[Tipsy]

From what I have read about teenagers joining gangs is that is has generally has negative consequences on both the person joining and the society around them. The statistics gotten from a study is that out of 1000 students, about one third of them joined gangs, mostly for the short term, but were responsible for two thirds of the crime and an even higher rate in more serious offenses. The study also stated that former gang members are more likely "to be high school dropouts, to impregnate a girl at an early age, to be teen fathers, to cohabit, to have unstable employment patterns, and to have multiple disorderly transitions." It seems to me that the negative consequences of being in a gang completely outweighs any of the positive effects.

That being said, the people who want to be in a gang should have the right to associate with whoever they wish to. Perhaps discouraging people from having membership in gangs to benefit society would be useful, but openly forcing people to stop joining gangs would probably be more damaging then leaving them be.

Though another large reason for gangs after adolescence is due to illegal immigration. Around here, the largest gang is MS13 which is mainly an El Salvadorian gang that some illegal immigrants are forced to join if they want to survive in the United States. International studies have shown that out of most first world countries, poor people in the United States have a higher rate of staying poor (no more American Dream apparently).

All of this being said, the average gang has a negative impact on society and should show the need for the change of government policies to effect social issues. So, my overall opinion is that the average gang is something that is negative and should be something that should be discouraged.