There are a lot of gangs in New Zealand, and this has increased over time. Some say New Zealand is influenced by the American gang scene, but others affiliate themselves with a gang to find a ‘family’ they could never have. The media also portrays gangsters as thugs, criminals, hustlers, violent people and other negative terms. The youth of New Zealand has also been affected by the New Zealand gang culture, as youth gangs fill the void left by the loss of community groups and time with family.
Patrick Gower (2007), explains the street gang phenomenon began with the Los Angeles arch rivals, the Bloods and Crips over 40 years ago, and has since spread across the world through rap and hip hop culture. Imitations have been seen in one form or another on the New Zealand streets since the 1990s, with ‘wannabes’ sporting red bandanna of the Bloods and blue of the Crips.
“Gang members are not just the patch-wearing, tattoo covered people you cross the road to avoid. They are a big part of society, and are far more involved in the activities surrounding your day-to-day life”, (Malign effect of gang activity, 2008).
New Zealand’s gang problem has been laid out for the world to see, and it’s an underside of New Zealand society that we don’t want to confront this issue, (Booker, 2007). This shows our country’s reputation as safe place to live and work is at risk, and urgent and decisive national action is required to prevent New Zealand gang culture from ruining our country’s stature. With regard to this idea, gang violence rarely affected innocent law-abiding citizens, and that is was the good people who lived in poorer communities who suffered gang violence. However this has changed, as New Zealand as whole is suffering because of the gang culture present in our communities. It is no wonder that youth street gangs are on the rise when the male role models in their communities are organised criminals, and police are increasingly portrayed as targets for attack. As well as causing serious problems in themselves, many of today’s teen thugs are tomorrows patched career criminals.
“We need to give police the powers and legislative tools – such as civil forfeiture to target gangs assets, and to catch up with criminals who are dangerous, highly organised and drawing on global criminal nationwide investigations”, (NZ’s Growing Gang Problem Puts Reputation at Risk, 2007).
According to O’Reilly (2008) as cited in Ferguson (2010), he describes that he spent a lot of his time working with gangs, as a keynote speaker. O’Reilly (2008), implies that the “lack of knowledge, education, understanding and serious family values were at the basis of the gangs and drugs used”. Gang culture has to change, as this will definitely benefit our youth. This can’t change overnight, but with the right resources and support system, maybe New Zealand’s gang culture might change for the good. In the time O’Reilly spent working with gangs he found something very heartfelt, as all gang members he spoke with told him, they wanted to their “children to have a good education, to have a drug-free and violence-free environment.” This may as a shocking revelation, but it’s good to see that parents in a gang environment care about their children’s future. Although for this to happen, the parent must change first, and set a good example for their young ones, or else it is just a waste of time ranting on about the hopes for a brighter future for their children.
