Youth Gangs in America

Youth Gangs in America

Tackling the Issue

How do We define a Youth Gang?

Strategies

Risk Factors

Communities At-Risk

Strategy Conclusions

Risk Factors for Youth Gang Involvement

Suppression Strategies

Area characteristics, especially levels of disadvantage, have been linked to the presence of gangs (Short 2006), including

-A prevalence of low-income, female-headed homes and working class residents, and low levels of social control

-Limited access to appealing careers

-Ineffective and alienating conventional socializing agents (families and schools).

-A lack of pro-social roles for youth

-An established or "institutionalized" history of gang presence

(NGC 2014)

-A balance of prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies and programs is likely to be most effective (NGC 2014).

-Gangs are not strictly a law enforcement problem, but rather one that needs to be addressed at both the communal and societal level.

-Part of the problem is the lack of national policy addressing the issue, as it is usually treated as a local problem

-"Organizing Communities and providing opportunities to at-risk youths appear to be the most promising strategies "

(Shelden 1997)

Law Enforcement strategies are needed to target the most violent gangs and older, criminally active gang members (NGC 2014)

-While suppression is necessary, punitive measures result in little rehabilitation and no significant positive change (Shelden 1997).

-Social affiliations with gang members

-Prior/early involvement involvement in delinquency, especially drug and alcohol use

-Problematic parent-child relations

-Low school performance and negative labeling by teachers

-Living in neighborhoods in which drugs and firearms are readily available

The presence of multiple risk factors increase the likelihood of involvement even more

(NGC 2014)

Negative Effects of Gang Affiliation

-Both Law Enforcement and Academia lack a universally accepted definition of a gang, making research statistics difficult to compare

-Some surveys gather data from Law Enforcement agencies, other ask sample populations to self-identify as gang-related. Both methods face considerate obstacles for accuracy (Short 2006).

For your viewing pleasure...

Intervention Strategies

Streetsafe Boston is an Gang Youth Intervention effort funded by The Boston Foundation and supported by the Harvard Kennedy School. This short video shows a small glimpse of their strategy, as well as an interesting fundraising idea they had.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/20/an_eye_opening_ride_into_the_city_within_the_city/

Prevention Strategies

-Intervention programs and strategies are needed to provide sanctions and services for younger youths who are actively involved in gangs to separate them from gangs (NGC 2014)

-These programs commonly include working out of community centers and utilizing neighborhood figures, often former gang members themselves, to establish relationships with active members

-Prevention Programs are needed to target youths at risk of gang involvement to reduce the number of youths who join gangs (NGC 2014).

-These commonly include Opportunity Provision Programs, which attempt to provide jobs, job training, and education, particularly for the most at-risk youth (Shelden 1997).

-Community Organization has been shown to be the most effective type of strategy for emerging gang areas, whereas Opportunity Provision is the most effective in established gang areas

(Shelden 1997)

Gangs are commonly attributed with a "Facilitative Effect" by increasing a member's likelihood to participate in risky and criminal behavior (Short 2006).

To Make Things Worse...

Sexual Behavior

The "facilitative effect" is not limited to the risky actions of its members; gang youth are then more likely to facilitate drug use and violent crime by nongang youth in their community

According to the National Gang Center (NGC), the following criteria is widely accepted by researchers to qualify as a gang:

-The group has three or more members, generally aged 12–24.

-Members share an identity, typically linked to a name, and often other symbols.

-Members view themselves as a gang, and they are recognized by others as a gang.

-The group has some permanence and a degree of organization.

-The group is involved in an elevated level of criminal activity.

Gang youth are more at risk for negative health out comes associated with Sexual Activity (Short 2006) They typically:

-experience sex at younger ages

-are at higher risk of STIs

-are significantly more likely to become teenage parents

Criminal Behavior

Drugs and Alcohol Use

Why Join a Gang?

The Stats

-Survey research has consistently demonstrated that individuals are significantly more criminally active during periods of active gang membership, particularly in serious and violent offenses

-Studies of large urban samples show that gang members are responsible for a large proportion of all violent offenses committed during the adolescent years

-Prolonged periods of gang involvement increase the “criminal embeddedness” of members.

(NGC 2014)

Compared to nongang youth, gang youth have higher rates of alcohol and drug use, including cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and crystal meth, and are more likely to do drugs at an earlier age (Short 2006).

Youth join gangs seeking identity and self-esteem they cannot find elsewhere, and join for a variety of reasons... (Spergel 1995)

National Prevalence

-Youth Gang membership in the US steadily proliferated in the 80s and 90s, peaking in 1995 and has remained a prevalent social issue (Short 2006).

-In The 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 8% had belonged to a gang by age 17

-Findings from the National Youth Gang Survey show a 25 percent increase in the number of jurisdictions with gang problems from 2002 to 2007.

Susceptible Populations

Money/Lifestyle

Personal Safety

-Many gang members report money and women as their primary motivation for joining a gang

-With limited economic improvement options, youth often believe an illicit career is their only real chance for prosperity (Spergel 1995).

Inner-city Youth:

-a survey of nearly 6,000 eighth graders conducted in 11 cities known to be gang-problem localities found that 11 percent were currently gang members (17 percent said they had belonged to a gang at some point)

Incarcerated Youth

-Active gang members frequently recruit inmates who want protection

Homeless Youth

A 2003 study of Homeless Youth reported that 15.4% were gang members, and 32.2% were involved in gangs (Yoder 2003), more than twice the national average

-Youth may join a gang as a calculated risk to achieve personal safety, particularly youth who are new to a community

-Ironically, gang members are more likely to be attacked than nongang youth (Spergel 1995).

Local Prevalence

A Substitute Family

Gang Youth Demographics

References

-The gang serves as a basic personal development, social identity, and morality providing system, which particularly appeals to many youth from troubled homes

-Members frequently refer to their gang as their family

(Spergel 1995).

Interestingly Consistent with National Rates

-It is estimated that up to 90% are male (Short 2006).

-According to law enforcement agencies in the 2007 National Youth Gang Survey:

-49% of all documented gang members are Hispanic/Latino,

-35% are African American/black,

-9% percent are Caucasian/white

(NGC 2014)

The racial composition of gangs varies considerably by locality. For example, prevalence rates of white gang membership are lowest in larger cities (8%) but significantly higher in other area types, including rural counties (17%).

National Gang Center:

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/

Shelden, Randall G., Sharon K. Tracy, and William B. Brown. Youth Gangs in American Society. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1997.

Short, James F., and Lorine A. Hughes. Studying Youth Gangs. Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2006.

Spergel, Irving A. The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach. New York: Oxford UP, 1995. Print.

Yoder, K. A., Whitbeck, L. B., & Hoyt, D. R. (2003). Gang involvement and membership among homeless and runaway youth.Youth and Society, 34(4), 441-467. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/226982269?accountid=14585