Latin@ Gang Affiliation in New York

1. Latin@ Gang Affiliation in New York Lisangely Estrella Alexis Bustillo

2. Overview on Gangs • A Gang is a group of people that share a common bond and are loyal to one another, even to the point of violence. • Gangs have been around since the 1800’s. • New York, Chicago, and California are three of the states with the highest Latin@ gang affiliation.

3. Why Do Latino/@ Join Gangs? Common reasons as to why Latin@’s join gangs are because of … • Discrimination • Lack of education • Lack of trust in the system • Protection • Unemployment • Opportunities (Parties, Girls, Money, Popularity) • Family Issues/ Bad parenting • The neighborhood they grew up in and the people they’re surrounded with • The need of approval and friends

4. Biggest Latino Gangs • MS-13 is a Salvadorian Gang that was formed in the 1980’s in California. • Latin Kings is a Chicago/New York based Latin gang that formed in the 1940’s. • Latin Queens derived from Latin Kings. Their goals are self respect, independence, family support, ethnic identity, and self-empowerment. • 18th street gang is also known as “Children’s Army” because of the recruitment of elementary and middle school kids.

5. Main Focus ? • Youth Gang Members • Females Gang Members WHY ? According to the National Gang Center, Statistics show that the group mostly affiliated with gangs consist of Adult Males. We want to know what drives females and young children into joining gangs since they have the lowest rates of gang affiliation compared to adult men.

8. Youth Gang Members Reasons why the youth join gangs: • Many children not only join gangs within their own age group, but also gangs where the members are older, to feel as if they had older brothers and father figures missing in their lives • Attractiveness of the gang • To solve social problems • To “be down”, and want to fit in with their friends • Recruited • Forced/ Threatened ( peer pressure) • Bad parenting (parents do not ask where they are going when they leave the house and they give no curfew) • Virtually “Born” in gangs such as following their own family’s footsteps as a “tradition” Solutions: Family therapy, Recreation centers and clubs such as BCNY (boys club NY and YMCA), Family talks, Parent Supervision, Church classes, Afterschool programs etc.

9. Female Gang Members • Refer to each other as “sister” &“home girl” Reasons why females join gangs: • Have children and do not have the quality to be a single parent, no family support • Protection from sexual and domestic abuse • Friendship and fun • Comradeship (company of others with similar goals) • Economic Needs • Women are known to be looked down upon, and some females refuse to fall in that category, therefore joining a gang makes them feel powerful and as if they have all the control Solutions: Providing Jobs, Education, Babysitting for their children, Social Interventions and groups for women to interact with each other positively.

10. Provisions • Although the head of the gang division in NYC William Tartaglia says that the gang situation is under control I believe more can be done. • We need more after school programs, free travel club sports teams, crime prevention programs, and better teaching methods and resources in our public schooling system.

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12. Sources • http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/n_8118/ • http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/the-10-most-dangerous-gangs-of-the-21st-century.html • http://www2.gcc.edu/dept/modl/Student%20Projects/Hentzen%20&%20Mickelsen/PowerPoint%20Presentation.pdf • http://www.history.com/shows/gangland/articles/the-gangs • http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/survey-analysis/demographics • https://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/ganginterv/hfemalegang.htm • http://www.ojjdp.gov/jjbulletin/9808/why.html • http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/solution-keeping-teens-out-gangs-4501.html