ver, yet another final reason that many youths join gangs. Gangs provide the protection in numbers that many youths seek. A youth who is not enrolled in any particular gang who is encountered on the street by youths who are in a gang may be beaten or even killed. In fact, most youths are genuinely afraid of becoming victims of gangs (Trump 1993). Conversely, that same youth will command respect if he or she is enrolled in a gang. However, the theory of gang protection is sometimes challenged by gang war eruptions.Safety in numbers often leads to death in numbers when dealing with the world of gang wars. The hatred and primal circumstances of gang wars are described below:The two gangs, the Circle and the Avenue, would stand atop the hills at either end of the football field and throw curses and threats across the gridiron for long minutes at a time. This chest pounding served a practical function for locals: They knew they had five or ten minutes to scramble for cover before shooting began. (Dickersen 22)One may ask themself how a youth could actually feel safer in an environment like that. However, the answer is clear. That answer is clearly the safety in numbers factor. Many youths would rather be exposed to the realities of a gang war rather than that of fighting a war all on ones own. In fact, students in schools with a gang presence are twice as likely to report that they fear becoming victims of violence than their peers at schools without gangs (Trump 1993). A gang member who is attacked by rival gang members is almost assured to have retaliation by their own gang on their side as well. That sense of a back up is a driving force in the desire to join gangs. For anyone who does not join a gang is playing Russian roulette, in effect. Donald Thomas, of Dallas, found this out the hard way in 1991 when he was assaulted and killed by 3 assailants who were all described as gang members and all being 15 years old and from b...
