With the sales of cocaine being at an all time high; territory became an issue which led to a large number of gang wars which causes violence. These combinations alone made joining a street gang both more convincing, lucrative and violent. .
The most common reason for juveniles to join a gang is their low level socioeconomic status, in other words poverty. If poverty is a condition, then despair could perhaps be a state of mind; you lose all hope (Meacham, 2008). The majority of gang membership originates in inner-city communities. In these communities there is a lack of social and economic opportunities. If your family has a history of living in poverty, you often don't see a chance of ever making it out of these poor conditions. Schools are poorly funded resulting in the absence of extra curricular activities. Most families consist of a single parent household where the mother is typically the caregiver, working two jobs to make ends meet. A lot of these children are latchkey kids where they are home alone after school without any type of adult supervision. This gives children the opportunity to run the streets and find trouble. There is a lot of gang presence in these types neighborhoods which youth get attracted to the flashy cars, fast money, and clothes that come along with membership. Youth join gangs as a source of income. Gang members can generally make a week's worth of income in one day (Esbensen, Winfree, & Taylor, 2001). Many of them question, why get a job working for minimum wage when you make the same amount of money in a weeks pay period in a single day? The thought of fast is what lures the young adolescents into becoming a gang member.
Adolescents tend to join gangs for supportive reasons. A lot of youth especially those with low socio-economic structures have a weak social ties with their families, schools, and communities. These are the youth that join gangs for a sense of belonging.
