Most gang members of outlawed sects come from broken families or single parent headed

families (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). The study will focus on the former gang members of the Mac Baller Brims to establish the relationship between growing up in a single family and possibility of joining Mac Baller. There are strong ties between family hierarchy and propensity of joining gangs (Ayling, 2011). Essentially, the family defines the level of education of each family, their level of income, standards of living, as well as their values. Research has shown that individuals that come from single parent families are most likely to get into gang groups (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). Different researchers have observed that many factors motivate people to join gang groups and they include but not limited to child negligence, violence, as well as drug use. From the Mac Baller Brims gang members, it is evident that family hierarchy determines whether a person joins a gang or not (Ayling, 2011). Joining a gang is dependent on the hierarchy of the family (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). More specifically, members from single families are likely to join gangs since they do not have close family structures (Ayling, 2011). Notably, majority of the Mac Baller Brims members are from single headed families. This means that most of them had limited attention and care from their one parent while growing up (Decker et al., 2014). There was a gap created during their upbringing. In addition, most of the children from broken and single families join the gang groups so that they can feel some sense of belonging. They join so that they can identify with their peers and deal with the stress that comes from lacking the attention and love from both parents.

Purpose

The primary focus of this research study is to examine the former gang members of the Mac Baller Brims and consider the family hierarchy that pushes the children to become members of outlawed society members. The drive to pursue this research was intrigued by the rising cases of gangs in Bronx, N.Y. This paper sought to investigate the correlation between family hierarchy and the propensity of joining a gang group (Kontos, Brotherton & Barrios, 2012). The reason for choosing Mac Baller is because it is one of the biggest and most lethal gangs in the country. This research will be of great significance not only to fulfill the academic requirements, but also to New York City management in identifying the possible ways of mitigating family hierarchy issues and even ways of curbing gang's violence (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). It will also help educate the public on what they can do to help reduce the number of young people falling into the well of gangs that add no usefulness to their lives. This research seeks to find out the severity to which family hierarchy is associated with the likelihood of joining gangs by using the Mac Baller Brims gang as an illustration.

Significance

There is a growing concern over the rising number of families headed by single parents who have no thoughts about the implications such an imbalance have on the future of their children (Thrasher, 2013). The implication here is that children with single parents are more likely to join the gangs as compared to those with both parents. There are studies that show several ways in which gangs can be regarded as a threat to national security. There are many cases of violence in the cities, which means that the number of former gang members has increased by a large margin in the past few years (Thrasher, 2013). More people are joining and others defect from the gangs on a daily basis. However, it is of the current study's principal interest to highlight that significantly few studies have been conducted in this area. Radicalization studies have found out that former gang members have been left out in the diverse types of studies that explore matters of national security and possible ways to reducing cases of crime and violence (Thrasher, 2013). There is an increasing magnitude of gang studies hinting on the relationship between increasing members leaving their gangs and operating on their own and the deteriorating national security (Decker, Melde & Pyrooz, 2013). Further, the study will fill the stated knowledge gap following preliminary findings that show that researchers are aware of the security issues that former gangs pose, yet the majority of them are yet to establish whether security agencies may have to deal with former gangs as a daily security issue facing most people in the society. The study takes a peculiar approach by exploring the manner in which former gang members of the Mac Baller Brims activities may harm state and national security through their interaction with the other community members.

A gap exists in the information that motivates and pushes people to leave the former gangs. However, the rarity of suchlike scenarios does imply that further studies cannot identify a more significant connection bearing in mind the notion that former gangs keep on expanding their operations and that others are developing relations with other criminal entities (Pyrooz & Decker, 2011). In addition, building a case that supports the conceptualization of former gangs as a threat to national security requires investigation into their relationships with acts of stealing and trafficking businesses that are known to support members either indirectly or directly. The current study direction is well justified bearing in mind that it attempts to explore this multifaceted relationship by using former gang members of the Mac Baller Brims as a case study (Samara, 2010). By so doing, the findings of this study will help other states to use a similar model to trace the far-reaching impacts of their former gang population.

Background

There are increasing cases of former gang activities in the Bronx, New York. In addition to the direct security threats that justify the need to study the impact of former gangs on the community development both in the short-term and in the long-term (Pyrooz, Sweeten & Piquero, 2013). The security threats is the reason why it is important to study Mac Baller gang. Former gangs, cartels, and drug traffickers, indicate that indeed there is a high level of proper management of the groups (Hamilton, 2014). The Mac Baller gang members are the new mafia, which is an aggressive sect of drug dealers together with gunrunners that has been profiled as the most dangerous gang in New York (Zoukis, 2015). The gang encompasses different nationalities, which form a dreadful faction of crime-happy areas that own much of the street drug trade in the city.

At the Mac Baller gang, the top leaders ensure that they collect the data about the members and it takes a lengthy process before one can be admitted at the gang. The leaders have to confirm your commitment and ability to stick with the group and maintain the secrets of the gang as well (Alexander, 2017). The current section is geared to back up the notion that former gangs work with well-coordinated people in the society as well as organizations to accelerate the increase of insecurity throughout the borough of the Bronx. This assumption will be justified by providing evidence of investigations concerning activities that have been initiated by former gangs in the US. Further, the paper will highlight the Family Hierarchy through the eyes of the Mac Baller Brims.

Framework

The theoretical approaches to the evolution of former gangs and gang membership will be looked into in this section. In this case scenario, sociological theory will be used to frame the narrative of the study. According to the sociological theory, the social status of an individual within academia, family or even the society determines his or her criminal behavior. The sociological theories should investigate the activities that foster the vulnerability of a population or influences their decisions making process to become a member of a gang (Cook, 2015). The theories address the psychological processes that motivate people to join the former gangs and the factors that make them vulnerable to the groups. It also addresses the reasons, which motivate them to make such decisions. Specifically, the sociological theory that will guide this study is the Social Learning Theory. According to the theory, individuals can learn new things from others who do them. People, particularly children can learn new behaviors by watching those of other individuals who are around them, and then copy them. Like in this case, those people around the neighborhoods where the Mac Baller gang operates are most likely to be influenced by what they observe, especially those from the single parent families, since they are not being watched with many eyes as opposed to both parents.

Research Questions

What are the features or attributes of the former gang-related families?

What type of relationship which exists between the former gang members and their immediate relatives and how does this affect the resistance, criminality, and membership?

What are the negative effects of membership to their immediate families?

Under what situations do their families seek to help the former gang engaged relatives?

Nature of the Study

Quantitative: causal-comparative study

The study takes a causal-comparative approach to explore the association between the broken families and their possibilities of joining gangs like Mac Baller. Causal-correlation research delineates a qualitative method that, like the correlational design, is instrumental in exploring associations (Davies & Fagan, 2012). The method was chosen as casual-comparative research presents the best method to explore both the consequences and cause of variations or similarities that exist among or between groups, in this case, former gangs, and organizations that conduct or support them.

The participants of this study will be volunteers who will be approached individually for their consent. To achieve the results, the study examines two variables. One is dependent and another is independent. Coming from a broken family will be the dependent variable, while joining a gang will be the independent variable. The goals here will be to determine if the independent variable affected the result, or even if the dependent variable, by comparing the groups of those coming from broken families and those from intact families. The results are then run through a statistical test using SPSS software.

Possible Types and Sources of Data

For the purpose of the study, both secondary and primary data will be used as proof of the motivation behind the hierarchical leadership from a family perspective that guides the Mac Baller Brims gang. Primary data will come from face-to-face interviews conducted among the members of the society and the former members of the group. Through a written consent to the law enforcement agencies, we would request for the identity of the former gang members as well as engage the community as some of them are well known. Law enforcement confessions will also be necessary when it comes to collecting the data to be used for the study. This is because they have had direct contacts with the Mac Baller gang members and also understand the law about how to deal with such. Secondary data is from the published books and the newspaper articles that have reported about the gang (Alexander, 2017). The purpose of the secondary data is to learn about what other researchers say about how people end up in gangs and their operations. The rising number of former gangs in New York City is high and catches the attentio...