Gang Violence
Gang violence only takes place in big, urbanized, poverty stricken, low class neighborhoods and does not have any effect on middle or upper class areas; or does it? The Mall of America shooting exemplifies how gang violence can erupt anywhere and that no part of society is immune to this problem. As the mall employee in the article states, "you just can't be safe anywhere. Every time you turn around someone is being shot, or beat up, or killed." Why are events such as the mall shooting so common? Why do these tragedies even take place? What is the motivation for people to engage in such immoral and delinquent behavior? Do people who commit crimes such as murder fit an exact stereotype? All of these questions must be examined to properly understand what caused this horrible catastrophe at the Mall of America that took the lives of two innocent bystanders who were waiting to see a movie at the mall cinema.The violent occurrence that took place at the Mall of America in Minnesota erupted late while mall workers were closing up shop and customers and patrons of the mall movie theatre remained inside. Police believe this incident to be a gang related dispute that was sparked by a verbal confrontation between the groups who
Sutherland's theory of differential association may help provide an explanation to the above question. Sutherland states that criminal behavior is not inherited rather it is learned through social interactions. Is it merely a coincidence that mentioned suspects in the article are best friends and both repeatedly engage in criminal behavior. The offenders in this article are described as being best friends who have a long, repeated history of law violation, beginning at age 11. In applying differential association theories to this article, it is not a coincidence that both suspects engage in the same deviant activities. Judging by their association with an intimate peer group such as a gang, they have put themselves in an environment where it is easy to learn to become criminal. The fact that members of gangs engage in the same activities is a main factor in explaining why these mall shootings took place. Theories defining routine activities provide a good explanation of such instances. The main premise behind the routine activity theory is that your daily activities can make you more prone to be an offender or victim or both. The members of rival gangs are motivated by their dislike for each other, which lead to a verbal confrontation and escalated into a shootout. These criminal acts generally occur while groups are "hanging out." which is one of the most dangerous activities. Facts from this article are no exception to this theory. For example, it is stated in the article that the two groups involved in the dispute were hanging out at the mall, which provides for more of an opportunity to commit a deviant act. The fact that the offenders involved in the shootings spend most of their time hanging out together and engaging in the same activities played a crucial role in determining how and why this particular event occurred.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Bloomington Minnesota, James Martin, Mall America, Becker Outsiders, America Minnesota, Goode Ben-Yehuda, Mario Cardenas, , mall america, gang violence, people involved, act deviance, mall shooting, moral panics, moral panic, primary act, primary act deviance, Enrique Suarez, deviant act, people commit crimes, verbal confrontation,
Approximate Word count = 1247
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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