What Drives Youths Into Gangsterism

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Joining gangs can be lucrative for youths and can give them the feeling of being acknowledged and protected, says an NGO. (File pic)PETALING JAYA: Young people join criminal gangs because they believe they can find acceptance and recognition through them, according to the Society for Community Development and Continuous Learning, an NGO that works with youths coming from families in the B40 income group.
The organisation’s chairman, James Raj, said this was why the most vulnerable were youths coming from deprived environments and those feeling rejected.
He said joining gangs could be lucrative for these youths and could give them the feeling of being acknowledged and protected.
He told FMT cases of gang activities were more prevalent in low-cost flats that lacked adequate facilities and social support systems than in other areas.
He said these flats tended to have recruiters who would target school dropouts as members.
“There needs to be a multidimensional approach that addresses the structural issues in the vulnerable community, such as proper safety nets and a more conducive living environment,” he said, adding that an effective programme should start with strengthening the family support system.
He also said youths needed access to educational opportunities and accused schools of labelling boys and girls who don’t do well academically as nuisances and failures.
“Schools fail to acknowledge their other intelligence, such in sports, the arts and so on.”
Commenting on an MIC leader’s suggestions on dealing with gangsterism among Indians, he said gangsterism should be tackled as a national issue instead of an ethnic issue.
He added that organisations working with the Indian community had the resources and skills to address the matter but were not combining their strengths.
C Sivarraajh, an MIC vice-president, recently urged the home ministry and police to work closely with the education ministry to identify students showing tendencies to join gangs and to increase the intake of Indian officers to the special investigations department.
He called for the revival of the defunct Special Task Force On Organised Crime, Special Tactics and Intelligence Narcotics Group and Special Task Force for Anti-Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism.
Raj said bringing back the three elite police teams would make no difference if there was no systematic enforcement in hotspot areas. He also said they should set out to be “agents of change” rather than simply enforcing the law.
He said increasing the recruitment of Indian officers was a welcome proposal, but added that they needed to have the heart to see change in the community.
“We need officers who have the skills to handle youths with such rough and tough backgrounds with love and care, providing them a second chance to become better people and citizens,” he said. “This requires a lot of guts and perseverance.”
Raj also said local groups could collaborate with the government in identifying youths who would benefit from courses teaching them marketable skills.
He added that ex-gangsters who had served their sentences and wanted to turn over a new leaf could be provided employment opportunities in security sectors. - FMT

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