Individuals who gravitate towards gang involvement are often marginalized from acquiring status in general in society via legitimate means, and their only option is to acquire status through illegitimate means and I agree.
Gang membership is constantly on the rise. There are more than 20,000 gangs with over 1 million members exist in the United States and exist in every state, including the district of Columbia (“Attorney general’s report,” 2008). With this information I agree somewhat with the statement that individuals who gravitate towards gang involvement are often marginalized from acquiring status in general in society via legitimate means, and their only option is to acquire status through illegitimate means. Gangs provide a sense of family as well as a workforce to advance and obtain a higher level so I believe that this is what draws people to join a gang. I also think that the environment and one’s thought that they have failed in life has caused them to join; this is more prevalent in the suburban areas.
Along with this status of being a member of a gang is the risk of offending. This is the way to obtain a higher status within the gang. “Approximately 14% of the subjects in the Denver Youth Study over a four year period reported being gang members, but they are responsible for approximately 79% of the reported serious violence and 71% of property crime” (Conis & DeLisi, 2012). This can be very appealing to a person that has repeatedly been rejected in the usual workforce; the simple tasks to obtain money are also pulling threads to gang membership.
