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Written Assignment 5

RMJ

Gangs, Thomas Edison University

384: SOC

Attapol Kuanliang

June 13, 2022

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Written Assignment 5

Personal goals are intended to inspire you to achieve your goals in life. At the beginning

of the course, I was asked to state my personal goal. My goal was written as follows: “My

personal goal for this course is to complete the course and be one step closer to finishing my

degree. If I pass all my courses this semester, I will be receiving my bachelor's degree. That is all

wishful thinking for now, but that is my dream. I hope to increase my knowledge of gangs and

apply it to my teaching background. Regarding this gang related course, I consider gang

education to be extremely important. Mostly because unfortunately, we do live in a society

where our children/ young adults are constantly being recruited and joining gangs. For this

reason, we as adults and/or educators must try to gain insight into a topic that may possibly affect

each of us at some point in our lives. Especially if you live or teach in communities where gang

activity is high.”

In terms of finishing my degree, it was always in the back of mind. Unfortunately, life

occurs, plans change, and we are sometimes forced to put our aspirations on hold. A change in

income, unanticipated family obligations, and a variety of other commitments prevented me from

completing my bachelor's degree. I began to realize that after taking a leave of absence, finishing

college felt almost impossible. I even questioned if returning to school was essential or

worthwhile. After some time, I began to see the importance of finishing my undergraduate

degree requirements and started to feel prepared to begin the process of finishing college. I

considered my professional, family, and financial goals, and evaluated whether they might be

more feasible with a bachelor’s degree. However, completing my bachelor's degree was the

finest strategy to meet and outperform others competing for my future job positions. My dreams

of living comfortably within my means, buying a home, and having a competitive edge at work
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were all achievable, but I had to bite the bullet. I am happy to report, I am very close to finishing

my capstone with an A this semester and I will only require one more class in another semester

to achieve my dreams of receiving my bachelor’s degree.

The knowledge of gangs I acquired through this course; I hoped to apply it to my current

and future teaching endeavors. As a teacher I have to responsibility to look for warning signs and

report said signs to school staff and parents. Early warning indicators and intervention can assist

to limit the number of children joining gangs. I learned that teachers are the some of the first

adults to witness behavior changes and others and as such have the ability to influence children

and make a difference. Also, fostering a healthy environment within my classroom, listening to a

students’ worries or troubles, and being a good role model, can all affect a student’s life. Thus,

all I have learned in this course in terms of gang education for teachers, has left a wealth of

knowledge that I will apply in my classroom.

This course has enlightened me greatly not only about the gangs in the United States of

America, but also about the gang issue plaguing Japan. I was able to conduct my own interview

and hear first-hand the preventative and current measures that are applied regarding Japanese

gangs. The book necessary for this course provided me with an in-depth view of gangs and the

effects they have in our societies and all across the world was eye opening. Gangs appear to be a

recurring topic in our culture, appearing in everything from television shows to music to the

fashion sector. I was able to dive into and learn more about the following themes such as why

gangs emerge, why people join gangs, and how society responds to the situation. I was also able

to analyze gang types (street gangs, prison gangs, criminal gangs, and many more), gender and

age-based gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, military gangs, and transnational gangs.
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Overall, I have achieved my said goals of using this course to finish up my degree and

gaining knowledge that is applicable to my career. I have learned a lot about gangs that I was not

aware of before. I realize that it is a worldwide issue and that gangs will continue to remain

prevalent due to a multitude of factors that not one entity has control over. However, with

everyone playing a part and being conscious of the issues we can all have a small impact that

could possibly have a domino effect in stopping or eradicating gangs.