Corruption In Latin America The Case Of Ecuador Politics Essay

Corruption In Latin America The Case Of Ecuador Politics Essay As part of an activity in the area of studies in Latin America, the purpose of this essay is to analyze Corruption as one of todays most marked problematic in politics, but more specific the paper will focus in discuss the reasons and consequences of corruption and its manifestation in Ecuador. The background of the regions domestic politics, neighboring countries like Bolivia and Venezuela and its influence over national politics, and the actual events which have determined the situation Ecuador is facing nowadays; during the development of the essay some of these variants will be explained. In this essay, effects of legality and legitimacy will be addressed towards corruption, and how the failure of one of them, lead to larger possibilities of corruption. It will be also explained the reason corruption causes poverty and creates barriers to overcome this problem and the explanation of how corruption affects more to the poor people due to their fewer options to deal with its consequences. It has also shown the negative impact on programs for the eradication of poverty, making them ineffective. Another trend of corruption addressed in this paper is the tendency to the misallocation of resources and the resulting stagnation of economic development. Some of the key factors related to corruption participation, questioning the authority and the observation of law citizens have towards their governments, have being reflected it variables like the income per capita, percentage of poverty, lack of opportunities for education and health care, all of them negative correlated with Corruption. Corruption not only violates the economic and social rights but also violates civil and political rights, distorting or invalidating the political processes and institutions, weakening the role of the judiciary and law enforcement officials. Latin America, a continent full of contrast, determined by a wide variety of climates and natural resources, it also occupies the status as having some of the most corrupted countries in the world. The main issues drawn into this problematic derived from the dilemma of Legality and Legitimacy; the first one is defined as situations accepted by the establish law, while legitimacy consists in the credibility of this law. For many decades Latin American presidents have faced coups and judicial proceedings for corruption cases, Pinochet and Fujimori are clear examples. These violations to democracy and citizen rights have resulted in the lack of credibility in the governors and government institutions by the population. Corruption has had greater impact in the macroeconomic variables, reducing the opportunities to be part of an important international trade and scaring away any forms of foreign investment. Latin Americas institutions are viewed as obsoletes, and due to the high corruption public officials are involved into, the inexistence of governmental institutions provide more chances for all types of corruption, among others, cronyism and embezzlement. Another important factor inducing to corruption in the Latin states is the lack of vertical accountability, which is the standards citizen must have for their political leaders and the punishment they should received, if doing something wrong. Despite many Latin nations counts with a system of elected representatives, the empowerment giving for decision makings to individuals and institutions exert a disproportionate influence in national politics, state and local levels through corruption; This creates loss of public confidence in the institutions of democracy, losing their legitimacy among their citizens. Some of the most common examples of corruption are related to taxation, distribution of public resources and trade regulations. It is important to mention not all the countries posses the same grade of corruption, for instance Panama and Peru have shown a rapid growth (except in 2008-2009), Brazil, Mexico Colombia and Chile have grown into political maturity and a certain economic prosperity; But countries like Honduras, Venezuela, Paraguay and Ecuador have gone backwards, sustaining political instability, the rising of poverty and new opposition parties. In general terms corruption is a phenomenon which many democratic nations face around the globe, its best defined as political corruption involves the abuse of public power for some private benefit (Canache et al, 2005). In the case chosen for this paper, Ecuador, a country in Latin America with a population of 14 million of people is consider according to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009 as the fourth most corrupt country in Latin America after Haiti, Venezuela and Paraguay respectively. To understand Ecuador todays situation, it is crucial to stress some key facts in the countrys political system. Since the 90s was marked by The Confederation of Ecuadorian Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) consider as of Latin America ´s most active indigenous movement, who despite the efforts was unable to reach a vigorous participation in the political system. During the years to come (1997-2005) Ecuador counted with five different presidents, Abdala Bucaram, Fabian Alarcon, Jamil Mah uad, Gustavo Nova and Lucio Gutierrez, three of them elected by popular vote and then forced to leave office by coup dà ©tat; Some of the causes were the severe Ecuadorian Financial crisis in 1999 by the falling of international oil and the latest one caused by popular revolts known as rebelià ³n de los forajidos leader by Rafael Correa. Ecuador actual formal president Correa ran for presidency in 2006 with MPAIS as his electoral movement, competing against the PRIAN and PSP two of the most powerful parties in the country. His strategic formula to win the spot was defined by anti neoliberals formulas, promising a political reform, redesigned the governmental institutions and placed the state as the main actor in regulating the national economy. Correa, characterized by left turn ideology, played his first card by calling to a plebiscite to support his idea of a new constituent agenda annexed to the creation of a new constitution, winning by 82% yes vote; the triumph was indubitable in double sense, not only he placed 80 of the 130 seats with his viewers (MPAIS) in the constituent assembly, but he appeal for the public opinion as a democrat, taking peoples voice into account and increasing public content on his government. Due to the new constitution elections were call again in 2009, this time Correa won in the first round with an overwhelming 51,69% of approval. Despite his triumph during the last year his popularity has dropped from an initial 73% to 52%; Correa Falling in the polls was due, among other things, the scandal sparked by millionaires public contracts awarded to Fabricio Correa, brother of the president. This Abuse of public power for private gain is consider as one of the most popular form of corruption, which results into a mistrust of the population in the government and its institut ions. According to Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International when basic institutions are weak and nonexistent, corruption spirals out of control and the increased looting of public resources, enhance the insecurity and impunity. 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Country Rank 82 74 79 89 113 112 117 138 150 151 146 CPI Score 2,4 2,6 2,3 2,2 2,2 2,4 2,5 2,3 2,1 2,0 2,2 The above graphic shows the Corruption Perception Index during the past 10 years in Ecuador, the score maintains a similar range, but more surprising regardless of the many different presidents Ecuador has counted with, and the different policies applied, they seem to be trapped in the same problem: Corruption When Correa took office he argued to be part of todays new wage of leftist president, with domestic and foreign policies to be implemented according to the 21st century socialism. Although he increased social expenditure by rising salary wages and conceding credits to small businesses, they were likely to be short term concessions, per suiting a permanent campaign and keeping opposite parties under control. Part of Correas government initial trend was retuning the exploitation of natural resources done by foreign multinationals to the Ecuadorians, instead in practice, he signed contracts with outsider companies for the exploitation of strategic mining and energy resources, the real question here is what was under this rare contradiction, or perhaps is a form of clientelism? In this process, Indian communities living and working the lands signed to the mineral multinational complained, but Correa dismissed the movements, replacing and rejecting claims; in other words, his new socialism proved to have a lack any social structural changes, but more into what he opposed or not. Some other initiatives took by Correa and his government, relying in the countrys development strategy, was granting telecommunication monopolies to private firms, an opposition to land reforms by attacking the agro-commercial class (located mainly in Guayaquil) and a subsidy with clear support to the capitalist class. Some responses by the people have resulted in protests, and a consider drop in the polls. One cannot assume the surplus of money for private benefits in Correas government, but the lack of transparency in the actions made with the public budgets; prove the non existence control by Ecuador legislature, an ineffective judiciary, as well as non independent oversight bodys institutions and a weak implementation of the law. In the International Arena, the situation of Ecuador has followed two paths; the most visible influence by other states in Ecuadors government orientation is the clear support from other leftist presidents, as it is the Case of Venezuela with Hugo Chavez, and Bolivia with Evo Morales. The alignment for new plans of cooperation within the nations and the ideas of imperialism by remain in power, adds more reasons to believe the impunity of corruption Ecuador posses. The idea of refusing to pay the external debt by Correa, stressing an illegitimate foreign debt, contracted by past corrupt governments was conceive by the World Bank as a way to mislead public budgets into actions leaded for private gains, and although Correa did not take the risk, the hinders for development and the investment in the country has maintain a low range due to the apparent instability of Ecuador The opposition by renewing the U.S. military base in Manta expired in 2009, the resistance of signing a FTA with U.S., and the diplomatic crisis handle with Colombia in 2008, have been some of the events which placed the country resistant against globalization, and rumors of ties with the terrorist group FARC with president Correa have damage the states image considerably. Some other scandals have included the spenditure of more than US$ 4 billion in subsidizing sectors which do not require, like petroleum products and the electrical sector, consuming over 80% of total subsidies; the benefits seem to be directed to the elite classes, leaving behind the thousands of people living in poverty conditions. When corruption is spread in a country variedly segments are involved, but the most affected Part of the population is the poor due to their incapability to absorb the costs, and this is exactly the consequences of corruption in Ecuador, where the percentages of poverty have raised dramatically over the past years. Corruption has undermined the people in many ways, traducing in inequality, remote access to health and education, and therefore the illiteracy of the population. One of the main consequences is a conversion to a society very tolerant with corruption, perpetuating a vicious cycle ending again in more corruption. Nowadays Ecuadors domestic politics is highly oppressed by Correas government, leaving narrow participation for the opposition parties PRIAN and PSP, and almost no room for the rising of new parties. Also in encounters coercion to Indigenous movements, dismissing any kind of ideas nonaligned with Correas conceptions. President Rafael Correa admitted this year that there is widespread corruption in the society of his country and announced his government is preparing a national campaign to fight against corruption. Correa stated corruption has not yet reached the levels of the upper government, it has taken not only the public sector but the private sector as well. Actually there is a campaign which evolves the entire population, acknowledging the population they must denunciate anyone who enriches with public money, and avoid paying taxes is a form of stealing to the state, and therefore is a form of corruption. Among other strategies the campaign promulgates to claim any information regarding to politicians visiting them with special offers. Corruption is negative related to the countrys performance in terms of GDP, international trade, foreign investment, economic diversity and wealth (Volkema, 2001) meaning corruption will have to be taken seriously by the government, the strategies implement m ust focus on addressing the real causes of corruption in order to balance Ecuador to a more prosperous and equal country. PERSONAL OPINION AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS As stated in the preamble to the United Nations Convention against corruption, the scourge poses a serious threat to stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethics and justice and jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law in my opinion this phase can be linked to Ecuador actual situation, where no real institutions exist for defending populations rights, and the coercion of opinion from other movements and a constituent assembly who obeys to Correas mandates encloses the country with clear and pure examples of corruption. Ecuador is a country with its majority are indigenous living to merely filling some of their needs, leaving aside the idea of attending to schools and very weak health system, consequently they do not bother to really claim for a more transparency government. Although is it true many protests are done in Ecuadorian lands, they seem not be effecting with lowering corruption, in my opinion the country must concentrate in creating proper institutions in order to audit this process, but society itself must engage into one voice, proclaiming their rights and cease the toleration of corruption. It is wicked to say elections should be call again and chose another candidate from a more capitalist party, and one of the main reasons is that history have shown despite the wing a president comes, corruption still persists, so even mayor changes should be done. One of my recommendations is the creation of programs that develop the economy of the poorest ones, and based in hypothesis made Davis and Ruhe (pag 6) countries with a high per capita income and upper foreign investment are perceived as less corrupted. At the same time this part of the population will have more opportunities for education, and the generations to come will be more aware of how deep corruption hurts a country. I do not criticize the new leftist in their in basis or proclamations, but I contentedly oppose the way the ideas from the 21st century socialism its being applied, contemplating a more equal distribution, but in reality the only beneficiaries are the ones who receive mayor contracts for being brother of the high commanders, or the elite people who keeps the subsidies supposed to be for helping the real needs of one economy, and neither the suppression of voice, which is why after studying the different variables in Ecuadors corruption I finish this paper by pointing Mahadma Ghandis quote Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.

The Theatrical and Ritual Aesthetics of Signifying :: essays research papers

Signifying is a way people (usually in a weak position) use coded language to fool a person (usually in a position of power) who doesn’t understand the play on words. The origin of signifying goes back to the African tale of the Signifying Monkey. The Signifying Monkey is a trickster figure of Yoruba mythology; also called Esu-Elegbara in Nigeria and Legaba among the Fon in Dahomey. Signifying uses one word, preserves its original meaning, but puts another oppositional layer of meaning over it. The word is both literal and figurative. Here is how Henry Louis Gates, Jr. interprets the Signifying Monkey tales: The signifying monkey invariable repeats to his friend, the Lion, some insult purportedly generated by their mutual friend, the Elephant. The Monkey, however, speaks figuratively. The Lion, indignant and outraged, demands an apology of the Elephant, who refuses and then trounces the Lion. The Lion, realizing that his mistake was to take the Monkey literally, returns to trounce the Monkey. It is this relationship between the literal and the figurative, and the dire consequences of their confusion, which is the most striking repeated element of these tales. The Monkey’s trick depends on the Lion’s inability to mediate between these two poles of signification, of meaning. (p.55) The Signifying Monkey is an embodiment of the poor man’s values and dreams: He is weak and only has his speaking skills (slang ‘mouthpiece’) to survive on, and he uses it to play the powers of the jungle against one another. The same way a pimp survives on his ‘mouthpiece’ by using fast talk, sweet talk, jive, and jaw-blockin’. The term signifying refers to the playful, humorous indirection or innuendo, the talking around an implied meaning, the ambiguous metaphor, the invective that only works if the opponent lacks humor and responds in a literal fashion. Signifying is an attitude toward language, but it is also a social gambit: signifying enables the man and the woman of words to challenge and criticize without becoming committed to any particular claim or meaning: for only the response will tell. For instance, if I say, ‘Yo mama so old, her social security number is ‘1’†, and you say, ‘Fuck you, man†, you’ve lost, you took what was in the figurative and put it in the literal thus committing yourself to the fact that your mom is old. Now, if you reply, â€Å"well YO mama so old, when she was in school there was no history class†, or â€Å"yo mama so old, when God said ‘let there be light’ she hit the switch† then the signifying can con tinue.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays

Animalism Vs. Marxism Characters, items, and events found in George Orwells book, Animal Farm, can be compared to similar characters, items, and events found in Marxism and the 1917 Russian Revolution. This comparison will be shown by using the symbolism that is in the book with similarities found in the Russian Revolution. Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer Jones. The fact that Old Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical change and revolution are, themselves, boring in the eyes of the proletariat (represented by the other barnyard animals), who are more prone to worrying about work and survival in their everyday life. Old Major gave many speeches to the farm animals about hope and the future. He is the main animal who got the rebellion started even though he died before it actually began. Old Major’s role compares to Lenin and Marx whose ideas were to lead to the communist revolution. Animal Farm is a criticism of Karl Marx, as well as a novel perpetuating his convictions of democratic Socialism. (Zwerdling, 20). Lenin became leader and teacher of the working class in Russia, and their determination to struggle against capitalism. Like Old Major, Lenin and Marx wrote essays and gave speeches to the working class poor. The working class in Russia, as compared with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, were a laboring class of people that received low wages for their work. Like the animals in the farm yard, the people is Russia thought there would be no oppression in a new society because the working class people (or animals) would own all the riches and hold all the power. (Golubeva and Gellerstein 168). Another character represented in the book is Farmer Jones. He represents the symbol of the Czar Nicholas in Russia who treated his people like Farmer Jones treated his animals. The animal rebellion on the farm was started because Farmer Jones was a drunk who never took care of the animals and who came home one night, left the gate open and the animals rebelled. Czar Nicholas was a very weak man who treated his people similar to how Farmer Jones treated his animals. The Czar made his working class people very mad with the way he wielded his authority and preached all the time, and the people suffered and finally demanded reform by rebelling. The Czar said â€Å"The law will henceforward be respected and obeyed not only by the nation but also the authority that rules it - and that the law would stand above the changing views of the individual instruments of the supreme power.† (Pares 420). The animal Napoleon can be compared as a character

Capital accumulation, Essay

Name two types of market failure. Explain why each may cause market outcomes to be inefficient. Externalities and Market Power. Externalaties are byproducts of a product. Exteranlities can lead to a failure because buyers and sellers do not consider the side effects, which can lead to imbalance in equilibrium based on a societal standpoint. Market Power occurs when there is a single buyer and seller (or small group of them) with the ability to control market prices. This can lead to failure because it keeps prices and quantity away from the equilibrium of supply and demand. 2. What happens to consumer and producer surplus when the sale of a good is taxed? How does the change in consumer and producer surplus compare to the tax revenue? When a product is taxed both consumer and producer surplus drop. This change in surplus is gained in tax revenue, but producers earn less and consumers get less for their value. 3. How do the elasticities of supply and demand affect the deadweight loss of a tax? Why does this effect occur? The elasticities of supply and demand affect deadweight loss in that when: supply/demand is elastic, then the deadweight loss is high. If the supply/demand is inelastic, then the deadweight loss is small. This occurs because taxes change the behavior of buyers/sellers. If tax increases price of buyers, they consume less. If tax reduces profit of producers, then they produce less. 4. What does the domestic price that prevails without international trade tell us about a nation’s comparative advantage? If the domestic price is low, then it says that county can produce that product cheaply, and has a comparative advantage. If it is high, then that country is at a disadvantage compared to other countries. What is the difference between the unilateral and multilateral approaches to achieving free trade? Give an example of each. Unilateral approach is when the country reduces trade restrictions on its own. ‘Isolandia’ removes tariffs on imports. Multilateral approach is when a country reduces it trade restrictions while other countries do the same (through bargaining) ‘Isolandia’ removes tariffs on imports if ‘Seclusia’ also removes theirs. 6. Why do economists use real GDP rather than nominal GDP to gauge economic well-being? Define the GDP deflator. Nominal GDP is GDP (goods and services produced, and their prices) calculated at current prices. Real GDP is GDP calculated at constant prices(goods ands and services produced). We use Real GDP because it reflects changes in production vice changes in prices. The GDP Deflator allows calculating only the prices of goods and services. 7. What is the CPI? Which do you think has a greater effect on the consumer price index: a 10 percent increase in the price of chicken, or a 10 percent increase in the price of caviar? Why? Consumer Price Index, is a measure of the overall cost of goods and services bought by a typical consumer. A 10% increase in chicken will have a greater affect on the CPI because more people typically by chicken than those who buy caviar. 8. Describe the three factors that make the consumer price index an imperfect measure of the cost of living. Then explain how the GDP deflator differs from the CPI. Substition Bias: Consumers substitute towards goods that cost less Introduction of new goods: A new product is introduced allowing more choices. This reduces cost of maintaining same level of economic well being. Unmeasured quality change – if a goods quality goes down, but remains at same price – then the dollar is worth less than previously. If the quality goes up, and price remains the same, then the dollar is worth more than previously. GDP deflator accounts for goods produced domestically, while CPI accounts for all goods purchased. GDP Deflator also accounts for all currently produced goods, while CPI accounts for a fixed set of goods, that may not include new goods or include goods that no longer exist. 9. List and describe the determinants of productivity. Physical Capital: Quality of tools the worker has – better quality, the more production. Human Capital: Knowledge and Skills – education, experience and training. Better training = better efficiency. Natural Resources: Resources made available for input into production. Either renewable or non-renawable. Access to resources reduces costs of importing them – but is not necessary. Technical Knowledge:Refers to societies understanding of how the world works. (Human capital refers to recources expended to transmit this understanding to its workers) 10. Explain how a higher savings rate can lead to a higher standard of living. What might deter a policymaker from trying to raise the rate of saving? Saving now and consuming less now, allows for investments and ability to consume more in the future. Diminishing returns are what might deter a policy maker raising rate of savings. At a low capital, an extra increase in capital increases production. But as you continue to invest capital, the growth of production is at a lesser amount. It continues until a point in where a large increase in capital only gives a minor increase in production.

ERP Systems Essay

1.Explain the conditions or circumstances that would lead a company to use the IWM features available within SAP ERP. What capabilities does IWM add to the features available within the Sales and Distribution, Materials Management, and Production Planning and Execution areas of SAP ERP? The conditions and circumstances that would lead a company to use the IWM features available within SAP ERP are due to increased cost pressure, higher customer expectations, shorter cycles of innovation and high differentiation of consumer goods within the same industry. Additionally, customers are demanding more efficient ways of delivery. IWM features are able to improve timeliness and flexibility of deliveries. IWM has the capabilities to support increasingly complex supply chains. There are many capabilities provided within the Sales and Distribution, Materials Management, and Production Planning and Execution areas. Some capabilities include the ability to track orders and inventory in real time, display inventory value, control the movement of goods internally between plants, initiate the transfer of goods, and creating sales orders pertaining to materials management and warehouse management. Additionally, running bin status reports of goods in the warehouse, purchasing/selling goods internally by STOs and controlling the fulfillment process. 2.What is the purpose of using a â€Å"stock transport order†? Why would a â€Å"stock transport order† be used rather than an ordinary â€Å"stock transfer,† or a combination of â€Å"sales order† (sending plant) and â€Å"purchase order† (receiving plant)? The purpose of a stock transport order (STO) is to request materials from another plant within the same company code instead of procuring the material from a normal vendor. Hence, one plant is purchasing materials from another plant that sells the materials. Additionally, the IWM process is triggered by the STO from the manufacturing facility to a warehouse managed storage location. STOs are more complex in nature and can be performed with deliveries, without deliveries, and with deliveries and billing. A STO would be used instead of a â€Å"purchase order.† This is due to the plant purchasing goods from the other plant as a transport under the same company code. A purchase order is purchasing goods/materials from a normal vendor, not a plant within the same company code. The same reasoning applies to the sales order. The sending plant is sending goods/materials to their customers, not a plant within the same company code. As for a stock transfer, they are used to transfer materials within a company from one location to another. Movements include within one plant, between plants, and etc†¦Stock transfers are a simple way of moving goods, not internal purchasing/selling of goods like STOs.

Race and Ethnicity Paper Essay

I was born and raised in China. I would come to self – identify with the Chinese people. My roots allow me to be classified as Asian. Mandarin and Cantonese are languages I have learned to speak and read. These languages also help to identify me as Chinese. What is race? Race defines who we are. We look at people and experiences through race and culture. Both of my parents are introverted in personalities. They are soft spoken because they once lived under the fears of Communism. They taught me not to speak inappropriate things to other people. This prevented much trouble from occurring. I have been taught by the spoken and unspoken ways of my parents and teachers to utilize my race as the social lens through which I can value people and experiences. My parents shaped me early on life to not speak out about Chinese Politics. They taught me that Chinese plays a role in my cultural identification. Through generations of racial modeling, my parents passed on these oppressive limitations. What make me Chinese? What are the characteristic of a Chinese person? I really don’t know. Other identifying me as a Chinese by my skin color, hair, eyes, height, other appearance features, and the language I speak, and where I come from. I’m a quiet person in school, and when I have questions or I need help on my subjects, I hesitate to raise my hand. Since my freshman year I have been like this. I’m represented as a workaholic Chinese. I turn in every assignment and on time, for this reason, they identified me as an Asian, because of the stereotypes placed on Asians my behavior and attitude contributed to people’s reasoning. My ethnic identification exposed me to a cultural clash. For example, we had a critical thinking class last year, for summer camp. We read an article in our class, part of the paragraph described a Chinese person taking a sample food. He liked it because it was free. Therefore, the rest of the class considered Chinese people to be greedy. People always judge us by our conversations, actions and jokes. We do not need such a race consciousness in order to know who we are. It is hard to identify one’s self. It shouldn’t be based on where you were born, where you come from or the color of your skin. I don’t want to be a Chinese nor any other ethnic background. If an American gave birth to her offspring in China, and her baby was raised there they may face the same cultural biases as I have. The baby would probably speak Chinese, use chopsticks, and dress like a Chinese person, but that does not make them Chinese. Racism will never end unless the word race is not used any more. We must stop separating Chinese, American, and Mexican groups.

Gang Violence among Adolescents

Whenever I see young adolescents loitering or hanging out in streets, doing nothing worthwhile but trying to act tough while showing it to their friends or hurting other people, I feel nothing but regret. They should have been at school, learning things that could help them have a better job and future, or at home helping their family and having fun with them. They could do so much if only they make better use of their time and youth. Local governments are faced with the problems associated with gang violence among adolescents.Preventing adolescents from wasting their lives should be a matter of importance for communities, and this should be prioritized because adolescents can have a better future away from the streets. When crowds of young people gather, they may take a group identity. Other groups or even them, may identify themselves as gangs. Furthermore, cliques tend to identify the formation of a gang as a result of threats or conflicts, police pressure and media coverage.Accor ding to studies, gang behavior is â€Å"situational in nature,† and the attribution of hostile behavior to one gang may further contribute to the formation and identity of a gang. In addition, it may be further solidified once â€Å"neighbors, police, school authorities, and others identify unsupervised groups of young people as gangs† (Short, 1996, p. 3). Preventing young people from being associated with violent gangs have been one of the priorities of communities. Past studies showed that gang violence continue to plague communities as gang-related crimes increased over time.For instance, in 1995, it showed that gang-related homicides increased. From 1979 to 1994 alone, a record of 7,288 gang-related homicides was documented in Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The proportion of gang-related homicides increased from 18 to 43 percent (Maceo, 1995). These figures alone would tell how worse gang violence has become. Gang violence brings young people to jails. In fa ct, many adolescents have been charged for being involved in criminal activities.Just this year, a 15-year-old student was killed by a young man who was an alleged member of a violent street gang. The 18-year-old suspect, who pleaded guilty, was charged with 30 years in prison (Castaneda, 2009). This scenario should not be the kind of life that young people must have. Families should be the first ones involved as they are the primary influencing factors in the lives of adolescents. In the case mentioned above, the parents of the victim were completely unaware that their son was a member of a gang. They learned about it when it was too late to save their son.Parents should know the things that their children are being involved in, and must find ways to talk to their children about the consequences of joining gangs that tend to be violent. Parents should encourage their children to be involved in more worthwhile activities, such as sports, that would further develop their skills and i mprove their talents and make them better individuals. The community also has responsibilities in preventing the existence of violent gangs. There should be constant patrols especially in dark and derelict areas.It would be also beneficial if there are programs designed to lure young people away from the streets, such as volunteer works or business ventures that would teach adolescents the importance of working and being properly compensated for a good work done. Moreover, a center for young people can help those who are trying to get out of gangs and trying to change. Attention must be focused to those who want a way out because they might be harmed due to their willingness to have a better life. These young people should really have a good, fruitful life that a violent gang can never give them.