by Brennen Finchum

Created on: July 11, 2009

Teenagers sometimes will seem or be violent but they are only looking for a parental figure to help them. Those that live in inner-city areas often have families where the father is not home and the mother is taking care of five other children. Teens become friends with gang members and start to be active in the gang because the protection is there when they need it. They will also become part of a gang because a family member was previously involved. Teens often go to a gang for protection and love, so a resolution to get them out is to provide them with a father figure to instruct and care for them.

The majority of problems with teens in gangs are not in the suburbs of a city; rather, they are in the transitional community (inner city). Within this community consists a majority of African-American and Hispanic families. Due to the higher population, these ethnic groups are the primary targets of gangs (Finchum). From a survey done by the National Youth Gang Center, the ages of delinquents in youth gangs are primarily between twelve and twenty-four (Thomas 18). Once a teen has been recruited, getting out is extremely difficult (Finchum). Also, when they join the gang, their personalities become greatly violent.

When a teen joins a gang, their behavior becomes aggressive. Because they are spending most of their time with other gang members, the teens personality is affected so it is the same as the other members (Helping America's youth). The initiation of a gang member can happen in a variety of ways. A couple of these are getting "beat in" or being a part of a drive-by shooting (Parker 148). Members often do drug dealing, yet unlike violence, it does not decrease with leave of the gang. Unfortunately, dealing is an easy, quick way to get money. Because of this, it can last long after they are out of the gang. The difficult question though, is how to get them out of the gang?

A method that has been and will continue to be successful in teen gang prevention is to create an organization that will be able to care for and help at risk children and teens. An organization that is going to be effective has to have a staff that is experienced and wants to help. However, an experienced staff cannot be found walking around the city, they must be found by an interviewing process. The first step is to take their resume or to search for them in colleges, newspapers, etc. (Finchum). The next step is to research the background, experiences, and current lifestyle of

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