Understanding Online Scammers, Hackers, and the Criminal Element
This is a very serious problem in our society. The problem that I am talking about is computer hacking, scammers, and the criminal element. First, let’s start off by explaining the characteristics of a computer hacker. A computer hacker is a person who is a loner. This is a person who is excellent when it comes to working technology. A computer hacker is also a person who enjoys computers, women, and other things. A computer hacker is also highly intelligent, educated, and in some cases, also have a computer background. This is a person who possesses an above average IQ and he or she also usually is all by himself. This person is also a professional liar and he tends to demoralize an innocent person with words, symbols, or statements that does not make sense. This person uses a computer to cut and paste pictures of women and transfer them into his own personal database. This person also confuses everyone just like Satan with his statements, and to tell you the truth, his location is unknown to the public and not to God.
A scammer is a person who also takes advantage of other people by deceiving them with his or her words. They also make promises that they do not keep. A scammer is also a person who uses a computer at times to gain money from innocent people. A computer scammer and hacker are two different people. Scammers and Hackers are online using women’s profiles to lure men into starting a conversation with them. Most of them wait until each woman is completely logged off their computers or their smart phones. Scammers do not really need a computer to take advantage of another person. They can use their sense of charm, wit, and intelligence to gain anything from another person. What make it very dangerous is that most of the women who are victims are women. They have to prove in a court of law that they are not involved in any illegal activities. The scammers and hackers who are online right now are active 24 hours per day. Most of the activity occurs between the hours of Midnight to 6:00AM.
The criminal element that is associated with this operation consists of individuals that are in a hierarchy system. There is a system of people who are high and low ranking officials when it comes to the online scamming criminal element. This is extremely serious because an average hacker and scammers who are involved in this operation and crime usually earn an average of $100,000 per week. This money comes from online fraud victims who really do not know that they are being taken advantage of until the last minute. There is an average of 25,000 reports each year to law enforcement of wire fraud, and social security fraud. This is because the victims themselves are being used and their information online is being used by scammers and hackers. Their email accounts and homepages are also used by hackers as soon as they log off their personal computers or cell phones.
The equipment that computer hackers and scammers use is thermal scanners, printers, laptops, computers, cell phones, and printers. The crimes that are committed are identity theft and fraud. Also, another crime that is reported by victims is having their email accounts and homepages illegally used by these types of criminals. For instance, on Moco-Space, there is a hacker who is using women’s profiles to talk to men. This hacker is a man. This hacker also uses short words and statements to confuse innocent people. This hacker also tell lies whenever he/she states that; they have done something for the person they are talking to. Most of the accounts and information is illegally transferred to their accounts. There are also cloned accounts. There are accounts that do not exist and it is really up to the people who are in charge of the website to check this information out for authenticity.
It sounds a bit like throwing on an overcoat or shawl, the concept of “putting on the new self” that is emphasized repeatedly in Scripture. “Is it really that simple?” we might scoff, as if transformation happens as easily as changing our clothing.
But that is exactly what the apostle Paul advises Christian believers to do in Ephesians 4. As he wrote, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
What does it mean to “put on the new self” from Ephesians 4:22-24? It means exactly that — to exchange the old self for the new, the old ways and life of sin for the new creation we all are in our lord and savior, Christ Jesus.
Let’s take a look at the context, how we can put on a “new self,” and why it is so important that we do this.
What Does This Verse Mean?
When talking about the new self, Paul is referring to a renewed or regenerated person, one who has turned away from old ways to a new and improved state of being. This new self is a holy and pure self, striving to be like God and free from sin. It’s much like the “new humanity” Paul refers to in Ephesians 2:15, when he speaks of Jews and Gentiles coming together in the body of Christ – a beautiful, transformative version of what once was so imperfect and flawed.
We are to put off, or get rid of, the old version of ourselves — slaves to sin and walking in darkness, destined for death — and instead allow our minds and very souls to endeavor to be like God himself, righteous, true, perfect, and holy. This new self has Christ as our head (Colossians 1:18).
In the original Greek, “putting off” or “putting away” is translated from apotithēmi, which Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament says means “to lay off, lay down or aside, as garments.” The term “put on” comes from the Greek endyō, meaning to clothe oneself.
In essence, just as we take off an old, worn-out cloak and put on a fine, pristine new one, we are to do the same with the new, Godly self, the self that strives to be sin-free and in perfect alignment with the Lord.
For old and new self, the original Greek used is palaios anthrōpos and kainos anthrōpos. Anthrōpos refers to body, or human frame, specifically the “spiritual frame of the inner man,” according to Mounce’s dictionary. Palaios means “old” and kainos means “new,” or “recently made.” Kainos can also refer to new as in renovated, improved, made better or of higher excellence.
It is clear here that Paul is indeed saying that, like a tattered old coat, we should take off our old self and put on the new and far-improved one — our “Jesus cloak.” We do this by striving to be like Jesus, our God-given role model, God and man in one.
What Is the Context of Ephesians 4?
Paul is writing to the first-century church in Ephesus, largely comprising Gentile followers of Jesus. Much of the entire book of Ephesians is an instructional letter to the people urging them to embrace their identity in Christ.
Paul teaches here that salvation comes only by grace through faith, and he urges the people to do what they can to embrace this new identity so they can join other members of the body of Christ and bring about God’s eternal plan on earth.
Once, these Ephesian believers had been squabbling, ununified fools who worshipped idols and engaged in immoral behavior. But now they had a fundamentally, drastically new character.
Be that new person, Paul is urging his audience. Turn from the old and embrace the new.
As part of this, Paul also in Ephesians 4 encourages the people to draw together in unity and try hard to be mature and responsible, not immature, fickle infants. Indeed, he doesn’t want them to be “Gentiles” or “Jews” at all but God’s own children, precious and good. Don’t do wrong things, like lie or steal. Don’t “give the devil a foothold,” he says in Ephesians 4:27. Encourage each other and focus on kindness and righteousness.
Why Do We Need to Put Off the Old Self?
The old self is like the pile of weeds Jesus himself said was destined for the fire. But the new self, as it is part of the body of Christ, has a higher purpose and is part of God’s plan.
John 1:4-5 says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
That light came into the world, but we didn’t recognize him. Yet, John wrote, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).
Mental illness alone is very challenging for more than 40 million people living in the United States. People who struggle with the diagnosis of a mental illness find themselves struggling to make it. Frankly, there are people, who turn to their faith in God just to make it. Personally, I suffer from schizoid affective disorder. I have been suffering from a mental illness for 28 years now. Why having a serious mental illness would is so difficult?
For me, I hear voices that are not the Holy Spirit. In my report, I have found that spirituality is an often-overlooked resource in mental illness recovery. My assessment of religious or spiritual beliefs are under researched, and in most cases, it is laughed at by the Mental Health Community. Honestly, most psychiatrist refuse to actually listen to their patients. Many psychiatrist and therapist that I have consulted with during the past 28 years, feel that my spirituality is pointless.
I will admit that I have benefitted from pastoral counseling more than consulting with a psychiatrist and therapist. There are three main reasons how people with a mental illness cope with their problem. First, through spirituality, as well as relying on a power that is greater than the person themselves. As for me, I attend Fort McKinley United Methodist Church. The address to the church is 3721 West Siebenthaler Avenue Dayton, Ohio 45406. I have attended Fort McKinley Church for 10 years now.
It helps me to cope much better with a mental illness by attending church as well as Bible study during the week. I feel a whole lot better when I am at church. Second, there are over 50 million people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and a substance abuse problem. This statistic comes from the National Institute of Mental Health. People who suffer from a mental illness, at least some of them drink alcohol or self-medicate themselves just to cope with their problem. Third, another coping mechanism that some people have used is suicide. I remember on February 13, 2010; I tried to kill myself because I was responding to internal stimuli.
The voices that I was hearing told me to kill myself. Smolak, Gearing, Alonzo, Baldwin, Harmon, and McHugh (2013) reflected and reviewed 43 original research studies over the past 30 years. These people have discovered that patterns that were related or pertaining to religious beliefs and a patient’s recovery from a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia.
This observation found that religion and spirituality have a mostly positive association with mental illness recovery. However, the intensive observation indicated that spiritual perceptions of family, caregivers, the community at large, and professionals affiliated to the mental illness saw tremendous progress.
The results pointed out that religious themes were often evident in the perception of disease etiology, that family members and caregivers used religion as well as religious based professionals over mental health professionals. I would admit that working with a Pastor each week is much more feasible than dealing with a psychiatrist on a monthly basis. However, this report has better reflections of the patient.
It also has a better understanding of a patient’s spiritual and religious beliefs as it assists in improving coping with a mental illness better than relying on medication. Religion and spirituality in conjunction with mental illness recovery remained historically under emphasized and minimized by mental health professionals. This means that spirituality will have to be emphasized by the patient themselves as a means to better cope with their mental illness.
The report finished with the idea of how enhancing the treatment provider’s awareness of a patient’s religious and spiritual interaction may improve treatment outcomes. I would like to say that religion and spirituality is not emphasized during an average consultation or therapy session. The majority of professionals prefer the use of medication to eradicate mental illness. Corrigan, McCorkle, Schell, and Kidder (2003) studied a total of 1,824 patients living with serious mental illness, who also had significant functional disability, but did not engage in substance abuse.
The information pointed out that the self-reporting of spirituality and religion as well as measured outcomes in psychological well-being, psychiatric symptoms, and life goal achievement such as employment and housing. This study determined whether religion and spirituality yielded similar benefits in the lives of people challenged and suffering from a serious mental illness, but also determined if those same people benefitted differently from religion. The patient’s themselves participated in community activities and common ways of worshipping versus spirituality defined as thinking about one’s self as part of a larger spiritual force. (P. 488). This study found that patients who self-identified as religious or spiritual has a much greater sense of well-being, better coping skills, and diminished psychiatric symptoms. There was also no difference in quality of life as far as employment and/or housing.
People who suffer from a serious mental illness usually advocate and assert that religion and spirituality serve essential recovery roles in that they may provide useful coping skills to help with stressors. Also, as previously noted, mental health professionals tend not to be very religious; therefore, the differences between professionals and patients may lead to a gap in treatment as professionals fail to ask about beliefs.
This could lead to a failure to explore religion or spirituality as a means towards a therapeutic end. There are conclusions from this study. The raw facts suggest there may be a need for faith-based programs to be integrated into recovery programs for people with serious mental illness. In the future, more research is needed to determine the role of faith-based programs and to more thoroughly examine the causes and effects of spirituality in the lives of people who suffer from mental illness.
In all cases, this study and examination serves to remind mental health professionals of the central role religion or spirituality often play in the lives of patients and to the fact that sensitivity to the patient’s needs in this area lead professionals to helping the patient find appropriate services and resources.
Women and minorities struggle with mental illness are much more intense than other races. These patients were more likely to be religious and more likely to turn to their faith as a means of coping, getting better, and staying healthy. These patient’s length of stay in a psychiatric ward was significantly shorter for patients who attend worship services or used religious thoughts and activities as one of the most important strategies to deal with their mental illness.
An initial spiritual assessment should focus on determining how patient’s spiritual beliefs and practices influences their functioning and recovery. By doing so, mental health professionals will likely uncover strengths and resources that can be utilized to foster recovery. Mental Health Professionals can also help patients focus on their capabilities and resilience as well as accessing and using other positive recovery-oriented narratives drawn from the patient’s spiritual worldview in order to address their problems more efficiently.
Spiritual Assessment within the mental health area is under researched and given that spirituality and/or religion is identifiably a magnificent and positive part of serious mental illness recovery. This needs to be a more widely researched and utilized avenues of social science. In a society where, mental illness can be isolating and stigmatizing label; spirituality can be a core identity to which almost everyone can find a community or ways to help make life with serious mental illness worth living.
References
1. Corrigan, P., McCorkle, B., & Kidder, K. (2003). Religion and Spirituality in the lives of people with serious mental illness. Community Mental Health Journal, 39(6) 487-99
2. Smolak, A., Gearing, R. E., Alonzo, D., Baldwin, S., Harmon, S., & McHugh, K. (2013). Social Support and Religion: Mental health service use and treatment of schizophrenia. Community Mental Health Journal 49(4) 444-50
This is an essay that will ask a very important question. What does it mean to examine our ways and heart? This is a plan for repentance and renewal. Turn Back!! Repentance in the Old Testament prophets is often expressed by the verb To Turn!! Lift our hearts and hands: Lifting hands was a common posture in prayer.
According to Lamentations 5:21: The one-word turn can summarize God’s message to His rebellious people. In one of Jeremiah’s earlier messages, he had exhorted the people to turn to God no less than seven times. Return means to “Return” to God in faith.
When it comes to repentance, I have to completely stop what I had done wrong, and give it to the Lord God. The definition of the word repent means to turn back. As it pertains to the topic of discussion, this gives us an opportunity to examine carefully who we are in the eyes of God. It also enables us to write down on paper all of our positive and negative things about ourselves.
We have to speak with the Lord privately first and foremost. Before we seek wise counsel with others, we first must confess our sins to the Lord.
Next, in this case, this means that everything that we did wrong in our personal life, we ask God to forgive us. As far as our ways and heart is concerned, we must take a real long look at ourselves. Do you really like what you see? This is a question that we really need to ask ourselves right now. For instance, in my case, I tend to ask myself this same question every single day. I have a lot of health issues right now. I am taking 34 prescription medications that I am currently taking is Invega, Prozac, Vistaril, Gabapentin, -and Phenobarbital. I have been taking these medications for over 20 years now. These are some examples of medications that I am currently taking right now. I am also taking Aptiom as well which is Tegretol.
Further, I currently take these medications for seizures and depression. How do you feel about yourself right now? I feel pretty good about my outlook on life, and my overall behavior as completely changed since taking the medications.
In Step 10 in Alcoholics Anonymous states that we continue to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. A) We review our day at its entirety. Do we have to make amends with anyone else or God? Sometimes the answer to this question is yes. For me personally, I have to examine all of my character defects and disclose them with God or with my A.A. Sponsor. Right now, I have to write an essay each day of the week just to cope with a mental illness. I have to pray and read the Bible each day of the week.
B) When we examine our ways, we look at every little thing that makes us tick. For Example, we focus on having an intimate relationship with God. Are you ready to have an intimate relationship with God? C) The definition of the word examine means to look at carefully. I am the type of person who is very intelligent, nice, kind, polite, patient, considerate, warm, brave, clean, and meticulous.
Finally, we are ready to have an intimate relationship with God by confessing our sins to Him! As soon as I say that I am ready to do your will Lord. First, I must confess all of my sins to the Lord God.
I might even write them down on a piece of paper and tell God exactly what is burdening me. Also, one thing that I can say is that I feel much better when it comes to releasing all of my negative energy to Him. I also ask Him what he wants me to do right now and in the future. I ask the Lord to please let me hear His voice. God already know the things that you need long before you ask Him.
He will supply all of your needs. Are you glad that we serve an understanding God? I am glad that I serve Him for myself. Please continue to pray for me each day because I suffer from glaucoma and cataracts as well.
Your mental age is 28, and your mental personality type is The Inspirer. You never stop learning, you are not afraid to act on things that matter, and you feel the concerns of others. Your intelligence and intuitiveness are the most prominent features of your character, and despite your random impulsiveness, you use them wisely. You are outgoing and optimistic, yet profound. You are The Inspirer.
Millennial slang includes terms like “bae,” “TBH,” “squad,” and “basic,” which were popular during the early 2000s and early 2010s. Other examples include “low-key,” “high-key,” “lit,” and “shook.” Many of these slang terms have origins in hip-hop culture, online gaming, and social media trends. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Here’s a more detailed look at some common millennial slang terms:
Everyday Phrases:
Bae: A term of endearment, short for “before anyone else.”
TBH: Short for “to be honest.”
Squad: A group of close friends.
Basic: A term used to describe something or someone that is mainstream, unoriginal, or predictable.
Low-key: A way to express something you’re doing or feeling in a subdued or subtle way. Opposite of “high-key.”
High-key: Expressing something with enthusiasm or intensity.
Lit: Originally meant drunk, but millennials used it to mean “excited” or “awesome.”
Shook: A feeling of shock or disbelief.
Slay: To succeed in a big way.
Salty: Annoyed or bitter.
Ghosted: When someone you’re dating suddenly disappears without explanation.
Hella: A lot of.
Cool beans: A silly way of saying “cool”.
Whatevs: An abbreviated, dismissive way of saying “whatever”.
“Blud” is a slang term commonly used among Gen Z to refer to a close friend or companion. It is akin to calling someone “bro” or “buddy.”
“Blud” Origins
The term “blud” originates from British street slang, an evolution from the word “blood” often used within ethnic communities in the UK and the Caribbean to signify brotherhood and close kinship. Over time, it has been embraced by younger generations as a casual way to address friends.
Examples of Use for “Blud”
The following are some ways people might use this term in conversation or messaging:
“Yo, blud, what’s up?”
“Thanks for the help, blud.”
“I haven’t seen you in ages, blud.”
Incorporating “blud” Into Your Vocabulary
The term “blud” is a friendly slang, often used to refer to a close friend or mate. Here are some ways to include it in your daily interactions:
Greeting a Friend: When you meet a close friend, you can say, “Hey blud, how’s it going?”
Showing Appreciation: If a friend helps you out, you might respond with, “Thanks, blud! I owe you one.”
Casual Conversation: During a chat, if you agree with your friend, you could say, “You’re right, blud. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Is “Blud” Positive or Negative?
“Blud” is generally a positive term as it reflects camaraderie and a sense of community among peers.
85 Hindu Goddess Names for Baby Girl (Hindu Vedic Names)
These Hindu goddess names for baby girl mean intelligence, beauty, and wealth. Choose a Hindu Vedic name for your baby girl inspired by a Hindu goddess.
Hindu Vedic names are traditional names used in Hindu culture, that are derived from the Vedas, a collection of ancient texts often associated with Hindu deities. Vedic names are typically given to babies at the time of birth and are believed to have a profound impact on the child’s life.
The Vedas are the oldest scriptures in Hinduism. Vedic names are derived from the Sanskrit language and are often associated with Hindu deities.
Hindu Vedic names are typically chosen based on the child’s birth star, or Nakshatra. Each Nakshatra is associated with a specific sound or syllable, and often parents will choose a corresponding Vedic baby name beginning with the corresponding sound.
In addition to their significance in Hindu culture, Vedic names are also gaining popularity in other parts of the world. Many parents will choose a Hindu Vedic name inspired by Hindu goddesses or mythology for its unique spiritual significance. Some of our favorite Hindi names include Ahalya, who was the most beautiful woman, Divya, the divine mother Goddess, Aditi, the personification of infinity who held up the sky, and Shakti, the embodiment of feminine power.
Learn more about the meaning of Hindu goddess names and Vedic traditions as well as Hindu naming customs across India, including naming traditions in Tamil Nadu and Telegu with our full list of Hindu names for your beautiful goddess.
Hindu Goddess Names and Hindu Vedic Names for Girls
Discover the divine beauty of Vedic Indian baby girl names alongside their profound meanings, rooted in ancient Hindu traditions.
Ahalya – The most beautiful woman in the universe, Ahalya was created by Brahma. She is also the Goddess of the moon and the beautiful wife of Sage Gautam Mahirshi.
Aspara – Hinduism, Buddhism, spirit of the clouds, moves in the clouds; Celestial maiden.
Bhumi – Goddess of the earth.
Buddhi – This Hindu girl’s name means “intelligence.” Buddhi was the wife of Ganesha.
Daksha – Sanskirt, able, dextrous; Hinduism, one of several agents of creation.
Divya – Hinduism, the divine mother; Divine brilliance.
Gayatri– The personified form of a Vedic hymn called the Gayatri Mantra. Another name of Saraswati. .
Jambavati – A wife of Lord Krishna.
Kali – Hindu mythology, the goddess of Death and destruction.
Kalindi– Daughter of the sun god and the cloud Goddess, Kalindi is the wife of Lord Krishna.
Saraswati – The Hindu goddess Saraswati represents art and music, knowledge and wisdom, speech, and learning.
Satrajiti – The incarnation of the earth goddess and the wife of Lord Krishna.
Satyabhama – the incarnation of the earth goddess and the wife of Lord Krishna.
Satya – A wife of Lord Krishna. .
Shakti – Hindu philosophy, feminine power.
Siddhi – Sanskrit, fulfillment, success; Hinduism, the wife of Ganesha.
Sita -The female protagonist in the Ramayana, a Hindu epic. The goddess Sita was the wife of Lord Rama.
Uma – Sanskrit, daughter of the mountain; Hinduism, the wife of Lord Shiva.
Vidya – A Hindu tantric religion. Vidya means knowledge or learning.
Vedic Indian Baby Girl Names (With Meanings)
Dive into the enchanting world of Vedic Indian baby girl names, each carrying a profound meaning rooted in the rich tapestry of Hindu culture and spirituality.
Esther Goldstein, LCSW, Trauma Psychotherapist explains how childhood trauma can affect parents and provides tips for parents to cope with their trauma so it doesn’t impact their kids.
Being a survivor of childhood trauma can bring its own unique set of challenges to parenting. While we may wish to leave our trauma histories behind us, those experiences still lurk in the back of our minds. They can even influence how we parent our children.
That’s why parents who experienced childhood trauma need to learn how to best raise emotionally secure kids.
In this article, trauma experts provide insight to help you learn from your own adverse childhood experiences. With the right help and support, it’s possible to break the cycle of abuse and end generational trauma.
How Does Childhood Trauma Affect Your Parenting?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) V defines childhood trauma as “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.” This includes direct exposure to trauma, witnessing a traumatic event, and/or learning about something traumatic that happened to a loved one or family member.
Esther Goldstein, LCSW, Trauma Psychotherapist, EMDR Consultant, Founder and Owner of Integrative Psychotherapy, shares that there are two types of childhood trauma:
The trauma of commission: a trauma where something happened. These types of trauma include physical harm, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, and vehicular crashes.
The trauma of omission: a trauma where something didn’t happen. These types of trauma include not receiving basic human needs, and lacking comfort, physical touch, and support.
Traumatic experiences can be further broken down into two categories: “small t” and “Big T” traumas.
“Big T” traumas refer to highly distressing events, such as war, near-death experiences, sexual abuse, and physical abuse.
“Small t” traumas are experiences that overwhelm the mind or body. These may seem less dramatic, but they cause feelings of intense distress. “Small t” traumas include emotional abuse and chronic stress. These situations can cause long-term effects, such as perpetual feelings of overwhelm. Image source: Getty Images
“Trauma often gets buried until something kicks it up to the surface — starting a family can often be the catalyst, causing our past pains or traumas to resurface,” explains Goldstein.
When someone has experienced trauma during their early years, it can deeply impact the way they approach parenting.
For example, if a person grew up in an environment where they didn’t feel safe or had unstable relationships, they may struggle to form secure attachments with their own children. Individuals who experienced childhood trauma may have difficulties in emotional regulation and tolerating negative emotional states.
Parenting is not an easy journey. It can be overwhelming and challenging, with a host of stressors. Parents who had traumatic childhood experiences are more likely to have a disproportionate response during stressful situations. In turn, their children learn unhealthy patterns of emotional regulation.
These parents do not intentionally react emotionally or in a neglectful manner. But the unresolved pain and coping mechanisms from their past can get in the way of the consistent care that their children need.
What is Generational Trauma?
Generational trauma is a concept that hits close to home for many of us. It refers to the psychological and emotional impact of traumatic events experienced by one generation, which are transmitted to subsequent generations.
The painful events experienced by our ancestors can have lasting effects on our own mental and emotional well-being.
It’s like passing down a family story, but instead of a happy memory, it’s emotional scars and struggles that get passed along. Traumatic events like child abuse, violence, and oppression leave deep imprints on our family’s history and shape how we handle stressors. It’s a ripple effect: what our great-grandparents went through can influence how we behave today.
Generational trauma can show up in different ways, from feeling anxious or depressed to coping with substance abuse. Breaking the cycle of generational trauma is crucial for healing and fostering a brighter future for everyone.Image source: Getty Images
How Does Parenting Trigger Past Trauma?
Heather Toews, Registered Clinical Counsellor specializing in trauma therapy supporting individuals in recovering from childhood and other complex traumas, explains that pain from our early intimate relationships acts as triggers for unprocessed, unconscious pain.
“We then project that pain from the past onto our relationships today. This pain then becomes intergenerational. This can be triggered by our child’s age,” adds Toews.
For example, if we experienced childhood trauma at age 6, having a 6-year-old child may trigger us.
Toews explains that our memories are explicit and implicit which means “we can have conscious recollections of some memories and other memories are more fragmented and stored without context and are wordless.”
The memories that live outside of our awareness often come out as triggers. But since these occurred in the context of a relationship, they also get triggered in the context of a relationship such as the one between a parent and a child.
“As much as pain is intergenerational, so is healing,” shares Toews.
Babies and Infants
The infant stage can be an overwhelming and stressful experience for many first-time parents. Caring for a newborn comes with a multitude of challenges, from sleepless nights to constant feedings and diaper changes.
The demands of parenting an infant can lead to elevated stress levels. This may impact a parent’s emotional and mental well-being. Increased stress levels can trigger parents and cause heightened irritability and emotional reactivity.
Toddlers
Toddlers are known for their boundless energy, curiosity, and emerging independence. Parents may find themselves navigating temper tantrums, defiance, and frequent mood swings. Parents need to keep a close eye on toddlers as they can quickly get into trouble.
Parents with childhood trauma may over-shelter their children. They fear what happened to them will also occur to their own child.
Child
Parents with a history of trauma may emotionally separate from their children as they struggle to regulate their own emotions. As a result, they experience dissociation and cannot tolerate moments when their child shows vulnerability or expresses strong emotions.
Teen
As children learn more about the world, they begin to form their own opinions. Trauma can cause an individual to feel like they do not have control over what happens to them. This creates an extreme fear of uncertainty.
Parents with unresolved trauma may avoid talking about taboo topics with their teenagers. They may try to compensate for their anxiety by controlling their children and limiting the types of experiences they have.
Tips on How to Cope and Manage Triggers
Image source: Getty Images
There are many ways to manage triggers as a parent with a history of childhood trauma. Toews suggests the following tips:
1. Look Inward
Use your parenting experiences to learn. Ask yourself: What am I triggered by? Extreme reactions can be fuelled by unresolved past trauma.
Remember, it isn’t about what happened to you as a child, but how you cope with this trauma now. We often get triggered by the particular age of our children and find ourselves doing the very things to our children that felt hurtful to us as a child.
2. Know Yourself
To repair our ability to connect to our children we need to develop inner security as adults. Dr. Daniel Siegel refers to this as a “coherent narrative.” A coherent narrative is a deep understanding of who you are, what is happening to you, and why this is happening throughout your life story.
3. Regulate Your Emotions
We learn regulation from being regulated. So if we didn’t receive that, we won’t be able to do this without relying on external factors (i.e. food, alcohol, zoning out).
Find people to share the burden of life with. Others can show you the experience of care and understanding–reshaping your regulation abilities.
It is best to regulate your emotions before addressing an issue with your child(ren), outside of immediate safety issues. Sometimes taking three deep breaths can mean all the difference between a reaction and a response.
4. Develop Emotional Language
Giving language to your emotions allows your nervous systems to calm down and return to baseline.
5. Practice Self-Compassion
Remember you didn’t get to where you are overnight, and it will take you time to get out of it. Offer yourself compassion.
I believe that the best parenting strategy is an apology. It teaches our children that nobody is perfect and we are all only human.
Cultivating self-compassion is essential, as it allows parents to acknowledge that their struggles are not a reflection of their worth, but rather a consequence of the pain they endured.
6. Learn New Skills
We don’t know what we don’t know until we know it. If your parenting strategies aren’t working for your child, learn new ways of parenting. I always recommend searching out attachment-based trauma-informed parenting strategies.
How to Break the Cycle of Abuse as a Parent
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Seeking therapy can help you gain insight into how past trauma affects your parenting style. Professional support can teach you coping strategies to address challenges.
Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CCP)
Goldstein explains that Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CCP), a therapeutic model designed by Selma Fraiberg, can help both the primary caregiver and their child heal from trauma together.
CCP is for children who have experienced trauma, mental health, or behavioral concerns. CCP sessions include both the primary caregiver and the child. Primarily based on the attachment theory, CPP understands the importance of how a baby connects to their primary caregiver. It also includes components from psychodynamic, developmental, and behavioral theories.
CPP focuses on strengthening the parent-child relationship. It isn’t about a therapist swooping in to cure the child. Instead, it encourages the primary caregiver to provide safety and soothing to their distressed child. Utilizing play therapy, a therapist supports the primary caregiver in helping their child make sense of past traumas. CCP helps the primary caregiver gain a greater level of understanding of what hardships they have been through.
“Understanding and making sense of our trauma allows us, as parents to consciously choose how we would like to relate to our children and recognize that most often, our child/children’s behaviors may be an attempt to protect themselves from scary or painful experiences.
It allows parents [to have] more compassion for their children and provides them with skills for responding to challenging behaviors. The primary goal of Child-Parent Psychotherapy is to cultivate a healthy relationship between the child and caregiver, through which both the child can regain wellness and optimal functioning,” explains Goldstein.
The impact of childhood trauma on parents is not set in stone. The first step towards building a healthier parent-child relationship is to understand the effect of one’s own childhood experiences.
With the right support and a commitment to self-growth, parents can create a nurturing environment for their children and provide them with the care they need for healthy child development.
Parental alienation (PA) is when a parent uses strategies to distance their child from the other parent intentionally. Typically, this occurs as the result of a messy divorce or separation. One parent may not allow the other to see their children during their assigned visitation time, or trash talks them to the kids in order to get a better custody agreement.
In most cases, parental alienation is done purposefully, even if the parent doing the damage has never heard the term parental alienation syndrome. However, PA can also happen unintentionally if adults are not conscious of their words and actions.
Parental alienation syndrome describes the symptoms or side effects the afflicted child experiences. Child psychologist Richard Gardner coined the term PAS or parental alienation syndrome in 1985; however, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has yet to recognize it.
The most recent revision, the DSM-5, was revised in 2013, and it included PAS in the section “Other Conditions that May Be a Focus of Clinical Attention” under the heading “A Child Affected by Parental Relationship Distress” or (CAPRD).
There is no indication of when the DSM-6 will be released and whether or not it will contain PAS. But even without an official clinical definition, child development experts and mental health professionals can almost all agree that purposefully damaging your child’s relationship with the other parent has long-term, harmful consequences.
This article uses trusted resources to explain what parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome look like, why and how to avoid it, and what to do if you are a child or parent who has suffered the consequences of PA due to the actions of family members.
Divorce and separation are often messy and emotional events. For some parents, marriage was never even in the picture, but a difficult break-up or battles over custody can also wreak havoc on the parent-child relationship. No matter how much you despise your child’s other parent or family, it is essential for your child’s well-being that you do not engage in alienating behavior or language.
Regardless of whether the claims of the alienator are valid, bad-mouthing your co-parent or their extended family in front of your child can have devastating effects. Even if your children are adult children, you can still inflict damage when you engage in a campaign of denigration. Therefore, it is essential that parents also speak to their extended family and ask that they also avoid speaking negatively about their co-parent in front of their child.
While one parent typically commits parental alienation against another parent. It can extend to other family members such as grandparents, half-siblings, step-parents, aunts, and uncles. However, the emotional damage in those cases may not be as severe depending on your child’s relationship with their extended family.
Regardless, discussions that reflect poorly on parents and other significant adults in a child’s life should be done out of earshot for the best interests of the child.
Effects of Parental Alienation
The effects of parental alienation are long-lasting and often affect your child for the rest of their life. Common side-effects include:
Feelings of increased anger
Heightened feelings of neglect (Children may experience actual neglect because parents are fighting or overwhelmed.)
Adopting destructive behavioral or emotional patterns that they pass on to others
Having a skewed view of reality
Becoming prone to lying about others
Feelings of worthlessness or low self-esteem
Experiencing difficulty bonding with others; attachment and trust issues
Becoming combative with others due to learning an “us vs. them” mentality
Seeing things as very literal and in “black and white.”
Lacking empathy for others
Engaging in risky, attention-seeking behaviors
Signs of Parental Alienation
Sometimes, parents feel angry and abandoned, particularly when dealing with a nasty divorce or complex custody case. As a result, they engage in narcissistic behavior and direct their anger at the other parent, hoping they will look like the “good parent” or the “reliable parent.”
Whether or not they aimed to undermine the targeted parent or simply blow off steam, parental alienation behaviors can affect their child’s life.
Common behaviors alienators engage in include:
Preventing their child from seeing the other parents
Insist that all personal items stay at their house and not go to the other parents
Plan tempting or fun activities at the same time the child is supposed to be spending time with the other parent
Frequently break or alter custody arrangements in their favor
WIthhold information from the co-parent; medical documents, report cards, updates about school, activities, or friends
Ask their child for personal information or “gossip” about the other parent
Talk up their new partner or spouse over the child’s biological parent. For example, “Your step-dad loves spending time with you much more than your dad does.”
Making false accusations of physical or sexual abuse
Parental alienation is considered by many psychologists and mental health professionals as a form of brainwashing and even child abuse. In severe cases of parental alienation, the child’s rejection of the other parent is long-lasting, harsh, and may have life-long after effects.
How to Avoid Undermining Your Co-Parent
The easiest way to avoid undermining your co-parent after divorce is to not speak negatively about them in front of your child. For example, if your co-parent has canceled their scheduled parenting time or has done something that angers you, find another adult you can speak to and vent your frustration privately.
Have conversations with your co-parent that have the potential to blow up in a neutral spot; a coffee shop, park bench, or a mutual friend’s house who acts as a mediator. Don’t assume that once your children are in bed, you can raise your voices or have heated debates, and they won’t hear.
Respect your co-parent’s time and rules. For example, if they are supposed to be spending time with your child at 3 pm on Saturday, don’t show up at 3:45. Not only does that show your child your co-parent’s time isn’t valued, but it could affect child custody proceedings if you’re not holding up your end of the bargain.
Similarly, if your co-parent has expressed strong views about particular television shows, religious or cultural aspects, or activities, don’t undermine them and ignore their wishes. This also shows your child that the other parent’s rules and ideas don’t matter. If you disagree with a rule or decision, find a time to discuss it.
Dos and Donts
Do speak positively about your co-parent.
Do encourage a loving relationship between your child and their parent
Do respect their wishes and rules in regards to culture and religion
DOshare school, medical, and other important information with your co-parent
DO involve them in major decisions pertaining to your child
DO respect court orders and any provisions the family law court sets forth.
DO make provisions to protect your child in cases of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse.
DO consider family therapy or individual therapy for you and your child
DO be flexible when it comes to holidays, vacations, and emergency schedule changes
DO seek out the help of a parenting coordinator if needed
———-
DON’T blame the other parent’s behavior for problems affecting your child
DON’T withhold important information or exclude the co-parent from important events
DON’T make false allegations against your co-parent
DON’T discuss personal issues about your high-conflict divorce within earshot of your child
DON’T blame the other parent for financial problems (even if they are not paying child support)
DON’T give your child a choice over visitation or custody arrangements
DON’T discuss adult or marital issues with your children; even older teens and adult children should not know intimate details
DON’T blame or bad-mouth step-parents or significant others as the reason for problems with your ex-spouse
DON’T praise your new spouse or partner over your child’s biological parent
What To Do If You’re the Alienated Parent
It can be challenging to make amends if you are on the receiving end of parental alienation, either as the parent or alienated child. Often, severe parental alienation goes on for years, and the targeted parent and child may not even be aware they are being subjected to the situation.
As with most mental health situations, early intervention is best. Family or individual therapy can help. If you are not the custodial parent, you may be able to present a case in family court, which can bring about child custody evaluations or changes. But proceed with caution as these events are often traumatic for children.
If you are the target of parental alienation, you mustn’t do it yourself and begin to target the other parent. Instead, document what you are seeing, hearing, and experiencing, and allow legal professionals to intervene as appropriate.
An excellent place to start is by speaking with your child’s pediatrician or contacting a family counseling center in your area.
The United States Department of Justice (2015) defines gangs as organized groups of three or more people with a collective identity surrounding criminal activity. Gangs have dangerous effects on communities, with as many as 90% of violent crimes in U.S. cities attributed to gang involvement (National Gang Intelligence Center, 2011). In addition to causing danger to communities, gangs are problematic and dangerous for their members, especially youth members. Over one million gang members in the United States are under 18 years of age—a number that recent research suggests is growing (Pyrooz & Sweeten, 2015). Gang-involved youth are at risk of experiencing physical violence, incarceration, substance abuse, and unemployment (Gilman, Hill, & Hawkins, 2014). In order to reduce these negative effects on both communities and gang members, it is imperative to collect and synthesize empirical research on youth gang involvement. Specifically, while there is myriad research on correlates of youth gang involvement, there is a dearth in attempts to understand why these correlates may be related to or even predictive of gang involvement. As such, this review attempts to explain the relations between these correlates and gangs by utilizing Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs as a theoretical framework.
Maslow’s (1943) theory comprises of two main points relevant to framing risk factors for gang involvement. First, he posits that all humans have a hierarchy of basic needs that must be met in order to reach positive outcomes. These needs include physiological, safety, love, and esteem. Second, he claims that the necessity to fulfill these basic needs drives nearly all motivation. Only after all of these basic needs are met can an individual begin to achieve self-actualization, or the drive to be the best that one can be (Maslow, 1943). If these basic needs are not met, an individual is motivated to fulfill them by any means necessary, regardless of consequences (Maslow, 1943). Therefore, individuals who do not have their basic needs met by their families and environments may seek out gang membership as a way to fulfill them. This paper will review literature on risk factors for gang involvement by using Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs as a framework for understanding why such factors increase individuals’ risk of gang involvement. Such a review is necessary to inform future research and policy decisions aimed at reducing youth gang membership and their impact on communities.
Physiological Needs
When one’s physiological needs are not met, individuals yearn to satisfy them however they can (Maslow, 1943). Poverty has been found to be a correlate of food insecurity and unstable housing, as well as gang involvement (Pyrooz & Sweeten, 2015; Tapia, 2011). Thus, while money itself may not be a physiological need, hunger and housing (e.g. shelter from dangerous elements and weather) are related to gang membership where food insecurity and unstable housing are predictive of involvement (Carlson, Andrews, & Bickel 1999; Voisin, King, Diclemente, & Carry, 2014). Maslow’s (1943) theory would suggest a causal relation between these variables in which individuals are using gangs as a source of income to meet their physiological needs of food and shelter. Because legal means of income may not be accessible to youth under the legal working age of 14 (U.S. Department of Labor, 1938), or simply unattractive due to the long hours and minimal pay, joining a gang may appeal to a youth in need of money. Gangs can provide income through criminal activity such as drug and weapons trafficking (U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). In addition to money, gangs can give members a feeling of protection by providing them with weapons and a sense of safety in numbers, or a sense that they have people who will fight with them if needed (Decker & Van Winkle, 1996). Such provisions may help youth to address their safety needs.
Safety Needs
Maslow (1943) explains that all individuals have a need to feel safe in their environment. Youth living in areas run by gangs and violence are at an increased risk of membership themselves (Li et al., 2002), which may be due to safety needs. In other words, youth exposed to violence may feel that their safety is at risk and that they do not have means to protect themselves nor a group of peers to fight beside them. Thus, they may look to gang membership to fill these needs. Studies suggest that for at-risk youth, this lack of safety exists across contexts, including their neighborhood (e.g., Farmer & Hairston, 2013; Merrin, Hong, & Espelage, 2015) and home (e.g., Wood, Furlong, Rosenblatt, & Robertson, 1997).
One recent study found that individuals living in neighborhoods where there was a significant gang presence had a greater likelihood of joining a gang (Alleyne & Wood, 2012; Hill et al., 1999). Alleyne and Wood (2012) suggest that learned behavior is the cause of this relation, where witnessing gang violence leads to engaging in violence. However, the Hierarchy of Needs (1943) illustrates this relation between neighborhood gangs and gang involvement as due to youth feeling unsafe in their environments, thus looking to meet their safety needs through gang membership.
The need to establish safety also exists in the home, as approximately 71% of gang members have experienced family violence (Wood et al., 1997). Wood and colleagues (1997) found that numerous gang members had experienced sexual (22%) or physical (42%) abuse, often at the hands of their caregivers. Moreover, histories of trauma are predictive of gang involvement in girls (Hill, Howell, Hawkins, & Battin-Pearson, 1999; Voisen et al., 2014). Survivors of trauma may look to gangs with the hope of finding protection against another traumatic experience occurring. In addition to providing individuals with a sense of safety, belonging to a gang and the assumed camaraderie that comes with it can also be attractive to those looking to fill their love needs.
Love Needs
Maslow (1943) defines the love needs as a yearning for a sense of belonging and friendship in both groups and one-on-one; both romantically and platonically. He adds that individuals will “strive with great intensity to achieve this goal” (p. 381). Joining a gang, by definition, means being part of cohesive group with a shared identity (U. S. Department of Justice, 2015; Vigil & Long, 1990). Thus, gang involvement is an attractive means of fulfilling the love needs as it allows the youth to have a sense of belonging to a group. Research shows that many gang-involved youth lack close ties with their families, friends, and schools (e.g., Li et al., 2002; Merrin, Hong, & Espelage, 2015; Pyrooz & Sweeten, 2015)
Within families, for instance, a lack of parental support is directly related to gang membership (Lenzi et al., 2015; Li et al., 2002). Specifically, Pyrooz and Sweeten (2015) found that numerous gang-involved youth come from single-parent households, with the mother often being the sole caretaker. This correlation may exist because the single parent is the family’s only source of income and may have less time to spend with the child. Additionally, low family involvement, poor communication, and low parental monitoring are all found to be risk factors of gang involvement (Li et al., 2002; Voisen, et al., 2014). Voisen et al. (2014) explains that these factors are indicative of a family relationship in which an individual does not feel a sense of love and belonging, and thus the youth may seek other ways to satisfy the need for familial connections, such as with peers.
If a youth can find love or belonging among peers in school, he or she will be less likely to be involved in a gang (Merrin, Hong, & Espelage, 2015). Research also demonstrates that having a poor attachment to school academically (e.g., showing disinterest, low grades, truancy) is predictive of gang involvement (Hill et al., 1999). When youth have low attachment to school and poor relationships at home, they may turn to peers for support. While research shows that peer support can be protective against gang involvement (McDaniel, 2012), associating with delinquent and/or gang involved peers can increase his or her risk of membership (Bell, 2009; Bjerregaard & Cochran, 2012; Esbensen & Carsen, 2009; Hill et al., 1999; Lenzi et al., 2015; Voisen et al., 2014). Conversely, peer rejection also increases risk for gang involvement (Farmer & Hairston, 2013). These relationships between peers and gang involvement can be explained by Maslow’s (1943) theory in two ways. First, as mentioned above, this rejection may negatively influence an individual’s sense of belonging and make them feel unloved. Second, such rejection might impact one’s esteem, which is another important need in Maslow’s (1943) theory.
Esteem Needs
Maslow (1943) defines esteem needs as including both self-esteem and the perception of being held in high esteem by others. These two forms of esteem are actually reciprocal, as evidence suggests that our perceptions of ourselves are directly related to how we think others see us (Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995). Peer rejection, for example, occurs when one is held in low esteem by others, which would then negatively affect one’s self-esteem. Low-self esteem has been found to predict gang membership in numerous studies (e.g., Dmitrieva, Gibson, Steinbert, Piquero, & Fagan, 2014; Farmer & Hairston, 2013; Voisen et al., 2014), likely due in part to factors such as the aforementioned peer rejection and poor school outcomes (Hill et al., 1999; Merrin, Hong, & Espelage, 2015). Regardless of the reason for this trend, youth with greater esteem needs will search to increase both their self-esteem and the esteem others hold of them. If one’s esteem needs are not met, they are left feeling discouraged and may do nearly anything to prove their worthiness and gain respect. Gangs provide an attractive means to gratify this need. Gangs often carry “street cred,” or a reputation of power and prestige in a given neighborhood (Brantingham, Tita, Short, & Reid, 2012). Joining a gang with a high level of street cred, therefore, can increase one’s esteem by association. Furthermore, gangs give individuals a sense of power, which can be attractive to individuals who may feel they have been marginalized in other aspects of their lives (Capozzoli & McVey, 2000). In sum, becoming involved in a gang can boost one’s esteem by providing them with a sense of empowerment.
Discussion
Youth gang involvement is increasing dramatically in the United States (Pyrooz & Sweeten, 2015). This paper synthesizes the existing research on risk factors of gang involvement using Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs as a theoretical framework. When viewed through this hierarchy, individuals are at an increased risk for joining a gang when their basic needs are not met. For instance, physiological needs such as hunger can be met through the drug-dealing aspect of gang membership by providing that individual with money from sales. Safety needs can be met through the camaraderie a gang offers, which provides protection against dangerous neighborhoods and rival gangs. This same camaraderie addresses the love need by providing an individual who may be cast out by family and peers with a sense of belonging. Finally, gangs can address the esteem need by increasing one’s prestige and reputation through association with the gang.
Based on the research presented in this review and the Hierarchy of Needs theory, the author developed an answer to the research question in which unmet needs lead to both desperation to meet these needs and the inability to self actualize, both of which then lead to gang involvement. When one’s primary four basic needs are not met, that individual is unable to self-actualize and therefore does not try to reach his or her full potential (Maslow, 1943). Additionally, he or she will experience an intense sense of urgency to satiate the basic four needs however he or she can. The combination of this urgency to meet needs and the inability to self-actualize then leads to an increased risk of gang-involvement.
Limitations
Much of the existing literature analyzes correlations between variables and youth already in gangs, rather than longitudinal studies of those exhibiting risk factors and evaluating if the participants join gangs at a later time-point. Having such research would allow more predictive inferences: researchers would be able to conclude that one variable leads to gang involvement in contrast to declaring that these two variables are related with no evidence of directionality. Having directionality would strengthen the argument that reducing risk factors may truly have an impact on a reduction of gang involvement.
A second limitation is that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs posits that one’s needs must be met in order from bottom to top, yet no research currently suggests the existence of this order in this context: that an individual’s desire to feed themselves is any more of a motivator to join a gang than fulfilling a sense of belonging. Finally, because this model focuses on needs related primarily to external factors, individual differences may influence the relation between the reviewed risk factors and becoming involved in a gang, as not all individuals with these risk factors become involved in gangs. In other words, a perfect causal relation cannot be assumed between the environmental risk factors reviewed and gang involvement.
Implications
Framing the correlates of youth gang membership around Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has clear implications for theory, research, policy, and practice. The model supports Maslow’s theory to an extent, but brings into question whether the suggested hierarchy has the same (or any) order in this context. For instance, there is no evidence that a youth is yearning to meet his or her safety needs before his or her esteem needs. Future research should explore if gang-involved youth rank the reasons they joined a gang in the order that Maslow surmised. Because there is nothing to suggest one level of the hierarchy is more important than another in this context, policy and practice initiatives should target needs at each level of the hierarchy and find ways to meet individual’s needs through means other than gangs. If the directionality of Maslow’s Hierarchy is correct, policies should aim to impact from the ground up, starting with physiological needs.
Addressing poverty through both legislation (e.g., tax reforms) and micro-level initiatives (e.g., donations to local food banks and shelters) could go a long way in improving the lives of impoverished youth and decreasing their risk of gang membership. Following this, safety needs can be addressed through initiatives such as better community policing. Community policing refers to when police have more positive relationships with the communities in which they serve so that their presence is not feared and people are more willing to call them following a crime (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1994). Additionally, greater focus on treatment for those who have experienced trauma and abuse may provide survivors with alternative ways to cope and feel protected rather than join a gang.
Third, belonging needs could be addressed through a policy change that would increase funds for school programs in order to increase school engagement, both during and after school hours. Such programs could increase one’s feeling of belonging in school and diminish their need to find relationships in gangs. Further, instituting more group- and family-centered interventions for at-risk youth where positive bonds can be formed in safe, structured environments could help to fulfill the love needs in healthier ways. One component of such therapies could be the use of positive reinforcement (Premack, 1959), which can also serve to address Maslow’s fourth need, self-esteem. As such, viewing unmet needs of at-risk youth as predictors of gang membership has important implications for reducing youth gang involvement. Such reductions could lead to minimization of in youth arrests, substance use, and unemployment, as well as vast reduction of violent crimes in cities across the United States.
References
Alleyne, E., & Wood, J. L. (2012). Gang membership: The psychological evidence. In Youth gangs in international perspective (pp. 151-168). New York, NY: Springer.
Bell, K. E. (2009). Gender and gangs: A quantitative comparison. Crime & Delinquency, 55(3), 363-387.
Bjerregaard, B., & Cochran, J. A. (2012). The role of school-related bonding factors and gender: Correlates of gang membership among adolescents. Women & Criminal Justice, 22(1), 30-53.
Brantingham, P. J., Tita, G. E., Short, M. B., & Reid, S. E. (2012). The ecology of gang territorial boundaries. Criminology, 50(3), 851-885.
Capozzoli, T. K., & McVey, R. S. (1999). Kids killing kids: Managing violence and gangs in schools. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Carlson, S. J., Andrews, M. S., & Bickel, G. W. (1999). Measuring food insecurity and hunger in the United States: Development of a national benchmark measure and prevalence estimates. The Journal of Nutrition, 129(2), 510-516.
Decker, S. H., & Van Winkle, B. (1996). Life in the gang: Family, friends, and violence. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Dmitrieva, J., Gibson, L., Steinberg, L., Piquero, A., & Fagan, J. (2014). Predictors and consequences of gang membership: Comparing gang members, gang leaders, and non-gang-affiliated adjudicated youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24(2), 220-234.
Esbensen, F. A., & Carson, D. C. (2012). Who are the gangsters? An examination of the age, race/ethnicity, sex, and immigration status of self-reported gang members in a seven-city study of American youth. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 28(4), 465-481.
Farmer, A. Y., & Hairston Jr., T. (2013). Predictors of gang membership: Variations across grade levels. Journal of Social Service Research, 39(4), 530-544.
Gilman, A., Hill, K. G., & Hawkins, J. D. (2014). Long-term consequences of adolescent gang membership for adult functioning. American Journal of Public Health, 104(5), 938-945.
Hill, K. G., Howell, J. C., Hawkins, J. D., & Battin-Pearson, S. R. (1999). Childhood risk factors for adolescent gang membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development Project. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 36(3), 300-322.
Lenzi, M., Sharkey, J., Vieno, A., Mayworm, A., Dougherty, D., & Nylund-Gibson, K. (2014). Adolescent gang involvement: The role of individual, family, peer, and school factors in a multilevel perspective. Aggressive Behavior, 41, 386-397.
Li, X., Stanton, B., Pack, R., Harris, C., Cottrell, L., & Burns, J. (2002). Risk and protective factors associated with gang involvement among urban African American adolescents. Youth & Society, 34(2), 172-194.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.
McDaniel, D. D. (2012). Risk and protective factors associated with gang affiliation among high-risk youth: A public health approach. Injury Prevention, 18, 253-258.
Merrin, G. J., Hong, J. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2015). Are the risk and protective factors similarfor gang-involved, pressured-to-join, and non-gang-involved youth? A social-ecological analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(6), 522-535.
Vigil, J. D., & Long, J. M. (1990). Emic and etic perspectives on gang culture: The Chicano case. In C. R. Huff (Ed.), Gangs in America (pp. 55-68). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Voisin, D. R., King, K. M., Diclemente, R. J., & Carry, M. (2014). Correlates of gang involvement and health-related factors among African American females with a detention history. Children and Youth Services Review, 44, 120-125.
Wood, M., Furlong, M. J., Rosenblatt, J. A., Robertson, L. M., Scozzari, F., & Sosna, T. (1997). Understanding the psychosocial characteristics of gang-involved youths in a system of care: Individual, family, and system correlates.Education and Treatment of Children, 20(3), 281-294.
ARCHIVED July 1, 2009. This document may contain dated information. It remains available to provide access to historical materials.National Drug Intelligence CenterProduct No. 2005-L0559-001
Street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), and prison gangs are the primary distributors of illegal drugs on the streets of the United States. Gangs also smuggle drugs into the United States and produce and transport drugs within the country.
Street gang members convert powdered cocaine into crack cocaine and produce most of the PCP available in the United States. Gangs, primarily OMGs, also produce marijuana and methamphetamine. In addition, gangs increasingly are involved in smuggling large quantities of cocaine and marijuana and lesser quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and MDMA (also known as ecstasy) into the United States from foreign sources of supply. Gangs primarily transport and distribute powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, MDMA, and PCP in the United States.
Located throughout the country, street gangs vary in size, composition, and structure. Large, nationally affiliated street gangs pose the greatest threat because they smuggle, produce, transport, and distribute large quantities of illicit drugs throughout the country and are extremely violent. Local street gangs in rural, suburban, and urban areas pose a low but growing threat. Local street gangs transport and distribute drugs within very specific areas. These gangs often imitate the larger, more powerful national gangs in order to gain respect from rivals.
Some gangs collect millions of dollars per month selling illegal drugs, trafficking weapons, operating prostitution rings, and selling stolen property. Gangs launder proceeds by investing in real estate, recording studios, motorcycle shops, and construction companies. They also operate various cash-based businesses, such as barbershops, music stores, restaurants, catering services, tattoo parlors, and strip clubs, in order to commingle drug proceeds with funds generated through legitimate commerce.
What is the extent of gang operation and crime in the United States?
There are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members in the United States. Gangs conduct criminal activity in all 50 states and U.S. territories. Although most gang activity is concentrated in major urban areas, gangs also are proliferating in rural and suburban areas of the country as gang members flee increasing law enforcement pressure in urban areas or seek more lucrative drug markets. This proliferation in nonurban areas increasingly is accompanied by violence and is threatening society in general.
According to a 2001 Department of Justice survey, 20 percent of students aged 12 through 18 reported that street gangs had been present at their school during the previous 6 months. More than a quarter (28%) of students in urban schools reported a street gang presence, and 18 percent of students in suburban schools and 13 percent in rural schools reported the presence of street gangs. Public schools reported a much higher percentage of gang presence than private schools.
What are the dangers associated with gang activity?
Large street gangs readily employ violence to control and expand drug distribution activities, targeting rival gangs and dealers who neglect or refuse to pay extortion fees. Members also use violence to ensure that members adhere to the gang’s code of conduct or to prevent a member from leaving. In November 2004 a 19-year-old gang member in Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatally shooting a childhood friend who wanted to leave their local street gang.
Authorities throughout the country report that gangs are responsible for most of the serious violent crime in the major cities of the United States. Gangs engage in an array of criminal activities including assault, burglary, drive-by shooting, extortion, homicide, identification fraud, money laundering, prostitution operations, robbery, sale of stolen property, and weapons trafficking.
What are some signs that young people may be involved in gang activity?
Changes in behavior such as skipping school, hanging out with different friends or, in certain places, spray-painting graffiti and using hand signals with friends can indicate gang affiliation.
In addition, individuals who belong to gangs often dress alike by wearing clothing of the same color, wearing bandannas, or even rolling up their pant legs in a certain way. Some gang members wear certain designer labels to show their gang affiliation. Gang members often have tattoos. Also, because gang violence frequently is glorified in rap music, young people involved in gangs often try to imitate the dress and actions of rap artists.
Finally, because substance abuse is often a characteristic of gang members, young people involved in gang activity may exhibit signs of drug or alcohol use.
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Let’s have a good look at this for a moment. What we mean by a playground is this? A playground consists of a very large space that is filled with equipment and activities for children to play inside of it. When it pertains to Satan we all have to be extremely careful. This playground can hinder us in various ways. For instance, it can prevent anyone from serving the Lord. 1st Thessalonians 2:18 in the New International Version says for we wanted to come to you-certainly, I Paul did again and again, but Satan blocked our way. This means that Satan prevents us from performing certain tasks for God.
He also keeps us from reading the Word of God, which is the sword of the spirit. Another way of looking at this playground that belongs to Satan is the way it causes billions of people to get addicted. A person can get easily captivated through the women who are online wearing certain apparel, or the music that we listen to on a daily basis. Some of it is demonic. For example, there are certain beats, lyrics, and tunes that easily captivate our minds and draw us into the music. There is an inner voice that communicates to each and every one of us. It is Satan using the internet as his playground. His purpose is to deceive the nations worldwide. The internet has been around for over 40 years.
The internet did not become available for public use until 1996. However, this major search engine and tool has changed so much over the past 20 years that it has caused millions of people to break up their marriages, relationships, and families. This is simply because of its graphic content that it contains. James 1:14-15 indicates that but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death. This means that we must pay close attention to all of the things that we are doing behaviorally, psychologically, and socially, so that it pleases God.
It is not easy because we are in a constant battle with our flesh each and every single day. It is a war that is going on inside of the mind itself. Satan captures your mind and draws you completely away from what you are supposed to do for God. The Playground that I am talking about right now consists of not only the internet, but music, nightclubs, as well as other churches and occults. The internet is emphasized at this time because it is the main thing that people are using right now for research and entertainment.
There are more women online than men. There are more children between the ages of 12 to 30 online more than ever before. This is the main reason why parents need to start paying attention to the activities that each of their children is doing each day. James 1:21 says therefore get rid of all moral filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you which can save you. This means that we must get rid of anything that contaminates our minds and accepts God’s word as a seed and allow it to grow inside of us. Also, we must get rid of anything that goes against God. Psalms 119:89 states that Your Word O Lord is eternal: it stands firm in the heavens. This means that God’s Word is the only thing that will remain on earth. The internet itself will dissolve just like the heavens and the earth. Technology is something that will not last forever. It is only a trend or fad. Trends and Fads are temporary and this is something that only last for a very short period of time.
This also includes the internet if it is a major problem for you. The internet as a playground is very serious. It is technology, which is true. Matthew 24:35 says that heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Jesus told His disciples this information while He was reading the End of Times. Jesus also told his disciples in Mark 13th chapter to watch because you do not know when the world will come to an end. Watch therefore watch!! Satan’s playground consists of many places. These places where Satan is deceiving the nations are everywhere. The internet itself is propaganda that is either positive or negative. The internet is also filled with images that are capable of causing the conscious to erode. Therefore, causing billions to become addicted and there is no way out of it. This addiction is just as bad as smoking cigarettes. How come the internet is Satan’s playground? This is a very good question because there are things that go on regularly that causes everyone to panic. This is especially when there are hacking incidents that are going on worldwide. This is a major threat to national security. We are have to realize that this is very serious and we have to pay attention to what is going on around us through the use of our eyes and the rest of our 5 senses.
