Enya+W.

=toc= =Female Gangs = =media type="custom" key="5325861" align="left"=
 * "A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide." **

=​​Introduction = Imagine walking home from a friend’s house late at night. You are very cold so you decide to cut through an alley in order to get home quicker. You think you hear some people talking, but just ignore it. All of the sudden, you feel someone’s arm wrap around your neck and the sharp blade of a knife pushed against your back. They tell you that if you don’t give them your money, they will kill you. You tell them you don’t have anything to give them and without any hesitation, they push you to the ground, and kick you until you are completely covered in blood. When you think of street gangs, you don’t usually think that girls are a part of that scene. That is because members of street gangs are traditionally males. However, the number of females involved in gangs has dramatically increased over the past few years (McNaught). Of the estimated 750,000 gang members in the United States, only about 60,000-80,000 are female (Edwards). Teenage girls who are involved in gangs are both **socially**  and **emotionally**  impacted by the everyday life of being involved in a gang. Even though girls usually choose to get involved in gangs, the number that are is rapidly increasing. Most officials are not paying enough attention to female gangs because they don't think they are an issue. However, they are just as dangerous as male gangs.

=Video = media type="youtube" key="S4nAr_5qLUY" height="344" width="425" align="center"

In most cases, gang fights are extremely violent and sometimes some members of the gangs may be killed. In this video, an innocent boy is beaten to death by a few members of a gang during a fight at a Chicago high school. =Causes = There are a number of different things that teenage girls experience that can lead them to making unwise decisions and joining gangs. It is highly likely that a girl will join a gang if she experiences things such as weak parental supervision, drug and alcohol addiction and abuse in the family, physical and/or sexual abuse, family violence, and a lack of attachment to her parents (Miller). Girls tend to become involved in gangs when they start to avoid their homes because they know its dangerous and don’t feel as if they belong. “The gang can serve as a surrogate extended family for adolescents who do not see their own families as meeting their needs for belonging, nurturance, and acceptance” (Miller).Since their own parents are usually addicted and abuse drugs, they can’t stand to be neglected and get out of the house as much as they possibly can. They can feel like they are actually wanted in a gang when they are asked to do certain tasks and they feel like they have control over their lives. Many times, girls are pressured into joining or are promised money or drugs if they do join. In some cases, a girl that is going out with a boy who is a gang member will get involved in the same gang as him, and other times when a male family brother is involved, she will get involved too in order to get approval from them (McNaught).



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=Initiation =

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Like most groups, clubs, organizations, and societies, in order to become a member of a gang you must first go through an initiation. According to dictionary.com, initiation is defined as a ceremony, ritual, test, or period of instruction with which a new member is admitted to an organization or office or to knowledge. The initiation into a gang can be as simple as the members of the gang teaching the rules and regulations to the new member; or it can be the total opposite and may require physically hurting someone, or being put through immense pain by the gang they want to join (Walker). There are many different kinds of initiations such as a beat in or jump in, armed robbery, drive-by shooting, assault, rape, blessed in, sex in, and murder (Walker). The drive-by shooting, assault, and rape are usually performed on innocent victims. If the new member gets lucky, they will be “blessed in” as their initiation. This is when they have a reputation and the current members of the gang believe they are already worthy enough to join (Walker). The two most common forms of initiation for a female are the “jump in” and “sex in”. Jump in’s are extremely harsh and usually requires a violent beating by all of the gang members. “Girls who are initiated by a “sex in” usually do not command the same respect as those “jumped in” and are less likely to rise in the ranks” (Edwards). In a “sex in” the girl is required to have sex with some of the members of the gang and in some cases, all of them. Sometimes, they are forced to have sex with men who are HIV-positive (Edwards). Gang initiations are extremely dangerous and can result in severe injuries or even death.

=<span style="color: #00e1ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Female Gangs on the Rise ​=

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Female gangs are still not as common as male gangs but they are increasing all around the world. Lieutenant Gary French says,” They are not as organized and established as male gangs, but they are getting close”. Females are starting to become a forced to be reckoned with. There use to be only a few female members in mostly male gangs, but they are more frequently starting their own gangs and the crimes they commit are very close to being as violent and sophisticated as the male gangs (Edwards). Female and male gangs share many similarities such as getting involved in drugs, theft, assault, robberies, and shoplifting. One of the biggest differences is that many of the girls turn to prostitution to get money to support their addictions (Edwards).

=<span style="color: #00e1ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Conclusion = The majority or research of gangs is done on all male gangs. Most people think that females never play a lead role in a gang, but what they don't know, is that the number of female gangs is rising. Girls involved in gangs experience pretty much all of the same pressures and stresses that males involved in gangs do (McNaught). However, the females usually experience more physical and sexual abuse from the members of their own gang. These girls feel like the only thing that they can do to get away from their tough lives at home is to join a gang. It gives them a sense of belonging and the people involved in the gang can act as their family. The Department of Justice has said that they don’t have much data on the number of female gangs and they know much less about the characteristics of them than the males (McNaught). There is nothing stopping female gangs, and these girls are going to make you hurt and make it last.

=<span style="color: #00e1ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Recommended Sites = For National Youth Gang surveys go to: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Demographics For information on interventions and preventions of gangs go to: http://gangprograms.com/ To see what the Department of Justice has to say about female gangs go to: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/186159.pdf To learn more about identifying gang members and to hear from parents with children involved in gangs go to: http://gangsorus.com/ To learn what gang life is really like go to: http://www.girlshealth.gov/bullying/whatis/gangs.cfm

= = =<span style="color: #00e1ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Works Cited = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Edwards, Catherine. “The Rise of Girl Gangs.” Contemporary Issues Companion: Gangs. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. <http://find. galegroup.com>.

McNaught, Sarah. “Gangsta Girls.” Teen Descisions: Gangs. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 29Jan 2010. <http://find.galegroup.com>.

Miller, Jody. “Girls Join Gangs to Escape Problems at Home.” At Issue: What Encourages Gang Behavior?. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. <http://find.galegroup.com>.

Walker, Robert. “Background On Gang Initiations”. Gangs Or Us. Policeone.com, 17 Jan. 2010. Web. 7 Feb 2010. <http://www.gangsorus.com>.