Response to No Easy Answer to Gang Problems

The Bishop of Liverpool was right on when he said there was no easy way to control gangs. There really isn't. There's such a world wide connection that it would take a miracle to end it completely. That doesn't mean that locally things can't change. If a group of people or a community take action, they can reduce the amount of gang activity and make an impact on gang members and their community as well. This is an issue that just can't end all at once, you have to start somewhere right? Dr. Jones said that people join gangs so they get to feel powerful. I think this is true, but not the only reason. I think that people choose to get involved in gangs because they don't have an easy life. They might experience family problems with drugs, or convictions. I think that just having bad influences on a person can influence them to follow in the same footsteps or rebel. I like how the community in this article is trying to take action to stop all the murders and convictions. It probably gives the people living in the community a sense of comfort and made them feel safer.

#4 No Easy Answer to Gang Problems

"There is no simple answer to solving the problems of controlling gangs," the Bishop of Liverpool stated. A man named Dr. Jones said that young adults get involved with gangs because it gives them the feeling of power and hierarchy. In their society there have been many different convictions. They look at the breakdown in their society because they are a very religious community. A boy named Rhys Jones was shot outside a pub after his football practice. Sean Mercer was convicted of murder and was also a gang member. There were 8 or so more people convicted that were also gang members who were associated with the murder. The people of the community and church are trying to find a way to put the gang violence away and make things right.

SITE!

The citation for the "Gangs to Grads" article is under the books and magazines. I put the name of the magazine where I found it.

Alex G. responce #2

Your articles were very good, and I loved the variety of each one. I liked the one about a place for people in gangs to change, I thought that was interesting, and good that some people want to get out of gangs and start a new life. I bet there are lots of books on gangs.

Alex Hadik- Blog Comment

You have been doing some excellent research here. As Mrs. Jewitt commented, it is very interesting how you have been able to delve into not only the obvious side of gangs but also the turn around that might occur. While you have some great research already, I'm curious now about the history of gangs and gang violence. Perhaps as "extra" study you can look into some the of the famous American and foreign or even international gangs, gang members and gang leaders of the past. The time of Prohibition I know to be an excellent starting point and you can possibly link the past business of illegal alcohol to the modern business of drug trafficking. I also happen to know that if you would like to delve more into the business end of this research, there are huge drug businesses occurring down in the Caribbean, perhaps somewhere else to focus your research other than Mexico. One more tip- Holland (I think it's Holland) has recently made drugs such as marijuana legal. Perhaps there are some studies about how this has affected gang relations there and in neighboring countries.
Good luck!

Samara'a response

Kelsey, I think your research so far is really good. It does seem that the main focus of gangs is drugs. One thing you could probably look into is how they handle all these drugs and drug trafficking at the same time. It would be interesting the learn the business side of things. I think it's great how there are places letting gang members and such turn their lives around.

One thing I would suggest though is to check the spelling of words before you post and reread it so it sounds how you want it to. Some things were confusing to me because it wasn't the right word choice. Other then that you're doing great! Keep up the good work! Oh, and don't forget to cite your article on gangs to grads.

Kelsey, after reading your blog I am terrified of gangs, not that there are any in Damariscotta Maine. But your information and research is so interesting, and the idea of having a whole network all over the world of gangs is fascinating, and horrifying at the same time. Even thought it's sad to hear about the deaths of people due to gangs, I think it is incredibly interesting to read about them. I also like how you found an article on ways to help the gang members. I can tell you are totally into the project, keep it up!

Excellent research . . .

I really like the fact that you are discovering not only the negatives associated with gangs and violence but also the positives as far as programs that will help these troubled individuals. Great research so far . . .!!!!!

Response to From Gangs to Grads

I think it's awesome that people really care about unstable people or people who want to turn their lives around. Having the idea for the camp where the previous gang members and prisoners could earn an education at the same time of getting their lives back on track is a great idea. A lot of the time there isn't that option for people to turn to and now there is. It doesn't just affect the lives of members but their families, friends, and communities as well. It impacts their whole life. I also really like the idea that they don't tolerate anything but excellent behavior, it shows that they are really serious about what they're doing and they want to do it well. I think that reading this article gave me an understanding of some gang members. No one is perfect and no one is bad. Reading this showed that even if you are in a gang or you've attended prison, that you aren't necessarily a bad person and that some people want to change how they are and put themselves back in line. I liked reading this article because it looked at the better side of gangs opposed to all the killing and drug dealing.

From Gangs to Grads

On Friday, November 21st there was a graduation ceremony at the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp. This wasn't like a normal graduation, but one for previous gangs members or prisoners who wanted to turn their lives around from the ages of 18 to 24. They had physical as well as mental training and of all the graduates, there were 28 high school diplomas and 23 who passed their GEDs. "Ten years ago I came here hoping to hire on and was told 'no chance.' I got out of L.A., stuck to it, and since then I've worked at the greatest place on the planet," this was a quote from Jim Cripe who was the district assessment coordinator who wanted to express his work. The camp was more along the lines of a rehab or correction center and is used to make large changes in one's life. Attending the camp the majority of the people were a mixture of various gangs. There were Fresno area Bulldogs, northern and southern Hispanics, and Bay Crips and Bloods. The center did tolerate any gang activity whatsoever and any unnecessary behavior leads to expulsion.

Response to criminal gangs in Mexico

I think that it's rediculous and scary at the same time that over 4,000 people have died because of criminal gangs. It's also scary to think about how the US could be brought into the mess that even in a different country. The whole concept of gangs in dangerous and creepy to think about, but at the same time it's cool. Think about it...gangs are everywhere. What if they had some type of connection throughout the whole world and one big leader. It's insane to think that there are lines everywhere that lead to gangs. The major theme of the article was drugs. It's rediculous if the majority of the deaths had to do with drugs and drug trafficking. With the plane crash that happened last week with the Minister and the crime fighting officials, they said it was realted to drug trafficking as well.

Reading this article made me think more about the other stuff that they do. Not only do gangs just kill people, they do serious drug trafficking, and they caused a plane to crash. It's not just the US that has to deal with gangs, there's Mexico and other places throughout the world that do too. I now want to know what other places have to deal with. If it's the same type of things as around here, or if they do their jobs differently.

Mexico Struggles with Drug Gang Violence

The president of Mexico, Felip Calderon is having some problems with keeping his ground after he lost many of his key officials to a plane crash last week. This year though, over 4,000 people have died or been killed related to criminal gangs. It is said that the US could could be brought into the situation. In Mexico during the past weeks there have been many bodies found in various places, even some hanging from bridges.

Last week there was also a plane that was carrying Minister Juan Camilo Maurina as well as many others, that crashed in a neighborhood in Mexico. They believe that it had to do with drug trafficking, yet authorities aren't quite sure yet. The president of Mexico has had a hard battle trying to fight against all of the drug gangs, kidnappers, etc. He said that Mexico have been the victims of it all, but also Americans could start facing what is going on.

"You are looking at an industry that is perhaps as large as $100 billion of cash flowing into Mexican coffers," (Fred Burton) who is a security analyst.

Response to 17 gang killings.

These random killings seem really creepy and sketchy to me. It's not like this was throughout a long period of time, like months...it was only four days. I also think it's weird how they were at strange times as well. It seems as if some of the deaths were just outrageous and there was no reason for them to be harmed. At the same time though, the LAPD claims that gangs and or drugs were involved. If that's true, which it seems to be, then there would be more of a reason for something like this to happen. Reading this made me think a little more about what gangs actually do. I didn't think that they'd all of a sudden go out and kill almost twenty people, it's outrageous. Now I'm kind of curious to know what their motives are and if they just randomly hunt people for fun, or if they keep it strictly business.

Weekend Violence Claims 17 Lives in L.A. County

- Authorities are saying that 17 deaths in the Los Angeles County were involved with gangs and or drugs. Five of the victims were shot and killed. The cases were in contol of he LA County Sheriff's Department and they sent otheres out to patrol close areas. It all started on Friday night around 9 p.m. where a woman was shot. It ended on Monday morning at 5 a.m. when a person in a mask knocked on the door of someone's home and shot the man who opened the door. The series of killings all happened within short time periods of each other. Authorities claim that gangs were involved with these killings. LAPD is working with the community to try and hold a gang summit.

Final Selection

After narrowing all of the topics down, I decided to research gangs. I think that this topic will keep me entertained for the six months that we have to follow it. It's one of those things that you never know what's going to come of it, so it's always exciting to hear what's going on. I can always research back in a time a little and see what types of things have happened with gangs in the past, as well as how much they have changed over time. I thought that if I researched serial killers, then it would potentially get boring after a while with no new information coming in. Then if I researched underage drinking, I felt as if I would get the same information over and over again. I could still get information about recent accidents which could be interesting, I just don't think I could be interested in it for the six months. I overall think that gangs is a good choice for me because I think some of the things that they do is really cool, and I would be able to get a lot of info.

There definitely is enough happening right now with gangs for me to have updated information. Gangs are apart of the whole world, so even if there isn't much going on in the United States, there might me something interesting happening in Mexico or the Dominican Republic. I decided that I won't necessarily be exclusive with the Bloods and the Crips, but also look at the other types of gangs in general. When I looked them up on the Internet, there were a lot of recent stories about gangs and accidents with them. There were stories about murders, assaults, and court summonses. There was a lot of information that I found and it was all easy to access. There was a lot of information in google news and a few in some newspaper websites as well. Believe it or not, there are gangs everywhere and things going on that you never would have guessed.

The topic of gangs is a very good candidate for ongoing research. Everyday there is something new going on with them like I said. It's such a broad topic. There are tons and tons of gangs throughout the US and the world so finding information daily shouldn't be a problem. Just because the police and school headmasters are trying to limit gang activity and get rid of it all, doesn't mean that they are going away any time soon. Time will definitely make a different with the research. Hopefully there will be changes in what's happening over time so that could be really helpful with my research. I also think that with the economy, there will be more gang activity then before. People are losing money, so I think that crime rates and drug dealing will be increasing.

I think that the topic of gangs will stretch my brain a little bit. I don't understand them completely and why they do the things they do, so that's one way that I can think outside the box. One thing that I think is really cool will be trying to spot out gang members. After learning about them I think it would be sick to be able to see a gang member in action. I want to go to a high school around the Portland area to interview a principal to see what they have to say about their gangs. I might gain a new perspective about gangsters.

Some Ideas...

Underage drinking doesn't seem like a bad topic to me. I can see how this would be a very relevant topic for our age group in Maine, compared to the other topics. We know underaged drinking goes on with teenagers that go to Lincoln Academy and sometimes there are tragic consequences when these students start driving.
I think the topic of serial killers could be very interesting if you focus on the psychology of the killers. You could try to determine whether genetics are a factor or if the motives are entirely generated by past experiences. It would be interesting to find out if it is possible to find pathological signs in the person's behavior before its too late.
The topic of "Gangs: Bloods and Crips?" is a good choice because of the ammount of recent, relevant information. I am curious to whether "crips" has any relation to "crypts" like the tombs where they put dead bodies. Overall, I think this your most dynamic topic with new information posted frequently.

Gangs...

I think this is a very interesting topic to research. Along with the questions that you want to anwser, you might want to research how gangs have changed over the years. This would be interesting to know because it would show how they change with different generations and how current events effect what they do. It will be very interesting to read what types of things you find!

interesting

It's too bad you couldn't find more information on serial killers- that would have been fascinating- especially with all the psychology that is involved. I like your choice of topics. They're not anything that I would immediately think of researching, but now that you've brought them up they seem very interesting. What are the Bloods and Crips? I'm really not up on my gangs knowledge. I bet you could get lots information if you were able to contact an inner-city social worker somewhere, and newpaper articles would be good for very current happenings. Also, it would be good to explore the positive sides of gangs, if there are any. Comradery? Are there "do good" gangs that help others? Or is that just another name for a volunteer organization? I can't wait to hear more!

Comments from Everett

It is knd of unclear what you want to learn about the bloods and the Crips. In your first paragraph, I think that redundant is the wrong word to be used in that instace. In paragraph 2 you say, "I personally would like to find out about the Bloods and Crips and just be able to follow them specifically and find out what’s going on with them" someone of average knowledge of gangs may not realize exactly "whats going on with them". Main question: What interests you most about gangs?"

It appears that your mind is made up on what you will be writing about for the next few months, an I look forward to be reading about the topic in the future...

EM

Hmmm My Three Topics

Isearch Topics

The three topics that I have chosen to research are gangs, serial killers, and underage drinking. With gangs, I want to look at the Bloods and the Crips, with serial killer, what’s happening with them right now and how they are being followed, and underage drinking and if the drinking age should be lowered or not. I thought doing gangs would be really interesting and same with serial killers, yet underage drinking is fairly redundant topic. We have to find a topic that interests us, and I don’t want to get bored with what I have to research.

When I looked up gangs I actually find quite a bit, and I was honestly surprised by it. I found up to date articles about things that are going on ever day with them. I personally would like to find out about the Bloods and Crips and just be able to follow them specifically and find out what’s going on with them. Between the Marvel database and Google News, there were many articles from today and this week about recent activities involving gangs. I’m interested in the Bloods and Gangs because I think it will be easier where they are the most common gangs that people have heard of, and that exist. The articles that I found were just about the gangs and what they are, they were about what types of things have happened such as convictions, murders, assaults, and other gang related activity.

Serial killers are a fairly hard topic to look up. There are a quite a few articles about them, but nothing is extremely recent. Not much happens during the event of hunting a serial killer down. It’s not something where you can just get information frequently you have to wait for a break through. I don’t feel like researching this topic would provide me with as much information that I need to keep my search going for six months. There also isn’t much action going on right now with serial killers. Most of them are in the past like Jeffrey Dahmar and Ted Bundy. They are previous killers and right now there isn’t anything going on like that. This will limit my search and would make it really hard.

The last topic that I was considering is underage drinking. The question is whether or not the legal drinking age should be lowered. I personally don’t think it should be, and I want to research all the different aspects of teenagers drinking. I would look at incidents and events that have happened to help prove my point, or possibly persuade me in the other direction. I found a bunch of articles on newspaper sites and Google news about teenagers getting drunk and being murdered, or found dead in swamps, or going to jail. This topic is redundant though. We hear constantly about not drinking although a mass majority does it. It honestly can be an annoying topic, and it gets old after awhile.

After looking up all three topics, I have decided that I want to research gangs. I think that following what is going on with the Bloods and Crips and even what’s going on between them would be really cool. I also like the idea of researching them, because around here we don’t have a whole bunch of that going on. We don’t have to worry about gang activity in our school, so we don’t necessarily know all that much about it.