An Environment for Gang
Proliferation
Gangs:
Not Just in Prisons and
Big Cities
Anymore.
March 11, 1988-The Subcommittee on Education &
Health of the Joint Economic Committee Meet to
Discuss the Issue of Latchkey Children
Points of interest:
• 2 to 7 million children are home alone each day after school
• Many are lonely and not safe
• These numbers are increasing
• More than 11 million mothers with school age children are
now in the labor force
• By 1990 that number is expected to reach 75% of all mothers
with school age children
• “Aggressive action” needs to be taken or the number of
children in “self-care” will reach 35 million by 1995(Latchkey
children : hearing before the Subcommittee on Education and Health of the Joint Economic
Committee, Congress of the United States, One Hundredth Congress, second session, March
11, 1988, 1988)
Where Are We More than 20 Years
Later?
“Estimates of the number of unsupervised or inadequately
supervised children range from 3.5 million to 17.5 million for
children between the ages of five and fourteen. The large
discrepancy in estimates is mainly due to the variety of
definitions. Some estimates include only children who have no
supervision; others include those with no adult supervision.
Still other estimates include those who are inadequately
supervised, periodically unsupervised, or supervised by a
parent or other adult who is emotionally or psychologically
unavailable. No matter which estimate is used, it is clear that
too many children do not receive the supervision that would
maximize their physical, social, emotional, psychological, and
spiritual development.”("Latchkey Children - Prevalence, Dilemmas For Parents,
Mixed Empirical Findings, Programs, Conclusions," 2009)
Portion of a2004 Report by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Entitled
“REVERSING DIRECTION ON WELFARE REFORM:
President's Budget Cuts Child Care for More Than 300,000 Children”
(Mezey, Parrott, Greenberg, & Fremstad, 2004)
Socialization:
The process by which people
learn their culture. They do so
by entering and disengaging
from a succession of roles and
becoming aware of themselves
as they interact with others.
(Brym & Lie, 2007)
When both parents have to work and child care programs
have been cut, who or what is socializing our children?
The Internet




Social networking sites: Facebook, MySpace, and others
YouTube
Pornography sites
Any subject that a child may be curious about
Television


Shows that glamorize sex and violence
Music videos that show ex/gang members promoting a gang lifestyle with expensive
cars, many half naked women, and loads and loads of MONEY
Video Games

Violence is abundant
For example in Grand Theft Auto, you play a character that is “armed with a variety of firearms to
deliver justice – justice in the sense of ‘gangland bloodletting.’ In both games, Tommy’s objectives
don’t stray far from gangland hits and driving getaway cars. Yes, you can plough through
pedestrians with your ‘jacked ride and shoot indiscriminately at cars and passers-by …” (Omni,
2003)
AND….
Gang Members
are more than willing and
able to recruit children that
are in need of agents of
socialization.
Gang Presence
 30,000 Gangs in the United States
 Over 1,000,000 Members
 Presence in all 50 States
 Gang Presence in Urban, Suburban, and
Rural Areas
 Approximately 1 out of every 10 of
Florida’s documented gang members are
in Central Florida
(Harrison, 2008)
Avenues Known to Law Enforcement
Where Gang Recruitment Has and Is
Taking Place
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Internet
Our Schools
All Types of Neighborhoods
Military Recruiting Offices
Our Troops
Politics
Music
Professional Sports
(Harrison, 2008)
Type in The word “crips” on youtube
you get 44,900 hits
Crips “theme song” presenting gang
paraphernalia
50 CenT “Ya Life’s on The Line” MusiC video
Check out the rating of this
YouTube video
Rated
Another point of interest is
the comments that are posted
(mostly by texts) on many
violent videos.
50 CenT “ya Life’s on The Line” LyriCs
Nobody likes me
Nobody likes me, but that's okay
Cuz I don't like y'all anyway
...And I don't like y'all anyway
Fuck all y'all!!
My watch talk for me, my whip talk for me
My gat talk for me
BLAT! Wutup homie
For bitches who don't know me
...They wanna blow me cuz the shit I floss wit sayin a lot
for me
I'm that nigga that sold coke, the nigga that sold dope
The nigga that shot Dice when he broke to So So
The thug, they pop shit
The thug that pop clips
The thug that went from three and a half to whole bricks
Nigga ain't in his right mind, goin against me
My picture's painted through words that make a blind
man see
[Hook]
Scream murder! (I don't believe you!)
Murder! (Fuck around and leave you!)
Murder! (I don't believe you!)
Murder, murder! (Your life's on the line!)
I came into rap humble, I don't give a fuck now
Serve anybody like niggas who hustle uptown
Coke price go up, cats is come down
Y'all niggas don't want no parts of me
The D's run in my crib, I'm nowhere to be found
I'm tryna figure out how y'all started me
The bitch who hustle for me, they dont even stash tracks
Make me catch her on the late night
They keep it on em, right there in they ass crack
Pop shots wit the fifth and slide off wit the six ……
When I don't like a nigga, I don't pretend to
("50 Cent: Life's on the Line Lyrics," 2009)
I'll have the paramedics wrap your fuckin head like a
Hindu
Googled “50 Cent Life’s on the Line Lyrics”
Look, I ain't goin nowhere, so get used to me
OG's look at me and see what they used to be Results: 170,000 hits in .84 seconds
2 Working
Parents
Political Policies
Children’s need
for positive
socializing agents
not being met
Social Policies
Poverty
Lack of Funding
for Quality Child
Care
Proliferation
Unsupervised
Use of
Technology
The factors contributing to
gangs, gang violence, and
its proliferation are
extensive. Therefore, an
Interdisciplinary approach
must be taken to come up
with viable solutions to
these problems.
Whose Perspective Do We Need to
Make an Impact?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Anthropologists
Economists
Educators
Gang Members
Historians
Judges
Lawyers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Parents
Police
Political Scientists
Politicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Sociologists
Bibliography
Brym, R. J., & Lie, J. (2007). Sociology Your Compass for a New World, The Brief Edition
(2 ed.). Belmont: Thomas Higher Education.
Harrison, B. S. A., F.D.L.E., Organized Crime Squad. (2008, 9/13/2008). Criminal Street
Gangs Seminar presented at the University of Central Florida.
Latchkey Children - Prevalence, Dilemmas For Parents, Mixed Empirical Findings,
Programs, Conclusions. (2009). Retrieved 3/16/2009, 2009, from
http://social.jrank.org/pages/363/Latchkey-Children.html
Latchkey children : hearing before the Subcommittee on Education and Health of the
Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, One Hundredth
Congress, second session, March 11, 1988, (1988).
Mezey, J., Parrott, S., Greenberg, M., & Fremstad, S. (2004). REVERSING DIRECTION ON
WELFARE REFORM: President's Budget Cuts Child Care for More Than 300,000
Children. Retrieved 3/20/09, 2009, from
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1557
Omni. (2003). Grand Theft Auto Double-Pack. Retrieved 3/17/09, 2009, from
http://www.armchairempire.com/Reviews/XBox/grand-theft-auto-iii-vice-city.htm
50 Cent: Life's on the Line Lyrics. (2009). Retrieved 3/16/09, 2009, from
http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/50_cent/life,27s_on_the_line/
Graphics
Gang Violence (2007). Retrieved 9/18/08 from
http://www.ourreality.org/gallery/d/27-2/gang+violence.JPG
Child at computer File:Child and Computer 08473.jpg ...2048 x 1536 - 423k jpg upload.wikimedia.org Retrieved 3/6/09
50Cent. (1998). Life's On The Line (Murder Inc Diss) (Dirty Version: Music
Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLMSke-FsX4
hockeyfan888akajoker. (2007). Crips C's Up B's Down: YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj078oCI6kA