" (2002)

The involvement in block gangs results in the adolescents being more likely to carry guns for two reasons:

(1) Protection and a deterrent to violence; and (2) a strong belief that the opposing block-gang members will carry them. (Mateu-Gelabert, 2002)

Guns are in addition to being used as "a currency for respect and a source of protection" intricately related to the business of drug dealing and therefore their use is for protection of markets. Mateu-Gelabert notes that the "presence and use of guns in the neighborhood affects the sense of safety among adolescents, increasing their sense of insecurity and further convincing them of their need for protection…" (Mateu-Gelabert, 2002)

These conditions are those which immigrants recently arriving have to adapt to and quickly because the "block gang reality is their new environment." (Mateu-Gelabert, 2002) Mateu-Gelabert relates that new arrivals are referred to as "hicks" and that the inability...
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