paying jobs just trying to survive. The types of jobs open to many illiterate and Spanish speaking immigrants are served with jobs of no room for advancement, very low wages,