Research Paradigm and Topic The topic I have chosen for my thesis is “Gangs and Community-based Organizations,” which covers the essential elements concerning the illegal actions undertaken by groups of people who have opened up their own small organizations throughout the country. The purpose of selecting this topic is to create awareness amongst those who read it about the practices of such organizations and, realistically, where they stand. Gangs are spreading from urban to rural areas and are a matter of much concern today. They are drawing people from all walks of life, especially the youth group, comprising of members from diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds (“Gangs: A Community Response,” 2003). These gangs seem to be spreading crime and violence at large, which is the reason why I considered looking into this matter for my dissertation. My aim is to write on a topic which needs to be given immense attention, in order to eliminate or cut down the prevalence of negative elements from society. This topic would be of interest to social workers and politicians who would be keen to know about the happenings in their society and work for their elimination for the welfare of their people. One of the doubts that occur to me at this moment in time regarding the choice of this general topic is that I am unsure of whether I will be stating the correct illegal actions being practiced by the gangs. This is because I will be unable to visit a gang and question the members. Some of the crimes which are generally known will be true, but the authenticity of each crime counted is not guaranteed, which leaves me doubtful. Literature Review The literature that I have read regarding this topic is all from the latest resources available on the World Wide Web. There is an abundance of related matter available, and whatever I referred to is pertaining to the title I am researching. I am gaining information regarding this topic and am learning facts, which I will reproduce in my literature review, in a collective and better form. An important source of information I have gained is that gang crime data is unavailable, as there is no prevalent form of tracking gang crime (Wyrick, P. & Howell, J., 2004). Therefore it is also difficult to judge whether a crime or incident is gang-related or not. Such learning factors enable me to judge the type of literature that is relevant to my topic, despite the fact that I have not come to its completion as yet. However, I have searched books and reading materials available, which will prove beneficial for the literature review of my thesis, as this is going to be the longest piece of writing I have ever written (“Dissertation Proposal Tips”). Previously a lot of research has been carried out on gangs and their related activities. A body named the National Gang Crime Research Centre has a quarterly publication called the ‘The Journal of Gang Research,’ with well-known gang experts and researchers as its editors. The journal issues and such bodies have attained substantial information regarding the topic I have also selected, but I would like to further elaborate the existing information from my perspective (“Journal of Gang Research,” 2008). Practical Issues The emergence of gangs and their violence has increased over the past thirt