Sociology

The most knowledgeable and experienced academicians studying gangs are still arguing concerning the most appropriate definition of the term gang, as today, there is no globally accepted definition of the term. However, a gang can simply be defined as a group which has a collective and common identity and which exercises a frequent interaction. Additionally, the gangs members are involved in criminal activities and adopt certain identification methods. They also claim to be solving their political, economic or social problems emerging in their societies (National School Safety and Security Services, 2009). This paper will provide a research on the Crips gang in relation to the political and socio-economic issues related to it.  

The Crips gang is an extremely aggressive street gang. It was formed as a result of merging of different street organizations which were referred to as sets. The Crips gang originated in Los Angeles, California. Each set is known to have sub-clicks, lines or blocks. Originally, Crips was a black gang which used to meet at Washington High School campus in Los Angeles. The gang grew and extended to other parts of the Los Angeles City. The new street gangs which were formed as a result used the word Crips as their gang name (Walker, 1998).

Most members of the Crips gang are of the age of twelve to twenty four years .The most numerous part of the gang members are African Americans. However, Hispanics and whites have been known to be Crips members in several parts of the United States. For one to be a member of the gang, initiation is necessary. This presupposes a murder or an assault, shooting, armed robbery or beating up committed by newly recruited members. The gangs color identification is blue. Each of the members has a blue bandanna which they call the flag. There is a strong relationship that exists in the group. Crips refer to each other as cuzz, which is the gang slang name for cousin. Graffiti is one of the intricate communication systems that they have. Others display their colors, using hand signals and wear specific athletics clothing (Walker, 1998).

ProblemIssue Statement and Description
The gang subculture is one of the major problems that the U.S. has had to face. Gang activities have crossed all socio-economic, racial and ethnic boundaries. A considerable historical focus has been directed toward the study of the traditional gang structures and the urban areas. It has become apparent that the activities of the gang have translated into a national problem and the growth of the gangs activities has been startling.

Literature Review
The Crips gang recruitment is quite rampant in schools today. There are various economic and social factors which motivate youth to join gangs like this one. Some of the factors are the economic profitability, the status, security, friendship and the family substitute. School children become gang members, regardless of socio-economic backgrounds. Once the pupils join the gang groups, they are involved in a lot of gang violent activities. The gangs activities involve the weapon use and a high level of violence (National School Safety and Security Services, 2009).

The gangs lifestyle is considered an attractive choice to some of the American youth. This is emphasized when a street gangster is glorified as being wealthy, influential and powerful. As a result, some young people have been motivated to join gangs like the Crips. There is a need of better law enforcement, more perfect tribal courts and creation of an environment which will not tolerate any gang behavior. Young people have a lot of energy which needs an outlet. Therefore, recreational opportunities and employment must be provided so as to engage them in beneficial activities (Grant, 2004). Crips gang like any other gang has a difficult recruitment process, loose and chaotic organization .The predominant activities of the gang group members are drug trafficking, major crime involvement, drinking and hanging out (Barrik  Decker, 2010)

The Crips gang is rated as the largest and most violent group in the U.S. There are several Crip sets around the U.S. Some of them identify themselves with the original Los-Angeles based Crips gang, but they run their own criminal activities. Additionally, famous hip hop artists and rappers have also been said to have an affiliation with the Crips. This is even emphasized by one aspect of the hip hop culture, which is to promote gangster life and violence in their music. Gangster rap glamorizes the life of the gangs and makes the gang membership attractive (Moreno, 2001).

Crips gang has been characterized by an increased escalation of violence, a rise in gang membership and the spread of gangs from one society to another. Criminologists have involved themselves in studying values, membership and behavior. The research that has been conducted has revealed that gangs engage in very high degree of violence. This is as a result of the collective group behavior and the policies that govern the gangs. Studies have also shown that gang warfare in the prison confines is highly intensified. The violence in the gang groups is accelerated by the brutality and abuse of the prison guards (Decker, 2007).

Forensic experts have developed different investigative approaches of detecting different gang members from various groups. When profiling gangs, forensic investigators identify the gang members by jewelry, tattoos, body piercing, photographs and tattoos. They also identify the members through their violent and aggressive personalities (Decker, 2007).

Crips gang is associated with drug trafficking. A study conducted at the University of California established that the Crips gang was expanding its behavior in drugs to other cities and markets. As a result, there was the increase of gang violence. It was found out that street gang structures cannot manage drug operations successfully. Studies have also shown that most fights are as a result of drug issues (Decker, 2007).

Gang Organization
Nowadays, gangs often collaborate due to certain anti-social reasons. This is shown by how different smaller gang groups joined the Crips and became the Crips Alliance. Generally, Crips gang has one or a group of leaders who are responsible for giving orders. These leaders eventually benefit from the actions of the gang members. Most gangs start as groups of youthful delinquents. Once they become full gang members, they turn into violent activities which include drug trafficking. The craving of most gang members is that of power, which is popularly known as juice in gang slang. Joining a gang group by the youth is seen as giving someone a sense of belonging. In fact, many youth have joined a gang group so as to avoid any kind of harassment from their peers ( Nawojczyk, S 1997).

Gangs are fluid in nature, meaning that they are subject to transformation. They at times change affiliations. There are certain principles which are considered essential to all gang groups. They are popularly known as the three Rs. The first one is reputation. The gang members, popularly known as gang bangers in the gang slang are concerned with the reputation of an individual and the gang as a whole. The more an individual or a gang is involved in illegal activities, the more the reputation of the person or the gang (Nawojczyk, S 1997).

The second principle is that of respect. As the gang members claim, disrespect to the rival groups shows the individuals respect to ones own gang group. Therefore, a gang member should show disrespect to the rival groups through graffiti, hand signs and other acts of violence. The last principle is that of retaliation. In a gang culture, no challenge is supposed to go unanswered. Various acts of violence are seen as acts of revenge. Many acts of violence are as a result of a drug territory infringement or bad drug deals (Nawojczyk, S 1997).

The political organization of gangs varies. It is characterized by a loose structure of positions depending on how much a person has worked for the gang. The ranks are arranged in the following order, from the lowest level. the tiny gangster (under eighteen years), the baby gangster (over eighteen years), the original baby gangsters(after five years of gang membership), original gangster (after ten years of membership), double original gangster(after fifteen years of membership) and the triple original gangster(after twenty years of membership) (Crip Knowledge, 2004).

Political and socio-economic issues
The major problem associated with the Crips gang is that of violence. The Crips is the most ruthless Californian gang. Its acts of violence arise when it targets other non-Crip gangs with acts of violence. One of their rivals is known as the Bloods. The Crips alliance was formed with an intention of extending the revolutionary ideology that was in the 1960s. However, it did not attain this goal because it lacked political leadership. As a result, their obsession became that of seeking self-protection from other gangs, which accelerated the rate of violence in the U.S. Up to date, the Crips has been associated with violence as a socio-economic issue due to lack of political leadership.

Conclusion
The Crips gang has been involved in highly violent activities. The government of the U.S. needs to address the increasing gang issues through safe correctional measures.