Why would any body ever consider joining a gang?

From specials I've seen on television people join gangs for all sorts of reasons: insecurity, protection, social elevation, poor self-esteem, need for validation, family issue, and so on and so forth. Personal life experience tells me that the guys I know joined gangs because they wanted simply to belong somewhere. While I do not agree with it I can sympathize with teenage angst and wanting to belong. It is no different than kids who join cults or radical groups.

If it wasn't for the Elfin Lied reference I might have overlooked this entire thing. You should learn about paragraphs. They make long pieces like this seem more manageable. By the way, Lucy was never human. She was the first mutant that spawned all the others, and as such the center of the experiments. As for your problems... Take up boxing. If you are as big as you say, and you have all that aggression, then a physical sport like this would be ideal for you. Go to a local gym and start training. Physical exertion is a great way to work through all that emotion building inside you and will help you cope until you find your answers. The obvious solution to your problem is counseling, but as you are unemployed that might be too expensive so I will give you the best advice you will ever get. GET OVER YOURSELF!!!!!!!! You have built this cocoon of expectation around you and now are allowing it to swallow you whole. That's just pathetic. You don't want to be this big jerk anymore, then just stop. It's as simple as choosing to be better. You are not a monster. There are real monsters out there and you are mediocre by comparison. If I went to school and we were in the same grade, I'm sure I could kick your BUTT by myself unarmed because frankly you sound pathetic. You are not special! Here is what you do. You are unemployed so you have lots of free time, and you are afraid you have lost all your social graces. So take up volunteering. Go feed the homeless or clean the YMCA. Do something charitable and it will help you relearn how to be civil to other people and it will look good on a resume or in an interview. Do you see how easy paragraphs make things? As for your hatred for humanity. That is nothing special. Every person of intelligence comes to realize the grossness of our species and gags on our filth. Fortunately many are able to see the beauty of the individual and get passed it. You will too. Just give it time.

Well, a fairly interesting question. There are social and economic models which show the costs/benefit of joining a gang. It basically boils down to alternatives. When people are in a low-income area, they are willing to engage in higher-risk activities. While the "entry-level" gang position is comparable to minimum wage, that of a gang leader is fairly good for a low-income area.

I am by no means a supporter of gangs, but it's like a risk/gamble they take to reach that position of fairly good economic status and of course, power. There are actually some interesting papers written in Evolutionary game theory, economics, and sociology about the risk/reward factor of crime.

That, and some types of cultural mentalities seem to support it, which I find ridiculous. I mean, I see the appeal if I was angry and uneducated, the path to use violence and intimidation to 'equalize the playing fields' , but in the end - extremely misguided

It's about acceptance and love. Most people who join gangs do come from broken/dysfunctional homes where no attention is paid to them. The young people are left alone, with low self-esteem, and they crave some sense of belonging. Gangs offer all the things that a young man needs, love, a sense of belonging, and money. It's messed up, but it's true.

Most members of gangs are raised in poor conditions with one or both parents being absent. They do not have any education or job skills and you're right they do lack self esteem from not having a loving and stable childhood so they look into the gangs for acceptance. Sad but true.

In response to the idiot above, the Irish were the first to create gangs as they are know today.

To answer your question, turn on the TV. How cool does person X look tossing a cigarette into a gas trail burning down the enemy's hideout? People want to be that person because o the way the media presents it.

u must not be around those kinda ppl........................bleev me, it has an effect on u, it angers me everytime some1 from licketysplit conneticut or something talks about how dumb gangs r when they dont no shlt about em! im not saying that u r 1 of those losers but it seems like u r. being in a gang can make a lot of things happen good or bad, it gives u input and control over ppl which gives u input an control over the community.

look at the irish mob, the sicilians, the italians, the chinese, the russians, gangs werent even invented by blacks or hispanics, and gangs like the crips or the latin kings didnt start out big and bad, it became that way bcuz of the nature of ppl

Well sometimes people have no choice either because they force them to and ect. But actually they usually do it beacuse they think they are pretty much strong or "tuff".Or for the fame, the so called "chicks" women... And last but not least, they have nowere else to turn to.

Because they usually don't have a choice in the matter. It's just something that you do or die if you stay in that neighborhood. If you only saw it on TV & have never lived around it, then you should stay away from things that scare you. What right do you have to make snap judgements on people?

that is a very good question, considering all ur doing is signing urself up to get beat up, put in jail, or killed. i ges if u had REALLY high stres, or u really wanted to kill ppl, or u hated ur life and wanted to die