Transaction Search Form: please type in any of the fields below.
Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:14 am
Time: 1:14 am
Results for youth gangs
124 results foundAuthor: North Carolina. Governor's Crime Commission Title: Gangs in North Carolina: A 2009 Report to the General Assembly Summary: Beginning with the 2006-2007 legislative session, the General Assembly has appropriated funds on an annual basis to the Governor's Crime Commission for the purpose of funding state and local gang intervention, prevention and suppression programs. Pursuant to Session Law 2008- 187 this study reports on the progress and accomplishments of those grant programs that were funded through the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 state appropriations. Emphasis will be placed on assessing these grant programs based on their individual and unique goals and objectives as defined and originally written in the grant application. Significant highlights or success stories will also be included in an effort to document the impact and efficacy of these programs on reducing gang activities in the local communities. Performance measurement data is included and analyzed where applicable in an effort to provide quantitative support for program impact. This report also includes an update on the nature and extent of gang activity across North Carolina drawing upon data as extracted from the state's new GangNET information database. Aggregate state data as well as some county level information is provided on the number of agencies using the system and on the total number of gangs and gang members which have been validated and entered into the database. Limitations of this data and its uses are discussed in order to provide the reader with a better understanding of this new system and to clarify the interpretation of the numbers being reported as a snapshot of gangs and gang activity and not as a definitive count on the exact number of gangs in the state. Details: Raleigh, NC: Governor's Crime Commission, 2009. 94p. Source: Accessed April 17, 2018 at: https://files.nc.gov/ncdps/documents/files/Gang%20Grant%20Rpt%20to%20Gen%20Assembly.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: https://files.nc.gov/ncdps/documents/files/Gang%20Grant%20Rpt%20to%20Gen%20Assembly.pdf Shelf Number: 117103 Keywords: Gang SuppressionGang-Related ViolenceGangsJuvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Brands, Hal Title: Crime, Violence, and the Crisis in Guatemala: A Case Study in the Erosion of the State Summary: In numerous Latin American countries, organized crime and violence are corroding governance and imperiling democratic legitimacy. This phenomenon is most severe in Guatemala, which is currently experiencing a full-blown crisis of the democratic state. An unholy trinity of criminal elements - international drug traffickers, domestically based organized crime syndicates, and youth gangs - have dramatically expanded their operations since the 1990s, and are effectively waging a form of irregular warfare against government institutions. The effects of this campaign have been dramatic. The police, the judiciary, and entire local and departmental governments are rife with criminal infiltrators; murder statistics have surpassed civil-war levels in recent years; criminal operatives brazenly assassinate government officials and troublesome members of the political class; and broad swaths of territory are now effectively under the control of criminal groups. Guatemala's weak institutions have been unable to contain this violence, leading to growing civic disillusion and causing marked erosion in the authority and legitimacy of the state. This problem cannot be addressed through police measures alone; combating it will require a holistic strategy that combines robust enforcement and security measures with sustained efforts to broaden socio-economic oppportunities, combat corruption, and, above all, to build a stronger and more capable state. Details: Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, 2010. 63p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Guatemala URL: Shelf Number: 118749 Keywords: Criminal Activity (Guatemala)Drug TraffickingOrganized CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Brand, Anthony Title: Gangs at the Grassroots: Community Solutions to Street Violence Summary: This research focuses on violent and criminal gangs rather than broadly defined anti-social behavior or youth crime. It looks primarily at how to maximize the impact of local interventions that target people involved in or on the fringes of gangs. It highlights how top-down responses and crack-downs on youth crime can do little to address the underlying drivers of gangs and their criminality. It suggests that local, multi-agency frameworks are key to addressing gang violence, and effective solutions must simultaneously deliver a range of interventions across education, health, policing, youth-work, community engagement, economic development, regeneration, skills and training and family support, all tailored to the specific communities and context in which different gangs operate. Details: London: New Local Government Network, 2008. 36p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 118781 Keywords: Gangs (U.K.)Inter-Agency CooperationIntervention ProgramsYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Great Britain. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Title: The Management of Gang Issues Among Children and Young People in Prison Custody and the Community: A Joint Thematic Review Summary: This thematic review, carried out as part of a service level agreement with the Youth Justice Board, examined youth offending teams and young offender institutions to find out how in practice the police, probation and prison services at local level were dealing with gang-related crime involving under 18 year-olds. It found that, in spite of central nitiatives, there was a lack of coordination and of clear and effective guidance on local implementation. Details: London: HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2010. 79p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 119299 Keywords: Juvenile GangsJuvenile InmatesJuvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Title: Latino Youth Gang Violence in Multnomah County: Understanding the Problem, Shaping the Future Summary: Gang-related violence involving Latino youth in Multnomah County is a cause for concern among all county residents. While youth violence has remained steady or declined over the last few years, gang-related violence involving Latino youth has increased. Over the last two years, numerous gang-related shootings have occurred at wedding receptions, in the downtown areas of Portland and other Multnomah county-area cities. Gang violence has claimed numerous lives, and caused much fear and sorrow in the county’s Latino community. As the Latino bilingual, bicultural, immigrant population continues to grow, so must the County’s efforts to reduce the attraction of violence and gang culture to Latino youth. In the Spring of 2002, Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz created the Latino Gang Violence Prevention Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force was comprised of concerned community members, law enforcement personnel, social services providers, educators, and elected officials committed to developing and im-plementing a Latino youth gang violence prevention and elimination plan. The Commissioner gave the Task Force a three-fold charge: Evaluate the nature and scope of the Latino gang problem in Multnomah County; examine current re-sponses and challenges to developing cultural and language-specific services for high-risk Latino youth and their families; and design strategies to reduce or eliminate youth gangs and other forms of violence among Latino youth. After several months of meetings, research and outreach, the Task Force has made several findings covering a variety of subject areas relevant to the topic. This report presents the recommendations of the task force. Details: Portland, OR: The Task Force, 2004. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 21, 2010 At: http://www.lpscc.org/docs/LatinoYouthDec2003.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.lpscc.org/docs/LatinoYouthDec2003.pdf Shelf Number: 119578 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Dane County (Wisconsin). Enhanced Youth Gang Prevention Task Force Title: Dane County Enhanced Youth Gang Prevention Task Force: Final Report Summary: This report represents the collective work of a highly committed group of community volunteers who care deeply about Dane County, our community. It reflects the concerns of the Enhanced Gang Task Force for the plight of a large segment of our youth population who face difficult challenges and significant risks to their future and to the well being of our community. Gangs, crime and poverty are the underlying causes for these challenges—and these issues represent only the tip of the iceberg among factors affecting our youth. Poor academic achievement and limited job opportunities coupled with high incarceration rates for minority youth are causing significant and long-term damage to their lives and to the quality of life in our community. We are all too familiar with the state of gang violence in our larger urban centers. But make no mistake, gangs and crime impact all segments of our community as was evident in the gang-related shootings in the City of Oregon in 2005. In this case, a group of young men and women set aside their racial, ethnic and class differences and united as a gang to commit a serious crime. Gangs have steadily moved into mid-size cities such as Madison and gang activity is reported in Sun Prairie, Stoughton, Middleton and in many other communities. The root causes are similar in all cases—a lack of opportunities for youth, access to weapons, peer pressure and a demonstrated willingness to resort to violence at the slightest provocation. Clearly, not all youth crime is caused by gangs. But gangs are prevalent in our community and in our schools and they are increasingly responsible for the crime and violence that impacts the perception of safety in our neighborhoods. Law enforcement officials indicate that there are over 30 active gangs in Dane County, including several girl gangs. A recent survey of young adults and youth involved in the Dane County juvenile and adult court systems indicates that 32% of respondents report being current or former gang members. The question is not whether our community has a gang problem, the question is what can we do about it and do we have the willingness to confront the problem and dedicate the appropriate resources to address it? As a community we have an obligation to nurture and to provide for our children. All of us have a stake in the outcome of the recommendations made by this Task Force. If we fail to move on them, the entire community will suffer. The recommendations presented to you reflect the belief that no single strategy will work. If we rely solely or too heavily on law enforcement to solve this problem, we are sure to fail. The Task Force strongly proposes a comprehensive, community based strategy that addresses the needs of families as well as those of our youth. They are grouped into the following categories: Basic Needs, Prevention, Education, Employment Development, Faith Communities, Public Safety and Re-Entry from Incarceration. Details: Madison, WI: Dane County Department of Human Services, 2007. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2010 at: http://www.danecountyhumanservices.org/pdf/gang_task_force_report.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.danecountyhumanservices.org/pdf/gang_task_force_report.pdf Shelf Number: 119784 Keywords: Gang PreventionGang ViolenceGangs (Madison, WI)Juvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Howell, James C. Title: Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs Summary: This bulletin presents research on why youth join gangs and how a community can build gang prevention and intervention services. The author summarizes recent literature on gang formation and identifies promising and effective programs for gang prevention. The following are some key findings: • Youth join gangs for protection, enjoyment, respect, money, or because a friend is in a gang. • Youth are at higher risk of joining a gang if they engage in delinquent behaviors, are aggressive or violent, experience multiple caretaker transitions, have many problems at school, associate with other gang-involved youth, or live in communities where they feel unsafe and where many youth are in trouble. • To prevent youth from joining gangs, communities must strengthen families and schools, improve community supervision, train teachers and parents to manage disruptive youth, and teach students interpersonal skills. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2010. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Accessed December 17, 2010 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/231116.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/231116.pdf Shelf Number: 120543 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Toy, Jonathon Title: Die Another Day: A Practitioner's Review with Recommendations for Preventing Gang and Weapon Violence in London in 2008 Summary: Whilst this issue of gang and weapon violence is nothing new, the changing dynamics of gang and weapon violence, in particular the involvement of younger offenders and victims, has made this one of the key priorities facing statutory and voluntary agencies. Most importantly it is at the heart of the fear of crime in our communities and is dictating the behaviour of individuals, families and the interpersonal relationships of some young people, particularly in the key age range of 14-25. Unlike recent research on the issue of gang and weapon violence, this is a practitioner led review with resulting recommendations rather than an academic piece of research. It draws on the experiences of frontline practitioners, families and community members who are dealing with individuals involved in gang and weapon violence every day. The review tests the hypothesis that the current definitions of gangs do not reflect the current structure of serious gang violence. The review makes a number of recommendations that if implemented would make a significant difference in addressing gang and weapon violence. Locally, regionally and nationally the paper draws on the latest analytical evidence and academic research. Recent analytical research indicated that there are three dominant factors related to serious violence, in particular homicide. Illegal economy – linked to organisational gangs, illegal drug markets, fraudulent goods, trafficking. Personal conflict – dispute led or heated arguments. Feuds – territory based assertion, respect and retribution. Based on the analytical findings, combined with the practitioners’ knowledge, the review identifies a polarisation of group led violent behaviour. The review identifies the key motivational factors or influencers which create the interrelationships between urban street groups and organisational gangs. It describes how these influencers can impact upon an individual and their behaviour, particularly when combined with the personal or psychological factors from early years development and through violent experiences or the lack of empathy. We also discuss the important dynamic that women and families play for both organisational gang members and those involved in urban street groups. Most importantly we highlight the motivational factors for change for those involved in urban street groups and organisational gangs. The review highlights that although the overall strategic framework for delivering interventions may be the same, different approaches need to be adopted to achieve the successful outcomes. Details: London: Metropolitan Police Service, 2008. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2011 at: http://aashaproject.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/dieanotherday-jonothan-toy-practicioners-review2.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://aashaproject.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/dieanotherday-jonothan-toy-practicioners-review2.pdf Shelf Number: 121687 Keywords: Gangs (London)Violent CrimeWesponsYouth and ViolenceYouth Gangs |
Author: Haddock, Eleanor Title: Perceptions and Risk Factors of Gang Association in a UK Sample Summary: The thesis reviewed research around gang membership in adolescents, particularly difficulties defining gangs and the impact this has on quantifying the gang problem and gang crime. Moreover, risk factors associated with gang membership and violence was discussed. The thesis also attempted to explore individual and family risk factors in a UK sample in order to ascertain the consistency of such findings. The research aimed to compare different levels of gang membership based on criteria to define gangs, types of gang crime and motives for joining a gang. There was generally consistency between the groups in these areas. Moreover, the groups were compared on a number of psychological characteristics including violent cognitions, self-esteem and attachment to peers and parents. There were significant differences between the group acquainted with gangs and those with no affiliation on the Machismo subscale, and Father Alienation, Mother Trust and Communication, and the Personal and Parental Self-esteem subscales. All but the Machismo and Father Alienation subscales demonstrated lower scores for the acquainted group. However, the Machismo subscale scores and the Father Alienation scores were higher in the acquainted group compared to the not affiliated group. The psychometric properties of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) were found to have adequate to excellent properties but also a number of limitations. Finally, the case study provided an example of successful interventions when working with gang-involved individuals. The utility of the findings are discussed in relation to future research and future intervention and prevention strategies. Details: Birmingham, UK: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, 2011. 173p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 25, 2011 at: http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/1499/5/Haddock11ForenPsyD.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/1499/5/Haddock11ForenPsyD.pdf Shelf Number: 123123 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (U.K.)Youth Gangs |
Author: U.S. Senate. Caucus on International Narcotics Control Title: Responding to Violence in Central America Summary: Violence in Central America has reached crisis levels. Throughout Central America, Mexican drug trafficking organizations, local drug traffickers, transnational youth gangs, and other illegal criminal networks are taking advantage of weak governance and underperforming justice systems. This report outlines a series of concrete steps that the United States can take to support the seven countries of Central America as they try to improve security. The report does not call for large amounts of new money but instead recommends investments in key programs with host country partners. Our report synthesizes information gathered by Caucus staff through visits to Guatemala and Honduras, briefings, interviews, and a review of documents from both government and non-government subject matter experts. The report describes the current strategy and provides important recommendations for policymakers in Congress and the Administration. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, 2011. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 19, 2011 at: http://www.grassley.senate.gov/judiciary/upload/Drug-Caucus-09-22-11-Responding-to-Violence-in-Central-America-2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Central America URL: http://www.grassley.senate.gov/judiciary/upload/Drug-Caucus-09-22-11-Responding-to-Violence-in-Central-America-2011.pdf Shelf Number: 123407 Keywords: Drug Control PolicyDrug TraffickingHomicidesViolence (Central America)Violent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Hayes, Richard A. Title: Gangs in North Carolina: An Analysis of GangNET Data Summary: Since 1997 the North Carolina Criminal Justice Analysis Center (NCCJAC) of the Governor’s Crime Commission (GCC) has investigated and published more than a dozen reports on the existence and extent of criminal gangs in North Carolina. Once thought of as a juvenile activity or not significant enough to investigate or report, these activities earned a dominate role in criminal justice activities in the first decade of the 21st century. In the past 10 years, a codified definition of what constitutes a criminal gang has been established. New laws and enhancements to existing laws and sanctions have been implemented and a tremendous amount of state and community funding has been expended in efforts to deter, prevent, divert, investigate and suppress gang activities. Communications across jurisdictions, law enforcement agencies, state and federal prosecutors and corrections have been greatly advanced with the growth of the N.C. Gang Investigators Association, N.C. GangNET, Project Safe Neighborhoods, the High Point Model and other efforts all designed to confront the issue of criminal gangs. The ability for this agency to collect meaningful data has strengthened since nearly all communities are now willing to identify and report on the activities of criminal gang members and the gangs they represent either via N.C. GangNET, informal meetings or surveys. Today data is now available to provide a meaningful snapshot of what the data tells us about criminal gangs and their members in North Carolina. The NCCJAC does not attempt to serve as experts on gangs and criminal gang activities. This can only be accomplished by local law enforcement when talking about the groups and individuals within their respective jurisdictions. This sociological and criminological topic is too broad to afford topical expertise, but there is ability for specialization in specific elements of the multifarious components that make up the subject of criminal gangs and their activities. This agency has made great efforts to specialize in the demographic composition and geographical disbursement of gangs and their members as reported via several data sources, most recently relying on the N.C. GangNET databases. Details: Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Criminal Justice Analysis Center, Governor's Crime Commission, 2011. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 6, 2012 at: http://www.ncgccd.org/pdfs/gangs2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncgccd.org/pdfs/gangs2011.pdf Shelf Number: 123989 Keywords: Gangs (North Carolina)Juvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Washington Office on Latin America Title: Daring To Care: Community-Based Responses to Youth Gang Violence in Central America and Central American Immigrant Communities in the United States Summary: As the title indicates, this report identifies elements to successful anti-gang strategies and programs by highlighting the work of six gang prevention and intervention programs in the United States and the Central American region. WOLA concludes that the most effective responses to gang violence require a comprehensive approach that includes prevention programs that help young people in difficult situations meet their own needs, intervention programs that offer alternatives for those most attracted to gang life, rehabilitation for those who wish to leave gangs and law enforcement that deters crime and reduces violence. Youth gang violence is only one part of the spectrum of violent and criminal behavior that people in poor communities in the Americas experience – a spectrum that runs from intra-familial violence to the coercion of organized crime syndicates and to the rivalries of drug traffickers. Gangs are a highly visible part of the spectrum and one that receives significant attention from the media. However, gangs bear only part of the blame for the problems of crime and violence in poor communities. This is not meant to excuse or diminish the significance of the violent or criminal activity in which youth gangs engage. But an informed understanding of the nature of youth gangs, what they are and why they form, is necessary to formulate effective responses. As the title indicates, this report identifies elements to successful anti-gang strategies and programs by highlighting the work of six gang prevention and intervention programs in the United States and the Central American region. WOLA concludes that the most effective responses to gang violence require a comprehensive approach that includes prevention programs that help young people in difficult situations meet their own needs, intervention programs that offer alternatives for those most attracted to gang life, rehabilitation for those who wish to leave gangs and law enforcement that deters crime and reduces violence. Details: Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), 2008. 48p. Source: A WOLA Special Report: Internet Resource: Accessed February 19, 2012 at http://www.wola.org/sites/all/modules/download_rewriter/force_download.php?file=%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fdownloadable%2FWOLA General/past/Daring to Care.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.wola.org/sites/all/modules/download_rewriter/force_download.php?file=%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fdownloadable%2FWOLA General/past/Daring to Care.pdf Shelf Number: 124204 Keywords: Immigrant Communities (Central America)Violent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Wolf, Angela Title: It's About Time: Prevention and Intervention Services for Gang-Affiliated Girls Summary: Although a substantial number of girls are involved with gangs, gang prevention and intervention services are not designed with girls in mind. As Kevin Grant, a service provider working with girls in gangs, notes, "A lot of the [gang prevention and intervention] programs that are available do not fully support the needs of girls in gangs." Girls in gangs require services that respond to their unique experiences and needs. This NCCD Focus highlights the vulnerabilities and consequences of gang involvement for girls, the service needs of girls in gangs and girls at risk of joining gangs, as well as the importance of addressing these service needs as a critical gang violence-prevention strategy. It also provides examples of how various programs are currently addressing the gender-specific needs of girls involved in gangs. Details: Oakland, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), 2012. 8p. Source: NCCD FOCUS Paper: Internet Resource: Accessed March 4, 2012 at http://nccd-crc.issuelab.org/sd_clicks/download2/its_about_time_prevention_and_intervention_services_for_gang_affiliated_girls Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://nccd-crc.issuelab.org/sd_clicks/download2/its_about_time_prevention_and_intervention_services_for_gang_affiliated_girls Shelf Number: 124377 Keywords: Crime PreventionFemale Juvenile OffendersIntervention ProgramsYouth Gangs |
Author: Roman, Caterina G. Title: Social Networks, Delinquency, and Gang Membership: Using a Neighborhood Framework to Examine the Influence of Network Composition and Structure in a Latino Community Summary: As part of the Social Networks, Delinquency, and Gang Membership project, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, social network data were collected from youth in a small, at-risk neighborhood. The data were analyzed using social network methods. Results indicated that individuals with multiple, separate groups of friends have greater constraints on their behavior and are less likely to be delinquent. Results also suggested that networks with very low densities (fewer connections) are more successful contexts for intervention. These findings are relevant to developing appropriate delinquency programs and shed light on the efficacy of neighborhood-based interventions. Details: Washington, DC: Department of Criminal Justice, The Urban Institute, 2012. 273p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 14, 2012 at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412519-Social-Networks-Delinquency-and-Gang-Membership.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412519-Social-Networks-Delinquency-and-Gang-Membership.pdf Shelf Number: 124532 Keywords: GangsJuvenile DelinquencyLatinosSocial NetworksYouth Gangs |
Author: Williams, Phil Title: Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability Summary: The rationale for this series is a reflection of the ways in which the world of armed groups has changed and is continuing to change, and the impact of these changes on threats and challenges to national and global security. Although challenges posed by various kinds of violent armed groups initially appear highly diverse and unrelated to one another, in fact they all reflect the increasing connections between security and governance—and, in particular, the relationship between poor governance and violent armed groups. The growth in the number of states with capacity gaps, functional holes, and legitimacy deficits helps to explain the resurgence of a new medievalism, and the rise of illegal quasi-governments in localized areas. The irony is that after several decades in which the number of sovereign states represented in the United Nations (UN) has increased significantly, relatively few of these states can truly claim a monopoly on force within their territorial borders. Violent challengers to the Westphalian state have taken different forms in different parts of the world. These forms include tribal and ethnic groups, warlords, drug trafficking organizations, youth gangs, terrorists, militias, insurgents, and transnational criminal organizations. In many cases, these groups are overtly challenging the state; in others they are cooperating and colluding with state structures while subtly undermining them; in yet others, the state is a passive bystander while violent armed groups are fighting one another. The mix is different, the combinations vary, and the perpetrators of violence have different motives, methods, and targets. In spite of their divergent forms, however, nonstate violent actors share certain viii qualities and characteristics. As Roy Godson and Richard Shultz have pointed out, “As surprising as it may seem, pirate attacks off Somalia, militias in Lebanon, and criminal armies in Mexico are part of a global pattern and not anomalies.” Indeed, these violent armed groups or, as they are sometimes called, violent nonstate actors (VNSAs) represent a common challenge to national and international security, a challenge that is far greater than the sum of the individual groups, and that is likely to grow rather than diminish over the next several decades. Although the U.S. military—especially the Air Force and the Navy—still place considerable emphasis on the potential emergence of peer competitors among foreign armed forces, more immediate challenges have emanated not from states but from various kinds of VNSAs. This monograph, “Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability,” focuses on the complex relationship between human security, crime, illicit economies, and law enforcement. It also seeks to disentangle the linkages between insurgency on the one hand and drug trafficking and organized crime on the other, suggesting that criminal activities help sustain an insurgency, but also carry certain risks for the insurgency. Subsequent monographs will focus on specific areas where violent armed groups operate, or they will delve into specifics about some of those groups. Some works will be descriptive or historical, while others are more analytical, but together they will clarify the security challenges that, arguably, are the most important now faced by the United States and the rest of the world. The series will include monographs on Mexico, the Caribbean, and various kinds of violent armed groups. Details: Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Securities Studies; Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, 2012. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2012 at: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1101.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1101.pdf Shelf Number: 125243 Keywords: Criminal OrganizationsDrug TraffickingOrganized CrimeTerroristsViolenceViolent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Wortley, Scot Title: Identifying Street Gangs: Definitional Dilemmas and Their Policy Implications Summary: The study of gangs in general – and street gangs in particular – has been plagued by the lack of a common gang definition. Definitional issues have also had a negative impact on gang suppression and prevention activities. The various criteria used to define street gangs have included: (1) age (i.e., members must be adolescents or young adults); (2) the existence of a group name; (3) distinctive group symbols or defining insignia (tattoos, colours, etc.); (4) control of a specific territory or turf; (5) group organization (i.e., leaders and followers); (6) number of members (most definitions require at least three members); (7) durability or stability (must exist as a social entity for a specified period of time); (8) formal or informal gang rules; (9) initiation rituals for new gang members; (10) street orientation (gang activities are conducted away from the home, work or school); (11) regular and/or continuous group involvement in crime, violence or delinquency; and 12) common ethnic or racial background. Most experts agree that criminal behaviour should be a standard gang criterion. Agreement over other gang criteria has not been established. How gangs are defined will have a major impact on how many gangs, gang members and gang-related crimes are identified within specific communities. The larger the number of criteria that have to be met, the smaller the gang count is going to be. There is also a debate concerning how gangs and gang members should be identified. Some argue that only the police and other criminal justice experts have the necessary experience. Others have argued that we should only rely on information from self-identified gang members. Both arguments have their merits. Many people have argued that there is a need for a standard gang definition. Advocates claim that a standard definition would: (1) enable accurate national, provincial and municipal estimates of gang activity; (2) improve our ability to make regional comparisons; (3) help document the risk-factors associated with gang activity within specific jurisdictions; (4) help document the amount of public funding needed to tackle gang problems within specific jurisdictions; (5) enable law enforcement officials from different jurisdictions to communicate in the same “language” and produce a common understanding of gangs, gang members and gang-motivated crime; and (6) improve the quality of gang investigations that involve police services from different regions. It has also been argued that a standard gang definition would also help policy-makers determine the relative effectiveness of various law enforcement and gang prevention programs operating within different jurisdictions. The Eurogang consortium, unlike its North American counterparts, has already reached a consensus regarding the definition of a gang. The Eurogang consortium distinguish between “gang definers” and “gang descriptors.” Definers are the elements or criteria that characterize a group as a gang. Describers, on the other hand, are group characteristics or variables that can help distinguish one gang from another. According to the Eurogang philosophy, a gang definition should not be influenced by group characteristics that are only “descriptors.” Descriptors include things like the gender or ethnic composition of the gang, whether the group has a name, territory or turf, patterns of criminal activity, the presence or absence of gang symbols or colours, gang argot, the level of group organization, initiation rituals, etc. Taking the lead from the Eurogang example, this paper proposes the following gang definition: A gang is a group of three or more individuals that has existed for at least one month and engages in criminal activity on a regular basis. Gang-related crime can be conducted within the group context or by individual gang members in isolation -- as long as such criminal activity, directly or indirectly, benefits the gang. Details: Ottawa: Organized Crime Division, Law Enforcement and Policy Branch, Public Safety Canada, 2010. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/sp-ps/PS4-115-2011-eng.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/sp-ps/PS4-115-2011-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 125474 Keywords: Street GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Pearce, J.J. Title: Youth Gangs, Sexual Violence and Sexual Exploitation. A Scoping Exercise for The Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England Summary: This report outlines the findings of a scoping exercise on Youth Gangs, Sexual Violence and Sexual Exploitation undertaken for the Children's Commissioner for England. The data collected for this scoping exercise is derived from two main sources: o A literature review using key words/phrases including: gangs; young people; sexual violence; sexual violence against girls and young women; sexual violence against boys and young men; sexual exploitation in gang-affected neighbourhoods. It has accessed scholarly literature, central and local government reports and policy documents (e.g. Manchester City Council Child Protection Scrutiny Committee report, West Yorkshire Police Authority Gang Culture Scoping Exercise report) the publications of relevant think tanks (e.g. Centre for Social Justice), pressure groups (e.g. Race on the Agenda) and children's charities (e.g. NSPCC, Barnardo‟s, St Michael‟s Fellowship, The Children‟s Society). The remit of the review includes literature published before the end of January 2011; Appendix one includes brief reference to a number of key documents published after this point. o Interviews with lay and professional „key informants‟ with experience of living and working in gang-affected neighbourhoods and of working with sexual violence (including sexual exploitation) directed against children and young people. Details: Bedford, UK: University of Bedfordshire, Institute for Applied Social Research; London: Children's Commissioner for England, 2011. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 10, 2012 at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/127371/OCC_Uni-of-Beds-Literature-Review_FINAL.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.beds.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/127371/OCC_Uni-of-Beds-Literature-Review_FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 125957 Keywords: Gangs (U.K.)Sexual AssaultSexual ExploitationSexual ViolenceYouth Gangs |
Author: Canada. Public Safety Canada, Evaluation Directorate Title: Final Report 2010-2011 Evaluation of the Youth Gang Prevention Fund Program Summary: Canada’s National Crime Prevention Strategy aims to increase individual and community safety by equipping Canadians with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to advance crime prevention efforts in their communities. This is done in part through Public Safety Canada’s (PS) National Crime Prevention Center (NCPC), which oversees the planning, development, and implementation of policies and practices related to crime prevention and victimization. In delivering the Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF) Program, the NCPC focuses on social factors and conditions that contribute to gang membership, while recognizing a need to reduce immediate opportunities or situations in which crime and victimization can occur. This approach is based on research which shows that preventive as well as reactive (or suppressive) measures—the apprehension, sentencing, incarceration and rehabilitation of offenders—are necessary to prevent crime. The YGPF invests in communities where youth gangs are an existing or emerging threat and supports initiatives that clearly target youth in gangs or at greatest risk of joining gangs. Total funding for the YGPF Program is $33,595,100 over five years beginning in 2006-2007. In choosing the projects under the YGPF Program, the NCPC worked within the context of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Community Safety and Crime Prevention to identify municipalities and community-based groups that were tackling youth gang issues. The NCPC then worked with these municipalities and communities to develop and implement anti-gang prevention projects using directed funding in the form of contribution agreements. Consistent with the experimental nature of NCPC’s work, these projects were based on promising or proven gang prevention practices. Each project hired an independent evaluator to assess youth participants’ propensity towards gang involvement, based upon set risk factors upon intake to the project, as well as at each six month interval. These results are reported annually to the NCPC which then collects, analyzes, and disseminates results from funded projects and other sources of knowledge and information on youth gang issues. This enables the federal government to play a role in helping develop local solutions to youth gang issues. YGPF Program inception documents note that the federal government has a leadership role to play in helping to build safer and healthier communities. The YGPF Program provides an opportunity for the federal government to show leadership by bringing together partners who have a role in preventing and reducing youth crime. The outcomes of the YGPF Program as stated in inception documents, the YGPF Accountability, Risk and Audit Framework (ARAF) and the program logic model can be summarized as follows: • to increase understanding and knowledge of how to effectively address the issues related to youth gangs; and • to support communities and youth at risk through the implementation of local, targeted and tailored anti-gang initiatives (through directed contribution funding). This document presents the evaluation of PS’s YGPF Program. This evaluation was conducted between May and July 2010 in accordance with the Treasury Board of Canada Policy on Evaluation, which came into effect April 2009, and the 2007 Accountability, Risk and Audit Framework (ARAF) prescribed by the program. The objective of this evaluation is to provide an evidence based, neutral assessment of the relevance and performance of the program that is in its fifth year of operation. The scope of the research for this evaluation includes activities of the YGPF Program from its inception in October 2006 to March 31, 2010. It should be noted that the scope of the evaluation includes the YGPF Program, rather than just the activities of the funded projects. The YGPF Program refers to the results of the funded projects under the YGPF (the fund); the administration of related contribution funding; and the knowledge transfer activities of NCPC related to the youth gang issue. The evaluation methodologies included document/literature review and Internet research; a review of the Grants and Contributions Information Management System; interviews with program management, funded recipients, project evaluators and subject matter experts; a provincial/territorial focus group; a review of NCPC’s Annual Project Evaluation Reports; a comparative analysis; and a cost-effectiveness analysis. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2011. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 10, 2012 at: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/abt/dpr/eval/_fl/ygpf-flagj-09-10-eng.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Canada URL: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/abt/dpr/eval/_fl/ygpf-flagj-09-10-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 125959 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGangs (Canada)Juvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Goodwill, Alanaise O. Title: In and Out of Aboriginal Gang Life: Perspectives of Aboriginal Ex-Gang Members Summary: This research project generated a categorical scheme to describe the facilitation of gang entry and exit for Aboriginal ex-gang members using the Critical Incident Technique (Flanagan, 1954; Woolsey, 1986) as a method of qualitative data analysis. Former gang members responded to the questions: (a) What facilitated gang entry for you? (b) What facilitated gang exit for you? Participants provided 103 and 136 critical incidents which were categorized into two separate category schemes each containing 13 different categories. The 13 categories for gang entry were; engaging in physical violence, proving one’s worth, hanging around delinquent activity, family involved in gangs and following a family pattern; going to prison, gang becoming family and support system, looking up to gang members and admiring gang lifestyle, becoming dependant on gang, experiencing unsafe or unsupportive parenting practices, gaining respect by rank increase, reacting to authority, caught in a cycle of fear, and partying. The 13 categories for gang exit were; working in the legal workforce, accepting support from family or girlfriend, helping others stay out of or move away from gang life, not wanting to go back to jail, accepting responsibility for family, accepting guidance and protection, participating in ceremony, avoiding alcohol, publically expressing that you are out of the gang, wanting legitimate relationships outside gang life, experiencing a native brotherhood, stopping self from reacting like a gangster, and acknowledging the drawbacks of gang violence. Diverse methods of checking trustworthiness and credibility were applied to these category schemes, and it was found that both category schemes can be used confidently. Details: Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 2009. 191p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 10, 2012 at: https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/11076/ubc_2009_fall_goodwill_alanaise.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2009 Country: Canada URL: https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/11076/ubc_2009_fall_goodwill_alanaise.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 125955 Keywords: AboriginalsGangs (Canada)Indigenous PeoplesYouth Gangs |
Author: Umana, Isabel Aguilar Title: Nine Strategies to Prevent Youth Violence in Central America: Policy Recommendations for the European Union Summary: Violence in Central America is widespread and is a major concern. Youth are particularly targeted and vulnerable, both as victims and perpetrators of violence. There is a number of risk factors for youth to become victims of violence. The recommendations set out in this report call for the adoption of a holistic approach to prevent youth violence and emphasise that the actions taken be effective and grounded in sound principles of youth and adolescent policy, such as respect for human rights; promotion of a culture of peace; inclusion and respect for pluralism; diversity; gender equality; youth leadership and participation. Details: Brussels: Initiative for Peacebuilding, 2012. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2012 at: http://www.ifp-ew.eu/pdf/201204IfPEW9StrategiesPreventYouthViolenceCentAmEU.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Central America URL: http://www.ifp-ew.eu/pdf/201204IfPEW9StrategiesPreventYouthViolenceCentAmEU.pdf Shelf Number: 125974 Keywords: ViolenceYouth GangsYouth Violence (Central America) |
Author: Bhatt, Gira Title: Strength-based Approaches to Youth Gang Prevention in B.C.: Community Consultation Paper Summary: This paper discusses strength-based strategies for reducing youth involvement in gang violence. The current discussion is meant to provoke thought and provide some theoretical background. This discussion includes a review of research on strengths that matter, some cautions such as concerns about cultural relevance, and a differentiation of types of strength-based interventions. It also explores some strength-based practices with examples of specific strategies implemented by the Community Assessment and Action Networks. The paper includes feedback from three workshops conducted with community stakeholders on March 24th 2010 consultation hosted by the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. The discussion concludes with recommendations to connect evidence-based research with practice. This discussion paper provides background that may help people considering strength-based interventions. Details: Ottawa: National Crime Prevention Centre, Public Safety Canada, 2010. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2012 at: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/crimeprevention/publications/docs/gang-prevention-youth-strength-based.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Canada URL: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/crimeprevention/publications/docs/gang-prevention-youth-strength-based.pdf Shelf Number: 126000 Keywords: Gang PreventionGangs (Canada)Juvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Sersli, Stephanie Title: Gang Prevention for New Immigrant and Refugee Youth in B.C.: Community Consultation Paper Summary: This paper explores why and how immigrant and refugee youth between the ages of 13-23 years old and in Canada less than 5 years may or may not become involved with youth gangs. Community stakeholders involved with the provincial youth gang prevention strategy identified a knowledge gap regarding newcomer youths’ participation in gang activities and their unique risk factors and pathways to involvement. The purpose of this research was threefold: 1) to identify why and how newcomer immigrant and refugee youth become involved in gangs in BC (i.e., specific risk factors and pathways to gang involvement in BC); 2) to review the individual, family, school and community strengths and assets that support newcomer youth to resist gang involvement and build resiliency, and; 3) to identify BC-based effective, culturally responsive strategies to prevent or intervene in newcomer youth gang involvement and support their positive development. Drawing both from contemporary Canadian studies, and consultations with newcomer immigrant and refugee youth and youth workers in Metro Vancouver, this paper outlines the challenges newcomer youth face in their settlement process and advocates for early sustained support to assist youth and their families to adjust to life in Canada. Youth who become marginalized or isolated are at enhanced risk of forming negative peer associations and becoming involved in risky behaviour; youth at the beginning of their settlement trajectory are least likely to become gang-involved, but this risk increases with number of years in Canada. The paper also identifies newcomer youths’ strengths and assets, and discusses BC-based culturally responsive approaches that endeavor to enhance strengths while decreasing risk, thus laying essential building blocks for gang prevention. These approaches include: early ongoing support for youth and families; helping families support youth; individualizing approaches; building relationships, reducing isolation and normalizing life experience; building individual and social competencies; empowering and building a positive identity; incorporating anti-oppression elements in programming, and; recognizing the unique challenges and strengths of newcomer youth. The paper concludes with proposed further research directions. Details: Ottawa: National Crime Prevention Centre, Public Safety Canada, 2010. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2012 at: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/crimeprevention/publications/docs/gang-prevention-immigrant-refugee.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Canada URL: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/crimeprevention/publications/docs/gang-prevention-immigrant-refugee.pdf Shelf Number: 126001 Keywords: Gang PreventionGangs (Canada)Immigrant YouthRefugee YouthYouth Gangs |
Author: Hughes, Gordon Title: Research Project Report: Status Dogs, Young People and Criminalisation: Towards a Preventative Strategy Summary: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has anecdotal and, to some degree, internal statistical evidence to suggest that in recent years there has been a dramatic increase in individuals owning and using dogs in harmful or criminal behaviour in the UK. In the financial year 2009-10 the Metropolitan Police Service (London) reported that they had seized and dealt with 1152 prohibited and dangerous dogs (RSPCA 2010a) an increase of 60% on the previous year. Between 2004 and 2008 the RSPCA saw a 12-fold increase (ibid) in calls reporting dog-fighting. Some 55% of the calls to the RSPCA in 2009 concerning 'dog fighting' referred to youths or 'hoodies' fighting their dogs in the street or park. These so-called 'status dogs' are of certain breeds/types - both legal and illegal - and often have the label of 'dangerous' referring, it would appear, both to other dogs and to humans. Anti-social behaviour with dogs is a widely reported issue that affects many people, mainly in urban areas, and is occasionally associated with 'gang' crime and more generally young people and their peer groups 'on the streets'. The RSPCA's core business is to prevent cruelty to animals and the organisation is the primary, albeit nongovernmental, enforcer of animal welfare legislation in England and Wales. The Society's Inspectorate have reported an increase in the numbers of these types of dogs; changes in the situations in and purpose for which they are being kept; and who the owners are. Animal centres have noticed a significant increase in status dog breeds which in itself has presented 'kennel blocking' and re-homing problems. Meanwhile animal hospitals and clinics have seen a worrying increase in the numbers of these dogs presented for fighting injuries which perhaps backs up the anecdotal evidence that ad hoc street dog fighting - referred to as 'rolling' = is indeed on the increase. Thus far the work of the RSPCA on the issue of status dogs has concentrated on mapping the Society's own experiences, developing a network of enforcers and influencing relevant policies with housing providers. In addition in March 2009 the Metropolitan Police set up a Status Dogs Unit to which the RSPCA ensured an officer worked alongside this Unit specifically on this issue. The Society is also running a re-homing campaign designed to educate the public on the suitability of some of these dogs as pets (RSPCA 2011). In addition ten 'hot spots' have been identified using RSPCA data and reviewed by adding in local authority and police data (such as strays and seizures) across England and Wales where special project groups are being set up across these three bodies to pilot locally designed responses to the use of status dogs in anti-social behaviour. This builds on work already developed in and around the London area and it is hoped by the RSPCA that such interventions can be better evaluated and different models tested. Details: Cardiff, Wales: Cardiff Centre for Crime, Law and Justice, Cardiff University; Horsham, UK: Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2011. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 16, 2012 at: http://politicalanimal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Hughes-Maher-Lawson-Status-Dogs-report-2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://politicalanimal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Hughes-Maher-Lawson-Status-Dogs-report-2011.pdf Shelf Number: 126050 Keywords: Animal AbuseAnimal CrueltyDog FightingDogsYouth Gangs |
Author: Totten, Mark Title: Evaluation Report for the North Central Community Association Regina Anti-Gang Services Circle Keeper Project Summary: The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the evaluation activities for the Circle Keeper Program of the Regina Anti-Gang Services Project for the period of December 2010 – March 2011. The RAGS Project is a unique initiative for gang-involved Aboriginal youth and young adults aged 16 – 30 years living in the North Central neighbourhood of Regina. It is the only Canadian project of its kind. The RAGS program engages clients in intensive daily services aimed at reducing their involvement in gang life and facilitating their exit from gangs. Circle Keeper is one of the four core programs. The other programs are Life Skills Programming for Young Men; Intensive Gang Exit Counselling; and Outreach to schools and institutions. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in the evaluation. Fourteen young women completed a baseline interview and eight completed a follow-up survey. Two of the young women who completed baseline surveys died prior to completion of the follow-up surveys. A pre and post design was used for the measurement of change over time. The post measure was administered three months following the baseline measure. It is clear that the Circle Keeper intervention has had a positive effect on the treatment group. The mean and median ages of the fourteen participants were 21.4 years and 20 years respectively. Of the eight young women who completed follow-up surveys, all continued to have close friends who were gang members. Seven young women reported that they frequently partied with gang members at baseline, and these same seven reported having continued partying with gang members throughout the three month program. The one participant who did not party with gang members at baseline did not party with them during the program. Seven participants had a gang-involved boyfriend at baseline whereas only four had gang-involved boyfriends at the time of the follow-up survey. The remaining young woman was in a relationship with a severely abusive partner at baseline and she terminated this relationship during the program. Two exited their gangs and another remained an active gang member. Three participants who were using intravenous drugs daily at baseline got off these drugs in February 2011 and were in a methadone program. An additional woman stopped hard drugs during the program and was only using marijuana at the three-month follow-up. Three women continued their intravenous drug usage throughout the group. Two participants stopped dealing drugs whereas three continued to deal drugs at follow-up. Six decreased their involvement in non-violent crime and four women decreased their involvement in violent crime. Four were active in the sex trade at both time periods, two had reduced their involvement, and one young woman had gotten out of prostitution completely at follow-up. Seven participants engaged in frequent binge drinking at both baseline and follow-up. Seven had frequent contact with police at baseline, whereas only one woman had contact with the police during the group program. Each participant attended on average 38% of all group sessions, or 21 days of programming. On average, the total cost per case was $10,053.86, or $2,513.46/month. This includes all administration costs, such as rent, staffing, evaluation and participant stipends. Given the relatively low attendance rate, this was an expensive program to deliver. Costs are considerably higher compared to the average male RAGS client. Key conclusions of the evaluation include reductions in the overall risk levels and individual risk levels of participants over time. The Circle Keeper program should be replicated in Canada. Details: Gatineau, QC: Totten and Associates, 2011. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2012 at: http://www.nccaregina.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Circle-Keeper-Report-Totten-May-10-2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Canada URL: http://www.nccaregina.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Circle-Keeper-Report-Totten-May-10-2011.pdf Shelf Number: 126166 Keywords: Aboriginal YouthDelinquency Prevention ProgramsGangs (Canada)Youth Gangs |
Author: Baltazar, James Title: Pathways to Gang Violence: Analysis and Recommendations Summary: Gang activity is an endemic problem in many national metropolitan areas, including the city of Minneapolis. Understanding underlying causes and identifying key intervention points for gang involvement are necessary to improve prevention strategies. The task of the Pathways to Gang Involvement research project was to review a dataset provided to us by a Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support (MDHFS) public health official and develop a restructuring and analysis plan for the dataset in collaboration with MDHFS. This paper is an exploratory study of the dataset with which we were presented. It includes the following components: literature review, demographic analysis, spatial analysis, statistical analysis, and qualitative analysis. We sought to determine any correlations between roles in crimes early in life, geographic area, age, and gang activity, as well as identifying key intervention points for reducing gang violence in Minneapolis youth. Our research yielded several findings. Demographic analysis illustrated the composition of gang-related youth in the city, spatial analysis revealed the density of neighborhood patterns of crime, empirical analysis uncovered patterns of association between key indicators, and our qualitative assessment provided local perspective. Through these analyses we sought to establish avenues for public officials to understand the broader context for gang related offenses in the city of Minneapolis. Details: Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 2012. 88p. Source: MMP Professional Paper, Masters Degree: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2012 at http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/123483/1/Baltazar_Pathways%20to%20Gang%20Violence%20Analysis%20and%20Recommendations.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/123483/1/Baltazar_Pathways%20to%20Gang%20Violence%20Analysis%20and%20Recommendations.pdf Shelf Number: 126338 Keywords: Demographic TrendsGang ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Boudreau, Julie-Anne Title: Constructing Youth Citizenship in Montreal and Mexico City: The Examples of Youth-Police Relations in Saint-Michel and Iztapalapa Summary: Montreal has witnessed cyclical concerns about youth violence and street gangs. The threat is often “politically” constructed. Currently, Mexico City is struggling with a pervasive sense of insecurity. While the threat in Canada was largely attributed to mafias and organized crime throughout the 1990s (Sheptycki 2003), fear has crystallised on the figure of the young gang member in Mexico and Canada in the past few years. As Ungar writes, [y]outh thus become objects of collective fear, seen not as individuals but for the anxieties they cause and the jarring cultural changes they are seen to embrace. The particular impulsiveness of youths, wrapped up in their hostility to tradition and authority, only serves to aggravate these tensions. (Ungar 2009: 208)1 As a result, youths become the target of police action in public spaces. New repression measures are implemented, such as zero-tolerance policies or anti-gang operations, combined with a strengthened set of preventive actions ranging from youth brigades, to participatory youth projects, to community policing. In Montreal, preventive programs are generously financed by the Quebec Government and the Government of Canada. The money is channelled in priority boroughs selected on the basis of their scoring on a set of risk factors (such as household socio-economic status, school dropout rates, number of single-parent households, proportion of immigrants, general state of the built environment, the presence of gang activities in the borough, etc.). In Mexico City, particularly under the mayorship of Lopez Obrador (2000-2005), police reforms focused on community-run policing programs. The City of Mexico now has several programs for “at-risk” youths, including community youth brigades. Notably, and as discussed in greater detail in the Mexico section, today the Policía Sectorial, which is centrally overseen by the City, manages an outreach program for youth in schools that attempts to connect youth and police in a non-threatening environment. In addition to the citywide effort, Iztapalapa, the only borough in Mexico City with Auxiliary police directly under its command, also has a small team of Auxiliary police officers that implement similar efforts within the delegación. These programs are the closest thing to gang prevention efforts conducted by police in this borough. Such area-based approaches to crime prevention are reflected in the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime (2002) and the earlier United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Urban Crime (1995), which call for a local approach to problem solving, taking into account the context of vulnerability to being victimized and/or to offending, as well as local resources. Situational approaches build on the “broken windows theory” (Wilson and Kelling 1982) among others, and community crime prevention, which includes consideration of such issues as social capital. The literature on street gangs by criminologists or psychologists (Goldstein 1991; Thornberry et al. 1993; Hawkins 1998) are also relevant. The concern is generally to find causal relationships between background factors (or risk factors) and illegal or violent acts, in order to point towards elements in which to intervene preventively. Over the course of the 1990s, this came to be known as the “new penology” (Feely and Simon 1992), which positions the criminal as a statistical probability to manage. Crime is not conceptualized as transgression; it is understood as the result of the accumulation of risk factors in a territory or an individual. Following this logic, the prevention system aims more to neutralize danger by regulating risks than by punishing or rehabilitating individuals. The stigmatizing effects of this (such as ghettoizing and/or racial profiling) have been largely documented by urban geographers and sociologists (Davis 1998; Symons 1999; Romero 2006; Wacquant 2006; Dikeç 2007). The work of Philoctète at the Maison d’Haïti in Saint-Michel in Montreal (confirmed by the data presented here) has documented how youths perceive the stigmatizing effects of prevention programs and research on their neighbourhood. Yet Saint-Michel has been very innovative in its approach to issues of street crime and insecurity in the borough, developing a comprehensive crime prevention approach which encompasses a range of socio-cultural, developmental and structural concerns. The neighbourhood police work on an area-based logic given the administrative structures in place, but recognize Saint-Michel as a community as well. The neighbourhood has seen many projects beyond gang prevention: support services of all types, work with migrant communities, cross-sector partnerships, community mobilization, etc. As Fady Dagher, former Police Commandant in Saint-Michel, said in a presentation at the 12th UN Congress in Salvador, they are trying to explicitly move from “zero tolerance” to “tolerance”. Much of this local approach is focused on the neighbourhood and the immediate community. Yet, a previous project has shown how moving around the city is important to youths and contributes greatly to their development (Cissé and Boudreau 2009; Guthrie 2009; Boudreau, Janni, and Chatel, 2011; see also Madzou and Bacqué 2008). This mobile and fluid aspect of youths’ everyday life is not always taken into account in prevention projects in Montreal and Mexico City. The developments in Saint-Michel are encouraging, but the youths to whom we spoke still feel at a distance from these programs and labelled as “vulnerable”. The previous research conducted by VESPA has highlighted depoliticization (making delinquency a technical, rather than a publicly debatable problem) as an important effect of these preventive approaches (Boudreau, Janni, and Chatel 2011). It became clear that one of the important effects of preventive measures framed by “at-risk” categorizations is to deny youths any sense of meaningful socio-political agency. As a street worker stated, “it is important to humanize the gang. In it, there are individuals with broken lives” (November 18, 2008, our translation). Viewing gangs as a technical problem of risk management depoliticizes the issue, while stripping youths of individual and group subjectivity. They are seen as vulnerable to gang recruitment rather than as individuals and groups able to act intentionally and autonomously. Parazelli’s (2004) work with street youths in Montreal demonstrates how they create their own autonomous space of action in reaction to the effects of this risk management logic of preventive action. Fortunately, some innovative projects on youth participation are seeking to counteract this (ICPC Youth Resource Guide 2010). With this project, we seek to contribute to this search for solutions. Details: Montreal: Institut national de la recherche scientifique Centre - Urbanisation Culture Société, 2012. 167p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 21, 2012 at: http://im.metropolis.net/research-policy/research_content/doc/Youth-police_relations_in_Montreal_and_Mexico_City-final_report.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://im.metropolis.net/research-policy/research_content/doc/Youth-police_relations_in_Montreal_and_Mexico_City-final_report.pdf Shelf Number: 126389 Keywords: At-Risk Youth (Montreal, Canada, Mexico City)GangsJuvenile OffendersPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsUrban CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Pyrooz, David Cyrus Title: The Non-Criminal Consequences of Gang Membership: Impacts on Education and Employment in the Life-Course Summary: Research on the consequences of gang membership is limited mainly to the study of crime and victimization. This gives the narrow impression that the effects of gang membership do not cascade into other life domains. This dissertation conceptualized gang membership as a snare in the life-course that disrupts progression in conventional life domains. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Cohort of 1997 (NLSY97) data were used to examine the effects of adolescent gang membership on the nature and patterns of educational attainment and employment over a 12-year period in the life-course. Variants of propensity score weighting were used to assess the effects of gang joining on a range of outcomes pertaining to educational attainment and employment. The key findings in this dissertation include: (1) selection adjustments partially or fully confounded the effects of gang joining; despite this (2) gang joiners had 70 percent the odds of earning a high school diploma and 42 percent the odds of earning a 4-year college degree than matched individuals who avoided gangs; (3) at the 11-year mark, the effect of gang joining on educational attainment exceeded one-half year; (4) gang joiners made up for proximate deficits in high school graduation and college matriculation, but gaps in 4-year college degree and overall educational attainment gained throughout the study; (5) gang joiners were less likely to be employed and more likely to not participate in the labor force, and these differences accelerated toward the end of the study; (6) gang joiners spent an additional one-third of a year jobless relative to their matched counterparts; and (7) the cumulative effect of gang joining on annual income exceeded $14,000, which was explained by the patterning of joblessness rather than the quality of jobs. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are addressed in the concluding chapter of this dissertation. Details: Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, 2012. 179p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 25, 2012 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/239241.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/239241.pdf Shelf Number: 126447 Keywords: EducationEmploymentGangsUnemployment and CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, Statistical Analysis Center Title: 2011 Arizona Gang Threat Assessment Summary: In the summer of 2011, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission’s Statistical Analysis Center surveyed law enforcement officers in Arizona regarding gangs and gang activity in their jurisdictions. The survey used for the Arizona Gang Threat Assessment was based upon the National Gang Threat Assessment conducted by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Drug Intelligence Center, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The survey was designed to obtain from law enforcement information about the gangs in their jurisdictions and their level of activity. This report provides statewide results from the 2011 Gang Threat Assessment and compares it to similar data collected in 2007 through 20101 to assess changes over time. Results of the threat assessment from local agencies have also been aggregated to the county level for 14 of the 15 Arizona counties. County level data is contained in the appendices of this report. Findings Gangs were reported to be active in 46 of the 63 jurisdictions (73.0 percent) that responded to the survey in 2011. Of the agencies that reported active gangs, 35 provided estimates of the number of gang members in their jurisdiction. Together, these agencies alone estimated that there are 31,511 active gang members in their jurisdictions. Slightly less than half (48.8 percent) of responding agencies reported that gangs were expanding their scope of activities. Over half of the agencies reported that gang activity had increased in the prior 12 months and during the last five years. Nearly two-thirds of the agencies (62.2 percent) reported gang activity had either stayed the same or decreased in the six-month period preceding the survey. Assault/aggravated assault was listed by nearly 67 percent of the agencies reporting on gang activities as the primary crime being committed by gangs, followed by burglary and drug offenses. A high level of gang involvement in the sale of marijuana was reported by 45.5 percent of responding agencies and 26.7 percent reported high levels of gang involvement in the sale of methamphetamine. The percent of agencies reporting a high level of gang involvement in heroin sales nearly doubled from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 10.3 percent in 2010 and then nearly doubled again to 20 percent in 2011. When asked about gang intervention strategies, law enforcement agencies identified law enforcement, identification of gang members and Gang Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM) as the most effective strategies for responding to gangs and gang activity in their jurisdictions. Much lower percentages of agency respondents saw value in school programs, special gang prosecution units and community-based gang programs. Details: Phoenix: Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, 2013. 142p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 22, 2013 at: http://acjc.state.az.us/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2011%20GTA.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://acjc.state.az.us/ACJC.Web/Pubs/Home/2011%20GTA.pdf Shelf Number: 128080 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (Arizona, U.S.)Juvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Whitman, S. Title: Children and Youth in Marine Piracy: Causes, Consequences and the Way Forward Summary: According to the Failed States Index Data 2011, created by the Fund for Peace Organization, 6 countries most affected by piratical activity fall within the top 15 most fragile states. This includes Somalia, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Pakistan, Yemen and Nigeria. Piracy is not the main factor as to why these countries are fragile, at the same time, not all fragile littoral states have marine piracy. However, this does demonstrate the importance of looking at the broader social, political and economic environment that enables piracy. Understanding the human factors associated with piracy activity and the root causes is critical to the development of solutions to address piracy. The Dalhousie Marine Piracy Project (DMPP) has undertaken such an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to addressing the problem of contemporary piracy and its impact on the shipping and coastal communities. In so doing, it comprehensively examined the four interdependent themes of Law and Governance, Socio-Economic, Operational Responses, and Information Management; assessed current literature on the topic of contemporary marine piracy; and, through analysis of that work, highlighted potential areas for policy development and implementation. Piracy appears to develop where weak or non-existent government and enforcement capabilities, impoverished coastal communities, and shipping targets exist in relatively close proximity. Other elements such as organized criminality, youth unemployment, political conflict and even natural disasters may also contribute to the likelihood of piracy emerging as a major threat to shipping in a particular region. The DMPP has examined the economic, political and social conditions, which have led to contemporary outbreaks of piracy with the intention of identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of current and proposed responses to piracy. This paper highlights an important and growing issue identified from the DMPP research. Of deep concern is the increasing evidence that children and youth are being recruited by piracy gangs with little recognition among those responsible for addressing piracy and the complexities this introduces. For this particular problem, however, it is important to note that systematic collection of data on this matter does not currently exist and as such, it has been difficult to conduct a clear, evidenced-based assessment of the situation. As such, three key objectives of this paper are: (i) to raise the awareness of the failure to address the question of the involvement of children and youth by those involved in either studying or addressing piracy and (ii) to provide a rationale for the collection and accessibility of disaggregated data on those committing piracy by those who are capturing, releasing, reporting and prosecuting those involved in piracy activity and (iii) to provide possible alternatives to addressing marine piracy by focusing on the challenges posed by the involvement of children and youth. In addition, it should be noted that many who are involved in studying or addressing marine piracy have failed to pose questions regarding the involvement of children and youth. This means that a critical gap in the data collection, research, and responses to marine piracy have yet to be considered as a potential approach in the overall effort to halt or reduce marine piracy. Details: Halifax, Nova Scotia: Dalhousie Marine Piracy Project, 2012. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Marine Affairs Program Technical Report #5: Accessed May 20, 2013 at: http://marineaffairsprogram.dal.ca/Files/Dalhousie-Marine-Affairs-Program-Technical-Report-%235-2012-12.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://marineaffairsprogram.dal.ca/Files/Dalhousie-Marine-Affairs-Program-Technical-Report-%235-2012-12.pdf Shelf Number: 128759 Keywords: Child ProtectionMaritime CrimePirates/PiracyYouth Gangs |
Author: Berkman, Heather Title: Social exclusion and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean Summary: This paper examines how social exclusion contributes to violence in communities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Residents in socially excluded communities cannot depend on those institutions designed to protect them, and violence becomes an instrument to achieve certain outcomes, such as justice, security, and economic gain. When conventional methods of obtaining and working for increased social status, higher income, and wider influence are limited, as they often are in marginalized areas, some feel compelled to resort to violent acts. This paper discusses how social exclusion and violence interact in a vicious circle that leaves the socially excluded in a very hostile social environment where the borders between legal and illegal, legitimate and illegitimate are often fuzzy and uncertain. In this environment violence is used by a minority to acquire justice, security, authority and economic gain. The use of violence by this minority, however, affect the lives of the majority of excluded people that do not resort to violence. As youths are particularly vulnerable to this issue, this paper also examines the relationship between violence and the plight of Latin American youth gangs and street children. Details: Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2007. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Department Working paper series ; 613): Accessed June 21, 2013 at: http://www.iadb.org/res/publications/pubfiles/pubwp-613.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Central America URL: http://www.iadb.org/res/publications/pubfiles/pubwp-613.pdf Shelf Number: 129039 Keywords: Socio-Economic StatusStreet ChildrenViolence (Latin America and Caribbean)Violent CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Trinidad and Tobago. Parliament. Committee on Young Males and Crime in Trinidad and Tobago Title: No Time To Quit: Engaging Youth at Risk. Executive Report of the Committee on Young Males and Crime in Trinidad and Tobago Summary: This report of the Youth at Risk Committee seeks to put in perspective equity vis a vis equal opportunity. It seeks to move beyond the narrow concept of sameness and to embrace the concepts of difference in the multi-cultural, multi-class society of Trinidad and Tobago. The report argues that the young male population that is more at risk of directly being caught in the criminal world of drugs, guns and deadly violent crime are of African descent, especially those located in urban “hotspots” such as Laventille. At the same time, it focuses on the different problems which young Indo-Trinidadian males face in areas of Central Trinidad, their predilection to alcohol and related domestic violence abuse. It also addresses the way in which women and young girls are both drawn into crime or become victims of the effects of male involvement in crime. Details: St. Augustine: Multimedia Production Centre (MPC), School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Education, The University of the West Indies, 2013. 436p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2013 at: http://www.ttparliament.org/documents/2197.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Trinidad and Tobago URL: http://www.ttparliament.org/documents/2197.pdf Shelf Number: 129118 Keywords: At-risk YouthDelinquency PreventionJuvenile Delinquency (Trinidad and Tobago)Juvenile OffendersYouth CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Rudqvist, Anders, ed. Title: Breeding Inequality – Reaping Violence Exploring Linkages and Causality in Colombia and Beyond Summary: This report is based on a series of seminars organized by Colombia Forum, a policy research and support programme carried out at the Collegium for Development Studies. The programme is supported by and collaborates with Sida´s Department for Latin America. The objectives of Colombia Forum are to stimulate and support the coordination of education, research and policy analysis related to Colombian social development, conflicts, peace-building efforts and development cooperation in Sweden and Colombia. The programme also seeks to facilitate development practitioners’ access to research resources, and to assist Swedish researchers to become directly engaged in studies and practice related to socio-economic analysis and development practice focused on Colombia. Against the background of mounting poverty, deep-seated social contradictions and an escalating internal conflict, Colombian and other social scientists try to explain the present situation – and discuss the construction of sustainable peace with social justice – making use of concepts such as poverty, inequality and character of the prevailing political system. The first article of the report, Popular Participation in Colombia by Anders Rudqvist, is intended to provide a background presentation of Colombia. It is a broad account of the development and character of the Colombian society with particular reference to popular participation. Also at a general and broad level, but specifically focusing on the concepts of poverty and conflict, is Björn Hettne’s Poverty and Conflict: the Methodology of a Complex Relationship. Hettne’s article is a presentation and analysis of varying interpretations of the poverty and violence concepts and their interrelation as understood in the context of different theoretical approaches, i.e. the positivist, the political economy, the holistic-historicist and the complex emergencies. The theoretical and policy consequences of these approaches are explored with regard to conflict provention and prevention, external interventions, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. In his Reflections on Recent Interpretations of Violence in Colombia, Pedro Valenzuela undertakes an analysis of the evolution of the debate on poverty and violence in Colombia. Some recent interpretations inspired by positivist and economic theoretical approaches are scrutinized and called into question, while the importance of inequality as a factor explaining and specifying the relationship between poverty and violence in the Colombian case is underscored. Poverty – particularly as expressed in inequality or social, economic and political exclusion – is viewed by many as a structural cause of violence and conflict. But other factors such as the character of political regimes and institutions, or more long-term historical processes, are also seen as key elements in the analysis of conflict and violence. Violence and poverty are thus multifaceted social phenomena. Different categories of conflicts and contradictions lead to various forms of violence. Political, economic and social violence usually occurs where obtaining or maintaining political, economic and social power is at stake. In addition, many analysts suggest that important reinforcing links exist between the dynamics of different types of violence. These issues and linkages remain important and valid beyond a particular country or continent. Patterns may vary, but links between different types of violence seem to be present in most cases. Colombia has traditionally experienced high levels of economic and social violence, now aggravated by increasing political violence involving guerrilla, paramilitary groups and the army. Currently about 20 percent of Colombian homicides are ascribed to political violence. In Central America, economic and social violence levels were moderate before the period of armed political conflicts and subsequent peace accords. Yet, after peace agreements the Central American countries experienced a significant increase in economic violence. Similar patterns appear in Africa (e.g. South Africa, Angola) as well as in Asia, where the most recent and dramatic example is Afghanistan. The final two articles draw on examples from and comparisons with Central America. They are dealing with poor and excluded communities and with the linkages between different categories of violence, but do so from the vantage point of economic and social violence. Economic violence here implies drug trafficking, youth gang activities and other forms of organized crime, while social violence refers to “domestic” conflicts and aggression caused by unequal gender relations or other social factors. The Shape of Violence: Reflections on the Guatemalan Revolution by Staffan Löfving departs from the prevailing Guatemalan assumption that poverty is violence – structural violence to be more exact. The article deals with the ways in which the relationship between poverty and political violence has been analysed in the writings on the Guatemalan internal war and contends that the politics of identity (as political praxis and academic approach) as well as the post-modernist focus on ethnic revival tend to obscure the responsibility of the state for the formation and maintenance of oppressive social structures. When Western analysts increasingly perceive the social reality of the war torn parts of the Third World as “chaos” it becomes increasingly more difficult to identify the key causes of poverty as well as the social forces and actors that have the power to alleviate or maintain poverty and human suffering. As a consequence poverty becomes disconnected from the analytical domain of violence. Youth Gangs in Colombia and Nicaragua – New Forms of Violence, New Theoretical Directions? by Dennis Rodgers is a comparative analysis of the structure and dynamic of youth gangs in Colombia and Nicaragua, relating the emergence and expansion of this type of economic violence to other categories of violence as well as to processes of “demilitarisation” and “democratisation” which have marked Latin America in recent years. Youth gangs in Colombia and Nicaragua are seen as representing similar forms of structuring, intimately linked to wider contexts of crises and breakdown that characterize both Colombia and Nicaragua. Conventional instrumentalist and functional approaches to violence are ill adapted, Rogers argues, to explain such phenomena and processes. Some elements and concepts, such as “insurgent citizenship”, are put forward instead, as a contribution to a move in a new theoretical direction. Details: Uppsala, Sweden: Collegium for Development Studies, 2003. 141p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 22, 2013 at: http://www.kus.uu.se/pdf/publications/outlook_development/outlook18.pdf Year: 2003 Country: Central America URL: http://www.kus.uu.se/pdf/publications/outlook_development/outlook18.pdf Shelf Number: 129126 Keywords: PovertySocioeconomic VariablesViolence (Central America)Youth Gangs |
Author: Masese, Grace Title: Crime and Violence Trends in Nairobi, Kenya Summary: This paper examines the phenomenon of youth crime in Nairobi especially in relation to youth gangs. The case pays special attention to the Mungiki movement and street families. It also examines some of the organized responses to crime of this nature. As the administrative, political and commercial capital of Kenya, Nairobi is a significant trendsetter in the country. The city holds approximately 3 million residents, 10% of the Kenyan population. An additional 1.5 million persons from neighboring districts come to work in the city on a daily basis. In addition the industrial satellite towns; Mavoko, Thika, Ruiru, and Kikuyu depend on Nairobi’s facilities such as water supply, schools and health facilities among other amenities for their survival. The city also provides services to a large population in the neighboring rural, peri-urban and urban areas of Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos, and Thika districts. The status of Nairobi as a national hub acts as a powerful magnet for people from rural areas in search of better opportunities, resulting in a great strain on the city’s capacity to handle the influx. The growth of slums and mushrooming of unplanned and unauthorized settlements such as Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru kwa Njenga, within the city and its peripheries is a direct consequence of this migratory tide. Informal settlements are found in all the divisions of Nairobi. These settlements vary in size and density, are characterized by very poor environmental and health conditions, inadequate shelter, unemployment and insufficient services. Over 60% of the population of Nairobi resides in informal settlements.1 The problem of crime in Nairobi is closely associated with but not limited to informal settlements due to various reasons such as: • limited opportunities for gainful legal employment and consequently fertile grounds for the nurturing a sense of helplessness and hopelessness; • often neighboring most affluent residential neighborhoods makes theft and robbery an attractive option for idle youths • frequent eviction of the inhabitants from their residence pushing the poor into criminal activities; • easy hideout for criminals as formal social control institutions are weak coupled with inadequate accessibility among others. This is in line with the structural and organizational perspective that regards crime as a product of social change and its influence on behaviour in specific cultural, political, economic and social contexts. For example, forces existing in the deprived and demeaning conditions of living for the lower classes in society may push many of their members into criminal behavior, resulting in increase in crime rates;‘Crime does not happen spontaneously. It grows out of an unequal and exclusive society and out of lack of institutional and social control’2. The cultural perspective views delinquent behavior in groups among the lower classes as a protest against norms and values of the upper classes. Since lower class individuals are unable to achieve success legitimately they experience a cultural conflict, which is referred as status frustration, and often join in gangs and engage in behavior that is legally non-conformist. Therefore, crime has been viewed as sub-culture among certain groups that represent a value system directly opposed to that of the larger society. Details: Case study prepared for Enhancing Urban Safety and Security: Global Report on Human Settlements 2007. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 22, 2013 at: http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/GRHS.2007.CaseStudy.Crime.Nairobi.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/GRHS.2007.CaseStudy.Crime.Nairobi.pdf Shelf Number: 129134 Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency (Kenya)ViolenceYouth Gangs |
Author: Hardiman, Paul Soto Title: Youth and Exclusion in Disadvantaged Urban Areas: policy approaches in six European cities Summary: This volume in the Trends in social cohesion series follows on from Volume 8, which dealt with some aspects of “integration” of young people in urban areas, in particular the implications of the concept and the responsibilities of the various parties (the state, the administrative authorities, politicians, the voluntary sector, mediators, families and young people themselves) in matters of policy. It also considered the limitations of reparation-orientated approaches that treat the question in isolation, being targeted at this specific section of the urban population. The present volume provides two additional studies. The first part, by Paul Soto, offers a reading of the causes of youth violence, based on comparative analysis of neighbourhood integration policies in six European cities: the four west European cities are Naples (the Spanish quarter), Barcelona (el Raval), Amsterdam (Slotervaart) and Derby (Derwent); the two cities in transition countries are Sofia (Fakulteta) and Moscow (the Southern Administrative District). In the second part Frédéric Lapeyre looks at the particular case of Naples’ Spanish quarter. His investigation brings home the complexity of any genuine policy in the matter, which, to restore humanity and dignity to young people’s daily lives, requires that all the players revise their perceptions and action. In a summary of the six case studies, Paul Soto shows that so-called “youth violence”, whether in west or east Europe, displays certain constant features: poverty, disappointed aspirations, lack of prospects, of self-confidence and of confidence in the local environment, official uncertainty, ignorance of the problems, indifference and spatial segregation. The violence manifests itself in the home and in family life, in the street, towards “outsiders”, towards symbols of authority, towards young people’s own community and towards communal facilities and installations. The study examines in detail the forms that violence can take. In the neighbourhoods considered, violence is one response to lack of control over changes that worsen the situation and the social climate: in addition to containing concentrations of poverty, some of it extreme, these are also reception areas for imported poverty in the form of immigrants. A series of questions arises. What kind of policy will enable young people to change their lives in neighbourhoods suffering from identity loss and in which identity building is conflict-based (“us”, the minority in the neighbourhood, and “them”, the majority who live on the far side of the mental and social boundaries that surround young people’s life setting)? What kind of constructive spaces can we provide for analysing and discussing the older generation’s anger and resentment? In what kind of environment are the political decisions being taken? How do politicians respond to the pressure they are under to make tackling local and street violence the priority rather than developing proper long-term education, training and employment policy? Paul Soto’s overview identifies four types of official response, ranging from decentralisation – allocating responsibilities and resources to the level at which the problem is located – to seeking areas in which young people themselves, and the rest of society, could be given greater responsibility. He reflects on how the political sphere addresses this and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches. He shows that no project can be fully successful unless it rebuilds young people’s sense of belonging and sense of identity by reconciling them with their immediate life context (family, school, friends and so on). This part ends with a series of recommendations as regards both methods and indicators for evaluating the situation and setting up mechanisms for intervention and spaces conducive to it. In the second part Frédéric Lapeyre describes the everyday lives of young people in the Spanish quarter of Naples. He offers an interpretation of the interplay between various “life spaces” (physical/public, family/private and relational/public), all of which are characterised by a culture of disorganisation and violence, but also by great vitality and by tolerance of incomers who themselves have been marked by their experience of poverty and despair. The Spanish quarter features a huge concentration of deprivation and the community there has a large proportion of jobless citizens and people on minimum guaranteed income. From an early age the young have to harden themselves against disadvantage and take on an adult role. Their desperate need of protection draws them to the sort of figure who rules by fear, and the dearth of self-fulfilment models is compounded by the instability of relationships. The rejection of social norms is reflected in vandalism, educational failure, membership of criminal gangs and so forth. How is any sort of ambition for something better to be fostered in neighbourhoods like that, and how are people to be enabled to form any kind of life project in an environment where people are constantly afraid both individually and collectively? Details: Strasbourg Cedex: Council of Europe Publishing, 2004. 178p. Source: Internet Resource: Trends in social cohesion No. 9: Accessed June 22, 2013 at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/socialpolicies/socialcohesiondev/source/Trends/Trends-09_en.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Europe URL: http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/socialpolicies/socialcohesiondev/source/Trends/Trends-09_en.pdf Shelf Number: 129144 Keywords: At-Risk Youth (Europe)Urban AreasYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Cohen, Mark A. Title: Violence and Crime in Latin America Summary: The public survey that was conducted by the IDB for this project identified the problem of “crime and violence” to be one of the areas of major concern in Latin America. In particular, the following items were identified (in descending or perceived priority): (a) high incidence of crime, (b) drug trafficking, (c) proliferation of violent youth gangs, (d) pervasiveness of money laundering, and (e) frequency of domestic violence. In conducting the research for this present paper, we evaluated the nature of the evidence on the extent to which these perceived issues would rise to the level of being “significant,” as well as the evidence on “what works” and what the benefits and costs are from programs that have been shown to be effective. Setting the boundaries of our analysis was a difficult task, but one that we needed to do in order to arrive at a solutions document that would be of value to policy makers. For example, while most incidents of crime and violence are essentially “local,” the causes and potential solutions to crime might lie well outside the local or even national jurisdiction. This is true globally – where many types of crimes are clearly of a global character and require more than local solutions. There are several very stark examples of this problem in the case of crime and violence in Latin America. For example, the demand for drugs in the U.S. and Europe will have an impact on the supply of drugs in various Latin American countries – and hence will impact organized crime and gang-related violence. Because these markets operate outside of traditional legal institutions, enforcement of property rights disputes, for example, also take place outside normal legal channels – hence contributing to the demand for violence itself. Moreover, because the demand for drugs is coming outside of Latin America, any attempt to reduce the supply of drugs in one “hot spot” country in Latin America will ultimately backfire as drug production is shifted to another country to keep up with the demand. There is good evidence that this has happened repeatedly in Latin America. Thus, without global solutions, a Latin American solution to this problem is unlikely to succeed. Drug and terrorism policy in the U.S. and Europe can also affect crime and violence in Latin America. For example, the U.S. war on drugs has led to the extradition of drug lords – something that has destabilized the Colombian drug market, for example, with the ultimate effect of more violence between organized drug cartels to gain control over local areas. This contrasts with the approach taken in Europe which is largely to treat drugs as a ‘consumption’ problem at home. Similarly, some researchers have suggested that immigration and prison policies in the U.S. affect crime and gang-related violence in Latin America. For example, illegal immigrants who have committed crimes while in the U.S. will serve time in prison and then be deported to their home country. To the extent that returning prisoners have joined gangs in U.S. prisons and transfer knowledge and experience back to their home countries – this exacerbates the gang violence problem in the home country. In this paper, we take these factors as exogenous and beyond the scope of our immediate concern – which is to identify the most cost-beneficial programs that can be implemented in Latin America to reduce crime and violence given the current situation and institutions within which we have to work. Policy discussions over crime and violence in Latin America have oftentimes been framed using political and ideological themes. Thus, for example, calls for more police and tougher prison sentences are often seen as attempts by the “right” to control the underclass. Similarly, calls for prevention programs through better education, jobs, and an enhanced standard of living to reduce the desirability of illegal occupations are often seen as “socialist” solutions by the right. Given this political backdrop as well as the fact that the field of criminology itself has historical roots in sociology, there is scant empirical evidence on either the extent of criminal behavior or the effectiveness of prevention or control strategies in Latin America. Police records are notoriously poor – and often generated by corrupt politicians or police administrations to support their point of view. There have only been a few comprehensive victimization surveys in some countries, and any significant crosscountry comparisons that can be made are of only limited value unlike more detailed surveys in the U.S. and Europe. There are also no reliable indicators of drugs or arms trafficking or the influence of organized crime. Measures of these problems are largely indirect and subject to considerable uncertainty. Thus, in the following section on the extent of crime and violence in Latin America, the uninitiated reader might be struck by the lack of solid data – but this is a persistent problem in measuring crime and violence. Details: Unpublished paper, 2007. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Solutions Paper: Accessed June 22, 2013 at: http://www.iadb.org/res/ConsultaSanJose/files/ViolenceCrime_Cohen_SP_Final.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Central America URL: http://www.iadb.org/res/ConsultaSanJose/files/ViolenceCrime_Cohen_SP_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 112426 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceOrganized CrimeViolent Crime (Latin America)Youth Gangs |
Author: Aramburu, Melba Castillo Title: Nicaragua Youth Assessment: Assessment of Security and Crime Prevention Activities, with a Focus on Youth At Risk, On the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua Summary: USAID/Nicaragua is preparing a new Country Development Cooperative Strategy (CDCS) that will include a Special Objective (SpO) aimed at reducing crime and increasing personal, community and regional security in the Caribbean Coast region. This SpO will support formal and non-formal education and training opportunities for youth at-risk, ages 10-24, and build community cohesiveness to reduce chances of youth becoming involved in crime and illicit activities. Funds for this SpO are expected to come from the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) which focuses on crime and levels of citizen security, and USAID basic education funds, particularly goal 3 of the Education Strategy which concentrates on youth and young adults living in “crisis and conflict environments.” The context in which young people live and attempt to thrive on the Caribbean Coast is characterized by multiple risk factors that contribute to their acute level of vulnerability. Principal risk factors—elements that greatly complicate their lives and which can lead to illicit activities—are prevalence of drugs and, worse, trafficking of drugs, along with alcohol abuse, disintegration of family and community ties, school abandonment, sexual abuse and risky sex, unemployment and bleak prospects for a job, and the weak presence of state institutions. In RAAN (Región Aútonoma del Atlántico Norte), the segment of the population under age 24 is 66 percent of the total; in RAAS, (Región Aútonoma del Atlántico Sur) it is 63 percent. Some 70 percent of RAAN’s population is rural, while 60 percent of RAAS’s population lives in rural areas. Another trait of the Caribbean regions is the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural composition. Various peoples exist in both regions, such as Miskito, Rama, Sumu/Mayangna, Twahkas, Panamakas and Ulwas. The Afro-descendant population, Creoles, and Garifunas comprise the ethnic groups. One continuing trend in the RAAN is the arrival of more and more mestizos in the region, with the indigenous and Afro-descendant becoming even more of the minority as time goes on. This is especially true in the interior (central and western) parts of the RAAS and RAAN. The RAAS is much more in flux ethnically, with the biggest concentration of Afro-descendants, although the RAAN is still predominantly indigenous and Afro-descendant. The number of violent deaths in RAAS and RAAN is rising sharply. In Bluefields in 2011, according to the Police Chief, there were 71 violent deaths or homicides, and in the first 11 weeks of 2012 there had been 18 more. Rates of incest, sexual abuse and rape of girls ages 6-16 are alarmingly high, with many cases not even reported. Criminal offenders are rarely brought to justice. In the RAAN, the National Police have registered 20 high-risk youth groups with a total of 313 male members from 12 to 18 years of age. According to the National Police, as well as others interviewed, the prostitution of adolescents, beginning at 14 years of age, is growing in the RAAS through the occurrence of parties and other “social events” organized by drug traffickers.1 The growing disintegration of family and community ties was noted by many people interviewed as a key factor in the worsening crisis and youths’ feelings of insecurity. The exposure of adolescents to STDs, including HIV, is also linked to violence and lack of values and direction from the family. Few adolescent men and women access health services because of shame or fear of reprimand, especially in relation to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS2. The rate of STDs in the RAAS is 164 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest among all regions of Nicaragua. The national average is 43.9 per 100,000 people.3 All indicators of education in the Caribbean region are poor; one of the most shocking indicators is that only two out of every ten young people in the corresponding age group are enrolled in secondary school, versus the national average of seven out of ten young people. The team observed, and many interviewees stated, that there are insufficient spaces for sports and recreation, especially in the RAAS. There is no addiction rehabilitation center in the region to provide systematic and intensive care. Drugs are present in virtually the entire Caribbean region and are the major catalyst for social problems. Obtaining lethal weapons is relatively easy. Violence is spreading and is increasingly legitimated through criminal activities mainly connected to drugs. Inter-ethnic tensions, particularly in the RAAN, have percolated to the extent that several civic leaders told a team member that “it is a time bomb, waiting to explode.” Conflicts over property are the prime cause of daily conflicts and legal cases, and these are woven into tensions between ethnic groups which have different philosophies of land tenure and ownership: especially the perception of land as communal versus personal. Based on the risk factors listed above, and especially the prevalence of drugs and violence, the consulting team considers essentially all youth ages 10-24 in the RAAS and RAAN “at risk.” The extensive document review, more than 100 interviews with key informants, focus group sessions with 76 youth at-risk, and nine days of field observation in the Caribbean region were critical in the team’s formulation of the proposed integrated strategy for these young people. The recommended goal of this SpO is for “adolescents and youth at-risk (10-24 years old) in Nicaragua’s Caribbean coastal region to live in strengthened and secure communities and take advantage of more ample opportunities in education, vocational training, life skills, civic engagement, sports and recreation, and positive social inter-action.” Its three components are to: 1. Strengthen vulnerable communities so that youth and young adults feel safe and have a heightened sense of security, connectedness to their families, and feel positive about their futures. 2. Improve direct services to adolescents and youth at risk (AYAR), involving them as much as possible in the design, management and implementation of these services and opportunities. 3. Raise awareness, influence public opinion, and spur community action on a wide range of topics of concern to youth at-risk. Cross-cutting themes in this strategy are to strengthen knowledge management related to AYAR, be proactive regarding gender dynamics and equity and build alliances and vibrant ties with universities, the private sector, media, faith-based organizations and others. Based on the team’s field experiences and observations, seven inter-related programmatic areas evolve from the three strategic components, the mission statement, and the cross-cutting themes. They are to: 1. Strengthen neighborhoods and communities through local engagement, support, planning, increased community security measures, and other critical support. In particular, the initiative should promote sports as an incentive, a platform for dialogue and an attractive component of holistic, integrated, multi-faceted programs for girls and boys. Sports-related activities such as preparing fields for play, repairing and building minimal infrastructure, providing equipment and materials, strengthening leagues and organization will be integrated with, for example, vocational orientation, environmental cleanups, and mentoring programs for AYAR. 2. Strengthen capacity of organizations which provide direct services to youth, both in and out of school, especially vocational and life skills training, and by creating practical, tangible opportunities for AYAR through internships, apprenticeships, etc. 3. Improve conflict management among community and youth leaders through training of teachers, youth, parents and NGOs. For instance, the team recommends that BICU’s Center for Mediation receive technical assistance for its volunteer lawyers and staff to improve upon their mediation techniques and skills, as well as beginning to impart these skills to school teachers. 4. Strengthen BICU’s and URACCAN’s roles in knowledge management by training teachers and trainers, carrying out security studies, monitoring longitudinal progress of initiatives, conducting workshops, assisting with publications, and strengthening their alliances with communities, the National Police, NGOs, the private sector and other groups. 5. Prevent increased drug use and violence by multiplying rehabilitation and attention centers for drug addicts, victims of rape and sexual abuse, and other types of violence. Much of this work will be conducted in collaboration with advocacy and media campaigns mentioned in the next point. The consultant team recommends increasing and extending geographically in RAAN and RAAS the very popular, much appreciated and effective DARE, GREAT and Second Step programs for youth in schools, made possible by the Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL). We also recommend assisting the Movimiento Nidia White Center in Bilwi and COPRAJ in Bluefields to benefit from a trained professional in social and psycho-social attention to/for AYAR. 6. Promote positive youth development through campaigns involving: enhanced radio programming for and with youth at-risk, community events and engagement with key public figures (e.g., well-known sports figures, political leaders). These activities will amplify youth voices, promote community values, echo anti-drug and anti-violence messages, highlight success stories, denounce crime, sexual abuse and drug use, and focus on promising practices in youth-led development. 7. Increase school relevance through improved teaching and curricular offerings, especially at the late primary (5th and 6th years) and early secondary school levels (1st, 2nd and 3rd years of secondary education), through vocational training, enhanced reading proficiency, life skills, and other self-improvement approaches, as well as establishing and fortifying education/university-private sector linkages. 8. Lastly, the team recommends the creation and crisp, effective functioning of a U.S. Embassy Youth Affairs Advisory Committee to, among other tasks, exchange information and coordinate programming options among various U.S.G. entities part of whose mandate and actual or potential funding is directed to youth at risk. The team recommends that program implementation focus on ten neighborhoods in Bluefields, two in Pearl Lagoon and five in Bilwi and its environs. This is based on need, security concerns, potential for impact on AYAR and the communities in which they live, and cost-effectiveness. Concentrating attention and scarce resources in relatively few sites holds most promise in reducing crime and violence, increasing citizen security and making more significant and lasting results for children and youth at risk. Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 2012. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 26, 2013 at: http://www.gem2.org/sites/default/files/Nicaragua%20Youth%20Assessment_13nov12.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Nicaragua URL: http://www.gem2.org/sites/default/files/Nicaragua%20Youth%20Assessment_13nov12.pdf Shelf Number: 129166 Keywords: At-Risk-Youth (Nicaragua)Delinquency PreventionJuvenile DelinquencyYouth Gangs |
Author: Prospero, Moises Title: 2012 Best Practices in Confronting Gang Membership & Crime in Utah Summary: This report reviews the gang literature in search of best practices to confront gang membership and crime. The review includes prevalence of gangs, gang crime, its consequences, etiology of gangs, characteristics of gangs, and gang control efforts. Based on the most recent gang literature, 11 recommendations were developed aimed at individual, group, and community levels for prevention, intervention, suppression, and re-entry services. Gangs are prevalent around the world but lack of documentation makes it difficult to accurately describe the gang issues at a global level. The US has the best documentation of gangs and gang crime, but other countries are recognizing that gangs are a problem in their region and are beginning to collect data, especially in Europe. The data reveal a common trend around the world: Gang members are significantly more violent than non-gang members. The factors related to gang violence are the presence of firearms, ethnic tensions, and the social norm of using guns during conflict. The cost of gang crime is extremely high, from death and psychological trauma to community fear and significant economic costs. A serious concern is the alliance between Mexico’s drug trafficking organizations (DTO), such as Los Zetas Cartel and La Familia Michoacana, with US gangs, such as the Banditos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang and and MS-13. DTOs use motorcycle and street gangs as soldiers in the drug war, for drug delivery into the US, and for smuggling guns and drug earnings into Mexico from the US. DTOs have been reported in every large city in the US, including Utah (Ogden and Salt Lake City). Consumption of drugs, drug money and high powered weapons increases the strength of Mexican DTOs and US gangs. Although suppressing Mexican DTOs is needed, addressing the large consumption of illegal drugs by the US and trafficking US military weapons to Mexican DTOs also need to take priority in order to obtain long-term reduction of gang violence and crime in the US. The main risk factors for gang membership are impulsivity, negative life events, lack of sense of belonging, antisocial attitudes, delinquent peers, and lack of parental supervision. The risk factors for gang formation are communities that lack appropriate jobs, lack prosocial alternate activities to gang members, lack informal and formal controls but have minority youth segregation and an out-migration of the middle class. In the US, research has revealed that gangs are poorly organized with unstable leadership, are more ethnically diverse and gendered than originally believed, and that most members leave the gang within a year, usually by maturing out of the lifestyle. All gang members are not alike, with at least two types of gang members identified: core and fringe. Core gang members are more likely to identify strongly with the gang, be more cohesive with their clique, stay longer in the gang, be more resistant to gang control efforts, and be more violent. At the group level, the cohesiveness of cliques within a gang is related to gang violence as these smaller tight groups of gang members are more likely to follow the “code of the streets” and be more likely to violently retaliate when these codes are broken. Through an extensive validation process that included data across the US collected through gang experts (law enforcement, gang workers, & researchers), a gang typology was created that included five types: traditional, neotraditional, compressed, collective, and specialty gangs. Traditional gangs are large (over 100 members), enduring, and territorial with a wide age range and several internal cliques. Neotraditional gangs are newer territorial gang that appears to be evolving into larger traditional type of gangs. Compressed gangs make up the largest percentage of gangs (39%) and are smaller groups that have a relatively short history. Collective gangs are medium sized groups of adolescents and young adults that have not developed into a form that has any of the characteristics from other gangs. Specialty gangs are smaller groups that are involved in the following types of crimes: drugs, assault, burglary, theft, and robbery. The review revealed that gang control efforts have not been effective at addressing the issues of gang proliferation and gang crime. There are a few gang control efforts that have attempted to be multi-level and comprehensive and hold some promise for future success (OJJDP GRP and Chicago’s Ceasefire Program). Unfortunately, these approaches largely ignore the prevention and reentry levels in favor of intervention and suppression efforts. A few comprehensive models hold promise in filling the prevention gap: Kids First and Megacommunities. Effective reentry programs, unfortunately, are practically non-existent, which is extremely concerning as offenders who have been incarcerated for long periods of time are at greatest risk (several criminogenic needs) to re-victimize the community. Another area that has largely been ignored by gang control efforts but unique to gangs and related to increased gang violence is the cohesiveness of cliques within the larger gang. The following recommendations are based on this literature: 1. Implement multi-level comprehensive gang control efforts with goals and strategies (need political and economic support). 2. Use data-driven assessment to identify target populations (need statewide database). 3. Use programs found to be effective with non-gang members (e.g., Blueprint Model Programs). 4. Use “hot spot” problem-oriented policing (POP) in collaboration with community organizations. 5. Use improved street lighting with active close circuit TV (CCTV) in identified “at-risk” areas. 6. Use long-term incarceration for extremely high risk violent offenders (NOT with lower risk offenders). 7. Evaluate all gang control efforts (process and outcome). 8. Be proactive with media to raise awareness and educate the public regarding gang issues. 9. Develop gang-specific screening and assessments (e.g., discriminate core v fringe gang members). 10.Develop gang-specific programs (e.g., reduce gang cohesion, reentry services). 11.Develop a systems-level process and outcome evaluation tool (e.g., test fidelity of collaborative efforts, measure community impact). Details: www.gangfree.utah.gov/, 2013. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2013 at: http://www.gangfree.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/Reports/UtahGangReport_BestPractices_2012.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.gangfree.utah.gov/Media/Default/Documents/Reports/UtahGangReport_BestPractices_2012.pdf Shelf Number: 129234 Keywords: Gangs (Utah, U.S.)Youth Gangs |
Author: Carapic, Jovana Title: Understanding the Tipping Point of Urban Conflict: The Case of Dili, Timor-Leste Summary: This Working Paper seeks to analyse the 2006-07 Crisis in Dili through the lens of the urban tipping process of violent conflict. The conceptual framework of this project furthers our understanding of how different aspects of the urban environment are interrelated, and acts as a guide to the organised complexity of the city. In the case study of Dili, the notion of the “tipping point” is used to generate new insights about the Crisis and to question popular narratives, both domestically and internationally, about the role of the security sector and organised youths in the collective violence that marked it. The participatory research conducted in 2011 uncovered a number of common themes that interlocutors identified as underlying recent events in Dili: these include the discrepancy between traditional forms of authority and the values of liberal democracy, the discursive role of the “east-west” divide, the presence of martial arts, ritual arts and other youth groups on both the city and sub-city levels, the importance of past conflicts and disputes among the political elite in shaping conflict in present-day Timor-Leste, and the on-going stand-off and competition in the formal security sector. Along these themes, the Working Paper offers a synthetic account of the environment in which the petitioner issue within the armed forces came to tip into collective urban violence in 2006. According to the findings, and as elaborated in the adjoining Policy Brief, it may be worthwhile to consider Dili as a genuinely urban space with its own particular security dynamics, competing political and ritual authorities, acute land insecurity, and specific planning needs. Details: Manchester, UK: Urban Tipping Point, University of Manchester, 2012. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper #4: Accessed July 10, 2013 at: http://www.urbantippingpoint.org/documents/Working%20Papers/WP4_Dili.pdf Year: 2012 Country: East Timor URL: http://www.urbantippingpoint.org/documents/Working%20Papers/WP4_Dili.pdf Shelf Number: 129349 Keywords: Community PolicingUrban AreasViolence (Timor-Leste)Youth Gangs |
Author: Rae, Sarah-Joy Title: Juvenile Homicide : A criminological study on the possible causes of juvenile homicidal delinquency in Jamaica Summary: Jamaica, the so-called land of wood and water, normally is the embodiment of a dream holiday destination with white sandy beaches, tropical palm trees, dazzling sunshine and the typical Caribbean flair. Generally, murder and manslaughter are not associated with Jamaica. However, international comparisons of crime rates reveal that Jamaica has persistently had one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Jamaica has been described as the murder capital of the world in 2006 by the BBC news after more than 1’600 people were killed in the year 2005; a tally of at least five people murdered a day. The majority of the homicides are caused by young men. Despite the dimension and severity of the homicidal problem in Jamaica, it is astonishing that literature on this phenomenon in Jamaica is very sparse and the literature that is available either doesn’t conform to the current homicide situation in Jamaica anymore or is inconsistent with other studies. The aim of the present research study was thus to close this gap and to help the process of comprehending the problem of fatal juvenile delinquency by engaging empirical research in serious efforts to describe and explain the epidemic. According to the author, understanding juvenile homicidal delinquents and their actions and thus ascertaining a plausible explanation for their high homicide rate can only be achieved by going back to those whose acts are to be explained: The juvenile homicidal delinquents themselves. The findings of the present study are therefore based upon the data gathered by means of 20 face-to-face, semi-standardised interviews with young men who have committed at least one homicide during the last five years prior to the interview and were aged between 12 and 25 years at the time of the respective homicide(s). The author acts on the assumption that homicides by juveniles can be understood as a reaction that emerges situationally and is based on a complex bundle of causes which leads to an increased susceptibility to homicides. The aim of the present study was to generate a plausible and scientifically substantiated hypothesis to explain the high proportion of male juveniles responsible for the homicide rate in Jamaica. Three groupings were examined: The individual personality characteristics of the homicide delinquents, the social context influencing the individual’s thoughts and actions and the triggering factors in the homicide context. The study comes to the conclusion that the homicides of the respondents of the present study – additionally to the basic prerequisites of the occurrence of homicides in general such as a life in deprivation and the failure of the institutions of socialisation to sufficiently socialise their members – can be explained in high gear by the widely dispread culture of violence. Within this culture, violence constitutes a part of every-day behaviour and killing is perceived as a legitimate form of dispute resolution to which one has adapted because it utterly works. This is an instrumental understanding of violent behaviour. This apparent culture of violence of the underclass society with the deeply embedded willingness to apply violence to solve even seemingly minor disputes is intensified by a high gun prevalence and easy firearm accessibility as well as the wide distribution of and attachment to gangs. Firearms as well as delinquent gangs are two powerful factors that accord power, a feeling of strength and superiority to the individual. Status, power and respect rank high within the impecunious underclass society in Jamaica. Violence is perceived as a necessary instrument to sustain the own identity, status and respect. Thus, the fight for respect in the street culture of Jamaica’s urban inner-city youth depicts an act in self-defence for the parties involved. And such an act in self-defence legitimises to kill. Details: Basel, Germany: University of Basel, Faculty of Law, 2009. 298p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 11, 2013 at: http://www.dart-europe.eu/full.php?id=747104 Year: 2009 Country: Jamaica URL: http://www.dart-europe.eu/full.php?id=747104 Shelf Number: 129372 Keywords: Juvenile Homicide (Jamaica)Juvenile OffendersViolent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Carranza, Elias Title: Arms, Violence and Youth in Central America Summary: Central America has been identified as a sub-region displaying post-conflict characteristics; with some stages successfully completed, while other have failed or are still in progress. A notable dilemma, however, remains unaddressed: the relationship between violence and youth. Traditionally, this relationship has been perceived as a symbiotic, with youth perceived as violent, as a logical consequence of their presumed lack of maturity or experience. A part of the effort to understand this relationship has been the continuous attempt by some segments of civil society and political circles to grasp one among many dimensions of violence: how it impacts a specific sector of the population –in this case youth– and to what extent is that violence being furthered by that age group. The reason for this is that, while on the one hand we understand that youths are the primary victims of violence, on the other, violence tends to originate in this group. Thus, a vicious circle develops and expands with increased intensity day by day, threatening to embrace the entire society. At present, youth and violence display a strong link throughout Central America, urgently requiring a creative solution to what can be seen as the great urban tragedy of the region. Violence has accompanied humankind since the dawn of history and it is in no way a phenomenon restricted to the developing world. “Violence is the result of the complex interplay of individual, relationship, social, cultural, and environmental factors.”1 It results from a variety of sources, thus demanding comprehensive solutions. It also has a multiplier effect, resulting, among other things, from the way it is perceived, either from what the media conveys or from society’s own understanding of violence, which then reinterprets and translates it. Violence is not specific to a particular social class, nationality, religion, or ethnic group. It permanently combines social, economic, cultural, and even political factors. Therefore, it is a ubiquitous, structural phenomenon, with an undeniable social class component. All of this makes violence more tangible among the destitute, banned strata of society, as these are the hardest hit by poverty. Details: Unpublished paper, 2006(?). 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 13, 2013 at: http://www.obrayouthalliance.org/sites/default/files/Arms,Violence,Youth_Central_America.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Central America URL: http://www.obrayouthalliance.org/sites/default/files/Arms,Violence,Youth_Central_America.pdf Shelf Number: 129391 Keywords: Gun-Related ViolenceJuvenile OffendersViolence CrimesYouth GangsYouth Violence (Central America) |
Author: Interpeace Title: National Public Policy Proposal: Prevention of Youth-Involved Violence in Belize 2012-2022 Summary: Over the last decade, Belize has been confronted by a significant increase in violence - mostly among adolescents and youths. Official statistics show that Belizean youths between the ages of 14 to 24 are getting involved in the illegal drug trade at young ages and dropping out of primary and secondary school at very high rates. As a result, they are overrepresented in prison populations and are increasingly the victims of violence. Much of the violence among this age cohort is attributed to drug-related gang violence. The proposal, titled National Public Policy Proposal: Prevention of Youth-Involved Violence in Belize 2012-2022 is based on a collaborative approach that draws from all sectors of Belizean society including the government, civil society and families. It gives a 10-year implementation framework that entails 17 strategies for addressing the underlying factors of youth-related violence. Several of these strategies are already being implemented. The strategies primarily address education as a means of empowering youths and reducing the vulnerability and marginalization of youths who are most at risk of becoming gang members. It also gives an integrated approach to confronting the risk factors of youths through suggesting initiatives that promote community participation, youth employment, and opportunities for citizen dialogue, education, sports, recreation, and culture. Aside from these prevention-oriented strategies, the proposal states the need for increasing the availability of reintegration and rehabilitation programmes for young people who have already become immersed in the culture of violence. The policy proposal serves as a tool to guide decision-making among both the Belizean state and civil society as programmes, projects, and interventions are developed and implemented. The contextual framework that takes the voices of young people into account can contribute to the implementation of the policy proposal in a way that best addresses the needs of the impacted youths. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Interpeace, 2013. 101p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 17, 2013 at: http://www.interpeace.org/2011-08-08-15-19-20/latest-news/427-belize-proposal Year: 2013 Country: Belize URL: http://www.interpeace.org/2011-08-08-15-19-20/latest-news/427-belize-proposal Shelf Number: 129422 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceViolence PreventionYouth GangsYouth Violence (Belize) |
Author: Hanum, Mari Rønning Title: Fear of Crime in Spaces of Poverty and Disorder : Youth's coping strategies in poor urban neighbourhoods in Nairobi Summary: After the post-election violence in Kenya 2007/2008, Nairobi has witnessed an increased society of fear, which in turn has altered the spatiality of difference in many areas. Moreover, the emergence of criminal youth gangs during the last decade and the civil wars in neighbouring countries that have resulted in increased weapon smuggling, are major contributors to crime and other insecurities. The purpose of this research is to identify youth’s coping strategies to deal with fear of crime in Eastlands, a poor urban area in Nairobi. The thesis wants to explore the dimensions of place, social relations and social identities through the eyes of the youth in Eastlands, in order to analyse how these dimensions affect their fear of crime. The aim has not only been to identify but also to understand their opted coping strategies. Both young people’s perceptions and observation carried out in the area have provided the necessary insights in order to understand the complexity of their identities, as well as other factors that may influence fear of crime. Details: Oslo: University of Oslo, 2011. 121p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed July 2, 2013 at: https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/15949 Year: 2011 Country: Kenya URL: https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/15949 Shelf Number: 129507 Keywords: Fear of Crime (Nairobi, Kenya)Neighborhoods and CrimePoverty and CrimeUrban AreasYouth Gangs |
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: Harvey, Rachel Title: From Paper to Practice: An Analysis of the Juvenile Justice System in Honduras Summary: This paper analyses the laws, policies and practice in Honduras for dealing with children in conflict with the law in light of International Minimum Juvenile Justice Standards and Norms. After significant reforms, the juvenile justice system in Honduras seems to uphold these standards. Criminal justice legislation, which has been adopted in the last 10 years to remedy the deficiencies of the old system, largely embraces fundamental human rights and bestows upon children who are in conflict with the law rights that are specific to them. However, when we look beyond the legislation to practice, we find a system that does not consistently uphold the rights that are enshrined in domestic law let alone international minimum juvenile justice standards and norms. Instead we find a system that is hampered and sometimes crippled by a lack of resources, resulting in violations of children’s rights. A lack of political will to address the shortcomings of the juvenile justice system compounds the situation. The focus of the Maduro Government has been the fight against crime, and in particular, the fight against gangs. Four years of a zero tolerance approach has succeeded in reducing the incidents of some types of crimes, however the root causes of offending have been largely neglected. Where efforts have been made to develop prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, there has been a preoccupation by the State, as well as the NGO sector, with gangs. Such an approach has left limited provision for young offenders, many of whom are locked up for long periods in inhuman conditions without adequate programmes of rehabilitation. Coupled with an absence of reintegration programmes, these young people are highly vulnerable to reoffending on release. While communities may be persuaded to feel safer due to the zero tolerance campaign, the reality is that, at best, the problem of delinquency is simply being delayed and contained for a short number of years. The failure of successive governments to transfer not only international law, but also the standards enshrined in domestic legislation from paper to practice is a grave disservice to both the young people caught in the criminal justice system and to the communities that the State is aiming to protect from crime. The State must act, as a matter of urgency, to address the shortcomings of the juvenile justice system and provide adequate prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes not only to implement children’s rights but to impact upon delinquency in the long term. Details: Colchester, UK: University of Essex, Children’s Legal Centre, 2005. 133p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/Publications/4.From_Paper_to_Practice.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/_uploads/Publications/4.From_Paper_to_Practice.pdf Shelf Number: 129543 Keywords: Juvenile DelinquentsJuvenile Justice SystemsStreet Children (Honduras)Youth Gangs |
Author: Stucky, Thomas Title: The Marion County Prosecutor's Office Educating Kids About Gun Violence (EKG) Program Evaluation Summary: In response to high levels of gun violence among youth in Marion County, the Marion County Prosecutor's office developed the Educating Kids about Gun Violence (EKG) program. This program incorporates short video clips and interactive presentations which address legal, physical, and medical consequences of guns and gun violence. This report documents the findings of a program evaluation conducted by the Center for Criminal Justice Research, including analysis of 221 completed pre-program surveys and 176 post-program surveys, focusing on 130 surveys for which pre- and post-surveys could be matched. Included in the analyses are several different types of youth audiences, varying in both age and degree of prior contact with the criminal justice system. Details: Indianapolis: Center for Criminal Justice Research, Indiana University, 2009. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2013 at: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/3511/EKG%20final%202009.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/3511/EKG%20final%202009.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 129549 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGun Violence (U.S.)Juvenile OffendersViolent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: World Bank Title: Bringing the State Back Into the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: Understanding Changes in Community Life after the UPP Pacification Process Summary: For many years, Rio de Janeiro has held the dubious distinction of being one of the world's most beautiful cities, and at the same time, one of the most dangerous. The city's expansive beaches and five-star hotels sit alongside informal settlements (favelas) spread over the hills where, until recently, murder rates were among the highest in the world. With the rise in the global drug trade in the 1980s, many of Rio's favelas were taken over by drug gangs, who controlled virtually all aspects of economic and social life. Over several decades, the state of Rio de Janeiro tried, and failed, to establish a permanent presence in the favelas - always rolling in with a muscular offensive and, just as abruptly, retreating again. This report is the story of Rio's attempt to break with history and establish a new kind of state presence in its favelas. In 2008, the state government of Rio de Janeiro launched the Police Pacification Units (Unidades de Policia Pacicadora, UPP), with the aim of regaining control of the territories from organized crime, disarming the drug traffic, and enabling the social, economic, and political integration of favelas into the city. This pacification was intended to shift control of the favelas from the drug gangs and militias to the Brazilian state - literally from one day to the next - and provide their residents with the same kind of citizenship rights enjoyed by the rest of the city. This report documents how life in the favelas is changing as a result of the UPP pacification effort, as seen through the eyes of favela residents themselves. Until now, studies of UPP have consisted largely of baseline surveys of quality of life at the entry of UPP or quantitative analyses about changes in crime and real estate prices, based on secondary data. This study aimed to fill gaps in understanding by documenting how the residents have experienced the arrival of UPP, and what they see the "UPP effect" has been. The findings are meant to inform the implementation of UPP as it is rolled out to additional favelas over the next couple of years. The report explores perceptions of change in three main areas: (i) social interactions and community life within the favela, (ii) the relationship of residents with police, and (iii) the integration of the favelas into the broader city in terms of public services, economic opportunities, and removal of stigma. This study used a qualitative, case-study approach and consisted of observations, focus groups, and key informant interviews in four favelas. The fieldwork was conducted between February and October 2011. Among the four favelas selected as case studies, three have received the UPP program at different times: Babilonia/Chapeu Mangueira, 2008; Pavao-Pavaozinho/Cantagalo, 2009; and Borel/ Casa Branca, 2010. The fourth, Manguinhos, had not received an UPP by the time that the fieldwork was carried out and this report was concluded, and back then remained largely under the control of drug gangs, and was therefore included as a control case. Hence, the report will still refer to Manguinhos as the case with no UPP. The case studies were selected to maximize variation in terms of (i) time of entry of UPP (to capture potential changes made in UPP strategy), (ii) geographical and socioeconomic context in which favelas were located (affluent South, middle class and poor North zones), and (iii) prior and current histories with public works projects. Details: Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2012. 136p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2013 at: Year: 2012 Country: Brazil URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2013/03/15/000333037_20130315115010/Rendered/PDF/760110ESW0P12300Rio0de0Janeiro02013.pdf Shelf Number: 131400 Keywords: FavelasPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsSlums (Rio de Janeiro)Youth Gangs |
Author: Catch Title: Violence Prevention, Health Promotion: A public health approach to tackling youth violence Summary: The publication of Ending Gang and Youth Violence: A Cross- Government Report in 2011 heralded a change of policy direction. Unlike traditional approaches to tackling gang and youth violence, which placed responsibility within the hands of the Home Office and the criminal justice community, the Government's report recognised gang and youth violence as a public health issue. This report is designed to help us understand emerging practice and to inform the design of future services and public health funding. A public health approach holds a number of benefits. For example, taking a more holistic approach to the planning and delivery of services enables agencies to work together more effectively and improve the quality of support young people receive. Success in reducing the number of incidences of violence can also help to reduce the costs to the NHS, which is currently estimated at L2.9 billion per year. The Ending Gang and Youth Violence report emphasised the role of the new public health system and local health and wellbeing boards, established under the Coalition Government's Health and Social Care Act 2012, in tackling gang and youth violence. These reforms aim to localise public health and allow communities to use public health funding to tackle the issues that most affect them. The health and wellbeing boards are central to achieving these aims. Having come into effect in April 2013, they provide a local forum where leaders from the health and care system can work together to improve the health and wellbeing of their community - including through crime prevention. Details: London: Catch 22, Dawes Unit and MHP Health, 2013. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 6, 2013 at: http://mhpccom.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/health/files/2013/10/Violence-prevention-health-promotion.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://mhpccom.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/health/files/2013/10/Violence-prevention-health-promotion.pdf Shelf Number: 131595 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionPublic Health ProgramsYouth GangsYouth Violence (U.K.) |
Author: Dunbar, Laura Title: Gang Cohesion and Intervention Strategies: A Review of the Literature Summary: The proliferation of gang membership and activity has become an increasing concern in Canadian society. As the gang problem becomes more severe, CSC's need to better understand this population and find effective strategies to deal with gang-affiliated offenders has become more important. What we did A review of current literature was conducted to outline the status of gangs in Canada, examine gang cohesion, and provide an overview of gang management and intervention strategies, both in the community and in the institutional settings. What we found Despite a lack of consensus on the definition of a 'gang', some key elements of gang activity and structure have been identified and several typologies of gangs have been proposed. Based on continuous changes and their complex nature, gangs must be defined in the local Canadian context. In the community setting, street gangs are growing in number and type and are becoming more violent and sophisticated; Canada is becoming the center of operations for some trans-national organized crime groups; and there has been an increase in female gangs. Further, the line between different types of criminal groups is becoming less distinct. In the institutional setting, differences have been identified between gang affiliate types suggesting unique offender profiles rooted in gang groupings. Street gangs and prison gangs present a major challenge for correctional officials because of the high level of violence and criminogenic need commonly associated with these groups. Individuals may join gangs, maintain membership and leave gangs for a myriad of reasons; what is key is the understanding that gangs often serve to meet unfulfilled needs of their members. Variations in gang cohesion are related to the conditions under which the gang is founded or developed, the characteristics of the members, their collective choices, and the level of loyalty expected. Community-based interventions include suppression, detached-worker and school-based programs displaying limited success, and recent multi-faceted approaches showing promise. Management and suppression strategies are important for ensuring institutional safety and security, however their effectiveness is limited. Emphasis should be placed on research and development of correctional programming and treatment that respond to the unmet needs of gang-affiliated inmates. Details: Ottawa: Correctional Service of Canada, 2012. 62p. To obtain a PDF version of the full report, contact the following address: research@csc-scc.gc.ca. Source: Internet Resource: 2012 No. R-292: Accessed March 31, 2014 at: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/005/008/092/005008-0292-eng.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/005/008/092/005008-0292-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 132032 Keywords: GangsInterventionsYouth Gangs |
Author: Centre for Social Justice Title: Girls and Gangs Summary: This report shines a light on the harrowing reality of gang life for girls and young women. In conducting this research, the CSJ and XLP have engaged with a wide range of individuals and organisations involved in gangs from across the UK, drawing on the expertise of the CSJ's 350-strong Alliance of poverty-fighting charities. We spoke to many girls and young women who are or have been gang-associated and more than 30 organisations working to tackle gang problems. The stories we have heard shocked us, and reveal a parallel world that too few policy makers understand. We have heard about the toll gang life is taking on their education, and their families, friends and communities; the horror of sexual exploitation; and of an increase in criminal activity. Yet we also found several things that can be done to help girls exit gang association such as mapping the problem, and taking advantage of specific 'windows of opportunity' to access girls. We hope that this research gives policy makers and community leaders an insight into a world that has been long-neglected, and empowers them to help support girls to exit gang association. Details: London: Centre for Social Justice, 2014. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 7, 2014 at: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/Girls-and-Gangs-FINAL-VERSION.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/Girls-and-Gangs-FINAL-VERSION.pdf Shelf Number: 132044 Keywords: Female Gang MembersGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Smith-Moncrieffe, Donna Title: Youth Gang Prevention Fund Projects: What Did We Learn about What Works in Preventing Gang Involvement? Summary: Public Safety Canada's National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) has a mandate to help prevent crime in local communities by generating and disseminating evidence-based knowledge of 'what works' in crime prevention. This practical knowledge of effective practices will assist policy makers, program developers and practitioners make the best use of limited resources. Since 2007, NCPC has undertaken a deliberate effort to develop the Canadian knowledge base of effective crime prevention programming focused on addressing known criminogenic factors among specific groups of persons including: children 6-11 who demonstrate early risk factors such as premature police contact, systematic difficulties adapting to school or high levels of impulsiveness and aggression; youth 12-17 who demonstrate multiple risk factors such as substance abuse, school drop-out or contact with the youth criminal justice system; young adults who have a known history of offending and incarceration; Aboriginal peoples because of their significant over-representation as offenders and victims; and gang-involved youth. In order to conduct this work, NCPC provides financial and technical support for the implementation and evaluation of community-based projects that address one or more of these priority areas. This report provides a high level synthesis of key findings from projects addressing youth gangs between 2007 and 2012. During this period, NCPC provided funding to community-based organizations for 17 youth gang intervention projects in communities across Canada through its Youth Gang Prevention Fund (YGPF). These projects aimed to reduce the number of gang-involved youth in communities with a known or emerging gang problem. To determine what works in gang crime prevention, 14 impact evaluation studies of gang projects were conducted across Canada. Evaluation research of crime prevention programs is one of the key activities conducted to generate this knowledge. Given that resources are limited and communities require the most effective programs to reduce offending among at risk children and youth, it is important to rigorously establish what works in crime prevention. This paper provides a context for NCPC's work on youth gangs, briefly describes the funded projects and the approach to conducting the evaluation studies, presents the key findings, and provides some conclusions for moving forward. Details: Ottawa: National Crime prevention Centre, Public Safety Canada, 2013. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 19, 2014 at: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/yth-gng-prvntn-fnd/yth-gng-prvntn-fnd-eng.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/yth-gng-prvntn-fnd/yth-gng-prvntn-fnd-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 132074 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGangs (Canada)InterventionJuvenile OffendersYouth Gangs |
Author: Young, Tara Title: The Role of the Family in Facilitating Gang Membership, Criminality and Exit. A Report prepared for Catch22 Summary: The role of the 'gang' in shaping and encouraging criminality has an ever-increasing profile within the criminal justice system, the third sector and across the political landscape. The growing perceived threat from the gang has occurred against the background of increasingly restrictive legislation and numerous policy documents focusing on what might be responsible for the possible rise in gang membership. One often-cited factor is the role of the family and its influence on gang membership. It is this relationship that the report explores. Research aims The overarching aim of the research was to examine the role of the family in gang formation criminality and exit in order to inform best practice for practitioners working with gang-involved families. Methodology Catch22 commissioned an exploratory piece of qualitative research based on a literature review, semi-structured interviews and focus groups (91 interviews across the study). The interviews were conducted with former and current gang members, families of gang members and practitioners working with gang-involved individuals and their relatives. The sample is broadly drawn from areas with reputations for high gang activity. In order to capture the geographical, ethnic and cultural differences in gang membership the research was conducted across three sites: London, the West Midlands (Wolverhampton and Birmingham) and Scotland (Glasgow). Findings The role of the family in gang formation - People who associate with or are in gangs come from all types of families. Irrespective of family composition, the majority of respondents described families experiencing multiple difficulties (such as economic deprivation, family separation, bereavement, domestic violence, imprisonment, and alcohol and substance misuse) that preceded their involvement with gangs. This supports findings elsewhere that suggest successful family interventions have a range of positive generic outcomes, for example gang desistance to reduction in truancy, and drug and alcohol problems. - In regard to family composition, the evidence of this report suggests that the combination of multiple family difficulties and gang involvement is more likely to occur, and will have more severe consequences, in single-parent, larger than average families. However, it should be borne in mind that gang activity was also found in dual-parent and smaller families. - The role of the family should not be overstated as a key driver of gang formation. It occasionally plays a role in driving young people into gangs but the wider socio-economic context is often as, if not more, important. The family and the influence of the gang - The gang's influence on the family should not be overstated. Gang involvement by one family member is not likely to infringe on the wider family's personal safety or mean all family members will join a gang. - The structure, influence, definition and activities of the gang are not uniform. Gangs are influenced by geography and ethnicity, therefore the consequences for and influence on the family of gang membership will differ between London, Scotland and the West Midlands. - The vast majority of families experience a member's gang involvement as an additional and significant problem in their lives that may precipitate serious consequences (physical, emotional or punitive) for the gang member. - Gang involvement is likely to increase the risk of victimisation to those family members directly involved and to their associates and friends. - Although some family members may benefit materially from the criminality of their children, these benefits are usually overshadowed by the feelings of helplessness, shame, tension and anxiety that gang-involved family members can generate. - Beleaguered families feel they lack the ability to impose appropriate boundaries and the necessary skills to address their children's gang involvement. This feeling of powerlessness is most acute when their children reach adolescence. The role of the family in desistance - Male siblings and/or wider family members play a significant role in encouraging gang membership, whilst mothers and sisters are key enablers in facilitating desistance and exit from a gang. - Leaving a gang is difficult, not primarily due to fears of gang-led reprisals or violent leaving rituals, but due to the perceived lack of viable alternatives for gang members. - Family members and networks can facilitate gang exit but success is driven by the gang member themselves. - Practitioners need to be aware of the local criminal landscape and be sensitive to multiple family issues. They will need to deploy strategies that can empower family members who are sometimes complicit, sometimes in denial and sometimes ignorant of their family members' involvement with gangs. - Despite the plethora of recent initiatives, there still remain gang-affected families and individuals who feel shunned and isolated from current attempts to engage them. - A change in physical location (family-assisted or not), away from local gangs and criminal opportunities, was seen by family members to be the most effective strategy for gang exit. Details: London: London Metropolitan University, 2013. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2014 at: http://www.catch-22.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Catch22-Dawes-Unit-The-role-of-the-family-June-2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.catch-22.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Catch22-Dawes-Unit-The-role-of-the-family-June-2013.pdf Shelf Number: 132220 Keywords: DesistanceFamily InfluencesFamily InterventionsGangs (U.K.)Youth Gangs |
Author: Yiu, Ho Lam Title: Community Change, School Disorder, School Social Bonds, and Youth Gang Involvement Summary: Kirk and Laub (2010) observed that community effects on crime should be studied as dynamic processes as communities change. The present research examined schools' role in regulating youth behavior and how community change affects school climate (School Disorder and School Social Bonds; SSB) using social disorganization and social bonds theories. G. Gottfredson, Gottfredson, Czeh, Cantor, Crosse, and Hantman (2000) collected data from a large, national probability sample of schools to examine youth gang problems and school-based intervention and prevention programs. I examined a subsample (N = 269) of these schools. Variables were collected from school rosters and self-report questionnaires. School variables were modeled as latent variables derived from the variance in student responses that is attributed to the school to which the student belonged. Community variables were constructed from the 1990 and 2000 Census data. Multilevel latent variable structural modeling allowed for the examination of individual and community effects on self-reported gang participation. I argued that school characteristics were related to its communities' characteristics, and that school variables contributed to student-reported gang involvement. School characteristics were also hypothesized to mediate the relation between community change and a student's likelihood of gang involvement. Some hypotheses were supported by this research. Findings lend support for the extension of social bonds theory to the school-level. Significant student predictors of the probability of gang involvement included Personal Victimization, Social Bonds, Fear, minority status, and age. At the group-level, SSB and School Disorder explained significant variance in gang involvement in the hypothesized directions, net of all other variables already in the model. A partial mediation of the relationship between School Disorder and the likelihood of gang involvement by the student variables was found. The community change variables were somewhat independent of the school characteristics measured. School-based gang prevention efforts may benefit from a climate characterized by prosocial bonds and low social disorganization, especially for schools in communities that have high levels of concentrated disadvantage and communities projected to experience demographic change. Practical applications of these findings in schools include smaller student-to-teacher ratios and implementing rules that are fair and clear. Details: College Park, MD: University of Maryland, 2013. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/14432/1/Yiu_umd_0117E_14076.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/14432/1/Yiu_umd_0117E_14076.pdf Shelf Number: 132263 Keywords: GangsSchool CrimeSocial DisorganizationYouth Gangs |
Author: Tanasichuk, Carrie Title: Process and Outcome Evaluation of the Saskatoon Gang Strategy: Evaluation Report Summary: This report contains the results of a process and outcome evaluation of the Gang Strategy of Saskatoon. The purpose of the current project was to describe the implementation and activities of the Strategy in the City of Saskatoon and to assess the effectiveness of the Strategy with respect to the goals and objectives set out by the Strategy. The evaluation was designed to identify strengths and weaknesses of the Strategy as implemented, to identify challenges to implementation, to suggest improvements, and to provide information to guide the Strategy in its further development. Strategy Overview The Saskatoon Gang Strategy uses an interagency approach designed to reduce gang-related crime within the City of Saskatoon. The Strategy is not a program per se but focuses on building upon existing community and government resources including employment programs, education, recreation, substance abuse programs, corrections-based interventions and law enforcement. The Saskatoon Gang Strategy uses an interagency approach designed to reduce gang-related crime within the City of Saskatoon. The Strategy is comprised of three pillars: - Prevention of gang formation and gang involvement, - Intervention with individuals associated with gangs, and - Suppression of gangs. Details: Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan, Department of Psychology, 2010. 199p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 26, 2014 at: Process and Outcome Evaluation of the Saskatoon Gang Strategy: Evaluation Report Year: 2010 Country: Canada URL: Process and Outcome Evaluation of the Shelf Number: 132544 Keywords: Gang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Jones, Nathan P. Title: Understanding and Addressing Youth in "Gangs" in Mexico Summary: This report seeks to understand and define the gang issue in Mexico, establish the regional histories and sociologies of what is known about these gangs, and understand the causes of youth gang involvement. The paper briefly describes U.S.-Mexico bilateral efforts on youth gang prevention via the Merida Initiative, and identifies a sampling of existing civil society groups and programs geared specifically toward addressing youth gangs in Mexico and Central America. The report concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the U.S. and Mexican governments on how to best support civil society and strengthen relevant state institutions. Details: Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center, Mexico Institute, 2013. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series on Civic Engagement and Public Security in Mexico: Accessed July 7, 2014 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/jones_youth_gangs.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/jones_youth_gangs.pdf Shelf Number: 129819 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (Mexico)Merida InitiativeYouth Gangs |
Author: Kent, Tyler Title: Process Evaluation of a Non-Profit Youth Services Agency: Original Gangster's Basic Academy for Development. Summary: Based in Nampa, Idaho, the Original Gangster's Basic Academy of Development (OG's BAD) is a youth based services program founded in 2005. The mission of the Academy is to provide youth who are prone to gang involvement with alternatives to a gang lifestyle. The program provides at-risk youth with: 1) tutoring tailored to meet the specific needs of each participant to obtain high school credits or a GED; 2) internships at worksites for on-the-job training; and 3) recreational activities to demonstrate appropriate use of free time. The project also includes a drug strategy component, which focuses on deterring first time users and provides drug and/or alcohol treatment for participants. This process evaluation, performed by the Idaho Statistical Analysis Center, was initiated to provide the Idaho Grant Review Council and the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) manager with an assessment of the development of OG's BAD program, problems encountered, solutions created, and overall accomplishments achieved. Details: Meridian, ID: Idaho Statistical Analysis Center, 2014. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 25, 2014 at: https://www.isp.idaho.gov/pgr/inc/documents/OGBAD.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.isp.idaho.gov/pgr/inc/documents/OGBAD.pdf Shelf Number: 132750 Keywords: At-Risk YouthDelinquency PreventionGangsRehabilitation Youth Gangs |
Author: Ling, Li Ngai Title: Youth gangs in Hong Kong: the convergence of conventions and deviations Summary: Youth gangs, which have long been the focus of media reports and academic discussion, are commonly regarded as a social problem in Hong Kong. Gangs are popularly characterized in Hong Kong as being delinquent and criminal in orientation. This popular representation of gang life, however, serves only to heighten public anxiety over gangs and young people. This research, hence, explores the dynamics involved in youth gangs. Through an ethnographic exploration of a gang in Heng On Estate, Ma On Shan, this research provides a picture different from the one portrayed in the dominant discourse by demonstrating that the members spend most of their time engaged in conventional social activities. The gang, to its members, is a solution to boredom and serves as their alternative family. This alternative family helps them to cope with the strains due to the failure to attain the middle-class standards prescribed in school and the malfunction of their families. The youth gang members, out of public expectations, are only involved in delinquency and crime occasionally. They exhibit a drifting, continuous, repetitive pattern in committing old delinquent and criminal infractions. It is the growing sense of injustice and the resulting loosened moral bond that sets the foundation for deviating from "conventional" culture. The actual infractions are activated by the members' will. However, this choice is not made out of total freedom. The willingness to commit delinquency depends on the perceived moral and technical feasibility according to Matza's concept of delinquent drift. This research adds that peer pressure and gender also exert influences on the pattern of the drift to delinquency. This thesis argues that youth gang membership is a form of convergence of both conventional and deviant values. Joining a gang and involvement in delinquent and criminal behaviors represents young people's attempts to follow deviant values. Conventional values, on the contrary, appear in youth gangs in a more subtle way. On the one hand, they guide conventional social activities. On the other hand, quite often, the decision of whether one should turn to delinquency, and the patterns of delinquent infractions are also influenced by conventional ideas. Details: Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong, 2005. 165p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 10, 2014 at: http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/40289 Year: 2005 Country: Hong Kong URL: http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/40289 Shelf Number: 133264 Keywords: Juvenile DelinquencyJuvenile DelinquentsJuvenile Gangs (Hong Kong)Youth Gangs |
Author: Krafchik, Max Title: Evaluation of Young and Safe Project: London Borough of Lambeth Summary: Programme outline 1.4 The Young and Safe programme grew out of Lambeth's determination to reduce the level of serious youth violence in the borough. The programme was established in 2009, with its role and approach evolving since then as understanding of the issues and potential responses has developed. 1.5 The programme's action plan for 2010-2013, Help if you want It, consequences if you don't, sets out the approach currently adopted. As well as emphasising the message conveyed by the title, the plan has as its core strands: a focus on young people involved in gangs and violent offending along with a first point of contact role in prevention and early intervention; targeted use of Young and Safe resources, avoiding duplication with other agencies; and a recognition of the vulnerability of their target group. 1.6 The programme works with young people aged 8-19 who are at significant risk of involvement or are involved with criminal activity, gangs and violence. The various interventions it supports are intended to help individuals avoid future involvement or to withdraw if they are already engaged. 1.7 The programme has become increasingly sophisticated in identifying which young people it should prioritise for support and the role that the programme should take in working with them. The programme has devised a risk and vulnerability framework, reflecting its experience of work with young people, and directs its support to those at high or medium risk against these criteria. 1.8 The programme has also spelt out how its role fits in alongside other agencies, especially the Youth Offending Service, children's social care and anti-social behaviour teams. In summary, this is based on the following approach: i) Young and Safe takes responsibility for the assessment, supervision and provision of services to young people who have entered the criminal justice system but do not have a current community supervision order ii) Young and Safe provide access to its services for other young people who have entered the criminal justice system and are under the supervision of the Youth Offending Service, as well as to young people who are the responsibility of children's social care either as child looked after, child in need or having a child protection plan iii) Young and Safe also provides access to its services for young people who are identified as at significant risk of entering the youth justice system and are at medium / high risk on the vulnerability criteria. Inspira Consulting was commissioned by Lambeth's Young and Safe programme in August 2010 to undertake an external evaluation of the programme. This report provides an overview of the work that has been commissioned by Young and Safe, presents feedback from young people and project staff, and reports on interviews with professionals in key agencies who work alongside Young and Safe and refer young people to them. Details: Dudley, UK: Inspira Consulting, 2011. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 2, 2014 at: http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=31339 Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=31339 Shelf Number: 133547 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionInterventionsJuvenile Offenders (U.K.)Serious Juvenile OffendersViolence PreventionYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Sommers, Marc Title: Dowry and Division: Youth and State Building in South Sudan Summary: - Most South Sudanese youth are undereducated and underemployed, and their priorities and perspectives are largely unknown. To address this critical knowledge gap, the authors conducted field research between April and May 2011 with youth, adults, and government and nongovernment officials in Juba and two South Sudanese states. - The increasing inability of male youth to meet rising dowry (bride price) demands was the main research finding. Unable to meet these demands, many male youth enlist in militias, join cattle raids, or seek wives from different ethnic groups or countries. - Skyrocketing dowry demands have negatively and alarmingly affected female youth. They are routinely viewed as property that can generate family wealth. - Potent new postwar identities involving youth returning from Khartoum, refugee asylum countries, and those who never left South Sudan, are stimulating hostility and conflict. - Excess demand on government jobs, widespread reports of nepotism in government hiring practices, cultural restrictions against many kinds of work, and a general lack of entrepreneurial vision are fueling an exceptionally challenging youth employment situation. - Gang activities continue to thrive in some urban centers in South Sudan. They are reportedly dominated by youth with connections to government officials and by orphans. - While most undereducated youth highlighted dowry and marriage as their primary concerns, members of the elite youth minority emphasized vocational training and scholarships for higher education. - While South Sudanese youth view their government as the primary source of education, jobs, and hope, the government of South Sudan does not appear poised to provide substantial support to vital youth priorities related to dowry, employment, education, and training. - The government of South Sudan and its international partners need to proactively address non-elite youth priorities. They must find ways to cap dowry demands, protect female youth, and support orphan youth, in addition to expanding quality education, job training, and English language training. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2011. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report 295: Accessed November 3, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR_295.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR_295.pdf Shelf Number: 133944 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionDowry (Sudan)PovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeYouth GangsYouth Unemployment |
Author: Nuno, Lidia E. Title: Understanding the scope and nature of the gang problem in Maricopa County, Arizona Summary: The purpose of this report is to use data from a sample of recently booked arrestees in Maricopa County to examine the scope and nature of Maricopa County's gang problem. In particular, this report supplements data presented in the bi-annual report on gangs conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, which relies on official police data and their occasional white paper on gangs that relies on self-report data from school youth. We organized our analyses around six research questions: (1) what proportion of adult arrestees are involved in a gang, and what are the socio-demographic differences between those who are associated with a gang and those who are not; (2) what are the rituals associated with gang joining; (3) how do gang and non-gang arrestees differ in their experiences with crime, drug use and victimization; (4) what is the organizational structure and composition of gangs; (5) how do members socially identify with their gang; and (6) how and why do members leave their gang? Details: Phoenix, AZ: Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety, Arizona State University, 2012. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 20, 2015 at: http://repository.asu.edu/attachments/125419/content/Scope%20and%20Nature%20of%20the%20Gang%20Problem%20Among%20the%20Arrestee%20Population%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://repository.asu.edu/attachments/125419/content/Scope%20and%20Nature%20of%20the%20Gang%20Problem%20Among%20the%20Arrestee%20Population%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 134416 Keywords: Gangs (Arizona)Youth Gangs |
Author: Great Britain. Home Office Title: Tackling Youth Knife Crime: Practical Advice for Police Summary: The Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) was developed by the Home Office, working closely with other government departments and key stakeholders including local government, police forces, community groups and practitioners in affected local areas. TKAP will sustain and build on existing cross-government and community work; this includes the lessons learned and success achieved by the Tackling Gangs Action Programme and Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) to reduce the number of teenagers killed or seriously wounded and increase public confidence that our streets are safe. The first phase of TKAP was launched by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary on 5 June 2008. In the first nine months we focused nearly $7 million of resources on rapid, concentrated work to tackle teenage knife crime in 14 areas of the country. In March 2009 TKAP was extended for a further year, with an extra $5 million to tackle knife crime and increase targeted police action to tackle the minority of young people who commit serious violence, regardless of the weapon involved. TKAP has been extended to include 13- to 24-year-olds (previously 13- to 19-year-olds), and to a further two forces, taking the total to 16 forces. This work runs alongside the Youth Crime Action Plan. The guide will help police to engage with key partners including: - the local community; - Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs); - children's services, schools, colleges and Safer School Partnerships; - health services; and - trading standards. This guide will help you to: - share and use available data effectively; - identify an emerging knife-carrying population/knife crime problem; - identify the range of partners you should work with in your area; and - consider options for tackling the problem (including prevention-based, targeted work with at-risk individuals, risk assessment, mediation, enforcement and community reassurance). The nature and extent of knife crime varies across England and Wales, so the approaches discussed in this guide are not prescriptive. The guide reflects learning from around the country and is designed to be used as a starting point for developing strategies to address your local issues. Details: London: Home Office, 2009. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 21, 2015 at: http://www.knifecrimes.org/youth087a.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.knifecrimes.org/youth087a.pdf Shelf Number: 134426 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGang ViolenceKnife Crime (U.K.)Violent CrimeWeaponsYouth Gangs |
Author: Hughes, Karen Title: The mental health needs of gang-affiliated young people Summary: Executive summary - Research is beginning to expose the high burden of mental illness faced by young people involved with gangs. Gang members are at increased risk of a range of mental health conditions including conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, anxiety, psychosis and drug and alcohol dependence (section 2) - The links between gang-affiliation and poor mental health can operate in both directions. Poor mental wellbeing can draw young people to gangs while gang involvement can negatively impact on an individual's mental health (section 3) - Violence is an inherent part of gang culture and gang members are at increased risk of involvement in violence as both perpetrators and victims. Long-term exposure to violence is associated with psychological problems including depression, conduct disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (section 3) - Poor mental health and gang-affiliation share many common risk factors, often relating to young people's early life experiences and the environments in which they grow up. The more risk factors young people are exposed to the greater their vulnerability to negative outcomes (section 4) - Girls involved with gangs can be particularly vulnerable to mental health problems resulting from sexual and intimate partner violence (section 5) Preventing the development of risk factors and promoting mental wellbeing in young people requires a life course approach that supports parents and families and encourages healthy development from the very earliest stages of life (section 6) - Programmes such as home visiting, parenting programmes, preschool programmes and school-based social and emotional development programmes can protect children from the risk factors for gang involvement and poor mental health, including parental stress, exposure to violence and behavioural problems (section 6). - Evidence-based, relevant, accessible and non-stigmatising community interventions should be available in gang-affected areas to promote health and emotional wellbeing, support recovery from mental illness and help young people move away from harmful gang-related activities (section 7) - Gang-affiliated young people may experience particular barriers to engaging with mental health and other services. Novel approaches are required, including the provision of holistic support in young peoples' own environments and the use of key workers or mentors who are able to build trusting relationships with young people involved with gangs (section 7). - Effectively addressing the relationships between gang-affiliation and poor mental health requires a strong, collaborative approach that co-ordinates services across a wide range of organisations. Health services, local authorities, schools, criminal justice agencies and communities all have an important role to play in promoting healthy social and emotional development in children and young people and ensuring vulnerable young people affected by gangs and poor mental health receive the support they require. Details: London: Public Health England, 2015. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 3, 2015 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398674/The_mental_health_needs_of_gang-affiliated_young_people_v3_23_01_1.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398674/The_mental_health_needs_of_gang-affiliated_young_people_v3_23_01_1.pdf Shelf Number: 134520 Keywords: Gangs (U.K.)Mental HealthMental Health ServicesYouth Gangs |
Author: Berelowitz, Sue Title: Summary: It has been one year since the Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) published the final report of our ground-breaking Inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups. Using our unique statutory powers, we gathered a huge body of evidence and published six influential reports covering children in care; the prevalence and nature of child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups; the impact on children of viewing adult pornography; young people's understanding of consent; sexual exploitation in gang-involved neighbourhoods; and the final report which set out a framework for tackling this crime and supporting victims. This report sets out the progress that has been made in tackling child sexual exploitation (CSE) in England since the Inquiry. There is encouraging evidence that many of the Inquiry recommendations are being taken seriously. We are pleased to see that there are areas and agencies across the country where progress is being made. The strong leadership from the Home Office is also welcome. At the same time, much remains to be done. There are still too many places where those who have responsibility for the protection of children are failing to face up to the realities of CSE. In other areas, while strategic leaders are committed and determined, the messages have not filtered to the frontline so good intentions are not yet leading to better practice. In addition, the Government's promised revision of the definition of sexual exploitation and a myth busting guide on information sharing have not been delivered. Limited understanding of sexual exploitation and failure to share information means children are still slipping through the net. Despite calls from young people and experts, the Department for Education (DfE) has failed to make relationships and sex education compulsory in all schools. Details: London: Office of the Children's Commissioner, 2015. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 19, 2015 at: http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_920 Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_920 Shelf Number: 134656 Keywords: Child ProstitutionChild ProtectionChild Sexual AbuseChild Sexual Exploitation (U.K.)PornographyYouth Gangs |
Author: Santacruz-Giralt, Maria Title: Summary: The lives and situation of the women in the maras or gangs is a dimension that has been, to date, explored little by empirical research and, in general, little is known about it in civil society. Stereotypes and social images that have been built up around them are, in essence, masculine. The socio-cultural identities prevalent in the social imaginaries are those of young men that are covered in tattoos, are extremely violent and are linked to delinquent activities. Actually, although El Salvador has advanced in its understanding of the phenomenon, from the perspective of academic research, most of the studies have focused their sights on the analysis of its characteristics, the group logic, and the violent social dynamics that are built up within these organizations. The emphasis on these aspects has given rise to great voids in terms of the factors that pressure girls and adolescents to join these groups, the conditions they are inserted in, and the ruptures and contradictions they face once they have joined. The IUDOP, based on a line of investigation about juvenile violence developed since 1996, has sought in most of its research to reveal the gender differences that exist inside these groups, considering the limitations imposed by the study of groups where there are enormous disparities between men and women. In this sense, this approach to the lives of a group of women gang-members who have been deprived of liberty, from the perspective of qualitative research, has made it possible to penetrate the subjective aspects of their lives, and firmly denude the circles of violence, exclusion, oppression, and abandon that they are exposed to from early childhood. The analysis of these personal stories and their life experiences offer clues to the complex processes of group socialization experienced by the girls and adolescents who comprise the gangs, and the breakages with their families and the rest of society following their membership in these groups. Likewise, this paper shows the gains and profit that these groups offer them, in a context of multiple shortages and weaknesses, but above all, the multiple vulnerabilities and risks the adolescents and youth are subjected to once they have entered the gangs. With this as a background, the paper that is being shared presently offers a first approximation to the life and role of the women in these groups, based on their own life experiences and personal stories, in order to contribute to formulating policy that addresses differentially the needs and risks faced by the girls and youth that are inserted in these aggregations. Details: San Salvador: The University Institute of Public Opinion (Instituto Universitario de Opinion Publica-IUDOP), 2010. 400p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 25, 2015 at: http://www.uca.edu.sv/publica/iudop/libros/SegIN.pdf Year: 2010 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www.uca.edu.sv/publica/iudop/libros/SegIN.pdf Shelf Number: 134670 Keywords: Female Gang MembersGang-Related ViolenceGangs (El Salvador)HomicidesYouth Gangs |
Author: North Carolina Central University. Juvenile Justice Institute Title: Durham Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative: Project Bull's Eye. Evaluation Report Summary: The Durham Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative (CAGI), a 3-year gang prevention and reduction initiative, was developed to reduce gangs and the underlying causes that support them. The Durham Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative adopted the combined strategies of law enforcement, prevention-intervention, and reentry, outlined by the U.S. Department of Justice, to address gangs and gang-related violence within the Bull's Eye area of Durham, North Carolina. Component 1: Suppression by law enforcement: The goal of this component was to reduce the occurrence of violent gang-related incidents in the Bull's Eye area through the use of reactive and proactive strategies. Strategies of this component included: a. Utilizing new intelligence software, specifically i2 Analyst Notebook, and i2 iBridge to link the DPD's Report Management System (RMS) and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) to Gang-Net, which is a statewide gang intelligence program. b. Utilizing SunGuard HTE Link Analysis software to allow investigators and officers to construct intelligence diagrams of RMS data in their investigations by structuring the information in an organized format. c. Continuing a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Community Corrections in conducting court approved searches of probationers, with a direct focus on gang members within the target area. d. Continuing the monthly Gun Review Meetings whereby all gun arrest cases from Durham County are reviewed by the Law Enforcement Task Force made up of members from the DPD, Durham County Sheriff's office, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, North Carolina Department of Community Corrections, Durham County District Attorney's office and the United States Attorney's Office (Middle District). e. Instituting the High Point Drug Market Initiative in the Bull's Eye area in order to address street level drug activity and violent crime. f. Providing training for law enforcement partners in the area of gang investigation in order to arm them with the necessary knowledge to conduct successful gang investigations. g. Increasing police visibility and proactive policing efforts in the Bull's Eye area by adding additional law enforcement personnel with the use of overtime funds. Component 2: Prevention and intervention services by public/non-profit community agencies - the goal of this component was to reduce the occurrence of youth gang-related incidents and increase positive outcomes for youth at high risk of gang involvement through targeted, evidenced-based gang prevention. Community-based agencies had the opportunity to seek funding for addressing prevention/ intervention activities within the Bull's Eye area. The strategies of this component included: a. Expanding the use of the North Carolina Child Response Initiative (NCCRI). This service uses a system of care approach with a focus on acute stabilization and assessment with evidence based treatments for victims. The aim of this mental health service approach is to stabilize children in crisis, assess trauma symptoms, increase service access and coordination and avert further victimization. These services are delivered on the scene. b. Expanding the role of faith-based organizations to increase services to youth victims and offenders. The Religious Coalition for Non-Violent Durham collaborates with other local faith-based organizations in the targeted area to increase services to youth victims and offenders. c. Increasing referrals of the most troubled youth to address quality of life issues within the community and to foster positive behavior among youth living within the targeted area. Component 3:Reentry services offered by local governmental entities -- the goal of this component was to increase public safety by reducing recidivism rates for high-impact gang-involved offenders returning to the community after incarceration, through the use of vouchers, mentors and community organizations for the delivery of services and treatment. Strategies of this component included: a. Targeting 15 to 20 offenders per year b. Developing a system to identify Security Threat Group (STG) inmates prior to release c. Hiring a case manager d. Identifying other potential CAGI participants who do not come through the North Carolina Department of Correction's channels e. Identifying service providers who would deliver services to offenders at no cost f. Identifying service providers who would offer services through vouchers and enter into contracts with the Durham County Criminal Justice Resource Center Details: Durham, NC: Juvenile Justice Institute, North Carolina Central University, 2012. 166p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 8, 2015 at: http://www.durhamnc.gov/agendas_new/2012/cws20120319/304732_8352_443097.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.durhamnc.gov/agendas_new/2012/cws20120319/304732_8352_443097.pdf Shelf Number: 135184 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGangs (North Carolina)InterventionLaw Enforcement IntelligencePartnershipsReentryYouth Gangs |
Author: Levy, Horace Title: Youth Violence and Organized Crime in Jamaica: Causes and Counter-Measures. An Examination of the Linkages and Disconnections Summary: This Project emanated from the need to establish research-based grounds of solid value for an alternative to the mano dura approach, elements of which the authorities planned to continue using, or even extending, to address Jamaica's high homicide rates. The objective, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between youth violence and organized crime, with special attention given to the role of women and best practices and with the aim of influencing policy. Enabled by the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) qualitative methodology, the Institute of Criminal Justice and Security (ICJS) research team was able, through focus groups and interviews with key informants, to engage directly with gangs and crews in communities in Kingston, and to a lesser extent, those in Spanish Town. The team encountered "defence crews" that were aligned to communities. These crews did not exhibit behaviour similar to that of illegal, wealth-seeking criminal gangs and, indicated no movement in that direction. Instead, they were strongly supported by women and responded positively to the mediatory and developmental "best practices" of state and non-state agencies. A significant number of criminal gang members also showed interest in pursuing an alternative and legal lifestyle. Women, for their part, were not associated with personal weapon usage. They tried to discourage conflicts and played an important part in community bonding. However, by having sexual relationships with "the enemy", they were often the ones blamed for provoking conflicts. For inner-city people, the community is of prime importance and defence crews and sometimes gangs are embedded in it. The various crews provide a constant source of enjoyment for inner-city people who live in depressed conditions. The research team recommends a national security policy that, rather than focusing simply on attacking the gangs, proposes the combination of community policing with community development and firmly asserting the central authority of the state. In the series of public forums held with security officials, the researchers received support for this approach from high-ranking officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). A number of specific recommendations include the provision of additional resources to "best practices", and women's empowerment, as well as ceasing to grant contracts to criminal gangs. Details: Ottawa: International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 2012. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 22, 2015 at: https://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/51348/1/IDL-51348.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Jamaica URL: https://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/51348/1/IDL-51348.pdf Shelf Number: 135756 Keywords: GangsHomicidesJuvenile OffendersOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Graves, Kelly N. Title: Guilford County Gang Assessment: OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Assessment Summary: Gang violence has been identified as a national priority among the federal justice system and communities alike. The nation's youth gang problem is tracked by the National Youth Gang Surveys (NYGS) across the United States (US). The NYGS has identified that all larger cities (population over 100,000) have experienced gang problems in some form or another. As the figure below published by the National Youth Gang Survey Analysis depicts, while gang problems decreased in the early part of the decade, we are beginning to see a resurgence of gangs toward the later part of the decade. However, a central question remains: What are the activities of those gangs in local areas? Understanding these activity dynamics at a local level is essential for strategic planning and local intervention to address the problem. To support the strategic development at a local level, the US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provided funding for hundreds of local communities nationwide to conduct an in-depth assessment on the local youth gang dynamics within their respective communities. Specifically, OJJDP recommends the implementation of a five-step model that ultimately leads to the understanding of the nature, dynamic, and intervention points to address youth gangs and related crime at a local level. These five strategies include: 1. Community mobilization: Involvement of local citizens, including former gang youth, community groups and agencies, and the coordination of programs and staff functions within and across agencies. 2. Opportunities provision: The development of a variety of specific education, training, and employment programs targeted at gang-involved youth. 3. Social intervention: Youth-serving agencies, schools, grassroots groups, faith-based organizations, police agencies, and other criminal justice organizations reaching out and acting as links to gang-involved youth, their families, and the conventional world and needed services. 4. Suppression: Formal and informal social control procedures, including close supervision or monitoring of gang youth by agencies of the criminal justice system and by community-based agencies, schools, and grassroots groups. 5. Organizational change and development: Development and implementation of policies and procedures that result in the most effective use of available and potential resources, within and across agencies, to better address the gang problem. The OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model holds that "neither social disorganization, underclass, nor poverty theory alone explains the scope and nature of youth delinquency or criminal gang association and gang crime. Social disorganization or lack of integration of essential elements of a local community system provides the basic stimulus for the formation of youth gangs. Lack of legitimate opportunity and the presence of alternative criminal opportunities are more likely to explain the character and scope of gang behavior" (Spergel, 1995). While youth in this age group are most likely to be engaged in or at risk of committing serious or violent gang crimes, the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model focuses primarily on youth gang members under 22 years of age, based on OJJDP's authorizing legislation. Motorcycle gangs, prison gangs, ideological gangs, and hate groups comprising primarily adults are excluded from the definition. In Guilford County, North Carolina, the OJJDP Gang Assessment is part of a larger community wide initiative to reduce youth gang activity. Three central programmatic partners (Youth Focus, Inc., One Step Further, and Guilford County Court Alternatives) comprised a steering committee and selected the University of North Carolina at Greensboros (UNCG) Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships (CYFCP) to lead the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Assessment efforts. UNCG/CYFCP worked closely with the steering committee as well as with the local Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) in developing the local strategy. Additional key partners included Guilford County law enforcement offices, Guilford County School students and staff, community leaders and members, parents and youth, current and ex-gang members, as well as an array of youth-serving community organizations and agencies currently addressing gang prevention. Assessment activities were based on the (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model and Assessment Guide available at http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Comprehensive-Gang- Model/Assessment-Guide. A summary of each of the completed assessment activities is provided below: Understanding the Community Composition: UNCG staff collected county-wide demographic information based on race, gender, age, income, poverty rates, employment status, educational attainment, teen birth rates, child abuse and neglect reports, and other categories of interest as suggested by the OJJDP model. Understanding Law Enforcement Data Collection: UNCG partnered with local law enforcement jurisdictions to understand active gangs in their jurisdictions as well as gang-related crime across a one-year period. Crime data were compiled in an electronic database for analysis and gang-related incidents were be mapped using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping software. School Data Collection: UNCG gathered publically available Guilford County School data and worked with school representatives to ensure its accuracy. Community Perceptions Data: UNCG developed a series of surveys using OJJDP templates, including 1) Youth Perception Survey; 2) Community Resident Survey; and 3) School Resource Officer Survey. Surveys were available in both English and Spanish. In addition, Gang Member Interviews were provided by one of our partner agencies (One Step Further). Community Resources Data Collection: UNCG created and distributed a Community Program Profile survey, based on the OJJDP template, which was disseminated by the Project Team to neighborhood associations, community-service organizations, faith-based organizations, and service providers who are youth-serving throughout Guilford County. UNCG compiled the surveys and will enter them into OJJDP Web-based Community Resource Inventory database (https://www.iir.com/nygc/tool/default.htm) on behalf of Guilford County. The results of each element of the Guilford County Comprehensive Gang Assessment are described throughout this report. The report is broken up into Chapters that can be used either separately as individual documents, or combined for use as a comprehensive report for Guilford County. Details: Greensboro, NC: Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2010. 327p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed May 23, 2015 at: http://cyfcp.uncg.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/OJJDPGuilfordCountyGangAssessment_Final_Version3_with_appendices.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://cyfcp.uncg.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/OJJDPGuilfordCountyGangAssessment_Final_Version3_with_appendices.pdf Shelf Number: 135760 Keywords: Community ParticipationCommunity-Based ProgramsGang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Simmons, Krista Title: The State and Youth Violence:A Socio-Political Approach to Understanding Youth Violence in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas Summary: Drug trafficking has drastically increased levels of violence in Rio de Janeiro since the arrival of the cocaine trade in the early 1980's. The rate of homicides in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1990's and early 2000's marked the city as one of the most violent urban centers in the world. Even today, there is an average of 20 homicides each day in Rio de Janeiro, a city of just under 12,000,000 people. The rate of death as a result of violence and other demographic factors such as an overabundance of male recorded deaths between the ages of 15-24, a deficit of young men, an imbalanced sex ratio, and a rise in youth mortality since the 1980's more closely mirror warzone demographics than those of a city in a modern, stable state such as Brazil. For example, between 1998 and 2000 there were between 2,000 and 5,000 violent deaths, in Yugoslavia, and roughly 11,000 in Angola. In the same period, Rio de Janeiro saw 7,465 citizens die as a result of violence. Of grave concern to children's rights activists has been the accompanying spike in violence against and among children and youth. Deaths by external causes among individuals under 18 years of age in Rio de Janeiro have increased from 8.1% in 1979 to 26.4% in 2002, with violent causes predominating external causes of death increasingly with time. The increased involvement of children in violent drug gangs is reflected in the testimony of local favela dwellers (or favelados), as well as Rio de Janeiro crime statistics. In 1980, there were 110 registered convictions of minors for drug related crime. By 2001, there were 1,584 convictions of minors for drug related crimes: a number shocking, although decreased from a high of 3,211 in 1998. This translates to a 1340% increase in drug related convictions among minors in Rio de Janeiro between 1980 and 2001. It is estimated that 5,000-6,000 children are currently working for drug factions within Rio de Janeiro's favelas (poor shanty towns). The realities faced by youth involved in organized drug violence in Rio de Janeiro are similar to those of child soldiers elsewhere in the world, with whom they share the dynamics of "voluntary" recruitment, a hierarchical structure of orders and punishment, access to and use of firearms and other weapons, kill-or-be-killed surroundings, and involvement in large-scale armed confrontations. Despite the similarities, however, the children of Rio's drug gangs cannot be classified as child soldiers because the drug factions for which they work have no political objectives or desire to replace the state. Furthermore, labeling them child soldiers runs the risk of legitimizing lethal state force against them. However, these children are clearly more than "delinquents." A call for a category all their own has grown in recent years, with Brazilian NGO, Viva Rio, developing a working definition for these children which can be applied in similar circumstances around the world: "Children and Youth in Organized Armed Violence (COAV) - Children and Youth employed or otherwise participating in Organized Armed Violence where there are elements of command structure and power over territory, local population, or resources." Details: Washington, DC: American University, 2010. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 26, 2015 at: http://auislandora-dev.wrlc.org/islandora/object/0910capstones%3A108 Year: 2010 Country: Brazil URL: http://auislandora-dev.wrlc.org/islandora/object/0910capstones%3A108 Shelf Number: 129786 Keywords: Drug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceFavelasHomicidesUrban AreasViolenceViolent CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Simon, Thomas R. Title: Changing Course: Preventing Youth From Joining Gangs Summary: The consequences of gangs - and the burden they place on the law enforcement and public health systems in our communities - are significant. People who work in the fields of public health and public safety know that efforts to address the problem after kids have already joined gangs are not enough. To realize a significant and lasting reduction in youth gang activity, we must prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place. Here are some things we know from the research: -The large majority of kids who join a gang do so at a very early age - between 11 and 15 years old. -Joining a gang is part of a life course; therefore, it is important to understand the risk factors for children starting at birth. -Strong families are a major protective factor in preventing kids from joining gangs. -Very early prevention efforts - including programs focusing on low-income pregnant mothers and families with young children - show promising results. -Communities - not just classrooms - should be regarded as a valuable resource for reaching kids at risk of joining gangs. -Girls join gangs in large numbers; therefore, some prevention efforts should address gender-specific concerns. NIJ and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) formed a partnership to publish a book, Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership. Written by some of the nation's top criminal justice and public health researchers, Changing Course offers evidence-based principles that can halt the cascading impact of gangs on youth, families, neighborhoods and society at large. The goal of the book (and a separate executive summary publication) is to help policymakers who make decisions about the best use of taxpayer dollars - and practitioners who work in the trenches, such as law enforcement officers, teachers and community services providers - understand what the research says about keeping kids out of gangs. Each chapter includes an In the Spotlight section, which highlights interviews with practitioners who describe their personal experiences. Each chapter also includes a discussion of policy implications. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, 2013. 166p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 2, 2015 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/239234.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/239234.pdf Shelf Number: 130002 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Keaton, Sandy Title: City of San Diego CALGRIP Project: Evaluation Report Summary: In 2007, California launched a statewide initiative to support a comprehensive approach to reduce gang violence. The California Gang Reduction Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) program pooled together state and federal dollars to fund prevention, intervention, and suppression activities through the state. In 2008, the San Diego Police Department in partnership with the San Diego Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention was successful in their submission of a CalGRIP grant application. The purpose of the project was to implement a continuum of services from prevention to suppression in communities with high rates of gang violence. As one of the partners in this endeavor, the Criminal Justice Research Division of SANDAG was tasked with documenting the outcomes of the project. Details: San Diego: SANDAG, 2011. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 3, 2015 at: http://www.sandag.org/uploads/publicationid/publicationid_1577_12940.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.sandag.org/uploads/publicationid/publicationid_1577_12940.pdf Shelf Number: 135861 Keywords: Gang PreventionGang ReductionGang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Leinfelt, Fredrik Title: The Stockholm Gang Model: PANTHER: Stockholm Gang Intervention & Prevention Project, 2009-2012 Summary: In 2009, the Stockholm County Police and the Section against Gang Crime (SGI) was awarded a substantial three-year EU grant (1,1 million Euro) to study and develop new methods in the fight against gangs and gang crime. This grant resulted in the creation of the Stockholm Gang Intervention and Prevention Project (SGIP), a project that would bridge science with pragmatism and advance the current knowledge on Swedish street gangs. Specifically, SGIP would develop and introduce a new philosophy, concept, or framework on how law enforcement and social agencies can work against gangs; a philosophy based on "holistic-oriented policing" - a concept that fully incorporate the fundamentals of problem-oriented policing and applied theory. Consequently, this book is the written product of the Stockholm Gang Intervention and Prevention Project - a collection of theory and practice. This book is intended primarily for researchers and scholars interested in gang research, although it may have some appeal to police administrators interested in implementing a holistic program of gang intervention and prevention. This book will introduce the foundation for a new philosophy, a model we named after the acronym PANTHER. However, we also wanted to offer the reader a contemporary and international view on gangs and gang enforcement. Details: Stockholm: Polismyndigheten i Stockholms ln (Stockholm County Police), 2012. 350 p Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 13, 2015 at: http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:787602/FULLTEXT01.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sweden URL: http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:787602/FULLTEXT01.pdf Shelf Number: 135999 Keywords: Gang EnforcementGang-Related ViolenceGangsInterventions Youth Gangs |
Author: Van Vleet, Russell K. Title: Analysis of West Valley City Comprehensive Gang Model Survey Results Summary: The West Valley City Comprehensive Gang Model Steering Committee (WVC Steering Committee) is currently in the process of implementing the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model. The Criminal and Juvenile Justice Consortium (CJJC) at the College of Social Work at the University of Utah was asked by the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice (UBJJ) to assist the WVC Steering Committee in the analysis and summary of surveys obtained during the assessment phase. Through ongoing collaboration with UBJJ and the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), CJJC conducts scientifically based research and evaluations on existing and potential criminal and juvenile justice policies and programs to move research and evaluation in Utah to a new level. Partnership with the WVC Steering Committee during the assessment phase of the Comprehensive Gang Model exemplifies CJJC's purpose and mission. OJJDP's Comprehensive Gang Model is based on research conducted by Dr. Irving Spergel at the University of Chicago in the early 1990's (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 2002). Five core strategies have emerged from this empirically tested research. They are: 1) community mobilization, 2) social intervention, including street outreach, 3) provision of opportunities, 4) suppression, and 5) organizational change. The implementation of these strategies must be based on "a thorough assessment of the current gang problem in the community, its potential causes, and contributing factors." The initial step in a community's implementation of the Gang Model includes the formation of a steering committee that includes members from law enforcement, youth corrections and courts, schools, youth and family agencies, business leaders, the faith community, grass-roots representatives and residents. Next, the steering committee needs to conduct a thorough assessment to "identify the most serious and prevalent gang-related problems" and "target group(s) for prevention, intervention, and suppression efforts." The Gang Model includes the following tools for communities to utilize in their assessment phase: Student Surveys, School Staff Perceptions Interviews (can also be conducted as surveys), Community Leader Interviews (can also be conducted as surveys), and Community Resident Surveys (OJJDP, 2002). This report presents the results obtained from those four surveys conducted by the WVC Steering Committee. Details: Salt Lake City, UT: Criminal and Juvenile Justice Consortium, College of Social Work, University of Utah, 2005. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 20, 2015 at: http://ucjc.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/591.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: http://ucjc.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/591.pdf Shelf Number: 136116 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Factor, Fiona Title: Gang-Involved Young People: Custody and Beyond Summary: While there is an extensive literature on the rehabilitation of young people in general and a smaller, but substantial, literature on the onset of, and involvement in, gangs, gang crime, and serious youth violence, there remains a paucity of material on desistance from gang crime, the rehabilitation of gang-involved young people and, in particular, how their period of incarceration and return from custody might best be managed. This report synthesises what is known and draws inferences from both the literature and key 'informants' working in these fields to fill out this picture and tease out the implications for resettlement policy and practice. Details: London: Beyond Youth Custody, 2015. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 3, 2015 at: http://www.beyondyouthcustody.net/wp-content/uploads/Gang-involved-young-people-custody-and-beyond-a-research-report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.beyondyouthcustody.net/wp-content/uploads/Gang-involved-young-people-custody-and-beyond-a-research-report.pdf Shelf Number: 136299 Keywords: Gang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Descormiers, Karine Title: From getting in to getting out: The role of pre-gang context and group processes in analyzing turning points in gang trajectories Summary: Drawing from a mixed-methods approach, the current dissertation examines the sequential process of gang membership, from gang entry to gang disengagement. The dissertation is driven by three interrelated aims. First, the study aims to assess whether variations in opportunities for membership and the nature of gang entry are related to pre-membership factors. Second, it aims to investigate whether gangs' organizational structures and group processes are associated with the nature of their criminal opportunities. Third, it explores the relationship of both individual and group factors to the disengagement process. The study uses retrospective self-reported and official data gathered from a sample of 73 gang members involved in the Study on Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender in Burnaby, British Columbia. Results suggest that being embedded in a criminal social environment facilitates early entry into gangs but not avoidance of an initiation in gangs that require them. A need for recognition and respect is associated with late entry and the occurrence of an initiation. A closer look into the initiation events described by participants revealed three general types: (1) the ego violent event, (2) the crime commission, and (3) the expressive violence towards others. An ego violent initiation was more frequent among younger prospective members and those who were coerced into joining. Individuals who were looking for respect were more likely to be required to perpetrate an act of violence toward someone in order to get in. No individual characteristics were associated with crime commission type. In terms of group characteristics, nature of initiation is not associated with any type of gang organizational structure: both organized and less organized gangs may initiate their members and do so in similar ways. Type of initiation, however, was found to reflect the nature of the criminal activities of the gangs. In terms of gang desistance, internal gang violence and pre-membership criminal social environment both facilitated the persistence of membership and delay in disengagement from gangs. The dissertation addresses the theoretical and policy implications of such findings. Details: Burnaby, BC: Simon Fraser University, 2013. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 5, 2015 at: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/13831 Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/13831 Shelf Number: 136339 Keywords: DesistanceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Greater London Authority Title: Strategic Framework for Responding to Gang-Associated Women and Girls Summary: The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) has developed this strategic framework to support London boroughs and agencies in devising their strategic and operational responses to young women and girls involved in or associated to criminal gangs. It has been developed in response to calls from London partner agencies for greater clarity on how to confront this serious problem which until recently had received very little attention. To date, approaches to tackling gang violence have been centred on the experiences and needs of men and boys. The Mayor has made a commitment to improve the way agencies identify and respond to gang-associated women and girls. This framework suggests ways in which local areas can start to tackle these issues. This is not intended to be a prescriptive and definitive guide on how to respond to gang associated women and girls. Approaches to girls and gangs are still in the early stages of development and we need more evidence about what works in practice. This document is a first step in attempting to develop a strategic response to these complex issues. It will provide pointers, checklists and minimum standards for local areas embarking upon this area of work so that London responds more effectively and consistently to gang-associated young women and girls. Details: London: MOPAC, 2013. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2015 at: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Gangs%20and%20girls_strategic%20framework.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Gangs%20and%20girls_strategic%20framework.pdf Shelf Number: 136419 Keywords: Female Gang MembersGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Richardson, Chris Title: Communicating Crimes: Covering Gangs in Contemporary Canadian Journalism Summary: In this integrated-article dissertation, I examine representations of gangs in Canadian journalism, focusing primarily on contemporary newspaper reporting. While the term - gang - often refers to violent groups of young urban males, it can also signify outlaw bikers, organized crime, terrorist cells, non-criminal social groups, and a wide array of other collectives. I build on Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework to probe this ambiguity, seeking to provide context and critical assessments that will improve crime reporting and its reception. In the course of my work, I examine how popular films like West Side Story inform journalists' descriptions of gangs. Though reporters have been covering suburban gangs for decades, they continue to place gangs in the inner city, which fits better with imagery from the Manhattan musical. Meanwhile, politicians and political commentators frequently exploit the ambiguity of gangs, applying its rhetoric to opponents and evoking criminal connotations in mediated debates. Based on these findings, I argue that Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence envelopes contemporary Canadian newspapers and I suggest that journalists must incorporate alternative images and discourses to challenge these problematic communication practices. Consequently, my last chapter explores art projects in Regent Park and Clichy-sous-Bois, where I find techniques that challenge the dominant tropes of gangs within the news media and provoke more nuanced conversations about such groups. I conclude by outlining the implications of my research for journalists, gang scholars, and concerned citizens. Details: London, Ontario: University of Western Ontario, 2012. 314p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 2, 2015 at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1793&context=etd Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1793&context=etd Shelf Number: 136648 Keywords: GangsJournalistsMedia NewspapersPopular CultureYouth Gangs |
Author: Nimmo, Melanie Title: The "Invisible" Gang Members: A Report on Female Gang Association in Winnipeg Summary: This study is based on twenty-four interviews conducted in 1998 with representatives of different agencies in Manitoba (including criminal justice, inner-city schools, social services and community groups) whose job involves intervening in the lives of gang women. In-depth interviews explored the respondents' experiences with, understanding of and responses to gang women. These second-hand accounts of female gang affiliation contribute to the task of making the social and material circumstances of female gang member more visible. Consistent with previous research on female gang members (and traditional criminological research on male gang members), respondents in this study suggest that female gang members typically come from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, survive "dysfunctional" childhoods, have suffered extensive abuse, live in the deteriorating inner-city areas, and are predominantly Aboriginal - that is to say, from a marginalized ethnic group. Gang life satisfies some of the unmet needs of these women. It provides a sense of family and acceptance, it supplies members with money, drugs and instant gratification, and it gives marginalized, alienated and disenfranchised women a sense of power. The comfort, excitement and clout that the gang provides may seem to be the best they can hop" for. The gang world is highly patriarchal - a "macho" environment characterized by male domination of power. As such, while gang affiliation provides a temporary relief from the pains of marginalization, gang women remain in situations that are dangerous and abusive. Female gang members have been largely overlooked in gang research and in prevention and intervention programming. They would benefit from flexible opportunities for educational and occupational training, positive, realistic role models to give them the encouragement and confidence to access those opportunities, and support for their own community involvement and responsibility. Currently most if not all of the gang strategies and programs in Manitoba are created with male gang members in mind, and may not necessarily meet the needs of female gang members. This neglect should be addressed and alternatives and opportunities developed specifically for gang women. Details: Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2001. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 5, 2015 at: http://www.apin.org/uploads/files/invisible-gang-members.pdf Year: 2001 Country: Canada URL: http://www.apin.org/uploads/files/invisible-gang-members.pdf Shelf Number: 136707 Keywords: Female Gang MembersGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: O'Connor, Robyn M. Title: What Works to Prevent Gang Involvement, Youth Violence and Crime: A Rapid Review of Interventions Delivered in the UK and Abroad Summary: This report was commissioned by the Home Office to further our understanding of what works to prevent gang involvement and youth violence. Since the Government's Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme began in 2011, it has had a strong emphasis on the importance of intervening at the earliest opportunity to prevent children and young people from getting involved in gangs and youth violence, and helping them to find ways out if they do become involved (HM Government, 2011). Our goal was to provide a brief overview of the international literature on effective and ineffective approaches aiming to prevent gang involvement and youth violence, and to identify specific preventative programmes with a good evidence base through a rapid assessment of previous programme evaluations conducted by other "what works" clearinghouses. From this, we sought to summarise some common features - or "key principles" - associated with what does and doesn't work. We leave to the next stage the task of assessing the specific costs and impacts of those programmes available in the UK, and assessing and recommending specific programmes. Overall, we identified 67 well-evidenced programmes, all implemented in the USA and nearly half in the UK, which aimed to prevent gang involvement, youth violence or associated problems such as youth offending, conduct disorder and delinquency. 54 of these programmes had been assessed as effective by the clearinghouses searched, whilst 13 were classified as ineffective. The features and activities associated with these programmes were largely consistent with the findings of the key systematic reviews and evidence assessments identified through our literature review. To maximise transparency, a list of the 67 programmes identified through our search is available in Appendix 3. At the time of publication, 18 programmes are also included in EIF's online Guidebook. Some of these are discussed in more detail in Section 3 as case studies, illustrating how the key principles we have identified are implemented in practice. A rating and detailed description are not provided for every programme, because we have not yet done our own assessment of their effectiveness and input costs. Whilst the clearinghouses searched provide very useful information about specific programmes, each presents different types of information that are not always strictly comparable, and not always fully up to date. Evidence and programmes change, so until we have tested the evidence in more detail we cannot provide an explicit assessment of all the programmes in this review. In the second phase of this work, the relevant programmes identified through this report will undergo detailed scrutiny and provider consultation to enable us to confirm an EIF rating and include information about these programmes in our online Guidebook. Details: London: Home Office, 2015. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 1, 2016 at: http://www.eif.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Final-R2-WW-Prevent-Gang-Youth-Violence-final.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.eif.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Final-R2-WW-Prevent-Gang-Youth-Violence-final.pdf Shelf Number: 137723 Keywords: At-Risk YouthDelinquency PreventionGangsInterventionsYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Relf, Aubrey Title: The nature of gang spawning communities: African American gangs in Compton, CA: 1960-2013 Summary: African American gangs have existed in Compton since the late 1960s, policy makers, scholars, and residents have sought to understand why certain communities remain vulnerable to gang persistence. This study investigated factors that have possibly contributed to this persistence in Compton, CA during 1960 to 2013. The study used a qualitative research design and facilitated semi-structured interviews with twelve people, age twenty to seventy, who lived in Compton for at least 20 years. The analysis revealed that gangs persisted because several youth adopted an identity that glorified the gangster culture, the influx of drugs which: fractured family structures, enflamed gang warfare, and provided illegal means of economic growth. Moreover, as gang wars evolved from fistfights to drive-by shootings, they enhanced community exposure to violence and elicited retaliation that has contributed to gang persistence. Overall, from a community structural vantage point, marginalization, poverty, crack cocaine, and a lack of jobs facilitated a place where gangs and crime may thrive. Details: Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 2014. 147p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 2, 2016 at: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll3/id/404817 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll3/id/404817 Shelf Number: 137734 Keywords: African AmericansDrive-By ShootingsGang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Farran, Gabrielle Title: "Opening Up": How is Positive Change Made Possible for Gang-Involved Adolescents in Contact with a Mental Health Charity? Summary: This research sought to explore if, and how, being involved with a mental health charity project is helpful to gang-associated young people. There are problematic gaps in access to adolescent mental health services in the UK, and the evidence base that supports them, particularly for young people labelled 'hard to reach'. In addition, engaging adolescents is acknowledged as challenging for mental health professionals, and drop-out rates are high. Furthermore, recommended interventions do not address poverty and social disadvantage, the most salient risk factors for both adolescent mental health problems and for offending, and a blight on the lived experience of the most marginalised and vulnerable young people in UK society. Taking a critical realist stance, the current research aims to address these problems by using the qualitative methodology of grounded theory to develop a model of the positive change occurring at an innovative mental health project working with gang-involved young people. The project has developed an integrated approach that draws on different therapeutic orientations, particularly community psychology, mentalisation and attachment theory. Six young people and six professionals working at the project were interviewed. A grounded theory analysis, comprising the core category of "Opening Up" was constructed from the researcher's understanding of participants' accounts. Positive change was conceptualised as an opening up of: future possibilities; contexts for action and interaction; access to material and social resources and opportunities; the self in relationship; and ideas about the self and others. Central to the findings was the use of trust as a resource for change, and a service structure enabling professionals and young people to take "the time that it takes" to establish a therapeutic relationship facilitating positive change. In keeping with the community psychology influences at the project, a Youth Research Consultant advised throughout the research. Limitations of the findings and their implications for future research and practice at the individual, service and commissioning levels are considered. Details: London: University of East London, 2014. 179p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 10, 2016 at: http://roar.uel.ac.uk/3978/ Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://roar.uel.ac.uk/3978/ Shelf Number: 137829 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGangsMental Health ServicesYouth Gangs |
Author: National Crime Prevention Centre (Canada) Title: The Achievers: Politive Alternatives to Youth Gangs (PAYG) Summary: Toronto's Jane-Finch community suffers from one of the highest violent crime rates in the province of Ontario and is widely acknowledged as one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities in Canada. It is believed that the Jane-Finch community has the highest concentration of youth gangs in Canada, with well-known gangs such as the Bloods and Crips. Researchers from the University of Toronto and officials from the City of Toronto have developed the Youth Crime Risk Index, a tool to identify neighbourhoods with a high risk of youth gang activity. The index demonstrates that Jane-Finch has the highest risk score in Toronto. This indicates that the community suffers from high crime rates, socio-economic disadvantage, and residents have limited access to community programs for youth. Given all of these risk factors, youth who grow up in this community are especially vulnerable to gang membership. In 1999, there were a few local programs that dealt with gang members and gang-related issues, but no programs were available for middle-school youth. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Evaluation Summaries ES-2014-40: Accessed march 14, 2016 at: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/payg/payg-eng.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Canada URL: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/payg/payg-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 138221 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGangsHigh Crime AreasNeighborhoods and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Peirce, Jennifer Title: Gap Analysis Report: Citizen Security in Belize Summary: In the face of rising crime rates and increasingly complex transnational and local criminal dynamics, Belize's limited institutional resources are overstretched. Youth violence and gangs are of particular concern in urban areas, where lack of education and employment options converge with the prevalence of guns and trafficking networks. Despite some promising smaller-scale crime prevention initiatives, a comprehensive crime prevention strategy requires more significant institutional reforms. This Technical Note reviews the current trends in crime and violence in Belize and the government's existing policies and programs in the sector. It then proposes several short and medium-term actions to strengthen the government's ability to prevent and reduce crime and violence, such as consolidating strategic planning and information management efforts, designing prevention programs more tailored to specific at-risk groups, bolstering criminal investigation and community policing resources, and adapting the corrections system to the specific needs of juveniles and gang-involved youth. Details: Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2013. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Technical Note No. IDB -TN-572: Accessed March 21, 2016 at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/news/102313.AB-Belize-IADB.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Belize URL: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/news/102313.AB-Belize-IADB.pdf Shelf Number: 138354 Keywords: CrimeCrime PreventionCrime RatesPublic SafetyUrban CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Cahill, Meagan Title: Evaluation of the Los Angeles Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program: Year 4 Evaluation Report Summary: The Los Angeles Mayor's Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) program works to reduce gang violence by providing prevention and intervention services concentrated in 12 zones. The fourth year of the GRYD evaluation examined program dosage, client and family experiences, program impact on youth risk factors for joining a gang, and community-level impacts on gang crime and violence. GRYD engaged youth with serious risk factors in intensive programming, and risk factors for GRYD Prevention clients declined. There was mixed evidence regarding whether the GRYD Zones "outperformed" comparison areas in reducing gang violence and crime. Details: Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2015. 183p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 29, 2016 at: http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000622-Evaluation-of-the-Los-Angeles-Gang-Reduction-and-Youth-Development-Program-Year-4-Evaluation-Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000622-Evaluation-of-the-Los-Angeles-Gang-Reduction-and-Youth-Development-Program-Year-4-Evaluation-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 138460 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGang ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Hill, Christopher M. Title: Evaluation of the Oklahoma City Gang and Violent Crime Program Summary: In January 2008, the City of Oklahoma City received a grant award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for a project called the Oklahoma City Gang and Violent Crime Program. The project, funded under the BJA FY 07 Targeting Violent Crime Initiative, recognized the growing problem of gang violence in Oklahoma City. The project proposed specific activities to combat gang violence; it contained a plan to fund those activities; and it provided for an evaluation to determine the effectiveness of those activities at increasing prosecutions and reducing gang violence. The City of Oklahoma City authorized the Oklahoma City Police Department to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of conducting the evaluation. The evaluation was supported by Grant No. 2007-DD-BX-0631 awarded by BJA. The evaluation period ranged from March 9, 2010 to June 11, 2010. Utilizing an evaluation management process, evaluators at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation conducted multiple assessments that addressed the program's need, theory, process, and impact. Overall, the evaluators make the following five conclusions. 1. Oklahoma City reported a documented gang problem, and additional resources were necessary to implement suppression, intervention, and prevention activities at a level that would reduce and minimize the extent of the problem. The grant award for the Oklahoma City Gang and Violent Crime Program provided funding for those additional resources. 2. The program theory as described in the application for funding contained a satisfactory level of logic and plausibility. In general, the program's functions, activities, and components were well-defined, feasible, and appropriate for the overall goals and objectives. 3. The Oklahoma City Police Department demonstrated a high level of fidelity to the program theory. In general, the department implemented and administered the program's functions, activities, and components as they were designed. 4. Substantial activity took place during the program, which yielded several indicators of the program's ability to improve public safety. Seventy cases worked as part of the program were accepted for prosecution. It is reasonable to believe that many of these cases would have gone undetected without the resources the program made available. Effects of the program on long-term changes in gang-related crime and violence were more difficult to assess. The program will require more data, collected over a longer period, in order to determine its impact on gang-related crime in Oklahoma City. 5. The Oklahoma City Gang and Violent Crime Program contributed to both structural and cultural changes in the Oklahoma City Police Department. Structurally, the department now has systems and standardized processes in place to address the gang problem. Culturally, the program changed the mindset of officers, and intelligence-led policing (ILP) is now widely practiced. The Oklahoma City Police Department would like to build on the successes it achieved through the program. Therefore, the evaluation concludes with recommendations for sustaining the program. Recommendations pertain to training, intelligence-led policing, and information sharing. Details: Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, 2010. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2016 at: https://www.ok.gov/osbi/documents/Evaluation%20Report%20for%20OCPD%20June%202010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://www.ok.gov/osbi/documents/Evaluation%20Report%20for%20OCPD%20June%202010.pdf Shelf Number: 138572 Keywords: Drive-by ShootingsGang-Related ViolenceGangsHomicidesYouth Gangs |
Author: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Title: Violence, Children and Organized Crime Summary: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presents a regional report on violence and other violations of rights to which children and adolescents fall victim in contexts in which organized crime and violent or criminal groups operate. The report identifies the leading factors that make the Americas the region with the highest rates of violence in the world, and focuses primarily on analyzing how children and adolescents are affected by different forms of violence in their communities, especially acts committed by members of armed groups but also by agents of the State. Conditions of insecurity and violence in the region are significant factors of concern which involve serious violations of people's human rights. The public often associates these situations with adolescents, who are blamed to a large extent for the climate of insecurity experienced by many communities. The focus tends to be on male adolescents from poor and marginal neighborhoods who belong to groups that have traditionally been excluded and discriminated against and who are stigmatized on a daily basis and singled out as "potential dangers to society" who must be brought under control. However, as the IACHR explains in the report, the reality is different from these perceptions and much more complex. Children and adolescents, in fact, represent one of the groups most affected by different forms of violence and rights violations, as well as by the actions of criminal groups and by repressive citizen security policies. The inhabitants of some communities suffer the scourge of violence more intensely. The areas that are particularly hard-hit are the least developed neighborhoods where there is limited access to basic services, a lack of opportunities, and little State presence. These are areas with populations living in vulnerable conditions, in which their rights are not guaranteed due to structural situations of marginalization and social exclusion. These factors facilitate the emergence and expansion of criminal groups and organized crime. In addition, the enormous financial revenues associated with the illegal drug market have contributed significantly to the expansion of criminal groups that compete for this market and its benefits, unleashing spiraling violence due to clashes between criminal groups and State security forces. Easy access to firearms and the large number of guns in the hands of private individuals exacerbate the existing climate of insecurity and violence. In the report, the IACHR observes with concern that the conditions for children and adolescents living in these contexts can be daunting. Many of them experience situations of violence, abuse, and neglect in their homes, communities, and schools, at the hands of adults, their peers, and even the police. The quality of education is poor, and there are many barriers to accessing higher education and access to job opportunities and decent employment. Children and adolescents are often subjected to pressure, threats, or trickery to get them to join these organizations; other adolescents seek out these groups in search of opportunities, recognition, protection, and a sense of belonging, aspects that they would otherwise not be able to find. Once they are within these structures, they are used and exploited by the adults for a broad range of activities, including surveillance, the transport and sale of drugs, robberies, extortions, kidnappings, and other violent activities related to maintaining the interests of criminal groups. Girls and adolescents in particular are the primary victims of sexual violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Adults use them as disposable, interchangeable parts of criminal structures - the last link in the chain - with the average age of recruitment 13 years old. State responses to these challenges are primarily based on policies that are strongly focused on aspects of coercive control by security forces and punitive repression through the criminal justice system. The common denominator of security strategies in the region has been the allocation of greater responsibilities to State security forces, along with a progressive militarization of the police and their operations and the participation of the army in citizen security tasks. However, these strategies have not significantly eased the climate of insecurity; on the contrary, many countries have experienced a resurgence of violence, in addition to reported abuses, arbitrary practices, and human rights violations carried out by State security forces. In this report, the IACHR expresses its concern regarding the high rates of arbitrary detentions; excessive use of force and lethal force; cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, even extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances, as well as sluggish investigations and high levels of impunity for these types of acts. Due to the social stigma they face, some adolescents from certain groups of society are often victims of these types of abuses and arbitrary practices. Among the situations it found, the IACHR has observed that the application of the crime of "unlawful assembly" or "conspiracy" or "belonging to a criminal group" has increased the number of arbitrary detentions of adolescents based on their appearance and on the belief that they may belong to a gang or a criminal group, without any evidence that a crime has been committed. Current drug policies have also contributed to an increase in the number of children and adolescents deprived of liberty for drug-related offenses such as micro-trafficking and possession of small quantities. In several countries of the region, adolescents who are poor, of African descent, or members of minorities are over-represented among those detained by the police. The prosecution of crimes of "unlawful assembly" and drug-related crimes has also led to an increase in pretrial detentions and for longer periods, due to an overextended criminal justice system. Meanwhile, States in the region tend to prioritize punitive and retributive responses to adolescent offenders, with incarceration the most widespread measure used. State responses have focused on proposals to reduce the age of criminal responsibility for adolescents, in some cases starting at age 12, and to lengthen prison sentences. In practice, this might mean that they would be locked up for their entire adolescence - a crucial phase for their personal development, growth, and education. Added to this is the fact that detention centers, where conditions are generally alarming in terms of safety, health, and overcrowding, have become factors aggravating adolescents' vulnerability and exposure to violence and crime, which only worsens and reinforces the problem States are seeking to solve. The IACHR reiterates in the report that measures designed to hold adolescents accountable for their actions should be based primarily on a model of restorative justice and socio-educational measures, one whose purpose is to rehabilitate adolescents and reintegrate them into society. In the Inter-American Commission's judgment, current policies seek to show short-term results but do not adequately address structural causes or focus sufficiently on prevention or on social investment programs and promotion of rights. The current policies do not take into account the specific consequences of these environments for adolescents who are in an especially vulnerable and unprotected situation which puts them at risk of being captured and used by organized crime, becoming involved in violent and criminal activities, or becoming victims of such activities. The report concludes with a series of recommendations to the States to address violence and insecurity through comprehensive, holistic public policies that take into account the centrality of human rights and effectively ensure the exercise of rights by children and adolescents. Details: Washington, DC: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2016. 227p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 7, 2016 at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/ViolenceChildren2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: South America URL: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/ViolenceChildren2016.pdf Shelf Number: 138593 Keywords: Children and ViolenceCriminal NetworksOrganized CrimeViolenceYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Preciado, Luis E. Title: State approaches toward reducing youth violence in Honduras and Nicaragua Summary: Nicaragua and Honduras are neighbor countries situated in one of the most violent regions of the world. As such, they share many similarities, including geopolitics, a history of political violence and insurgency, as well as a repressive authoritarian past. In spite of the two countries' similarities, their divergent policing and public security policies have led to equally divergent outcomes in crime and homicide rates. What factors explain this divergence? How effective are their respective policing and security policies in confronting the proliferation of violence among the youth of their nations? Analysis of these questions helps U.S. policy-makers gain greater understanding of the critical factors that are contributing to Central America's escalating youth violence. By way of a most-similar systems approach, this thesis analyzes the aspects that either enable or degrade state efforts to address their youth gang crisis. In sum, building strong and accountable criminal justice institutions as well as addressing the socioeconomic challenges that confront youth populations are necessary preconditions for reducing youth violence. To assist our regional partners in restoring security to their nations, U.S. policymakers need to promote programs that help strengthen institutional capacities and expand social programs that assist at-risk youth. Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2015. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 11, 2016 at: http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/47317/15Sep_Preciado_Luis.pdf?sequence=3 Year: 2015 Country: Central America URL: http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/47317/15Sep_Preciado_Luis.pdf?sequence=3 Shelf Number: 138626 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGang ViolenceGangsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Hamilton, Mark D. Title: The young and the restless: Dynamics of violent youth mobilization in Sri Lanka and Nicaragua, 1960--2010 Summary: What are the factors that motivate youth to take up arms and mobilize in organized violence? That is the central question of this project, applied to two case contexts, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua. The project's integrative system dynamics methodology synthesizes competing causal explanations that are often considered in isolation within the literature. Three mechanisms are hypothesized to influence the "attractiveness" of armed mobilization for at-risk youth sectors: (1) Groups and Identity; (2) Grievances and (Perceived) Injustice; and (3) Greed and Incentives, with expected shifts across time and institutional context. Causal loop diagrams communicate the model's conceptual framework, key variable relationships, and interactive feedback effects across mechanisms. For purposes of testing, the model is contextualized to initial values for both cases, simulated across time (1960-2010), and then examined against the available empirical data for Sri Lanka and Nicaragua. Case illustrative narratives link quantitative and qualitative analysis of violent mobilization (and demobilization) for targeted historical periods. In Sri Lanka, analysis highlights the relative "attractiveness" for Sinhalese young people joining armed insurrections of the JVP (the "People's Liberation Front", a radical Maoist group with Buddhist roots), or for young Tamils joining ethno-nationalist armed groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In Nicaragua, model analysis traces the "attractiveness" of youth joining Marxist-nationalist Sandinista revolutionaries in the 1970s, with counter-revolutionary Contra forces in the 1980s, and fragmented neighborhood gangs from 1990. Project results show strong correspondence between the applied model simulations and the case historical record, for estimating the number of youth militants and their period-specific causal factor explanations. Model "leverage points" are highlighted across both cases, and then applied to a shadow case study (Israel-Palestine) as a proof-of-concept model extension (without simulation). From there, the text offers critical discussion of model limitations and potential extensions, and delineates key implications for policymaking, programming, and peace-building applications. The project concludes by highlighting the necessity of considering multiple causal explanations for a comprehensive understanding of armed youth mobilization. Moreover, it provides a systematic and rigorous framework to test these explanations' relative strength and their variance across time. Details: Washington, DC: American University, 2012. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 12, 2016 at: http://auislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/thesesdissertations%3A241 Year: 2012 Country: Nicaragua URL: http://auislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/thesesdissertations%3A241 Shelf Number: 138634 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGang ViolenceYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Van Kalwala, Zaffar Title: A review of gangs in Brent and the development of services for prevention, intervention and exiting Summary: This task group was set up following a report commissioned by Brent's Community Safety Partnership entitled Establishing the reality of gangs in Brent. This report identified that for young people involved in gangs and gang related activity, there was insufficient activity in Brent to divert them away from involvement. Subsequently, in the summer of 2011, riots engulfed London and other cities across the UK. This task group that was formed in order to gain a greater understanding of the extent of the problem in Brent and what could be done to intervene and help young people exit such a destructive and wasteful lifestyle. The task group undertook research from the world of academia as well as those in Government and practitioners. We also heard evidence from members of the Metropolitan Police Service, voluntary and community organisations working with gang members and statutory services within the Council, such as the Community Safety Team and Youth Offending Service. In the course of the task group's investigations, we discovered that whilst some good work on this issue is being done in Brent, it is largely being done in isolation. Through the discussions with Brent's partners and with those from other local authorities, the task group have concluded that the work around tackling gangs in Brent is both uncoordinated and fragmented. Given this position, and the fact that none of the problems are too great to overcome, the task group is pleased to present its findings. Details: London: Borough of Brent, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 13, 2016 at: https://www.brent.gov.uk/media/9338053/Gangs-in-Brent-TG-Report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.brent.gov.uk/media/9338053/Gangs-in-Brent-TG-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 138649 Keywords: GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: London. Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime Title: Identifying the Strategic Ambitions for London: Gangs and Serious Youth Violence: findings from the literature review and consultation Summary: To inform the development of the Strategic Ambitions document, MOPAC facilitated the following consultation: - A literature review; - An online survey which was available between 13 February 2014 and the 28 March 2014; - A youth engagement session led by the Greater London Authority (GLA) Peer Outreach Workers and supported by young people from One Big Community, LEAP, the Black Police Associations Charitable Trust project Voyage and a number of other youth organisations; - A focused session on gang exit in partnership with the Safer London Foundation, St Giles Trust and the Department of Work and Pensions; - A dedicated session on the importance of early intervention and prevention in deterring gang involvement in partnership with the London Borough of Islington; LEAP and Edmonton County School; - A roundtable discussion led by Health practitioners to explore mental and public health concerns in regards to gangs; - Sessions with London Crime Reduction Board (LCRB) Gang Strategy Local Authority and Criminal Justice System subgroups, and the LCRB Gangs Panel - A specific session for Voluntary and Community Sector organisations; - A review session with Council Leaders and the MPS Commissioner; and finally, - A wrap up session led by the Deputy Mayor of Policing and Crime, which highlighted the key findings to date, and proposed priorities. This document summarises the findings of literature review and consultation undertaken to inform the development of the Strategic Ambitions for London: Gangs and Serious Youth Violence. Details: London: Mayor's Office, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 14, 2016 at: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/gla_migrate_files_destination/Strategic%20Ambitions%20for%20Gangs%20and%20SYV%202014_Consultation%20findings.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/gla_migrate_files_destination/Strategic%20Ambitions%20for%20Gangs%20and%20SYV%202014_Consultation%20findings.pdf Shelf Number: 138666 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangsYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Smithson, Hannah Title: Young People's Involvement in Gangs and Guns in Liverpool Summary: There has been growing concern among policy makers and the wider public regarding high profile murders involving firearms, along with a perception that these events are a result of youth gang violence. These incidents have been taking place in major cities across the UK, including Liverpool. This perception of escalating violence among young people, frequently involving weapons, has prompted the government to make confronting what it has termed 'gun, knife and gang crime' a priority. However, relatively little information exists on 'gang involvement and 'gun crime', who is committing it, for what reasons and what might be the best ways of reducing it. Other commentators have connected gun crime to criminal gangs and a growing 'gang culture.', nevertheless, important gaps remain in our knowledge about violent crime fuelled by gangs and weapons. This research study draws upon an extensive literature review of the national and international research examining gangs and gun crime, coupled with a series of in-depth interviews with senior practitioners, senior specialist police officers, front line youth workers, and gang and gun involved young people from across Liverpool. Research Questions The research aimed to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the extent and nature of young people's involvement with gangs and guns in Liverpool? 2. What are the likely causal processes generating and sustaining the problem? a. What factors contribute increased risk of gang and gun involvement? b. What motivates young people to become involved with gangs and guns? 3. Which interventions look promising? a. What factors influence implementation? Details: Huddersfield, UK: University of Huddersfield, Applied Criminology Centre, 2009. 122p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 16, 2016 at: http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/24788/1/acc-guns-and-gangs-report.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/24788/1/acc-guns-and-gangs-report.pdf Shelf Number: 131483 Keywords: Gang-Related ViolenceGangsGun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesYouth Gangs |
Author: Higginson, Angela Title: Preventive Interventions to Reduce Youth Involvement in Gangs and Gang Crime in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review Summary: Youth gang membership and the crime that it generates is a serious problem in low- and middle-income countries, involving many thousands of young people and resulting in billions of dollars of crime, loss of life, and social disruption. This review assessed the evidence on preventive interventions that focus on increasing social capacity to reduce gang membership or rehabilitate gang members outside of the criminal justice system. Approach We conducted an extensive search of the published and unpublished academic literature, as well as government and non-government organization reports to identify studies assessing the effects of preventive youth gang interventions in low- and middle-income countries. We also included studies assessing the reasons for success or failure of such interventions and conducted a thematic synthesis of overarching themes identified across the studies. Results We did not identify any studies assessing the effect of preventive gang interventions in LMICs using an experimental or quasi-experimental design. Four studies evaluating the reasons for implementation success or failure were included. The limited number of studies included in the review suggests that the findings identified here should provide a direction for future research, rather than any substantive or generalizable claim to best practice. Specifically, the synthesis of reasons for implementation success or failure identified five factors that may be important for intervention design and implementation. Preventive gang interventions may be more likely to be successfully implemented when they include: - a range of program components that appeal to youth, - active engagement of youth, where their agency is embraced and leadership is offered, - programs that offer continuity of social ties outside of the gang, and - a focus on demobilization and reconciliation. Implications The lack of evidence prevents us from making any conclusions about which interventions are most effective in reducing youth involvement in gangs. To identify programs that work and those that do not researchers, practitioners and commissioners should begin to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of preventive gang programs in the field. Details: Campbell Systematic Reviews, 2015: 18. 177p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 23, 2016 at: http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/lib/project/297/ Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/lib/project/297/ Shelf Number: 138794 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Katz, Charles M. Title: The Gang Truce as a Form of Violence Intervention: Implications for Policy and Practice Summary: While there is much literature describing the assumptions, issues, and effectiveness of crime suppression (e.g., Decker, 2003; Decker and Reed, 2002; Katz and Webb, 2006; McCorkle and Miethe, 2002) and prevention strategies (Esbensen and Osgood, 1997), much less attention has been paid to gang intervention programming, particularly gang truces. Little is known about how often gang truces occur, what conditions give rise to them, the role of third parties in brokering them, their transformative effects, and their effectiveness. In this policy brief, sponsored by SolucionES1 and conducted by FUNDE, a member of the SolucionES Alliance with Arizona State University, we systematically evaluate gang truces; including reviewing prior research and presenting evidence on the effectiveness of gang truces that have been implemented in El Salvador, Honduras, and Jamaica for the purpose of identifying lessons learned should other governments or donors wish to support gang truces in these or other countries. Summary of Findings We found that the truce in El Salvador resulted in a reduction in homicides that was not the product of other trends or temporal factors; and that the truce there should be considered a short term success. By contrast, the truces in Jamaica and Honduras resulted in no impact on violence. The Jamaican and Honduran experiences therefore mirror the results of prior gang truces that have been studied to various extents, including those in Los Angeles and Trinidad and Tobago. Important differences in how the various truces were negotiated may explain the different results and one important difference - the ability of government and non-gang community stakeholders to promise and immediately produce measurable deliverables - appear to be especially significant. Details: San Salvador: Fundacion Nacional para el Desarrollo - FUNDE, 2015. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2016 at: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/general/central-america-caribbean/Gang%20Truce%20Form%20of%20Violence.pdf Year: 2015 Country: South America URL: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/general/central-america-caribbean/Gang%20Truce%20Form%20of%20Violence.pdf Shelf Number: 138889 Keywords: Gang SuppressionGang ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Fox, Andrew M. Title: Measuring the Impact of Kansas City's No Violence Alliance Summary: In 2013 and 2014, focused deterrence / lever pulling strategies were developed and deployed in Kansas City. Stakeholders involved in this strategy included the KCPD, Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, US Attorney's Office (WD-MO), Missouri Probation and Parole, Mayor's Office and federal law enforcement. Groups involved with violence were identified utilizing street-level intelligence and analysis, and stakeholders communicated directly and repeatedly to groups the consequences of future violence and opportunities to avoid violence by leveraging social services. Community members complemented this message by challenging the violent norms of the street code of retaliatory violence. Successive Interrupted Time Series analyses indicate that homicide and gun-related aggravated assaults were significantly reduced at 1, 2, 6-month intervals. However evidence also suggests that the deterrent value waned around the 12-month post-intervention period; while homicides continued to decline modestly there was indications that gun-related aggravated assaults began to regress to the mean, raising questions about the long-term effectiveness of focused deterrence. Details: Kansas City, MO: Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of Missouri - Kansas City, 2015. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2016 at: https://cas.umkc.edu/cjc/pdfs/NoVA-impact-report-Aug2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://cas.umkc.edu/cjc/pdfs/NoVA-impact-report-Aug2015.pdf Shelf Number: 138890 Keywords: Focused DeterrenceGang ViolenceGangsHomicidesViolence PreventionYouth Gangs |
Author: Burt, Geoff Title: Deportation, Circular Migration and Organized Crime: Jamaica Case Study Summary: This report reviews the impact of forced deportations, criminal and otherwise, on public security and organized crime in Canada and Jamaica, with a focus on transnational connections between deportees, organized crime and Canada. Within Canada, non-criminal deportations should be considered in the context of their impact on Jamaican-Canadian families and communities, where deportation has become a sensitive and political issue. In Jamaica, criminal deportations from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom have had a profound impact on public security. Caribbean security officials are adamant that criminal deportees are at least partly responsible for rising crime rates throughout the region. Even non-criminal deportees, who lack opportunities for successful reintegration, contribute to street-level crime. Recent law enforcement operations in Canada have revealed long-standing connections between organized crime groups in both countries. While deportation is not thought to have played a role in the genesis of these criminal linkages, it may be responsible for strengthening contemporary connections. The report concludes by discussing possible mitigation strategies in Canada and Jamaica to minimize the unwanted impacts of deportation on public security. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2016. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report: 2016-R007: Accessed May 4, 2016 at: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2016-r007/2016-r007-en.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Jamaica URL: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2016-r007/2016-r007-en.pdf Shelf Number: 138915 Keywords: Deportation Immigrants and Crime Immigration Organized Crime Violence Violent Crime Youth Gangs |
Author: Roguski, Michael Title: Youth Gangs in Counties Manukau Summary: Growing concern about escalating youth gang activity and an increase in violent assaults in Counties Manukau led government and community representatives to call for significant government intervention. As part of a co-ordinated, cross-sectoral response, the Ministry of Social Development's (MSD) Centre for Social Research and Evaluation (CSRE) was asked to research the issue of youth gangs. This report details the research finding which provides an evidence-base for policy development applicable to other regions throughout New Zealand. Aims and methodology The aims of the project were to: - understand the historical, social, economic and demographic features of Counties Manukau - understand the nature of youth gangs in Counties Manukau - assess possible factors contributing to the emergence of youth gangs - ascertain the extent and impact of youth gangs - identify the factors that support or hinder optimal service provision - identify elements and features of intervention models that could be developed in Counties Manukau with a specific focus on Mangere and Otara. This research was based around a multi-method ethnographic approach that included observation, participation, document analysis, data analysis, focus groups, community meetings and interviews. The research process involved extensive engagement with stakeholders from central and local governments, community-based agencies, families or whnau, and youth participants. The fieldwork began in early November 2005 and was completed at the end of March 2006. Details: Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Social Development, 2008. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 26, 2016 at: http://thehub.superu.govt.nz/publication/wannabes-youth-offenders-youth-gangs-counties-manukau-research-report Year: 2008 Country: New Zealand URL: http://thehub.superu.govt.nz/publication/wannabes-youth-offenders-youth-gangs-counties-manukau-research-report Shelf Number: 139228 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Nakhid, Camille Title: Pacific families now and in the future: Pasifika youth in South Auckland: family, gangs, community, culture, Summary: Pasifika1 youth make a significant impact on the demographic profile of South Auckland and are a major focus of the many projections regarding population, employment and education in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The place of family and community is regarded as an important influence on the future of Pasifika youth yet how these youth view the place of Pasifika families in the future is not adequately covered in the research literature. As more Pasifika youth are thought to be joining gangs, there are also concerns as to whether the gangs have replaced the family for Pasifika youth and whether the street has become home to these youth. The aim of this study was to interview Pasifika youth from the suburbs of Mangere and Otara - including those who were involved in gangs and those who had never been involved in gangs or had transitioned out of gang life - in an effort to obtain information on: > how Pasifika youth understood family and how they perceived family in relation to the future > the perspectives of young Pasifika people on gangs, community, culture and leadership > why some Pasifika youth did not join gangs; why some Pasifika youth were joining gangs; and the support systems Pasifika youth had, and used, to remain out of gangs > the views and experiences of exiting gang life for Pasifika ex-gang members and the mechanisms that had assisted them to transition out of gang life > whether the family and the home were being replaced by the gang and the street for Pasifika youth involved in gangs. Details: Wellington, NZ: Families Commission, 2009. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 27, 2016 at: http://www.superu.govt.nz/sites/default/files/pasifika-youth.pdf Year: 2009 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.superu.govt.nz/sites/default/files/pasifika-youth.pdf Shelf Number: 139236 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionFamiliesGangsJuvenile DelinquentsYouth Gangs |
Author: Carballo, Willian Title: The truce and everyday life in a violence-free municipality: The case of Santa Tecla in El Salvador Summary: Youth gangs are the main source of violence in El Salvador. After repressive measures to defeat the gangs failed, the government decided in 2012 to support a process called the "truce." Under its terms, El Salvador's two most important gangs pledged to reduce violence in exchange for an end to state repression against gang members and the establishment of reintegration programs. On the local level, the process led to the creation of violence-free municipalities - areas in which local authorities promote and support the truce through reintegration and violence prevention measures. Lately, in violence-free municipalities the gangs have boosted their role as agents of control through the "administration" of the crime rate. In this study I investigate the impact of the truce at the local level and in the everyday lives of the inhabitants of the municipality of Santa Tecla, and in particular the communities of San Rafael and San Jose El Pino. I look into the community members' perceptions of the truce, the actual impact of the truce at the local level, as well as the role that gangs now play in these municipalities. Details: Bielefeld, Universitat Bielefeld, 2015. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Violence Research and Development Project - Papers - No. 11: Accessed June 11, 2016 at: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/icvr/docs/carballo.pdf Year: 2015 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/icvr/docs/carballo.pdf Shelf Number: 139379 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangsViolence PreventionYouth Gangs |
Author: Cohan, Lorena M. Title: Honduras Cross-Sectoral Youth Violence Prevention Assessment: Final Report Summary: With 85.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012, Honduras has the highest homicide rate of any country in the world (IUDPAS, 2013a), making crime and violence one of the most complex challenges currently facing the Government of Honduras (GoH), as well as a key priority for USAID Honduras. Violence in Honduras predominantly affects male youth from poor urban areas, with 65 percent of homicides in Honduras occurring in 5 percent of municipalities and the vast majority of homicide victims being males (94 percent) - in particular male youth between 15 and 34 years of age (63 percent) (Observatorio de la Violencia, 2012). This report addresses the violence issue in Honduras by presenting key findings and recommendations from the Honduras Cross-Sectoral Youth Violence Prevention Assessment, carried out by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) in response to a request by USAID/Honduras within the context of the METAS Project. The ultimate objective of this assessment was to identify strategies to reduce youth violence in order to inform the future youth violence prevention strategy of USAID/Honduras and other stakeholders. METAS conducted the assessment between February and May 2013 to examine the causes and extent of youth violence in Honduras. This report presents information about the assessment; an understanding of the social context in which this work must be developed; findings, analysis, and a synthesis of programming recommendations derived from that analysis, along with extensive annex documents. The following objectives guided the research questions of the assessment: Objective 1: To develop a comprehensive understanding of the at-risk youth population in Honduras. Objective 2: To develop a comprehensive understanding of youth crime and violence in urban areas. Objective 3:hTo identify multi-sectoral strategic investment options for USAID that address contextual youth challenges within the parameters of the Central American Security Initiative, Goal 3 of USAID's Global Education Strategy. To identify the most promising youth violence prevention strategies, METAS' assessment team examined youth aspirations and assets; challenges faced by youth within at-risk communities to ascertain how these communities either support or impede youth aspirations and ways in which programs might build on such assets or address the challenges; potential modifications that could be made to existing youth programming; and recommendations for future programs that could potentially reduce youth violence. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development, 2013. 305p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2016 at: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00K2H3.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Honduras URL: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00K2H3.pdf Shelf Number: 139795 Keywords: At-Risk YouthHomicidesJuvenile GangsViolence PreventionViolent CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Gunnell, Daniel Title: Social Network Analysis of an Urban Street Gang Using Police Intelligence Data Summary: As part of the Home Office's Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme a commitment was made to help police forces better understand their local gang issues (HM Government, 2013). This research aims to meet this commitment by testing the use of social network analysis using police intelligence data, as a tool to more systematically understand gangs and to help direct law enforcement activities. As such, the report serves as one example of how social network analysis can be used, but the approach could also be applied to other types of crime and disorder to explore the networks of people involved (such as those connected to acquisitive crime or sexual abuse). The research was undertaken in partnership with Great Manchester Police and addresses two research questions: 1. What can social network analysis tell us about gangs? 2. How useful are the social network analysis outputs for the police? For this, five individuals living in Manchester and identified as having gang links were chosen as the starting point for the network analysis. Further details about how to conduct social network analysis can be found in the 'How to guide' published as an annex to this report. Details: London: Home Office, 2016. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 89: Accessed July 25, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491578/horr89.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491578/horr89.pdf Shelf Number: 139825 Keywords: Crime AnalysisPolice IntelligenceSocial NetworksStreet GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Simon, Thomas R. Title: Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership Summary: Youth gang membership is a serious and persistent problem in the United States. One in three local law enforcement agencies report youth gang problems in their jurisdictions. One in four high school freshmen report gangs in their schools. Limited resources at the national, state, tribal and local levels make it more important than ever that we make full use of the best available evidence and clearly demonstrate the benefit of strategies to prevent gang-joining. In acknowledgment of these realities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) formed a partnership to publish this book. It is critical that those who make decisions about resources - as well as those who work directly with youth, like teachers and police officers, community services providers and emergency department physicians - understand what the research evidence shows about how to prevent kids from joining gangs. The NIJ-CDC partnership drew on each agency's distinctive strengths: NIJ's commitment to enhancing justice and increasing public safety is matched by CDC's dedication to health promotion and prevention of violence, injury and disability. By combining perspectives, lessons and evidence from public safety and public health, NIJ and CDC provide new insights into the complex problems of gangs and gang membership. Public health and public safety workers who respond to gang problems know that after-the-fact efforts are not enough. An emergency department doctor who treats gang-related gunshot wounds or a police officer who must tell a mother that her son has been killed in a drive-by shooting are likely to stress the need for prevention - and the complementary roles that public health and law enforcement must play - in stopping violence before it starts. Given our shared commitment to informing policy and practice with the best available evidence of what works, CDC and NIJ brought together some of the nation's top public health and criminal justice researchers to present core principles for gang-membership prevention. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2013. 166p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2016 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/239234.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/239234.pdf Shelf Number: 130002 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionFemale Gang MembersGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Medina, Juanjo Title: Children and young people in gangs: a longitudinal analysis. Summary and policy implications Summary: A team from the University of Manchester and NatCen Social Research used data from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS), to explore the circumstances that lead to young people joining, remaining, and leaving gangs in England and Wales. They found that gang membership increases the chances of offending, antisocial behaviour, and drug use among young people. In light of this, the researchers conclude that the current policy approach of treating gang membership as a distinct part of crime and youth policy is the correct one. However, they also highlight the diversity within the different groups defined as 'gangs'. They warn of the dangers in adopting an overly-general conception of 'gangs', namely the risk of drawing young people unnecessarily into anti-gang policies ('net-widening'), and the widespread and counterproductive stigmatic labelling of youth. In light of this, they argue that preventative and restorative interventions should take care in differentiating between deviant youth group types. Blanket interventions may have desired consequences in some groups but create or exacerbate problems in others. Details: London: Nuffield Foundation, 2013. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2016 at: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/Children_young_people_gangs.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/Children_young_people_gangs.pdf Shelf Number: 139899 Keywords: GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Cooper, Adam Title: Prevention, Disengagement and Suppression: A Systematic review of the literature on strategies for addressing young people's involvement in gangs Summary: Despite the fact that gang research has a long history , there is limited evidence that attempts to intervene or prevent young people from joining gang s have been successful. The limits in the evidence are partly due to the fact that few good quality evaluations have been carried out, and therefore it is difficult to draw definitive conclu sions based on sound science. In other words, because we don't have the sound science, programmes might be doing well, or they might be doing badly - we just don't know. The lack of evidence is also due to the nature of the gang problem: gangs are by-products of communities suffering from multiple social problems, such as poor education and unemployment. These are complex problems, and solutions to these problems are always going to need to be complex. Solv ing the problem of gangs is therefore not simple: multi-focus, complex programmes are needed. Because the causes and the solutions are complex, understanding them scientifically is also much more complex than it would be if they were simple. Nonetheless, there have been attempts to address gang s, in different cities around the world, and we do have some evidence from these attempts. Interv entions to alleviate the problem of young people's involvement in gangs are usually classified a s prevention, disengagement or suppression. Preventative measures aim to stop young pe ople from getting involved in gangs in the first place. Disengagement interventions help you ng people already involved in gangs, to withdraw from them. Suppression operations attempt t o use law enforcement strategies to deal with high-profile individual gangsters, and to keep gang activity to a minimum (Lafontaine, Ferguson, & Wormith, 2005; Klein & Maxson, 2006). Rec ent evidence suggests that effective programmes usually combine prevention, disengagement and suppression, and are uniquely tailored to specific communities and the specific age groups of young people involved (Spergel, 1995). Details: Cape Town: Child, Youth Family & Social Development, Human Sciences Research Council, 2008. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2016 at: http://comunidadesegura.org.br/files/active/0/HSRC_gang_prevention_strategies.pdf Year: 2008 Country: International URL: http://comunidadesegura.org.br/files/active/0/HSRC_gang_prevention_strategies.pdf Shelf Number: 130026 Keywords: Gang SuppressionGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: De La Cruz, Jesse S. Title: Mexican American/Chicano Gang Members' Voice on Social Control in the Context of School and Community: A Critical Ethnographic Study in Stockton, California Summary: The purpose of the study was to examine what role social control, in the context of family, school, and community, played in the participants' decision to join gangs in their adolescent years. The study examined the lives of four male ex-gang members over the age of 18, with extensive criminal records and poor academic histories. Participants were chosen from a Stockton reentry facility where ex-offenders were in the process of improving their lives by breaking the chains of street gang involvement, criminality, and incarceration. The findings revealed that social control administered by family, school, law enforcement, and community all played a significant role in shaping each participant's decision to join his prospective gang in adolescence. The researcher found that while the family life of the participants was the prime mover in terms of a nudge toward gang life, school was also a place where they were constantly devalued, in large part because educators did not understand them, and the teachers arrived to their classrooms ill equipped for the realities of teaching in schools located in violence-ridden neighborhoods where the youth suffered morbid and multiple exposure to trauma. In fact, the teachers and law enforcement's inept ways of addressing the participant's maladaptive behaviors - with a propensity for handling all issues with punitive measures - ended up creating incentives for the participants to join a gang. Details: Stanislaus, CA: California State University, Stanislaus, 2014. 282p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 7, 2016 at: http://gradworks.umi.com/36/33/3633628.html Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://gradworks.umi.com/36/33/3633628.html Shelf Number: 140221 Keywords: GangsSocial ControlYouth Gangs |
Author: Lancaster, Kenneth Shane Title: An Analysis of Secondary Educator and Administrator Abilities to Identify Young Gang Indicators and Risk Factors: A Phenomenological Study Summary: The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study was to examine secondary educator and administrator perceptions of their abilities to recognize indicators and risk factors of gang participation in a northeast Georgia school district. The study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach to obtain an understanding of educator and administrator perceptions. The study sample utilized 28 participants consisting of 14 administrators, seven veteran educators, and seven non-veteran educators. Major themes included a lack of gang awareness training as components of teacher preparatory programs, a lack of staff development exercises pertaining to youth gang indicators and risk factors, and the development of indicator awareness through various experiences. Other major themes included the development of youth gang risk factor awareness through personal and professional experiences, the significance of peer groups and youth gang formation, and the presence of gang graffiti within the given school district. Recommendations for future research included replications of this study, the expansion of this study, and the exploration of gang tendencies in relation to cultural, socioeconomic, and academic discrepancies. Recommendations for leadership included the collection of gang data, school-based assessments of indicators and risk factors, and measures designed to develop and enhance relationships among schools, communities, and local agencies. Details: Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University, 2011. 298p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 3, 2016 at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.472.6726&rep=rep1&type=pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.472.6726&rep=rep1&type=pdf Shelf Number: 145398 Keywords: Gang PreventionGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Research Directorate Title: Gangs in El Salvador and the Situation of Witnesses of Crime and Corruption Summary: The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) is involved in an ongoing capacity's building initiative carried out jointly by the United States, Mexico, Canada and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Under this initiative, which seeks to enhance asylum systems in the Americas, the IRB, in conjunction with its partners, conducted an information-gathering mission to El Salvador. During the mission, IRB officials held meetings with experts and representatives from relevant governmental, non-governmental, academic and research-focused organizations, as well as with journalists. The purpose of the mission to El Salvador was to gather information related to state efforts to combat crime; the structure of criminal gangs, their areas of operation, activities and recruitment practices; the situation of gender-based and domestic violence against women; the situation of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or intersex) people; and the efficacy of the police and judiciary to provide recourse to victims of crime, to investigate and to prosecute crimes. Details: Ottawa: The Board, 2016. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: El Salvador: Information Gathering Mission Report - Part 1: Accessed November 8, 2016 at: http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/ResRec/NdpCnd/Pages/Salvador-2016P1.aspx Year: 2016 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/ResRec/NdpCnd/Pages/Salvador-2016P1.aspx Shelf Number: 146285 Keywords: CorruptionGang-Related ViolenceGangsHomicidesYouth Gangs |
Author: Aldred, Joe Title: ' Who is my neighbour?' A Church Response to Social Disorder linked to Gangs, Drugs, Guns and Knives Summary: This report is an expression of our churches' deep concern about negative gang-related social disorder and violent crimes; their effects upon society at large, particularly the young; and the perspectives of the churches on and contributions to finding solutions. The main tools of negative gang activity are drugs, guns, and knives; the use of which has resulted in the maiming and tragic loss of many young lives, long jail sentences for the convicted perpetrators and the destabilisation of urban communities. But this phenomenon does not occur in a vacuum, its causes are complex and are linked to wider social issues.Therefore, this report is interested in the social, economic, political and environmental issues that provide the context within which gang-related social disorder and violent crimes occur. Addressing such complex context requires a holistic approach that considers both causes and effects if we are to uncover a message of faith, hope, and love of neighbour. The report aims to quantify and value the contribution of the churches in addressing gang-related social disorder, reveal gaps in thinking and provision and provide churches with guidelines of good practice. It also aims to identify partnership opportunities to better address the issue. It was commissioned by the Enabling Group of Churches Together in England (CTE)3 and prepared by the Secretary of Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs.4 As a national ecumenical instrument, CTE has a role in helping the Church make an effective contribution to the search for solutions to gang-related social disorder. In commissioning this report CTE recognises that although this issue is sometimes presented as a 'Black problem', gang-related disorder is a challenge of national proportions impacting all communities, particularly urban communities. One contributor to our discussions pointed out that "this need for information and for strategic intervention represents a massive opportunity for CTE in the context of national programs." Churches and Christian-led initiatives are already playing crucial roles in addressing these difficult issues; however, to date, there has been no national scoping of what is currently being done. During the preparation of this report Premier Radio published 'Church Consultation on Violent Crime' in association with the Metropolitan Black Police Association. Gang-related crime is of growing national concern. Last year street violence claimed the lives of 26 teenagers in London. Recent research published by NCH, the children's charity, shows that as many as 29% of young people are affected by gun and knife crime and 36% are worried about gangs in their area. The paper calls for greater recognition of the extent to which young people are the victims of crime; improvements in their access to structured activities each week; young people to have a say in shaping their local communities; and the safeguarding of services that engage the most vulnerable young people and communities through ustainable funding.The publication of 'Who is my neighbour?' comes at a time of heightened awareness of the need to give young people a voice and greater prominence in planning and funding at both local and national levels. Details: London: Churches Together in England, 2008. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 11, 2016 at: http://www.cte.org.uk/Groups/236211/Home/Resources/Pentecostal_and_Multicultural/Who_is_my/Who_is_my.aspx Year: 2008 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cte.org.uk/Groups/236211/Home/Resources/Pentecostal_and_Multicultural/Who_is_my/Who_is_my.aspx Shelf Number: 147319 Keywords: ChurchesGang-Related ViolenceGangsGun-Related ViolenceKnife CrimeKnivesViolent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Redmond, Sean Title: Lifting the Lid on Greentown. Why we should be concerned about the influence criminal networks have on children's offending behaviour in Ireland Summary: A large body of research exists in relation to youth crime. However, comparatively little is known in relation to the contexts of children who engage in serious offending behaviour and participate in criminal networks. Using a case study design, this study first identified and then examined the behaviour of a criminal network operating in a Garda Sub-District in Ireland in 2010-2011. For the purposes of the study, the Garda Sub-District, which is located outside of Dublin, has been given the pseudonym Greentown. In order to facilitate this examination, Garda analysts constructed a network map for the study using incident data to position 31 individuals aged 11-36 years who had been involved in either burglary or drugs for sale and supply in Greentown in 2010- 2011. Importantly, the map indicated relationships where two or more individuals were involved in the same offence. The map was used as the key reference tool to interview Greentown Garda about the activities and contexts of the individuals identified. The Twinsight method A method called Twinsight was designed to facilitate access to actual case-related data. This involved the use of two near-identical versions of the network map during the interviews with Gardai. In the researcher's version, the name of each individual was replaced with a unique identifying code, e.g. A1, B2, and D1. In the version used by Garda interviewees, the names of the individuals appeared alongside their identifying code. This permitted the researcher and the Garda respondents to talk about the same individuals, with their identities known only to the Garda. Twinsight enabled the production of an authentic narrative around key events, while protecting the identities of the individuals at all times. Key findings It was found that the criminal network which existed in Greentown in 2010-2011 was hierarchical in nature and was governed by a family and kinship-based 'core'. The hierarchical structure was supported by a deeply embedded sympathetic culture in the area, as well as powerful ongoing processes - in particular, patronagebased relationships which shared the rewards of crime among associates, but also generated onerous debt obligations. It was also found that the power and influence of the network is most influenced by the intensity of the relationships between individual members of the network and the network patrons, but geographical proximity between them also plays a role. The overall key finding of the study was that criminal networks play a significant role in encouraging and compelling children to engage in criminal behaviour. The study identified potential applications for the methods used in the project to progress further research on serious youth crime, and outlined some implications for youth crime-related policy. Chapter 1 presents a review of the existing literature, outlining the strengths and limitations of existing mainstream scientific knowledge on youth crime, followed by a more specific review of the literature relating to networks and crime. Chapter 2 outlines the overall methodological strategy and describes how a case study method was operationalised. Chapter 3 presents the research findings. Chapter 4 assesses the study's contribution to the existing body of knowledge, and considers the study's implications for wider policy and practical application. Details: Dublin: Department of Children and Youth Affairs, 2016. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 7, 2017 at: http://ulsites.ul.ie/law/sites/default/files/3910_DCYA_Greentown_%20Full%20report%20final%20version.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Ireland URL: http://ulsites.ul.ie/law/sites/default/files/3910_DCYA_Greentown_%20Full%20report%20final%20version.pdf Shelf Number: 145945 Keywords: Co-offendingCriminal NetworksGangsJuvenile OffendersYouth GangsYouthful Offenders |
Author: Berelowitz, Sue Title: If only someone had listened : Office of the Children's Commissioner's inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups. Final report Summary: Despite increased awareness and a heightened state of alert regarding child sexual exploitation children are still slipping through the net and falling prey to sexual predators. Serious gaps remain in the knowledge, practice and services required to tackle this problem. There are pockets of good practice, but much still needs to be done to prevent thousands more children falling victim. This is the principal finding of "If only someone had listened" - the Final Report of the Inquiry of the Office of the Children's Commissioner into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (CSEGG). In many areas the required agencies have only recently started to come together to tackle the issue despite the statutory guidance issued by the Government in 2009. A comparison of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) current practice against this guidance indicates that only 6% of LSCBs were meeting the requirements in full, with around one third not even meeting half of them. Substantial gaps remain in the availability of specialist provision for victims of child sexual exploitation (CSE). This report outlines the urgent steps needed so that children can be effectively made and kept safe - from decision-making at senior levels to the practitioner working with individual child victims - whether a social worker, police officer, health clinician, teacher or anyone else who has contact with children. Phase 1 of the Inquiry reported that a total of 2,409 children were known to be victims of CSE by gangs and groups. In addition the Inquiry identified 16,500 children and young people as being at risk of CSE. Many of the known victims had been badly let down by those agencies and services that should have been protecting them. The reality is that children and young people are continuing to fall victim to exploitation. Although there are heightened efforts to address this issue, too many agencies and services are still failing to safeguard children and young people effectively. We have seen examples, however, of local services who are putting children at the centre of everything they do. In these places there is a coherent and collaborative response to CSE with utmost commitment from the most senior to frontline staff, thereby offering greater protection for children threatened by, or experiencing, sexual exploitation. These examples have informed our view of what needs to be done in those places where children are not being protected and is encapsulated in the Inquiry's new operational and strategic Framework - See Me, Hear Me. Details: London: Office of the Children's Commissioner, 2013. 123p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2017 at: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/18861/1/If_only_someone_had_listened_Office_of_the_Childrens_Commissioners_Inquiry_into_Child_Sexual_Exploitation_in_Gangs_and_Groups.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/18861/1/If_only_someone_had_listened_Office_of_the_Childrens_Commissioners_Inquiry_into_Child_Sexual_Exploitation_in_Gangs_and_Groups.pdf Shelf Number: 131717 Keywords: Child ProstitutionChild ProtectionChild Sexual AbuseChild Sexual Exploitation (U.K.)PornographyYouth Gangs |
Author: Paddock, Ellen Title: "Real G's" and Wannabes: Policy Implications of the Changing Juvenile Gang Dynamics in Durham, North Carolina Summary: Across the country, juvenile gang membership has increased in places which don't quite fit the mold of a conventional gang city. Durham, North Carolina is just such a place: a mid-sized city in the south with a tobacco manufacturing history and a reputation for good music. For the past couple decades, however, the city has also gained notoriety as a regional center of gang activity. Conventionally, the reason why juvenile gang membership concerns policymakers is crime, and typically rates of juvenile gang involvement are correlative to rates of juvenile crime. Yet what happens when these trends begin to diverge? This is the question that has been puzzling Durham policymakers since 2009: despite notable successes at reducing crime, juvenile gang membership has increased, raising a number of questions. If juvenile gang membership does not necessarily increase crime in a city, then should is still matter from a policy perspective? This thesis explores these recent developments in Durham and seeks to evaluate the ways in which juvenile gang membership should impact public safety policy. Details: Durham, NC: Duke University, 2013. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Accessed September 13, 2017 at: https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/8367/Ellen_Paddock_Thesis_Final.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/8367/Ellen_Paddock_Thesis_Final.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 147227 Keywords: Gangs Youth Gangs |
Author: Zaluar, Alba Title: Youth, drug traffic and hyper-masculinity in Rio de Janeiro Summary: I began my ethnographic studies of violence in the city of Rio de Janeiro almost by chance when I went to Cidade de Deus, a low-income housing estate project built in the 1960s for those forcibly evicted from the shantytowns. My intention in 1980 was to study voluntary associations, which were typical of the long existing shantytowns, to see what had changed for the dwellers reinstalled in the new housing project. One major change I found was a new kind of organization of which there had been no record in the literature on poverty prior to 1980: drug dealing gangs engaged in incipient turf wars. Since then, I have not been able to stop studying the subject and willy-nilly became an "expert" on it. I undertook two major ethnographic research projects in Cidade de Deus; one by myself and the second with four research assistants, three of them male and one female. All were university students who had grown up and continued to live in Cidade de Deus. The first study focused on the meanings of poverty, neighbourhood associations and local politics; the second focused on youth involved with the gangs or were about to join them. Later in the 1990s, with a different team, we investigated styles of drug dealing and consumption in three other districts of the city. Three years ago, a series of interviews and focus groups with former dealers allowed us to deepen our knowledge of the dynamics of the unlawful trade as well as the ideas and mixed feelings of the main actors. All these studies were based on participant observation and interviewing techniques. Details: Vibrant (Florianopolis), v. 7: 7-27, 2010. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 7, 2017 at: http://www.vibrant.org.br/downloads/v7n2_zaluar.p Year: 2010 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.vibrant.org.br/downloads/v7n2_zaluar.p Shelf Number: 147599 Keywords: Drug TraffickingMasculinityPovertySlumsYouth Gangs |
Author: Lemanska, Natalia Maria Title: The effect of becoming a parent on disengagement from gangs Summary: The purpose of this study was to shed more light on the process of desistance from crime in the context of disengagement from youth gangs and to do so in relation to a key lifeevent: parenthood. Gang membership was theorised in the light of a life-course framework and gang disengagement was defined as a renunciation of a gang status and gradually decreasing gang embeddedness. The likelihood of parenthood serving as a trigger of change in gang membership was investigated. The study utilised data from narrative interviews with 15 inner-London parents who all self-reported as former gang members. Interview transcripts were further analysed by means of a hybrid process of inductive and deductive thematic analysis. This examined (1) subjective experiences of parenthood, (2) the effect of parenthood on renegotiation of the gang member identity and (3) whether there were any substantial differences between how fathers and mothers embraced their parenthood experience. With regard to the course of behavioural and identity changes, there was no one, single pattern that would have reflected all parents' journeys out of gangs. There were considerable intra- and inter-gender differences with regard to when the transformation process started, how deep the changes were with respect to core-self and to what extent parents were engaging in reflective, meaning-making processes. Parents also demonstrated different levels of resilience in the face of challenges and varied in how much commitment, and pro-activity they were channeling into the future-oriented endeavours. The experience of being a gang member gradually became an aversive one for most parents and they generally appraised the meaning of conventional life. The volatility of new parenthood as a possible turning point in the life of a young gang member denotes it as a timely occasion when assistance could be provided. Based on parents' accounts, several recommendations were proposed that, if implemented on a wider scale, are likely to increase the chance of parents enacting their parental roles successfully. These included: a single case management approach that is long-term, affords flexibility if circumstances change and, due to the multifaceted character of young people's needs, demands effective partnership between different agencies. Though parenthood was not a universal remedy, becoming a parent served as an important catalyst for self-transformation and gang disengagement for the majority of the interviewed young parents. The overall success appeared to be strongly intertwined with one's level of agency, support from pro-social others and perception of availability of a legitimate identity. Details: Manchester, UK: University of Manchester, 2015. 202p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 27, 2018 at: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54576673/FULL_TEXT.PDF Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54576673/FULL_TEXT.PDF Shelf Number: 149928 Keywords: Desistance from CrimeGang MembershipGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Chavez Villegas, Cirenia Title: Youth and Organised Crime in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: An exploration of contributing factors Summary: This research explores why young men participate in organised crime in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. From an ecological perspective, decisions are the result of a combination of factors at the macro, micro, and individual levels. The research explores factors at each of these levels, particularly the role of unfulfilled aspirations, the family and community environments, as well as different dimensions of poverty. In doing so, it uses an original survey covering a sample of 180 delinquent young men aged 12 to 29, who were in prison for organised criminal activity, and a sample of 180 non-delinquents with the same age, social background, and geographical origin in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Twenty in-depth interviews were also carried out with a subsample of delinquents. To my knowledge, this is the first study to use a quasi-experimental approach to understand why young men in Mexico participate in organised crime that considers their aspirations and measures multidimensional poverty amongst a population that is commonly excluded from census data. The thesis draws on several theoretical frameworks from the fields of criminology and sociology, including anomie and attachment theories. The findings lend support to the importance of aspirations at the individual level. Opportunity constraints predict criminal participation and delinquents tend to place greater value on material items than their nondelinquent counterparts, which calls for the co-creation and management of aspirations of former delinquents and at-risk youth with the aid of counsellors. In the family environment, being raised in a single parent household was a significant predictor of participation in organised crime. As these households are often headed by women, greater support for working mothers is pressing, as work in the assembly plants in Juarez (the prime source of employment) is not accompanied with childcare. More involved fathers who constitute positive role models are necessary to mitigate the risks of criminal participation. In the community environment, regularly spending time in a gang significantly predicted organised crime participation. Although gangs constitute a gateway, they do not unequivocally lead to organised crime. This calls for an adequate assessment of gangs, a phenomenon that is still poorly understood in Mexico. At the macro level, the findings reveal that those who are more income deprived have a lower probability of having participated in crime, suggesting that participation reduces income poverty marginally. However, a higher proportion of delinquent participants are vulnerable due to deprivation in several social indicators and most delinquent participants are still multidimensionally poor, despite their participation in organised crime. This indicates that participating in crime does not constitute an effective or sustained pathway out of poverty, a message that should be communicated to at-risk youth. A more robust poverty and inequality reduction program accompanied by fiscal reform and higher minimum wages are also among the key policy recommendations. Details: Cambridge, UK: Queens' College, University of Cambridge, 2018. 266p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 10, 2018 at: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/273773/Chavez-2018-PhD.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2018 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/273773/Chavez-2018-PhD.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 150144 Keywords: Juvenile DelinquentsOrganized CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent CrimeYouth GangsYouthful Offenders |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Trapped in the Matrix: Secrecy, stigma, and bias in the Met's Gangs Database Summary: Over the past decade, the concept of 'gang association' has emerged as a measure for assessing potential harm to public safety from young people. It crops up not only in police strategies to tackle violent offending, but across a range of public sector services: from local authorities to the criminal justice system, from schools to the UK Visas and Immigration authority. Underpinning the increased use of the gang label by public agencies is a police intelligence system that purports to identify and share data about individuals who are considered to be linked to gangs. In London, this is most clearly institutionalised in the Metropolitan Police Service Gangs Violence Matrix - a database of suspected gang members in London which went into operation at the beginning of 2012. The highly charged context for the establishment of the Gangs Matrix was the England riots of Summer 2011. In the wake of the riots Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was quick to conflate those arrested during the riots with 'gangs', telling the press 'this is an opportunity to deal with gang crime'. In the days immediately after the riots, Prime Minister David Cameron promised a 'concerted, all-out war on gangs and gang culture' and within six months both the Home Office and the Mayor's Office had announced flagship new antigang strategies, including the launch of a reconfigured Trident Gang Command in London. Politically, the Gangs Matrix was set up to provide the government with some clarity on the extent of gang activity. At an operational level, it provided the Metropolitan Police with a risk-assessment tool to assess and rank London's suspected gang members according to their 'propensity for violence'. Individuals on the matrix are known as 'gang nominal' and each is marked in a traffic-light scoring system as red, amber or green. 'Red nominals' are those the police consider most likely to commit a violent offence; 'green nominals' pose the least risk. In October 2017, the Metropolitan Police reported that 3,806 people were on the Gangs Matrix. Less that 5 per cent were in the 'red' category, with 64 per cent marked as 'green'. In July 2016, a more detailed demographic breakdown of those on the matrix revealed that 87 per cent were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds (78 per cent were black). Eighty per cent were between the ages of 12 and 24, and 15 per cent were minors (the youngest was 12 years old). Ninety nine per cent were male. Amnesty International has been conducting research on the Gangs Matrix for the past year and has met with more than 30 professionals who use, or are familiar with, the Gangs Matrix. They come from the police, the voluntary sector, and local authorities in several London boroughs - including staff from three borough Gangs Units. We have also asked community members and young people affected by the Gangs Matrix to tell us their experiences. Our research shows that the Gangs Matrix is based on a vague and ill-defined concept of 'the gang' that has little objective meaning and is applied inconsistently in different London boroughs. The Matrix itself and the process for adding individuals to it, assigning 'risk scores' and sharing data with partner agencies appears to be similarly ill-defined with few, if any, safeguards and little oversight. Not only does this data collection amount to an interference with young people's rights, but the consequences could be serious for those labelled as 'gang nominals', more than threequarters of whom are black boys and young men. Data sharing between the police and other government agencies means that this stigmatising 'red flag' can follow people in their interaction with service providers, from housing to education, to job centres. It is important to examine the impact this has on their rights. We believe further investigation by the appropriate authorities - the Information Commissioner's Office, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and the Metropolitan Police - is necessary to ensure the rights of these young people are respected. Amnesty International's research shows that: - While it purports to be a risk management tool focused on preventing serious violence, 40 per cent of people listed on the matrix have no record of involvement in any violent offence in the past two years and 35 per cent have never committed any 'serious offence'. - The concepts of the 'gang' and 'gang member' are vague and ill-defined, and the process for adding people to the matrix or removing them from it appears to lack clear parameters, thresholds and criteria; this leads to over-broad and arbitrary identification of people as gang members. - Many of the indicators used by the Metropolitan Police to identify 'gang members' simply reflect elements of urban youth culture and identity that have nothing to do with serious crime. This conflation of elements of urban youth culture with violent offending is heavily racialised. The result is that the matrix has taken on the form of digital profiling; 78 per cent of individuals on the Gangs Matrix are black, a number which is disproportionate both to the black population of London (13 per cent of the whole) and the percentage of black people among those identified by the police as responsible for serious youth violence in London (27 per cent). 'Youth violence' refers to violent offences against people below the age of 20. - There are no clear processes for reviewing the matrix, or for correcting or deleting outdated information. There is no formal process to notify individuals that they are on the matrix and no official system through which they can challenge their inclusion or have their named removed. - Data sharing between the police, housing associations, schools, job centres, the criminal justice system and the Home Office appears to lack safeguards; there is therefore a risk that these services will discriminate against already marginalised young people, with disproportionate impact on black boys and young men. Community activists, young people and family members all told Amnesty International that they felt the Gangs Matrix unfairly profiled and stigmatised black youth, further entrenching distrust in the police and isolating at-risk individuals. Although the police may be pursuing a legitimate aim when they collect data on gang members, the Gangs Matrix is an excessive interference with the right to privacy that affects the rights of black boys and young men disproportionately. The weak data governance and lack of safeguards that characterize the database show that it was designed and put to use without sufficient regard for the rights of those listed on it. Amnesty International believes that the Gangs Matrix is unfit for purpose: it puts rights at risk, and seems not only ineffective but also counter-productive. Systems for gathering and sharing intelligence on individuals suspected of violent crime must be fair, implemented in accordance with human rights law, and have robust oversight mechanisms. We expect the Mayor's Office and the Metropolitan Police to establish clear and transparent measures to ensure that this is the case. They must dismantle the matrix unless they can demonstrate that it has been brought into line with international human rights law, in particular the right to non-discrimination. Measures must also be taken to ensure that in future, systems that aim to gather and share intelligence on individuals suspected of violent crimes are fair and implemented in accordance with human rights law, with robust oversight mechanisms in place. Details: London: AI, 2018. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 14, 2018 at: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2018-05/Inside%20the%20matrix.pdf?x_Q7G4ar5uHbWLAklmQ9NSuLFMzrwSyq Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2018-05/Inside%20the%20matrix.pdf?x_Q7G4ar5uHbWLAklmQ9NSuLFMzrwSyq Shelf Number: 150175 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Young, Tara Title: Risky Youth or Gang Members? A contextual critique of the (re)discovery of gangs in Britain Summary: The aim of this body of work has been to explore the anti-social behaviour and criminality of disaffected young people. In particular, my focus has been on how the perception of young offenders as 'youth at risk' needing guidance has metamorphosed into one of 'gang' membership requiring a punitive response. My work examines how community agencies and the criminal justice system have responded to this shift and focuses on the consequences for young people. Theoretically, this body of work has been influenced by a constructionist epistemology and incorporates a feminist methodology. The research work upon which this body of work rests consists mainly of qualitative research with marginalised young people, family members and practitioners working with them. My findings, detailed in various publications, have challenged assumptions about anti-social youngsters, the nature of collective offending by young people and the role the family plays in 'gang-related' offending. Most notably, they have sought to shape academic and political discourse in Britain by adopting a critical position against the prevailing view that 'gang-related' offending is the primary driver for the rise in violent offences. The work has contributed to the conceptualisation of 'gang' groups as they exist in contemporary Britain. It has influenced public policy on the gang, particularly in relation to defining the gang, on crime control and it has rerouted the debate about the involvement of girls and young women in street-based groups. Details: London: London Metropolitan University, 2016. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 17, 2018 at: http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/920/1/YoungTara_RiskyYouthOrGangMembers.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/920/1/YoungTara_RiskyYouthOrGangMembers.pdf Shelf Number: 150252 Keywords: Anti-Social BehaviorAt-Risk YouthGangs (U.K.)Youth Gangs |
Author: Whittaker, Andrew Title: From Postcodes to Profit: How gangs have changed in Waltham Forest Summary: Gang cultures in Waltham Forest are changing. When the classic Reluctant Gangs study was completed ten years ago, the focus was upon postcode territories that needed to be defended from outsiders. Gang members described an emotional relationship with their local area, leading one young respondent to say that he would 'defend anyone who lived in his postcode' (Pitts, 2008, p.114). These territories bore little if any relationship to drugs markets and the violence involved appeared to serve little practical purpose beyond providing an arena to demonstrate courage and physical prowess. Gang membership was exhibited through gang 'colours', where clothing and other insignia were used to demonstrate a visible presence within that territory. From postcodes to profits The current study has found that this has significantly changed. The first major development is the emergence of a more organised and ruthless operating model focused on the drugs market and driven by a desire for profits. This new operating model rejects visible signs of gang membership as 'bad for business' because they attract unwanted attention from law enforcement agencies. Our dialogue with professionals, young people involved with gangs and former gang members has been dominated by the rise of one gang, the Mali Boys. They have led the current changes as the most business driven, violent and ruthless of the gangs but also the most secretive, working hard to remain anonymous to the police and local agencies. Although the Mali Boys may appear to be a local phenomenon, there is growing evidence that they are part of a wider pan-London development as gangs become more organised. As gangs develop, they move from a 'recreation' stage where crime is rarely acquisitive to a 'crime' stage, where criminal activities are a means to support the gang (Densley, 2014). In the next stage, successful gangs move into an 'enterprise' stage where criminal activities become an end in itself and the original members form an 'inner circle', recruiting new members as subordinates to carry out street level activities. Some gangs move into a fourth 'extra legal governance' stage where they control the market to the point of gaining a monopoly (Densley, 2014). Understood within a gang evolution model, the dominance of the Mali Boys results from their moving into the advanced stages of the 'enterprise' stage. Whilst local gangs have moved from a postcode focus, the Mali Boys have been the most successful at responding to the demands of a more professional operating model, securing markets locally as the dominant partner in business alliances with other gangs. This more business-oriented ethos has changed the meaning of territory. Instead of an emotional sense of belonging to a postcode that needs to be defended, territory is valued as a marketplace to be protected. The local estate still has meaning for younger gang members as they are usually recruited from that locality but older gang members are less likely to live on the estate and identifying with the estate is often more symbolic than real. The focus of the new operating model is expanding territory to secure new drugs markets. In response to the saturation of the London drugs markets, gangs are moving outside to develop operations in other towns where there is little competition and they are unknown to local law enforcement agencies. The 'County Lines' business model where the gangs transport and sell drugs outside London has developed considerably in the last few years (NCA, 2015, 2016, 2017b). A recent National Crime Agency (NCA, 2017b) report found that 88% of areas nationally report established county lines activity in their area and a third (33%) reported the existence of Somalian gangs, the most common ethnicity recorded. Whilst it did not name specific Somalian gangs, the Mali Boys are known to be highly active in county lines operations. Details: London: London South Bank University, 2018. 101p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 12, 2018 at: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/128205/postcodes-to-profit-dr-andrew-whittaker.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/128205/postcodes-to-profit-dr-andrew-whittaker.pdf Shelf Number: 150521 Keywords: GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Demoscopia, S.A. Title: Maras y pandillas, comunidad y policia en Centroamerica Hallazgos de un estudio integral Summary: In the last decade, youth gangs have taken special relevance in Central America, becoming so much a problem of insecurity public as an object of concern for governments and fear among the population, on all in the countries of the northern triangle of the region -El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala - but with a development something similar also in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. While the existence of youth gangs dedicated to crime is nothing new in Central America, the systematization of the use of violence and brutality demonstrated by gangs current is something unprecedented; reflected in the new concept of "maras". In short, although it would not be correct to point out the maras as the main responsible for the high level of violence that for some time lives in Central America, without a doubt they represent a strong and real problem that deserves more attention, for the sake of providing security to citizens and improve future prospects for the population Young of the Region. Both history and social science teaches that juvenile delinquency is primarily a group phenomenon that reflects social situations and complex economics; deserving, therefore, updated, concrete and deep knowledge to achieve the design and implementation of policies and successful action programs. It is in this context that the Swedish International cooperation for development International (Sida) and the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (BCIE) have considered convenient to finance a regional study and multidisciplinary on the phenomenon of gangs and maras, with a contextual focus (maras-vecinoscommunity-police) and with a solid empirical base. The objective of this publication, which constitutes a condensed version of the study carried out by a group of researchers from the Demoscopy company S.A., is to facilitate a discussion broader and more purposeful public desire to contribute to efficient policies and actions, so much about the immediate need to face the current situation as in what refers to the prevention towards the future. (From Google Translate) Details: Guatemala, SIDA, 2007. 120p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 29, 2018 at: http://www.dhl.hegoa.ehu.es/ficheros/0000/0143/maras_y_pandillas_comunidad_y_policia_en_centroamerica.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Central America URL: http://www.dhl.hegoa.ehu.es/ficheros/0000/0143/maras_y_pandillas_comunidad_y_policia_en_centroamerica.pdf Shelf Number: 150733 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangsMara SalvatruchaYouth Gangs |
Author: Interpeace Title: Au-Dela de L'ideologie et de l'appat Du Gain: Trajectoires des Jeunes vers les Nouvelles Formes de Violence en Cote D'Ivoire et au Mali Summary: The West African region is today the subject of a increased international attention. If the various traffics, particularly in the Sahel, have been known since long - weapons, drugs, human beings, etc. -, crisis Mali experienced in 2012 highlighted and allowed the expansion of so-called "terrorist" armed groups the arrival of the foreigner and / or the degree of local rooting remain subject to debate. In Nigeria, rootedness and the expansion of the Boko Haram group seem even more worrying. Youth engagement in these diverse forms of violence is not limited to armed groups some of whom are called terrorists: gang crime organized in children and adolescents takes the scale in Cote d'Ivoire , while veterans demobilized remains a significant risk factor ; violence related to "mercenaries" and groups of traditional hunters affect the region of the Mano River for over a decade. Subject to instability and insecurity thus generated, a part of of this youth seems to turn to various forms of violent activism, structuring risk trajectories for themselves, their communities and for stability and national and international security. Since 2012, but particularly in 2014 and 2015, the number of attacks and victims in Africa has increased tenfold. Even supported by the mobilization of the biggest powers of this world, the security and repressive approach has been unable to stem the threat. Details: Abidjan: IMRAP et Interpeace, 2016. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 24, 2018 at: https://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-Au-del%C3%A0-de-lid%C3%A9ologie-et-de-lapp%C3%A2t-du-gain.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Africa URL: https://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-Au-del%C3%A0-de-lid%C3%A9ologie-et-de-lapp%C3%A2t-du-gain.pdf Shelf Number: 151257 Keywords: Boko Haram Terrorism Violence Violent Crime Youth Crime Youth Gangs |
Author: Canada. Public Safety Canada Title: Overview of Direct Intervention Approaches to Address Youth Gangs and Youth Violence Summary: Gang-involved youth are considered to be some of the main perpetrators (and victims) of crime and violence, and impose a high burden on society in terms of criminal justice system and other societal costs. For example, the negative outcomes of gang involvement for individuals can include: dropping out of school; lack of employment opportunities or success; exposure to and involvement in drugs and alcohol use; and teenage parenthood. Moreover, participation in gangs and violence can reduce youths' connections to other prosocial activities, and they may cut ties with family, friends, schools and religious communities (Pyrooz, Sweeten, & Piquero, 2013). In order to avert these negative consequences, it is critical to try and prevent at-risk youth from joining gangs, and to intervene in the lives of current youth gang members. In general, youth gang membership cuts across many demographic, geographic and socioeconomic contexts. However, certain groups are disproportionately vulnerable to gang recruitment and involvement. Below is a brief overview of some of these populations. For a more detailed review of some of these groups, see Youth Gangs in Canada: A Review of Current Topics and Issues. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2018. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 30, 2018 at: http://youthactionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Overview-of-Direct-Intervention-Approaches-to-Address-Youth-Gangs-and-Yo....pdf Year: 2018 Country: Canada URL: http://youthactionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Overview-of-Direct-Intervention-Approaches-to-Address-Youth-Gangs-and-Yo....pdf Shelf Number: 151313 Keywords: Gang PreventionGang ViolenceGangsYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: Brantingham, P. Jeffrey Title: GRYD Intervention Incident Response and Gang Crime 2-17 Evaluation Report Summary: As part of GRYD's violence interruption efforts, GRYD Intervention Incident Response (IR) is designed to address gang violence both by responding to incidents when they occur and by engaging in ongoing proactive peacemaking efforts within the community (see Figure 3 for an overview of GRYD IR). GRYD's protocol involves coordination and communication between the GRYD Office, GRYD IR Providers, and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). These partners, referred to as the "Triangle Partners", work together in a relational triangle to reduce the potential for retaliation following an incident and to support victims and families impacted by violence. The Triangle Partners: Gather and share information about incidents; Deploy and provide community response (e.g., diffusion of rumors, crowd control); Provide referrals to services (e.g., connection to GRYD services, victim assistance); Negotiate peace treaties/ceasefire agreements; and, Engage in proactive peacemaking activities and events (e.g., monitor hot-spots, conduct impact sessions). This protocol combines the oversight and community organizing principles of the GRYD Office (through GRYD Regional Program Coordinators-RPCs), the assessment and implementation of intervention strategies based on community knowledge (through Community Intervention Workers-CIWs), and the investigative and targeted suppression strategies of law enforcement. The interaction among these entities affirms the roles and boundaries of each, while adding flexibility to each entity's response to incidents as they collectively work to reduce gang violence. The GRYD Intervention Incident Response Protocol GRYD RPCs and CIWs are on call 24/7 to respond to violent incidents that occur in and around GRYD Zones. Each GRYD RPC has designated GRYD Zones which they oversee and where they have developed relationships with the GRYD Prevention and Intervention Providers and law enforcement officers in each Zone. GRYD RPCs act as a conduit among and between law enforcement and Intervention Providers to ensure that accurate information is gathered and disseminated to both partners. When a violent incident occurs, (typically these are homicides, shootings, or stabbings) and GRYD is notified, GRYD's initial response (within 24 hours of the incident) may vary based on the characteristics of the incident and the potential level of impact on the community. At initial response, GRYD may (1) respond to an incident via phone/or email, and/or (2) deploy to an incident location, such as an active crime scene, hospital, or place in the community. The level of response, or actions taken in response to an incident, depends on the assessment of the partners. The types of responses may include: GRYD RPC Follows Up on the Incident (No CIW Action): GRYD RPC makes phone calls to follow up with LAPD about incidents, but limited information prevents further action from the GRYD RPC and CIW. GRYD RPC Makes Phone Calls to Gather Information (No CIW Action): GRYD RPC makes phone calls and emails to gather information. CIW may be notified but no action will be taken (i.e., CIW actions are unable to mitigate post-incident dynamics). GRYD RPC and CIW Takes Action: Both GRYD RPCs and CIWs take some type of action (e.g., GRYD RPC makes phone calls to gather information and deploys to the scene; CIW deploys to the scene and connects the victim to victim assistance services). Deployment to the scene or other places in the community may occur for one or more of the following reasons: for homicides, high profile incidents, information gathering, management requests, or areas where there is spike in crime or tension between particular gangs. While the initial response occurs within the first 24 hours of an incident, additional actions may also be taken in the days and weeks that follow as new information is gathered. These additional post-incident follow-up actions may be taken to direct community engagement efforts towards neighborhoods impacted by violence, to link victims and their families to services, and to provide mediation between gangs if possible. In addition to responding when incidents occur, CIWs also spend a significant amount of time in communities through proactive peacemaking efforts. These efforts aim to reduce violence in communities by conducting or participating in activities related to violence interruption. Details: Los Angeles: California State University, Los Angeles; et al., 2017. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2018 at: https://www.lagryd.org/sites/default/files/reports/GRYD%20IR%20and%20Gang%20Crime%20Report_2017_FINALv2_0.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.lagryd.org/sites/default/files/reports/GRYD%20IR%20and%20Gang%20Crime%20Report_2017_FINALv2_0.pdf Shelf Number: 151323 Keywords: Community InterventionsGang ViolenceGang Violence ReductionGangsViolence PreventionYouth Gangs |
Author: Valasik, Matthew A. Title: Summary: While violence across the United States has declined dramatically over the past two decades, gang-related crimes remain at unacceptably high rates, especially within the city of Los Angeles, America's gang capital. Gang-related crimes generally involve groups of individuals and have a strong territorial component, lending themselves to geographically targeted interventions. A strategy that has charmed law enforcement agencies with its ability to take advantage of both the social and spatial features of a gang is the civil gang injunction (CGI). Essentially, a CGI is a tailored restraining order against a gang, prohibiting its members from engaging in specific nuisance behaviors within a demarcated geographical region, termed a "safety-zone." Evaluations suggest that CGIs are effective at reducing serious crime and residents' fears; yet, CGIs remain a time-consuming and costly strategy with an unstudied mechanism for why they work. Do CGIs influence how gang members associate and where they hangout? And, more importantly, how do CGIs contribute to changes in gang violence? Using the framework of routine activities theory, this dissertation focuses on the relationship between CGIs, gang members' patterns of association and lethal violence. To address these questions I utilize two unique datasets: homicide case files and field identification (FI) cards gathered from the Hollenbeck Community Policing Area of the Los Angeles Police Department. My first chapter utilizes social network and spatial analyses to investigate the patterns of association among enjoined gang members at the individual- and group-level. I examine both the characteristics of enjoined gangs' social networks, ascertaining their influence in disrupting social ties, as well as examining the geographic characteristics of FIs to discern if enjoined gangs have changed the spatial patterns of their associations. My second chapter looks at both the homicide trends over the last decade and the disparities between non-gang and gang homicides, both enjoined and non-enjoined, to consider how CGIs influence the characteristics of violence. Lastly, in my third chapter I construct a turf-based spatial typology of gang homicide to investigate the impact that CGIs have on the mobility patterns of participants involved in gang-related homicides. If CGIs influence gangs' spatial patterns of association by discouraging members from congregating in public, then a CGI in theory shifts members' activity and travel patterns, suggesting that gang homicides involving enjoined gang members would experience a different mobility pattern than gang homicides involving only non-enjoined gang members. Results from this dissertation indicate that CGIs are able to influence the patterns of association of individual gang members, particularly in the short-run. Conversely, at the group level, enjoined gangs do not always respond as predicted by the rational of a CGI, with a gang's social network either being disrupted, with members' social ties losing connectedness, or a gang's social network converges, with members' social ties increasing in connectedness. It also appears that while CGIs are able to dislodge enjoined members from their gang's hangouts, a CGI actually constrains the overall mobility of enjoined gang members, reducing the likelihood that enjoined gang members are venturing outside of their gang's claimed turf. In relation to influencing the overall patterns of gang violence, the findings suggest that CGIs could be shifting enjoined gang homicides away from the street and into less public spaces, along with involving fewer suspects and victims. Results also indicate that the presence of CGIs in Hollenbeck has impacted the mobility patterns of participants who are involved in a gang homicide. Specifically, an increase in internal gang homicides and a reduction in predatory gang homicides were observed in the data. These findings are consistent with earlier results indicating that the mobility of an enjoined gang member is restricted by the presence of a CGI. Overall, the goal of this dissertation is to provide both scholars and criminal justice professionals with a better understanding of CGIs, and ascertain if they are an appropriate strategy to disrupt a gang's patterns of association and diminish their opportunities to participate in violent acts. Details: Irvine, CA: University of California at Irvine, 2014. 286p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2018 at: https://escholarship.org/content/qt2065d17s/qt2065d17s.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://escholarship.org/content/qt2065d17s/qt2065d17s.pdf Shelf Number: 151329 Keywords: Civil Gang InjunctionsGang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangsHomicidesYouth Gangs |
Author: Kraus, Molly Title: CalGRIP 15-17: Final Evaluation Report Summary: The City of Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) oversees a multi-pronged Comprehensive Strategy that includes the gang prevention, gang intervention, and violence interruption activities which are the subject of this report. GRYD implemented a number of significant changes during the first year of the grant period including an updated mission statement which reflects the intention that individual, family, and community level change will over time impact gang membership and violence. In addition, service areas were expanded and shifted in order to provide more substantial coverage based on community needs. Evaluation efforts have also shifted to an integrated data and practice feedback loop in order to identify areas of success and opportunities for improvement in services. Overall, it appears that GRYD programming is meeting the specific goals and objective outlines for each components on a number of fronts. The key findings for each intervention for the January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017 reporting period are presented below. GRYD Gang Prevention GRYD Prevention Services are intended to serve youth (ages 10-15) at high risk of gang joining and their families. It is important to note that youth in this category are not yet gang involved though they may exhibit some gang-related behaviors. In order to be found eligible for services, the Youth Services Eligibility Tool (YSET) is administered; youth determined to be high risk must meet or exceed preestablished thresholds on four or more of the attitudinal and behavioral scales included. YSET Eligible youth who enroll in Secondary Prevention receive a structured cycle of services broken into phases and completed over approximately six months. As clients progress through the program, YSET retests are conducted and other reassessment data collection is completed every 6 months at the end of each service cycle. A total 395 clients and their families were served during the reporting period. The primary goal for GRYD Prevention Services is to increase protective factors against gang joining among youth at high risk for gang membership by reducing risk factors related to gang membership, modifying behaviors such as those related to school performance and behavior at school or those that lead to arrests. Key findings included: GRYD Service Providers were successful in identifying and enrolling YSET eligible youth (82% of those found eligible from 2015 - 2017) into Secondary Prevention programming. Clients and their families were provided a large number of activities (12,578) and spent a substantial number of hours with both client and family during Individual Meetings (1,631 hrs.), Family Meetings (2,755 hrs.), and Group Activities (7,186 hrs.). At Cycle 1 reassessment, nearly all youth remained enrolled in school (98%); additionally, fewer youth had received disciplinary actions and fewer youth had been arrested while receiving services than in the months leading up to enrolling in GRYD programming. After 6 months, 51% of clients saw their level of risk according reduce far enough that they were no longer YSET eligible. Comparison of changes in YSET scale scores from YSET-I to YSET-R saw decreases (positive change) in nearly every measure and statistically significant reductions were observed in the areas of Antisocial Tendencies, Critical Life Events, Impulsive Risk Taking, Weak Parental Supervision, and Negative Peer Influence. In eight of the nine scales, clients who exited successfully from programming saw greater decreases than those who did not. Details: Los Angeles: California State University, Los Angeles, 2018. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 4, 2018 at: http://www.bscc.ca.gov/downloads/Los%20Angeles%20CalGRIP%20REDACTED.PDF Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www.bscc.ca.gov/downloads/Los%20Angeles%20CalGRIP%20REDACTED.PDF Shelf Number: 151331 Keywords: Gang PreventionGang ReductionGang-Related Violence Gangs Youth Gangs |
Author: California. Board of State and Community Corrections Title: California Gang Reduction Intervention and Prevention Program. 2014 Report to the Fiscal Committees of the Legislature Summary: The California Gang Reduction Intervention and Prevention program began in 2007 when Governor Schwarzenegger created the Governor's Office of Youth Violence Policy (OGYVP). The CalGRIP program was initiated to help communities support strategies to reduce gang and youth violence. The program was first administered by the OGYVP and later transferred to the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA), which is now the California Office of Emergency Services. At its onset CalGRIP provided anti-gang funding to many state departments including: job training, education and intervention programs through the CalEMA, and the Employment Development Department; the Corrections Standards Authority (now the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC)) to spend $1.1 million on anti-gang programs; and $7 million for the California Highway Patrol to help local jurisdictions combat gang violence. In July 2012, as a result of AB 1464 (Chapter 21, Statutes of 2012), the BSCC acquired sole administrative responsibility for the program. The administrative responsibility of the $9.2 million annual grant program came to BSCC along with an increased level of accountability. Under the BSCC the CalGRIP allocation is based upon an applicant's ability to demonstrate that funding is used to implement proven evidence-based prevention, intervention and suppression programs. With the signing of Assembly Bill 109 (Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011), the Legislature and the Governor enacted Public Safety Realignment with an understanding that California must reinvest in its criminal justice resources to support community-based corrections programs that focus on evidence-based practices that will improve public safety. In conjunction with AB 109, the Governor signed Senate Bill 92 (Chapter 26, Statutes of 2011), which established the BSCC, effective July 1, 2012, to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to effectively manage California's adult and juvenile criminal justice populations. As part of the creation of the BSCC, several grant programs, including the CalGRIP, were consolidated, and administrative responsibility was transferred from other agencies to the BSCC. This responsibility also requires the BSCC to submit a report and evaluation of the CalGRIP program to the fiscal committees of the Legislature not later than April 1, 2014. The use of evidence-based strategies represents a significant shift throughout the criminal justice field that places an emphasis on achieving measurable outcomes while ensuring that the services that are provided and the resources that are used are effective. As a condition of funding recipients are now required to evaluate programs and report on outcomes. The new funding strategy, with its focus on proven programs, aligns this program with BSCC's mandate for implementing certain provisions of AB 526 (Chapter 850, Statutes of 2012 (Dickinson)). AB 526 requires the BSCC to: -- Move toward consolidating the grant application processes for delinquency, intervention and prevention funds for grant programs with similar program purpose, -- Incentivize comprehensive regional partnerships, and -- By January 1, 2014, develop funding allocation policies that ensure that within three years no less than 70 percent of funding for "gang and youth violence suppression, intervention, and prevention programs and strategies is used in programs that utilize promising and proven evidence-based principles and practices." In early 2013, the BSCC established a Gang Issues Standing Committee (Committee) and tasked the Committee with, among other things, providing policy recommendations to address the BSCC's requirements under AB 526. In November 2013 the 13-member BSCC Board (Board) adopted the Committee-recommended funding allocation policies that directed BSCC staff to clearly define what is meant by evidence-based programs, practices and strategies, and to identify the grant funding streams that will be included when determining the 70 percent threshold. The Board's approval of Committee-recommended policy also set the course for the BSCC to explore incentives that encourage regional collaborative partnerships. Regional collaborations were a significant component of previous CalGRIP awards and the BSCC will continue to emphasize these partnerships moving forward. BSCC field representatives are in the process of becoming certified by the University of Cincinnati to assess evidence-based strategies. Ultimately, trained BSCC staff will be able to help locals direct funding to programs and practices that will best reduce gang activity while ensuring that state funds are used effectively. According to a July 2013 BSCC survey of stakeholders, gang issues continue to be a public safety priority across California. Consequently, demand for CalGRIP funding remains strong. In the most recent grant cycle, 49 cities submitted proposals in request for nearly $20 million to implement antigang programs. On January 1, 2014 the BSCC began to distribute the current round of funding to the 20 cities whose proposals were deemed most likely to produce positive results. Pursuant to Budget Bill Item 5227-101-0214 (SB 92, Chapter 36, Statutes of 2011), the CalGRIP Program appropriates $9.2 million each year from the State Restitution fund with the following six provisions: 1. (a) $1 million grant annually to the City of Los Angeles;(b) $8.2 million competitive grants to all other cities 2. All grantees must provide a dollar for dollar match 3. The BSCC must submit a report and evaluation to the Legislature no later than April 2014 4. The grants shall be competitive to cities; no grant shall exceed $500,000; at least two grants shall be awarded to cities with populations of less than 200,000; preference shall be given to regional approaches 5. Grants require collaboration with local Juvenile Justice Coordinating Councils, and each grantee must establish an Advisory Council with specified representation to help prioritize the use of the funds 6. A minimum of 20 percent of the funds received by grantees shall be distributed to community-based organizations. Currently there are two active cycles of CalGRIP funding, each a two-year cycle, ending on December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015 respectively. The BSCC is administering a total of $18.5 million in grant funds to 34 cities. Each city is required to provide a local match, which means as of January 1, 2014 more than $37 million in CalGRIP-initiated anti-gang programs are underway in California. The clerical burden of administering funding, both on the BSCC and applicants, is formidable. In March 2014 the BSCC Board approved changing CalGRIP to a 3-year grant cycle in order to ease the administrative burden, provide for greater project sustainability and, more importantly, because longer grant cycles are the cornerstone of effective evidence-based program implementation. It becomes effective for grant awards that run from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017 Details: Sacramento: Board of State and Community Corrections, 2014. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2018 at: http://www.bscc.ca.gov/downloads/CalGRIP_Rpt_FINAL_-_4.17.14.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.bscc.ca.gov/downloads/CalGRIP_Rpt_FINAL_-_4.17.14.pdf Shelf Number: 151499 Keywords: Evidence-Based ProgramsGang Intervention ProgramsGang PreventionGang ReductionGang ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Lee, Sou Title: Asian Gangs in the United States: A Meta-Synthesis Summary: The purpose of this study is to gain a holistic understanding of the Asian gang phenomenon through the application of a meta-synthesis, which is seldom utilized within the criminal justice and criminology discipline. Noblit and Hare's (1988) seven step guidelines for synthesizing qualitative research informed this methodology. Through this process, 15 studies were selected for synthesis. The synthesis of these studies not only identified prevalent themes across the sample, but also provided the basis for creating overarching metaphors that captured the collective experience of Asian gang members. Through the interpretive ordering of these metaphors, a line of synthesis argument was developed in which three major inferences about the Asian gang experience were made. First, regardless of ethnic and geographic differences, the experiences of Asian gangs and their members are similar. Second, although extant literature has applied different theories to explain gang membership for individual ethnic gangs (e.g. Chinese, Vietnamese), this synthesis revealed that the dominant theory for explaining the onset and persistence of Asian gangs is Vigil's (1988) multiple marginality theory. Finally, in comparison to the broader literature, Asian gangs are more similar than they are different to non-Asian gangs because of their overlap in values. Details: Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2016. 127p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed November 28, 2018 at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2889&context=theses Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2889&context=theses Shelf Number: 153897 Keywords: Asian Gangs Gangs Youth Gangs |
Author: Chicago. Office of Inspector General Title: Review of the Chicago Police Department's "Gang Database" Summary: The Public Safety Section of the City of Chicago's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has concluded a review of the Chicago Police Department's gang-related data, commonly referred to by the public as the "gang database." OIG's review found that while the Chicago Police Department (CPD or the "Department") deploys a host of strategies, tactics, and technology in relation to gangs, it does not have a unified, stand-alone "gang database" as publicly perceived. Instead, the Department collects and stores information on individual and geographic gang involvement through a multitude of internal databases, forms, visualization tools, and repositories. CPD also receives gang-related data generated by external agencies. Therefore, any effort to address public concern over the purpose and practices associated with the Department's collection and use of gang information must begin with an accurate understanding of the various components and current technological limitations. OIG's review found that: 1) CPD lacks sufficient controls for generating, maintaining, and sharing gang-related data; 2) CPD's gang information practices lack procedural fairness protections; 3) CPD's gang designations raise significant data quality concerns; and 4) CPD's practices and lack of transparency regarding its gang designations strain police-community relations. OIG offers 30 recommendations on the utility, collection, maintenance, sharing, impacts, and data quality of CPD's gang designations. In response, CPD agreed with OIG's findings and largely concurred with many of OIG's recommendations and partially concurred or disagreed with others. Details: Chicago: Author, 2019. 164p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2019 at: https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OIG-CPD-Gang-Database-Review.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United States URL: https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OIG-CPD-Gang-Database-Review.pdf Shelf Number: 155367 Keywords: Criminal Justice DataGang ViolenceGangsInformation DatabasePolice-Community RelationsRacial BiasYouth Gangs |
Author: Children's Commissioner for England Title: Keeping kids safe: Improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation Summary: This report draws on the following work undertaken by the Children's Commissioner and her team over the past 12 months: - An extensive programme of engagement with children, their families and the professionals working with them in a range of settings including schools and alternative provision, gang diversion programmes, youth custody and family support programmes. - A bespoke data collection from every Youth Offending Team (YOT) in England asking about the children they are working with and their characteristics. This information provides the biggest sample of known gang members in England currently available. - A statutory data request made to the Chair of Local Safeguarding Boards in 25 areas with high levels of suspected gang activity, asking about the information they hold in relation to children and gangs in their local areas. - A bespoke analysis of the ONS British Crime Survey enabling us to examine the characteristics of self-identifying gang members and those in close proximity to them. - Examination of data collected in relation to children's services, schools and education, policing and children's services relating to known or suspected gang activity. - Learning from the Serious Case Reviews conducted when a child has died as a result of gang violence. - Learning from existing research conducted into gangs and child exploitation including joint research from Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP); as well as reports from the Early Intervention Foundation and the Local Government Association, cross-referenced with data collected as part of the Children's Commissioner's Vulnerability Framework to enable us to develop a detailed portrait of the children at risk of gangs in England. Details: London: Author, 2019. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2019 at: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCO-Gangs.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCO-Gangs.pdf Shelf Number: 155601 Keywords: Child ExploitationGang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangsYouth Gangs |