Latinos/Hispanics in the Criminal Justice System

Latinos/Hispanics in the Criminal Justice System
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Institution
Latinos of the age below 30 years are much exposed to risks of crime violent compared to whites in the United States. Moreover, when a Latino resident reports an incidence of insecurity his/her issue is less considered by the police. As a result, they get demoralized while some lose confident on the police system. There is a large difference between Latino and other ethnic groups in terms of victimization and how the issues are handled (Oboler, 2005). When a research was conducted in the whole of America to evaluate the causes of such disparities, it shows that Latinos are less considered even by the criminal justice system. Latinos have been in the United States since early days. Most of them immigrated and decided to settle permanently in the United States and as a result starting to multiple; their number increased immensely. However, most of them were born and raised in America. They benefited a lot living in the United States, their children got proper education, and there were also available resources that they were allowed to exploit. Due to the high population of Latinos, research shows that they are most likely to drop out of school at a lower age. Moreover, the ones who drop out of school become teenage parents. Poverty follows since there is need to feed and sustain the family. Since there is no other option of surviving, most of them become gangs that risk the lives of many people around the country.

Criminal gangs all around the world have placed the lives of many individuals at stake. In the United States, gang violence has been related to Hispanics. They form the largest groups of Gangs, followed by blacks, whites and lastly other races. However, criminal gangs are groups of people who share a common interest. They target the economy by directly attacking people and institutions where they cause immense damages. Latino gangs form 45% of total gangs in the United States. The blacks follow by 37% and then whites with 9.7% and lastly other ethnic groups take the rest of the percentage. Each and every group has some objectives that make them one team (West, 2004). Law enforcement agencies report that the growing number of Hispanics in the United States and how their grievances are handled determine the rate at which young youths are joining the gang society.
Among the objectives of Latino gangs is for popularity. When one joins the gang, he/she is well known and respected by the whole society. As a result, most popular people who want to gain prestige and power start using such gangs for their interests in exchange for money. For instance, many of the gangs are related to drug trafficking. They are respected and have connection with high standard people. Therefore, making money transactions and other materials becomes much easier. Also, some youths join gangs due to discrimination. Recent research shows that Latinos face more challenges compared to whites and other races in relation to risks (Garcia, 2006). They are attacked and easily exposed to violence. As a result, they feel it’s their responsibility to protect themselves in no one wants to protect them. They thus end up joining criminal gangs.
Latinos/Hispanics gangs are formed by either people in prison or the less fortunate ones in the society. In some cases, prominent people organize such gangs indirectly for the purpose of protecting their wealth and resources. The highest populations of people who are targeted are the youths of the age below 30 (West, 2004). They are much more aggressive and can easily be manipulated with money. Therefore, it’s easy to give them directions on one’s target. In addition, some gangs come up from schools. In some cases, some students may decide to become gangs due to poverty and another social status. In America, Latino students are said to form the largest group of people who drop out of school due to early pregnancy or marriage. Such individuals end up living in poverty that then forces them to indulge in criminal activities. On the contrary, the whites who rarely indulge in gang’s activity get quality treatment and favors from their teacher that motivates them to keep reading. It is therefore easy to conclude that the environment where the Latinos, blacks and the whites live in determining the rate at which youths indulge in criminal activities.
Latino/ Hispanics gangs are the people who have the aim of satisfying and improving their living standards through archaic means. They indulge in criminal affairs without considering the society and the harms they cause. Most of the individuals have lost hope in life and hence the only thing that they’ve got is finding ways of comforting themselves. In some cases, the society can be blamed for their actions. Some groups are given high privileges compared to others. Like the whites, they are given a good chance to make something out of themselves and hence it’s less likely for them to get into criminal activities. On the contrary, Latinos are considered to be less fortunate. They are discriminated as well as oppressed by institutions. The knowledge sharing behavior between them and the teachers is totally different from that of the whites and the teachers.
However, the gangs affect the community in many ways. First, they impose fear to members of a society. Fear prevents people from performing their duties as normal. They keep on imagining what would happen rather than what they can do to survive. It therefore ends up reducing the efficiency of the whole country in terms of income and production. Also, the gangs lead to social harms. They affect people ways of interacting and hence no one wants to interact with other. People stop trusting each other and hence each starts performing tasks and operations alone. Also, a high rate of influence is experienced within the youths. Parents and guardians live with worry since their siblings may join gangs due to high influence. The highest number of Latinos who have joined the gangs is as a result of influence that they get from other youths (Rosa, 2004). Peer pressure has become rampart. As a result, many youths are forced to make decisions that are beyond their limits. However, it is the responsibility of the police defense force to protect the community. Valuable measures should be put in action to ensure all members of criminal gangs are identified and dealt with accordingly.
Latino/Hispanic gangs’ activities have extended their way to prisons. Cases have been reported where different gangs attack each other in prison. Some even cause immense killing of people and even the guards. Prison Industrial Complex is widely known for the purpose of overlapping government’s interests and industries that use policing, imprisonment and surveillance as the mending solution towards social, economic and political problems. To maintain the Prison Industrial Complex, it requires overflowing criminals that will be hold in prisons and other supervision institutions (Goldberg, 2009). They play a major role in helping the industry to grow since they act as raw material for such corporations. Criminal gangs play the role of perpetuating the growth of Prison Industrial Complex since most of them are captured and hold captive at different institutions. In the United States, there is a population of over 6.6 million prisoners. They keep the industry growing. On the contrary, the gangs have extended their operations to international levels where they are attacking nations for money or even prestige. As a result, many nations are forming anti-terrorism attack programs for the purpose of strengthening people’s security. Criminal gangs that start as small organizations end up becoming large ones as the members grow in terms of skills, resources and popularity. In some cases, some criminals identify themselves publicly.
In conclusion, Latino/Hispanic gangs have continued to grow as their population grows in all over America. Most of them end up in poverty since they can’t afford to sustain themselves. On the contrary, the ones that try to study end up dropping out due to discrimination and lack of motivation. As a result, the community of gangs has increased and hence risking the lives of many people who continue to live in despair. On the other hand, Prison Industrial Complex is maintained and sustained by criminals. It’s thus significant for the government. Therefore, eliminating criminals in all over the world is a hard task.
References
Oboler, S. (2005). The Oxford encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. New York. Oxford University Press.
West, L. (2004). Color: Latino voices in the Pacific Northwest. Pullman, Wash. Washington State University Press.
Rosa, M. (2004). Substance abusing Latinos: current research on epidemiology, prevention, and treatment. Binghamton, NY. Haworth Social Work Practice Press.
Goldberg, E. (2009). The prison industrial complex and the global economy. Oakland, CA. PM Press.
Garcia, J. (2006). Latino politics in America: community, culture and interests. Lanham, MD. Rowman & Littlefield.