The author of this well written article is Lonnie Jackson. He has an inside look as to what happens to youth who are making choices to commit crime in gangs or to remain on the outside . As a minority services director of the Oregon Youth Authority, he is able to help prevent children and teenagers from choosing a life on the streets as a law breaker.
This article is informational on the topic that chose on youth gangs. It has detailed statistics as to what the growth has been over the years on gangs and the members. There is information on juvenile correctional facilities that have youth gang inmates. What is really helpful in this article that I haven't seen in other articles is a section about what can be done to prevent our youth from becoming a gang member.
American History X. McKenna, David. October 30, 1998.
The movie American History X focused on the life of a Caucasian, American boy after his father is murdered by African Americans. The boy, Derek, joins a white supremacist gang who commit violent acts and is led by a man named Cameron who is like a mentor to Derek. Derek murders two African American's and therefore winds up in jail. The jail he is sent to is also segregated as is life outside of jail. Being inside jail changes Derek's opinion on racism after an unfortunate encounter with a group of white men and a caring act from an African American man. Being released from jail Derek starts influencing his younger brother Danny, who turned down the same path of white supremacy as Derek did. Derek, not being racist any longer, influences Danny to do the same, but it's too late for this change for when Danny was at his high school in the restroom, he gets shot to death by an African American.
This movie is a great resource to connect to when completing my research paper on youth gangs. During this movie, instances happen where youth is influenced by their environment and community around them. This is one major point that I will be talking about in my paper.