CJ150_Assessment4.docx Reasons for Juvenile Gang Relations CJ150 When we think of ga

CJ150_Assessment4.docx    Reasons for Juvenile Gang Relations  CJ150   When we think of gangs, we immediately think young adults as those ranging 20-30. However, this is not always true. Now gangs are made up of children and teenagers. Children as young as elementary school age are recruited into gangs. So why do they join gangs? Children and adolescents are motivated for many reasons. One of these reasons includes family members being associated gangs (AACAP, 2016).  Let us look at an example. We have the Smith family and the father is connected to a specific gang. His son seems him with this association. The dad and son are out doing errands and dad receives a phone call to meet members of his associated gang. When arriving to the destination they get out where the son sees the members getting ready for what seems to be a shooting. He overhears them talking about someone owing them money; therefore, they are getting ready to handle the situation as they say. Of course, dad carried the little boy back home. The son runs into a problem at school with some other boys who picking on him. He knows of a gang made up of youths his age. So, he begins to chat with them and joins their gang. He does this because he saw his dad and his friends stick together to handle problems no matter who that problem is with. Since dads actions were an influence and the son sawit, he has now followed into his fathers footsteps.   Now that we have an example of how family association can affect a childs decision to join