FREE ESSAY ON GANG VIOLENCE

GANG VIOLENCE

Gang violence only takes place in big, urbanized, poverty stricken, low class
neighborhoods and does not have any effect on middle or upper class areas; or does it?
The Mall of America shooting exemplifies how gang violence can erupt anywhere and that no
part of society is immune to this problem. As the mall employee in the article states,
"you just can't be safe anywhere. Every time you turn around someone is being shot, or
beat up, or killed." Why are events such as the mall shooting so common? Why do these
tragedies even take place? What is the motivation for people to engage in such immoral
and delinquent behavior? Do people who commit crimes such as murder fit an exact
stereotype? All of these questions must be examined to properly understand what caused
this horrible catastrophe at the Mall of America that took the lives of two innocent
bystanders who were waiting to see a movie at the mall cinema.
The violent occurrence that took place at the Mall of America in Minnesota erupted late
while mall workers were closing up shop and customers and patrons of the mall movie
theatre remained inside. Police believe this incident to be a gang related dispute that
was sparked by a verbal confrontation between the groups who were hanging out at the
mall. This confrontation led to twelve gunshots being fired and the killing of
twelve-year-old Enrique Suarez and twenty-one-year-old Mario Cardenas. 
When conveyed to the public, shocking atrocities such as the mall shooting can have a
negative and lasting effect on society. Could an incident such as this create a moral
panic? What characterizes a moral panic? According to Goode & Ben-Yehuda, a moral panic
is defined by five key elements. First, there must be a heightened sense of public
concern caused by the event. As with the mall shooting, this is clearly evident. The
statement issued in a press release by the head of the Minneapolis police department,
James Martin, is a prime example of how these moral panics originate. He is quoted as
saying, "it used to be that violence was confined to big cities and bad neighborhoods.
Now, every time you walk outside your door you think 'am I going to survive the day."
Such a statement will inevitably instill fear among society members. The mall, which is
generally considered a peaceful and safe place for people to go, may become a place that
is considered dangerous. Second, there must be an increased level of hostility towards
the category of people involved. Gang members are usually considered detriments to
society and are generally the objects of hostility among people of the world. Let's face
it; gang members are people we "love to hate." Third, there must be a certain level of
agreement, a consensus, that there is a real, definite problem In this article, the
problem of gang violence is seen as a substantial issue that must be addressed and there
is a collective hostility aimed at people involved in gangs. As detective Martin states,
gang violence has begun to take over the city, leaving no place violence-free. Fourth,
moral panics are associated with some level of disproportionality. The amount of concern
related to this incident maybe much greater than the problem really is. In this case,
gang related murders at the mall may not take place on a frequent basis, but the media
will no doubt blow this incident out of proportion. And Finally, moral panics are
volatile, that is they develop suddenly and almost as sudden they disappear, although
they may last for long periods of time. Only time will tell how long this panic among the
residents of Bloomington, Minnesota will exist.
When examining the question of why depressing events such as murder ever even take place,
one must look at the people involved and how they came to become criminal.
Sutherland's theory of differential association may help provide an explanation to the
above question. Sutherland states that criminal behavior is not inherited rather it is
learned through social interactions. Is it merely a coincidence that mentioned suspects
in the article are best friends and both repeatedly engage in criminal behavior. The
offenders in this article are described as being best friends who have a long, repeated
history of law violation, beginning at age 11. In applying differential association
theories to this article, it is not a coincidence that both suspects engage in the same
deviant activities. Judging by their association with an intimate peer group such as a
gang, they have put themselves in an environment where it is easy to learn to become
criminal. The fact that members of gangs engage in the same activities is a main factor
in explaining why these mall shootings took place. Theories defining routine activities
provide a good explanation of such instances. The main premise behind the routine
activity theory is that your daily activities can make you more prone to be an offender
or victim or both. The members of rival gangs are motivated by their dislike for each
other, which lead to a verbal confrontation and escalated into a shootout. These criminal
acts generally occur while groups are "hanging out." which is one of the most dangerous
activities. Facts from this article are no exception to this theory. For example, it is
stated in the article that the two groups involved in the dispute were hanging out at the
mall, which provides for more of an opportunity to commit a deviant act. The fact that
the offenders involved in the shootings spend most of their time hanging out together and
engaging in the same activities played a crucial role in determining how and why this
particular event occurred. 
The labeling theory can be useful in examining the question of whether or not people who
commit such crimes fit a certain stereotype or label. As stated by Becker in "The
Outsiders," labeling consists of a primary act of deviance, social reaction towards
deviant act, secondary act of deviance and negotiation. In applying this theory to the
article, the offender's primary act of deviance was age eleven when he first committed a
deviant act. He could have stopped here but he then went on to commit multiple acts of
deviance such as assault, spousal abuse, and battery. By this point he is already
stereotyped a deviant by society and he obviously accepts this label. It is then no
surprise to society that the people involved in the double homicide at the Mall of
America are career criminals with a long criminal record for committing violent acts of
deviance.
Gender and masculinity are two concepts that help explain why some crimes are committed.
Gender relates to crime in that males account for over 90% of all violent crimes ` .
labling theory can be 
Once the label of "criminal" was obtained at the age of eleven, the primary act of
deviance, it can be difficult to reject. learned how to be criminal throughout their
adolescence by the associating themselves with criminal process of communicationand 
Bibliography
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