Preview

Education: A weapon to fight crime

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2181 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Education: A weapon to fight crime
Education: A Weapon to Fight Crime

American University of Sharjah
ENG 204

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela
Education: A Weapon to Fight Crime
Introduction:
July 1st, 2012, Dubai, A young man left his house that day to meet his friends and never went back home. According to a newspaper, the 18 year old man was involved in a gang fight near Oud Al Muteena area, where a gang of four aged 18 to 20’s engaged in a fight with the victim and his friends. When they decided to flee from the area, the victim blocked their way by standing in front of the car. However, he did not know that it would not stop them; he did not know they will choose to take his life away with them. The gang members hit the teenager with their car, and as if they have not done enough they went beyond that and dragged him on the road for several meters before running away (Issa & Nereim, 2012). The National, a local newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, reports that police officers are worried because gang violence is increasing in many areas in Dubai city (Issa, 2012). In such a country where gangs are not the norm, a problem is rising; gangs are forming in new areas and increasing in others such as the U.S, Italy, and Britain. With the formation and the increase of gangs a rise in criminal activity is an outcome to be expected. For example, in Britain according to the police the number of gangs is 171, and a gang expert in London estimated that there are 600 to 700 young people involved with gangs (Castella & McClatchey, 2011). Many approaches have been taken by government officials and politicians to establish many programs dedicated to help societies in decreasing crime rates. Nevertheless, do politicians and government official know that there is one simple answer, which is investing in education? Several studies have found that education and crime rates do correlate and have an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The development of gangs over the many years of their existence has caused the growth of different gangs and gang members to all parts of the world. These developing gangs have created major attention and awareness to this culture of life that is becoming so common amongst our communities. There have been said to be around 30,000 or more gangs with at least 800,000 gang members in the United States, whom were fully active in 2007. In 2009, the statics showed 147,000 in the United States prison and detention (jail) facilities and 900,000 living within our communities around the United States. Gangs in America and around the world often bring our young kids into this violent life of guns, drugs, murder, burglary, and many more criminal activities and heinous crimes.…

    • 1519 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The effectiveness of crime prevention strategies has increased in recent years and many sociologists believe that this is the result of society instilling tougher punishments upon its’ members. Despite this, there are many other approaches that attempt to reduce crime. However, they also have their limitations.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Individuals lead to crime for slightly different reasons which relate to their unique genetic character, their corresponding mental ability, their socialization and life circumstances; it is the interplay of these and other variables, any one of which may be more determinative in a particular case that causes a particular individual to resort to crime. Consequently, crime, like poverty, doesn't lend itself very well to comprehensive solutions, unless these solutions simultaneously address all the dominant factors underlying its causation in the majority of cases. The “Urban Society-Gesellshaft Thesis” goes on to say that important normative constraint which served to deter criminal behavior in the past tend to be absent in modern urban societies. The dramatic increase in crime in the 19th and 20th centuries has been attributed to the absence of a sense of community in urban societies.…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mallicoat, S. and Gardiner, C. (Eds.). (2013). America’s “War on Gangs”: Response to a Real Threat or a Moral Panic?. Washington, DC: Sage Publication Ltd.…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gangs Research Paper

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Researchers used federal data in estimating that in 2009, “there are approximately one million gang members [in the United States]. (“Gangs Timeline.” n.p.). A million is way too high of a number, and since researchers made that estimate, the number of Americans in gangs has surely grown. The United States is caught in a downward spiral heading towards gangs having complete control of not only the inner cities, but the expansion of gangs makes the threat of gang violence in American suburbia a likely part of the future if something is not done to stop it. The solution to the skyrocketing gang problem is not through harsher penalties against gang crimes since it has not worked, it is through social service and community outreach programs to show gang members that there is a viable way out and to stop the problem from occurring in the first place.…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Chicago Violence

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    3,839 people have been shot in Chicago from January to November of 2016. This makes Chicago’s most pressing issue violence. Violence has to be stopped in order for Chicago’s other problems to stop. As violence worsens, many other problems erupt such as poverty, lack of education, gang activity, child abuse, and police brutality. Gangs are one of the most common causes of violence in Chicago, and finding a way of reducing gang activity would be a great start to get rid of violence. With violence comes abandonment from homes, business places, and schools, increased incarceration rates, lack of education, and many more horrible problems. One of the most common causes of violence is gangs. Once a person who has committed violence gets abandoned,…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When a gang becomes a genuine gang it is at this time when they become a great concern as a threat to society. The formation, expansion and the consequent actions of gangs greatly affect society. It has been consistently found that gangs are normally linked to serious crimes and violence (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). As these gangs become constant and stable fixtures in their community they become a permanent option for marginalized…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Latino Gang Policy

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gangs have become an epic problem in the United States. It is very essential important in attempting to solve this problem by fully understanding how we can prevent individuals from joining a gang. A gang is group of three of more people that share a common bond and that are loyal to one another, whether it’s for economic reason or violence. The National Gang Center estimates that 32.4% of all cities in the United States experienced gang problems in 2008 (National Criminal Justice Reference Service, 2010). There are three main reasons why I fell that gangs have impacted the criminal justice system in three phenomenal ways. One, gangs have affected many communities; two, gangs influence our…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gang Violence In Chicago

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gang violence affects about 60 percent of most households. Gang violence have affected many lives over the years. In the cities of Chicago, violence is emerging a lot as the years go on. Gangs in the city of Chicago first started about the 1970’s, with 970 murders in one year. Gang violence occurred within and across racial and ethnic lines throughout Chicago. In the late 1960’s powerful black and Puerto Rican gangs joined forces with political groups. According to a report by the office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, 23% of students aged 12 through 18 are being involved in gangs. About 46% of students who go to public schools are expected to be in a street gang. Large street gangs employ violence to control and expand drug distribution activities. Gangs engage in numerous acts of criminal activities; such as, assault, burglary, drive-by shootings, extortion, homicides, identification fraud, money laundering, prostitution, robbery, and weapon and drug trafficking. Gang violence in Chicago is caused by drill music and gangs; results in families losing lives and decrease in human population; and can be solved by more police forces.…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun Violence

    • 1211 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The abundance of gangs can bring fear and violence to every block of a city. In addition to suffering unacceptably high numbers of deaths and injuries, gang plagued neighborhoods are overwhelmed by intimidation, economic and physical decay, and withdrawal from civic engagement. As these neighborhoods decline, the bonds that hold communities together weaken: children fear going to school; parks become unusable; shopping and taking a bus to work become dangerous ventures.…

    • 1211 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I would start my argument with education being a vital program for our prisoners. It is estimated that 37 percent of state and federal inmates have neither a high school degree nor GED (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). I would stress the difficulties, without these credentials, a convicted criminal would have in obtaining a job and the likelihood of being rearrested for a future crime. I would point out that groups like the Fortune Society, Correctional Association of New York, and the Rand Corporation have all demonstrated the cost effectiveness of education versus incarceration and the positive effects on recidivism (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Also, incentives to shorten sentences for completing certain programs would both increase participation…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Youth Violence In America

    • 2086 Words
    • 9 Pages

    As long as governments exist, there will always be crime for them to combat. A portion of this crime is, and will continue to be, organized crime. The United States is constantly working to protect its citizens from transnational criminal alliances, but the streets of this nation are still being crippled by domestic organizations. The 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment declares, “Gangs are expanding, evolving, and posing an increasing threat to U.S. communities nationwide.” One of the most frightening and overwhelming atrocities in this country is the fact that a great deal of the gang-related violence suffered is being delivered by the nation’s…

    • 2086 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Youth Gangs In Canada

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Teenagers and young adults join youth gangs for many reasons. Reasons a teenager would join a gang include family factors such as parental abuse or even a lack of supervision, school factors meaning if a adolescent has early school failure, he is more likely to become a violent person, "Early school failure is predictive of subsequent violent behaviour" (Maguin & Loeber, 1996). As well as the neighbourhood one grows up in plays a factor in their future behaviour, so does many other factors. That is why programs are created to revolve around the issue at hand. "Street gang crime has many different causes and facilitators. This means that solutions to the problem must also be multi-faceted and involve a combination of prevention, intervention, and suppression programs." (Linden 5). The government uses the Prevention method to start with. This targets young kids who are at risk of joining gangs. Within the prevention program expands with even more programs to resolve the issue encouraging a young child or teenager to join gangs. Ranging from recreational programs such as summer camps to parental training to provide the correct skills need, there is a prevention program for any issue. Although not all these programs are not guaranteed to work, it is almost a trial and error scenario, "While there are some consistent patterns in the research…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gang Violence in Schools

    • 1566 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Did you ever have to move because your kids were bullied at school? Is the community you are living in is unsafe with gang violence and you were afraid your kids will grow up to be a notorious gangster? You believe the ideal place to raise a family is in a higher income suburban area where the school system is better and your kids will be free from violence. You might want to think again. In fact, youth “gangs, now more violent than ever, are spreading to new locations” (Gaustad, 1 ) all across the country, including public schools. Gangs are moving suburban areas to recruit more members to expand their gang group. They are using new members to distribute drugs because it is appealing to young children and profitable. It is causing an increase in violence in schools because other gang group does not get along with another set of gang. Kids are scared to go to school because they are afraid they might get bullied and attack. The dropout rates has increase, more weapons are being brought to school endangering lives. School properties are being vandalized with school logos and teachers are getting injured from trying to intervene (Capozzoli and McVey, 81).…

    • 1566 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Hagedorn, J.. (1998). Gang Violence in the Post-industrial Era. Crime and Justice: A review of Research. 24, p375. Accessed 11/07/2011…

    • 2514 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays

Related Topics