Why young people join gangs

Why young people join gangs

Introduction

There is a notable increase of robbery activities in the society in the last few years. A great number of youths is reported to have been incorporated to a gangs believed to carry their activities in the society. Comparatively, only old bodied men with experience were believed to involve themselves in robbery in the last few years but currently, youths including young high school boys have been reported to constitute a big percentage of gangs robbing in the society besides the requirement of law. In addition, young people are now thought to have taken front line in burglary. This paper outlines types of research methods and ethical issues that I would use to establish reasons as to why young people are joining gangs.

Type of research method used

Reasons upon young people joining gangs is a kind of socially constructed nature of reality, in which deeper understanding about the causes of increased number of young people being incorporated to larceny is required (Smith, 2015). In this case, qualitative research method is the most appropriate approach that I would use to record and analyze the meaning and significance of human social behaviors, emotions and experience. Moreover, it is difficult to establish exact numerical values of young people that have recently joined the gangsters or even the number of robbery incidences that have been previously reported. Therefore, qualitative research method forms the base of my study. As per the nature of this research, it is difficult to get full information from everybody in the society. This is because the society accommodates some of the real suspects of theft. Therefore, my research would be based on a few people in order to be able to come up with full information of young people joining gangs.

Use of interviews and case studies

Interviews and case studies are the best methods I choose to provide me with detailed information about exact reasons for young people joining gangs. In the case of interviews, I would randomly pick some individuals in an area where theft is intensified and in which many young people have dropped out of school to join gangs.  I would base my interview on unstructured kind of questions. Use of unstructured kind of questions will give interviewees full participation in the discussion and by so doing, I will end up compiling full reasons for young people joining gangs. If I were to major my interview on structured type of questions, I would limit interviewees on the information about my topic of research. My next method I would use to collect data is by use of case studies. Since my research is more of being qualitative rather than quantitative, the use of case studies becomes the most appropriate. Case studies provide a rich qualitative data and have high levels of validity than other methods such as questionnaires and observation.

Ethical issues to follow in research

There are various ethical issues that I would follow in my research to determine the cause of increased cases of youths to joining gangs. First, I would ensure that I maintain integrity. This means that I conduct my research with a lot of trust and confidence. Secondly, I would highly consider my social responsibility to the society from which I’m conducting research. Social responsibility enhances science of sociology and ability to serve public good (Harriss & Atkinson, 2013). Thirdly, I would respect people’s rights, dignity and diversity. I would try to avoid bias or any form of discrimination during collection of information. Finally, I would employ my professional competence to ensure that I establish defined reasons for incorporation of young people to robbery.

References

Harriss, D. J., & Atkinson, G. (2013). Ethical standards in sport and exercise science research:      2014 update·. International journal of sports medicine, 34(12), 1025-1028.

Smith, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.