Originally posted by Ex Finn. That whole thing came across as a senseless gang initiation to prove that they belonged and were worthy.
How to stop that?
On an anecdotal level (that is, for specific cases) you cannot. This particular situation was, as you very well said, senseless, and there's no effective reactive response to senselessness.
On a systemic level, however, there are responses, with proactiveness normally being more effective. You take the gangs away. It's, however, difficult to just do that, and you're not acting on the root cause so they will resurface. Not really a proactive measure, you're just trimming the visible outcrops.
As you cannot simply get rid of the gangs, you reduce their danger by taking the gang's weapons away. Still not acting on the root cause and it will not be a complete solution. It's an effective bandaid, but it's only a bandaid in the end.
Failing
that, you remove the socioeconomic inequalities that breed teens who will be easily enticed and influenced by gangs and substitute those conditions with access to proper education, support networks and basic needs. This is the only thing that will ultimately work, but it requires more than a decade and thus no politician will have the willpower to back such measures unless there is massive, continued social pressure for them.
Last edited by Serkevan; 10-10-2019 at 03:33 AM.
Reason: Changed "efficient" to "effective", was leftover from post-in-progress