The characteristics of a Youth Gang and Crip Formation
Description: A Crip Gang from California
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many different levels of gang members ranging from prospects (who are hoping to be full-time members) to proven gangsters that have established their role within the crew. There was a time when youth gangs were similar to social clubs engaging in nothing but small time criminal activities but now they have progressed to fully organized cliques that commit major illegal actions and have affiliations to people in high places. "The biggest growth in gang cities occurred during the 1980s and 1990s, when gangs increased in
numbers by 281 percent" (Juvenile Crime) increasing youth gangs substantially to the point of a major social problem. In big cities with 250, 000 people or more where resources such as guns and drugs are readily accessible, youth gang activity was measured at 100 percent(Juvenile Crime). Many murders in big cities can be linked to the gang culture and unfortunately , a lot of the time, it is teenagers that become felons.
“A gang can be defined as a group of persons with a unique name and
identifiable marks or symbols who claim a territory or turf, associate on a
regular basis, and often engage in criminal or antisocial behavior” (Juvenile Crime). A gang I will focus on in this paper are the Crips located largely in the state of California, but primarily in Los Angelas . Characteristics of identity for an average Crip member include self inflicted burn marks to the shoulders (-meaning smokers for life-) , tattoos including peers that have passed away as well as the street blocks they have represented. Rival gang members generally know of the other gang’s turf but driving through another gangs territory isn’t always enough to get you killed. However, if you drove through another gang's territory throwing up gang signs (hand signals claiming gang membership) you would be expecting a violent retaliation and a possibly bloody ending. The easiest way to spot a Crip would be to notice the excessive amount of blue being worn in the clothing. They stay decked out from head to toe in all blue which is the solo Crip color while their rivals, the Bloods wear all red. Youth Gang members often engage in anti-social behavior because they were anti-social people to begin with. Youth Gangs are breeding grounds for vulnerable and anti-social kids that turn to criminal affiliations as a way of filling a void in ones self due to hopelessness of the system.
Youth Gangs are often funded through the distribution of drugs ranging
from marijuana, to crack/cocaine and crystal meth. Not all youth gangs are drug related but the majority are. With heavy risks the drug world pays a pretty penny and this increased wealth to the gangs is one of the reasons why modern youth gangs are so powerful. The increased wealth through drugs, leads to increased recognition of the gang, which leads to dramatic but important respect among other gangs. If you don’t have money, power, and respect within the gang world or an utter loyalty to the gang your life as gangbanger is short lived.
The Crips were created in 1969 by a 15 year old kid by the name of Raymond Washington. After the rise and fall of the African-American militant group the Black Panthers, Washington tried to mimic the political and social power they once had by creating his own group originally known as the Avenue Cribs (Street Gangs). Because they so commonly referred to themselves as Crips this is quickly what the gang became to be known as. Instead of Raymond's dream to haveing the baby avenues existing within society with a strong political voice for the African American Youth they turned into a violent group quickly. This can be hypothesized due to many reasons but it is commonly believed that the original group of Baby Avenue Cribs looked up to the powerful street toughs in their varied neighborhoods in Los Angelas. The Crips gained major power and respect due to the distribution of what is now known as crack. Crack burst onto the scene in the 80's and networks of intricate drug plots were used by the crips to make crack their major source of funding. To be initiated into the Crips as a male you must commit a criminal act worth the respect of a full member Crip and it must be witnessed by the fellow gang member. Although the Crips are mostly male there are also female Crips who can gain membership usually by being "sexed in" having intercourse with several older members of the gang (Crips).
Crips informally refer to themselves as Locc’s (pronounced Lokes). Crip gangsters have even penetrated popular culture. Former gangster rapper Snoop Dogg claims Crip membership in many of his songs referring to himself as a Locc while wearing a blue bandana in his right pocket which is commonly known as “the crip side”. Underground rapper and known Crip Jayo Felony had previous “beef” with Snoop Dogg due to the claim that Snoop Dogg is only a honorary crip pretending to be a real gangster. This further shows that Raymond Washington’s dream of the Crips being a unified, community backed, and politically voiced group has further diminished.
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