Final answer:
Gang leaders communicate to youths about gang signs, activities, violence, and territories, with graffiti often used to mark their claimed areas and express power.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gang leaders often communicate several key pieces of information to youths in the community they claim to represent. These can include gang signs, which are physical gestures used to identify membership, gang activities, which are typically criminal or community-based actions undertaken by the gang, gang violence, which refers to the aggressive tactics gangs may use to enforce their rules or challenge rivals, and gang territories, which are the specific areas a gang claims as its own and marks, often through graffiti, to indicate control and discourage outsiders from entering.
In areas like East Los Angeles, gang members use graffiti as a way to mark and dispute territorial boundaries, functioning much like fences. These symbols can carry significant meaning, representing the gang's claim over a neighborhood and serving as a visual cue to others about the gang's presence and power. In wealthier communities, such as Calabasas, CA, 'turf protection' might be more benign and related to maintaining property values, but gang territories signal more severe implications, including elevated murder and crime rates influenced by factors like drug trade and economic opportunity.