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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:48 am
Time: 11:48 am
Results for gangs (u.s.)
11 results foundAuthor: Howell, James C. Title: U.S. Gang Problem Trends and Seriousness, 1996–2009 Summary: This report presents new information on the long-term trend in street gang activity and violent crime in the United States. The major focus of the trend analyses reported here is on the ebb and flow of gang activity in U.S. cities and counties of varying sizes. For the first time, trajectory analysis, which can group cities according to common patterns, is used to examine cities’ and other localities’ histories of gang problems as a way of gaining insights into gang activity across multiple years. In the second section of this report, attention is turned to large cities’ violent gang histories. Details: Tallahassee, FL: National Gang Center, 2011. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: National Gang Center Bulletin, No. 6: Accessed July 2, 2011 at: http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/Bulletin-6.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/Bulletin-6.pdf Shelf Number: 121960 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (U.S.)Violent Crime |
Author: National Gang Intelligence Center Title: 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment: Emerging Trends Summary: According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment released by the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC), approximately 1.4 million gang members belonging to more than 33,000 gangs were criminally active in the U.S. as of April, 2011. The assessment was developed through analysis of available federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and corrections agency information; 2010 NDIC National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) data; and verified open source information. "Gangs continue to expand, evolve, and become more violent. The FBI, along with its federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners, strives to disrupt and prevent their criminal activities and seek justice for innocent victims of their crimes," said Assistant Director Kevin Perkins, FBI Criminal Investigative Division. Other key findings are as follows: - Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions and up to 90 percent in several others, according to NGIC analysis. - Gangs are increasingly engaging in non-traditional gang-related crime such as alien smuggling, human trafficking, and prostitution. - Gangs are also engaging in white-collar crime such as counterfeiting, identity theft, and mortgage fraud. - Gangs are becoming increasingly adaptable and sophisticated, employing new and advanced technology to facilitate criminal activity discreetly, enhance their criminal operations, and connect with other gang members, criminal organizations, and potential recruits nationwide and even worldwide. Details: Washington, DC: National Gang Intelligence Center, 2011. 104p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 22, 2011 at: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment/2011%20National%20Gang%20Threat%20Assessment%20%20Emerging%20Trends.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment/2011%20National%20Gang%20Threat%20Assessment%20%20Emerging%20Trends.pdf Shelf Number: 123088 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (U.S.)Human TraffickingOrganized CrimeProstitutionSmuggling |
Author: Quinn, Susan Teresa Title: The Gang Member Label and Juvenile Justice Decision-Making Summary: Labeling theory studies have generally focused on the creation of secondary deviance through the process of internalizing the applied label. The combination of labeling theory studies focusing on secondary deviance and the belief that labeling theory was ‘dead’ as of the 1980s has created a dearth of research regarding the impact of labels on criminal or juvenile justice processing. The purpose of the current study is to determine if there is a relationship between the gang member label and juvenile justice decisions at three stages: (1) intake, (2) disposition, and (3) incarceration release. There are a total of five primary findings related to the impact of the gang member label on juvenile justice recommendations and incarceration length. Three of the five findings are significant (p<.05), including one intake decision, one disposition decision, and the length of incarceration. These three findings all support the hypothesis that the gang member label increases the severity of the recommendation and the number of days incarcerated. Variables representing the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice staffs’ perception of offender attitudes are incorporated into the analyses to determine if these variables mediate the hypothesized relationship between the gang member label and juvenile justice decisions. The findings weakly support the hypothesis that perceptions of the offenders will partially mediate the relationship between the gang member label and recommendation severity or the number of days incarcerated. However, the variables only mediate a small portion of the impact of the gang member label on the dependent variables. Finally, interaction terms are included in the analyses to see if the hypothesized impact of the gang member label on juvenile justice decision-making varies based on individual characteristics (e.g., race, sex). The hypothesis that the impact of the gang member label will vary based on demographic characteristics is largely unsupported. Details: Tallahassee: Florida State University, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2010. 161p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 23, 2011 at: http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06142010-211407/unrestricted/Quinn_S_Dissertation_2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06142010-211407/unrestricted/Quinn_S_Dissertation_2010.pdf Shelf Number: 123437 Keywords: Decision-Making, Juvenile JusticeGangs (U.S.)Labeling Theory |
Author: Cahill, Meagan Title: Findings From the Evaluation of OJJDP’s Gang Reduction Program Summary: In the 1970s, less than half the states reported gang problems. By the turn of the 21st century, however, every state and the District of Columbia were facing this challenge. Helping communities combat gang activity is a leading priority for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and our Gang Reduction Program has been a key initiative to that end. A comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated approach to preventing and reducing gang activity, the program emphasizes addressing the needs of youth and affecting change in families, organizations, and communities. This bulletin draws on findings from an independent evaluation, conducted by the Urban Institute, of the Gang Reduction Program's impact in Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; North Miami Beach, FL; and Richmond, VA, to examine how effectively these sites implemented the program. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2010. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Accessed April 27, 2012 at: http://www.preventgangsnova.org/GangReductionStudy.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.preventgangsnova.org/GangReductionStudy.pdf Shelf Number: 125073 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (U.S.) |
Author: DeMichele, Matthew Title: APPA's C.A.R.E. Model: A Framework for Collaboration, Analysis, Reentry, and Evaluation: A Response to Street Gang Violence Summary: Recognizing the continued prevalence of crime in local communities, the U.S. Department of Justice implemented the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative (PSN). Previous results from Boston’s Operation Ceasefire, Richmond’s Project Exile, and New York’s Compstat confirmed that crime control is not something that the justice system can accomplish alone. Instead, strong interagency collaborations are needed to incorporate law enforcement, prosecution and the courts, probation and parole, universities, community leaders, and faith-based organizations (McGarrell et al., 2009). These earlier initiatives found that as much as 50 percent of homicides in Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles were gang related (Blumstein, 1995; Braga, Pierce, McDevitt, Bond, & Cronin, 2008; Pritchard & Evans, 2001), with over 90 percent of these homicides involving a firearm (NGIC, 2009). Interestingly, up to 80 percent of homicide offenders and 56 percent of victims were shown to be probationers and parolees (Bowman, 2005). To assist community corrections agencies in this collaborative endeavor, the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) created the PSN-inspired C.A.R.E. (collaboration, analysis, reentry, evaluation) model (DeMichele & Matz, 2010; Matz, Lowe, & DeMichele, 2011). APPA provides several policy and practice recommendations to assist probation and parole agencies as they pursue collaborative interventions using the C.A.R.E. framework; whole or in part. Details: Lexington, KY: American Probation and Parole Association/Council of State Governments; Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 2011. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 21, 2012 at: http://www.appa-net.org/psn/docs/PSN_CARE_Model.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.appa-net.org/psn/docs/PSN_CARE_Model.pdf Shelf Number: 126557 Keywords: CollaborationGang ViolenceGangs (U.S.)Reentry |
Author: McGarrell, Edmund F. Title: An Assessment of the Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative: Final Project Report Summary: The U.S. Department of Justice developed the Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative (CAGI) to support local communities in their efforts to prevent and control gang crime. The cities involved include Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Tampa, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Rochester, Raleigh/Durham, Chicago, Detroit, and a seven-city region in Eastern Pennsylvania. Multiple methods were used to evaluate the process and impact of CAGI. These included site visits, phone interviews, mail surveys, video conference calls with project staff, and review of progress reports submitted to the Department of Justice. Local crime data were gathered from five of the CAGI cities and city level crime data were collected from all the jurisdictions as well as from comparable cities nationwide. In terms of the implementation several key findings emerged. There was consensus across the sites that CAGI had allowed for the development of a variety of new partnerships. These relationships were most readily established among criminal justice agencies. The four most common enforcement strategies included increased federal prosecution, increased state and local prosecution, joint case prosecution screening, and directed police patrols. The most common prevention strategies included education and outreach, school-based prevention, ex-offender outreach, and substance abuse treatment. Re-entry interventions proved to be the most challenging to implement with most of the sites struggling to meet target numbers of clients. Unfortunately, the majority of sites could not provide consistent and reliable measures of gang crime. Thus, for most of the impact analyses the focus was on violent crime. CAGI cities were compared to all other comparable U.S. cities and to a matched comparison group of cities. Additionally, within city analyses were conducted in five of the sites. Overall, the CAGI cities experienced a larger decline in violent crime than the comparison cities but the difference was not statistically significant when controlling for concentrated disadvantage and population density. When level of implementation of enforcement was included, the high enforcement CAGI cities experienced a 15 percent decline in violent crime that was statistically significant. The comparison based on a propensity matching approach yielded similar findings. Looking only at the CAGI cities, higher levels of federal prosecution for gun crime were negatively related to violent crime. The final analyses involved within city time series analyses of target areas compared either to other comparison areas or the remainder of the city. These results were inconclusive. Although the CAGI sites all experienced declines in violent crime, in many cases they were not statistically significant or they were similar to declines in the rest of the city or comparison area. The findings of difficulty in implementing all components of the comprehensive strategy in a well-timed and coordinated fashion, as well as the mixed, and at best modest, impact on violent crime, are largely consistent with prior studies of large-scale, comprehensive anti-gang programs. At a minimum, much greater attention needs to be given to effective implementation. Local CAGI officials recognized these challenges and recommended a planning period to allow for the establishment of necessary partnerships before fully funding programs like CAGI. Finally, much greater attention needs to be given to developing reliable measures of gang crime at the local level. Federal funding agencies may wish to make gang crime data availability a prerequisite for the investment of federal funding for anti-gang programs. Details: East Lansing, MI: School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 2012. 197p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2013 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/240757.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/240757.pdf Shelf Number: 127689 Keywords: Gang PreventionGang ViolenceGangs (U.S.)Gun Violence |
Author: Leshnick, Sukey Soukamneuth Title: Evaluation of School-District-Based Strategies for Reducing Youth Involvement in Gangs and Violent Crime Summary: In 2007, the Employment and Training Administration provided funding to five school districts to improve services to youth who are involved, have been involved or are at risk of involvement with gangs or the juvenile justice system. A variety of educational, employment, and violence prevention programs and strategies were developed and designed to increase academic performance, lower the involvement of drop-outs and reduce involvement in crime and gangs. The Evaluation of School District-Based Strategies for Reducing Youth Involvement in Gangs and Violent Crime report summarizes findings that cover several key areas for improving services: community context, school district characteristics, in-school and out-of-school youth service models, and program outcomes. The goals of the evaluation were to document prevention and intervention strategies, assess partnership models, document outcomes, and identify successful strategies, challenges and lessons learned. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor/ETZ, 2010. 239p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2013 at: http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/Evaluation_of_School_District-Based_Strategies_for_Reducing_Youth_Involvement_in_Gangs_and_Violent_Crime_Final_Report.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/Evaluation_of_School_District-Based_Strategies_for_Reducing_Youth_Involvement_in_Gangs_and_Violent_Crime_Final_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 127711 Keywords: At-risk YouthDelinquency PreventionEducational ProgramsGang PreventionGangs (U.S.)Violent CrimeVocational Training and EducationYouth Violence |
Author: Young, Michelle Arciaga Title: Getting Out of Gangs, Staying Out of Gangs: Gang intervention Summary: Adults working with gang-involved clients often have questions about the reasons that individuals remain involved in gangs long-term, and how they can assist teenagers and young adults with leaving the gang. This article describes the pivotal life points at which targeted gang interventions may have increased effectiveness, and recommendations for strategies. A considerable amount of gang research over the past 30 years has identified factors leading to gang membership, including specific “pushes” and “pulls” that influence an individual’s decision to join a gang. Individuals may be pushed into gangs because of negative outside factors, barriers, and conditions in their social environment such as poverty, family problems, and lack of success in school. At the same time, they may also be pulled into gangs because the gang offers a perceived benefit (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996) such as safety/protection, love and support, excitement, financial opportunities, and a sense of belonging. Until recently, very few studies have examined the factors that may contribute to an individual’s decision to leave the gang (desistence). Longitudinal studies in cities with emerging gang problems conclude that turnover of membership in gangs is constant, and most gang members report staying in the gang for one year or less (Hill et al., 2001; Peterson et al., 2004; Thornberry et al., 2003; Thornberry et al., 2004). Research with former gang members indicates that marginal and short-term gang members generally are able to leave the gang without serious consequences (Decker and Lauritsen, 2002; Decker and Van Winkle, 1996). However, field studies conducted on a smaller scale in Los Angeles and Chicago in entrenched gang areas (Horowitz, 1983; Moore, 1991) found that gang members remained in gangs for a longer period of time and that the decision to leave a gang is more complicated. The ability and willingness of individuals to leave gangs appears to be related to factors such as the longevity of an individual’s participation in the gang, and how established and severe the level of gang activity is in the community. Even short-term gang involvement can have long-term effects, including increased participation in crime, school problems, decreased employment prospects, exposure/involvement with drug and alcohol use/abuse, and increased risk of victimization. As early as 1927, researcher Frederick Thrasher noted that participation in gangs reduces the gang member’s connections to other mainstream social pursuits: “. . . his conception of his role is more vivid with reference to his gang than to other social groups. Since he lives largely in the present, he conceives of the part that he is playing in life as being in the gang; his status with other groups is unimportant to him, for the gang is his social world.” (1963/1927; p. 231) This process has been referred to as “knifing off” (Moffitt, 1993), as the gang member cuts ties to other important social groups and organizations such as family, friends, schools, and religious community to focus more intensively on gang participation and identity, leading to higher levels of delinquency. Research conducted with 6th- to 9th-grade students in 15 schools with reported gang problems found that “the onset of gang membership was associated with an 82 percent increase in delinquency frequency.” (Melde and Esbensen, 2011, p. 535) As a gang member is pushed/pulled into the gang, the experience of gang membership further separates him from successful participation in mainstream society, worsening the social conditions he experiences, and escalating his involvement in crime. Long-term gang membership is associated with an escalating succession of effects such as dropping out of school, increased risk of teen fatherhood/pregnancy, and lack of employment success (Thornberry, et al., 2003; Thornberry, et al., 2004). The longer an individual is involved in gangs, the more severe the effect becomes, and the greater the distance between the gang member and the mainstream. Details: Tallahassee, FL: National Gang Center, Institute for Intergovernmental Research, 2013. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: National Gang Center Bulletin, No. 8: Accessed July 9, 2013 at: http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/Getting-Out-Staying-Out.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/Getting-Out-Staying-Out.pdf Shelf Number: 129330 Keywords: DesistanceGangs (U.S.)Intervention Programs |
Author: Thelin, Rachel Title: Evaluation of Indianapolis Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative, Final Report Summary: Through collaboration between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the City of Indianapolis/Marion County, and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, a steering committee was formed to plan and execute activities for the three-pronged approached focusing on prevention, law enforcement, and reentry programs to diminish gang activity in Indianapolis. The CAGI Steering Committee was comprised of representatives from the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, community leaders, and members of the faith community. Three subcommittees also were created to oversee the three initiatives (law enforcement, prevention/intervention, and reentry).. In July 2008, the Center for Criminal Justice Research (CCJR), part of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute, was engaged to serve as the research partner for CAGI. Throughout the program, CCJR provided feedback on implementation, input on data collection, and gathered a considerable amount of information for evaluating law enforcement, prevention/intervention, and reentry activities. This report summarizes the history of the grant and expenditures, recaps CAGI research activities undertaken in 2009 and 2010, and discusses research activities across all three areas in 2011 and 2012, concluding with lessons learned during the entire grant period. Details: Indianapolis: Center for Criminal Justice Research, School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indiana University, 2012. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: https://archives.iupui.edu/handle/2450/6868 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/handle/2450/6868 Shelf Number: 129538 Keywords: Crime PreventionDelinquency PreventionGangs (U.S.)Youth Gangs |
Author: National Gang Intelligence Center Title: 2013 National Gang Report Summary: The 2013 NGR highlights current and emergent trends of violent criminal gangs in the United States. Consistent with the 2011 report, the 2013 installment illustrates that gangs continue to commit violent and surreptitious crimes - both on the street and in prison - that pose a significant threat to public safety in most US jurisdictions across the nation. A comprehensive overview of gang activity in the United States, the 2013 NGR examines gangs from a national standpoint and explains how they function as sophisticated criminal networks that engage in all levels of crime in order to further their objectives to gain control of the territories they inhabit and generate revenue. As the 2013 NGR demonstrates, gangs expand their reach through migration into communities across the nation; collaboration with other illicit networks like drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and rival gangs; active recruitment of membership; and through the absorption of smaller, less visible neighborhood-based gangs (NBGs), which continue to negatively impact US communities at a greater rate than national level gangs. Intelligence herein also reviews how gangs perpetuate their criminal enterprises through their ability to adapt to changing social and economic environments; exploit new technology; target law enforcement; evade law enforcement detection; and enroll or employ within educational facilities, law enforcement agencies, government bodies, and through all branches of the US military. Details: Washington, DC: National Gang Intelligence Center, 2013. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 20, 2014 at: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/national-gang-report-2013 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/national-gang-report-2013 Shelf Number: 134179 Keywords: Criminal NetworksGang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangs (U.S.) |
Author: National Gang Intelligence Center Title: 2015 National Gang Report Summary: The purpose of the 2015 NGR [National Gang Report] is to provide a national overview of the current gang threat in the United States by collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing data obtained from law enforcement agencies across the nation. The assessments contained herein were derived from data provided by law enforcement through the '2014 FBI Safe Streets and Gang Task Force Survey', the NAGIA [National Alliance of Gang Investigators' Association] '2015 National Gang Report Survey', law enforcement reporting, and open source information. One hundred and nine respondents completed the '2014 FBI Safe Streets and Gang Task Force Survey' to create a representative sample of the five Safe Streets and Gang Task Force geographic regions. Combining data from the Safe Streets and Gang Task Forces allowed the NGIC to incorporate data from our partner agencies who participate on task forces, but did not complete the NAGIA '2015 National Gang Report Survey'. Thus, data from the '2014 FBI Safe Streets and Gang Task Force Survey' was combined with 569 responses from the four components of the NAGIA '2015 National Gang Report Survey', law enforcement reporting, and open source information to develop a holistic picture of current gang activity across the country. Details: Washington, DC: National Gang Intelligence Center, 2016. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2016 at: https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=792574 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=792574 Shelf Number: 146148 Keywords: Criminal NetworksGang Violence Gang-Related Violence Gangs (U.S.) |