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- a sense of protection for self and family
- peer influence
- history of gang involvement
- low self-esteem
- a sense of hopelessness about their future

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1) Source of Income/Jobs Some youths may not have a source of income and may use the opportunity to join gangs as a way of getting their income even if it means illegally. For eg:  Doing illegal activies and services such as  theft, selling of drugs in exchange for money and respect

2) Sense of belonging; a person may feel like as though they may not be able to conform into society norms hence they would feel included and not an outcast.

3) Parental issues: Some youths may experience lack of love and care from their parents and they have been brought up with neglect and abuse. For eg: The father is an alcoholic and a drug addict who constantly abuse you by hitting you and the lack of love will drive the individual to seek that love and comfort from elsewhere such as gangs where protection, security and love can shelter you.

4)influence from friends/films/social media: Some youths may be easily influenced by their surroundings and people around them as their friends might make empty promises or they might feel left out if all their friends are part of it and they are not. Social Media and films glamourise gangs to the extent of giving it a cool/ impressionable factor and making it seem like its an easy and quick way to make money fast.

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An individual may receive more attention from their gang than their family, therefore they may find the gang more of a family than their own (a sense of belonging, feel more loved)

Individuals may have low self esteem, so by joining gangs, they develop confidence to do more things by following other gang members (conforming)

Gangs may take advantage of the youths' vulnerabilities and influence them

To attain a higher status (using the gang's name to instill fear within others, others become fearful of the individual)

Sense of hopelessness of the future because of limited educational and financial opportunity

A history of gang involvement in the family (family member who are current or former member)

Some individuals may not have a choice because of certain situations for example
Their parents are in debt with the mafia and when the parents are unable to clear the debt, the child is recruited to the mafia to repay them.

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Justin, Chan, Keerthi, Ayiana, Grace, Shyene

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Justin, Chan, Keerthi, Ayiana, Grace, Shyene

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1. To rebel against Society's standards set on them, youths join gangs to find a sense of control over their life (The choice to join a group of youths who also rebel against society's norms), as well as a sense of authority over their own decisions.

2. They feel a sense of security and protection when they are in a "Closely-knit" group or avoid getting bullied.

3. Peer pressure. Some youths find that joining a gang is cool or swag. Hence, they are somewhat pressured (To an extent) to join a gang to fit in and be accepted by their peers.

4. Some individuals join gangs to feel a sense of connection and belonging, defining their sense of identity. As they do not feel emotionally secure with their friends and family, are considered outcasts, or are lonely.

5. Influenced by friends or family. The trust they have in their close friends and family may have influenced them to join.

6. Access to special privileges (Obviously illegal) that joining a gang gives you. (E.g. Certain restricted areas by law, buying special items, connections with others, etc)

7. Having an identity crisis, when a teenager might feel that everything is against them and the things that they do might have a big and drastic outcome. they may feel lost and want to fit in to find a group of people that they can connect with. this may be due to a lack of understanding because they don't understand the severity of joining a gang

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Reason 1
•Sense of belonging

•People join a gang for a basic sense of belonging. This is because gangs may choose to run a hierarchal style of governing their members.

•For instance, the Yakuza are a type of organized crime syndicate which deal with a father-son relationship, where the boss(oyabun) adopts a father role when dealing with their sons(gang members)

Reason 2
•Joining gangs allows youths to have a chance at escaping poverty.

•In countries such as Hong Kong, Chinese Triads such as the 14K Triads go to poorer areas such as Kowloon to adopt youths into their secret societies.

•Abalone is a good source of illegal animal trafficking conducted by these triads. Gang members earn a cut for every carton of abalone that they receive.

Reason 3
•They may feel a sense of superiority

•Due to most gang members being of a lower socio-economic status, they might use being in a gang as a way of increasing their prestige and status amongst those in the same neighbourhood

•An example is the crips in New York claiming territory as theirs and taking control of activities going on inside it, even going as far as to compete with a fellow gang, bloods, for territory and control

Reason 4
•Gang affiliation to illegal activities at a young age.

•They have early exposure to such activities, and it could provide them with a feeling of excitement when taking part in these, whilst feeling safe being with others like them.

•An example is how many gangs deal with drugs and provide their members protection from police.

Reason 5
•Gang Romanticization

•Youths may join gangs due to exposure to media that romanticizes the idea of joining a gang as being subculture and cool.

•Examples are Yakuza 0, Breaking Bad and the Boondocks for being precursors and examples as to why youths want to obtain a gang membership.

•The Yakuza are also seen as honorable and have a sense of mysticism around them.

Reason 6
•Conformity.

•Youths join gangs as they have connections/friends in the gangs that they know.

•As a result of peer pressure or negative influence, youths might join gangs in order to remain their façade of being cool even though they do not want to.

Reason 7
- Protection
- Youths can earn protection from bullies by obtaining gang membership. They have a certain immunity from others who are outside a gang.

Reason 8
- Forced cooperation(Albeit similar to conformity)
- Due to the rampant rise of cartels in Mexico, people are forced to cooperate with the cartels as these members are heavily armed with weaponry. (such as automatic fire-arms)
- As drug trafficking plays a wide role in contributing to the GDP and government of Mexico, police officers are easily bribed with money. As such, cartels can have a control over the Mexican society which forces people to cooperate or die.

Reason 9
False sense of trust with gang members
- Gangs take advantage of the identity crisis adolescents face in growing up.
- They present themselves in communities and neighborhoods as one of many reference group choices at a time in the life when a child's peers have the most influence.
- Hence, under the pretense of friendship, camaraderie and chivalry, youths join gangs.

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Why do youths (13 to 29 years) join gangs?

1. A lot of youths choose to join gangs as they think it is a cool thing to do. Gangs have been glamourised recently due to movies and shows emerging. They tend to get influenced and hence, join gangs since everyone is doing it.

2. These youths may tend to seek a sense of belonging according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. They never felt at home with their families and friends and hence, seeked out to gangs to feel included.

3. Some youths may be struggling financially and seek odd jobs to receive fast cash. This stack of cash is given immediately right after the job of delivering illegal goods are done. Performing these odd jobs provides financial security to these youths. These youths continue to stay on in the gang even after they are financially dependent as they feel indebted to their respective gangs for supporting them through their dark times.