Abstract This paper contends that youthgangs can be considered small businesses that serve larger lucrative operations. It shows how an exploration of increased youthgang activity in non-metropolitan areas of North America allows a glimpse of a broader criminal industry centered on front-line drug commodities but also on real estate speculation, fraud, mobility, branch plants, franchises and territories claimed by networks of which youthgangs are a visible symptom.
Outline:
Introduction
Gang Networks
Enforcement Approaches
Discussion
From the Paper " A Royal Canadian Mounted Police summary noted the need to examine organized crime and gang trends, as opposed to incidents of youth crime in North America and also Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as a 20-year phenomenon. (2006) Gangs surface in hinterland, non-metropolitan areas for logical reasons. In Canada, the shift to crystal methamphetamine marketing features demand for rural laboratory sites and preparing Crystal Meth requires supplies of anhydrous ammonia, a common farm fertilizer, so that Manitoba farmers are now told how to guard fertilizer supplies in the presence of dozens of small 'invisible labs'. Motorcycle gangs or other organized criminal networks, as far away as Eastern Europe, need to be understood as the foundation of gangs in all parts of North America. "
This paper examines the increase in gangs and gang related violence in America, as well as the available programs and strategies to combat this growing problem.
Abstract The writer of this informative paper details the growing number of gangs and membership to gangs which have become a public security threat that communities are now recognizing that must be addressed. This paper supplies relevant statistics and data relating to gangs and various acts of gang violence. Approximately half of all youthgang members are 18 years or older and thus more likely to become involved in serious and violent crimes than younger gang members. This paper discusses the spread of gangs across America. While gangs have been a problem in L.A. for years, and account for roughly 50% of the city's murders, gangs are now responsible for 41% of the homicides in Omaha, Nebraska. This paper details the various preventative measures and programs available to curtail this growing problem. The writer contends and explains why preventing adolescents from joining gangs seems to be the most cost-effective long-term strategy. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has implemented a school-based gang prevention program that has shown positive preliminary results. The writer of this paper stresses the need for communities to organize a collaborative approach to gang problems from the outset rather than beginning with a predominantly suppression strategy.
From the Paper "Since 1980, the United States has witnessed a rapid proliferation of youth gangs. According to a 1998 Juvenile Justice Bulletin, there were roughly 286 gang jurisdictions with some 2,000 gangs and approximately 100,000 gang members in 1980. By 1996, there were some 4,800 jurisdictions with more than 31,000 gangs and an estimated 846,000 gang members. In an eleven-city survey of eighth graders, researchers found than nine percent were currently gang members, while seventeen percent stated they had belonged to a gang at some point in their lives. Other studies show similar percentages and also indicated that gang members were responsible for a large proportion of violent offenses."
Abstract This paper presents a review of literature on urbanyouth crime. The paper discusses a number of aspects relating to the topic including depression and urban delinquency, school bonds and delinquency, family practices and urban delinquency reform.
From the Paper "This literature review, concerning the topic of juvenile delinquency in urban areas, addresses the following relevant areas: introduction to juvenile delinquency in urban areas, depression and urban delinquency, school bonds and urban delinquency, parent and family practices and urban delinquency, social influences of urban delinquency, multiple causes of urban delinquency, urban delinquency reform and summary and conclusions. Juvenile delinquency in urban areas is higher than juvenile offending in other neighborhoods and these rates are higher..."
This paper is a literature review of youthgangs in schools, focusing on a historical overview, characteristics and traits of youthgang members and prevention of youthgang membership and activity.
Abstract This paper explains that, although youthgang activities in schools continue to increase, intensify and spread to small towns and rural areas, youthgangs are not new. The author believes that,when institutions and moral visions fail, then individuals will try to manufacture structures to replace them; in the case of youthgangs, the creators of these structures are young people, with little experience of the world and little knowledge of alternatives. This paper points out that a common sign of gang activity moving into the neighborhood or into the region of the school is graffiti, which is one of the most common ways for gangs to communicate, identify their turf, issue challenges and attract other adherents.
Table of Contents
Background
Organization of Review
Historical Overview
Characteristics and Traits
Prevention
Rationale for Study
Summary and Conclusions
From the Paper "This is an important historical development, representing the extension of gang behavior and gang culture into new regions of the country and with new styles. While the gangs may have begun in imitation of such gangs as the Crips and Bloods, and may still wear typical gang clothing and paraphernalia, they are more of an organization of those youth who are prone to violence and delinquent behavior than they are instances of ethnic turf battles. Again, another movie might be helpful in thinking about these kinds of gangs. The movie Grease portrayed a certain class of young teen-agers who had clothing, culture, and behaviors in common. Yet, they were not seen as youth gangs, but as a faction or clique within the overall high school environment. In 1999, however, these greasers are more likely to be organized into youth gangs of the type identified in Puyallup. They have borrowed some of the behavior and culture from the urban gangs, become more organized, and engaged in more conflict between groups. They tend to harass and intimidate the other students."
Abstract This paper examines the youthgang problem in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The paper explains that governmental, academic and media sources tend to discuss the gangs only in a social context, ignoring profit motivations centred on the crack cocaine industry. The paper also looks at how youthgang activity in the GTA is more entrenched than a decade ago. The paper stresses how most sources fail to identify the central factor of a crack economy that is most lucrative, notably in academic sources that may present theories and models which fail to consider differences in the crack industry supporting gangs. In conclusion, the paper shows that persons supplying millions in crack to Toronto each year are not victims of troubled identity and membership, bad housing, educational failure or the results of bigotry, but people motivated by profits.
Outline:
Introduction
Extent of Gang Activity
Varied Perceptions
Significant Crime
Concluding Discussion
From the Paper "Educated opinion indicates a liberal position equating gang membership with poverty, low opportunity or other disadvantage in a now usual rationale given minority members to engage in criminal youth gangs. The public can be unaware of 'white' gang members or gangs without particular ethnic origin or members by no means from deprived backgrounds. The culture of delinquency involves profiting from a deadly dug, as stressed later, though the educated public can seem more concerned by police approaches to youths arrested at younger than 14 or arrests made more often within one community than another. When the Toronto Police Service cracked down on the Crips-back New Born Assassins in the Keele-Eglinton area, in response to violent planned muggings, critics noted that those arrested were mainly 14 to 15 years old, charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable robbery, robbery and disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence; the public can be unclear as to why arrests are made when youths are 'not guilty' of an actual offense."
Abstract This paper examines how youth crime is increasing and how, although violent crime by juveniles is decreasing; younger juveniles account for a substantial proportion juvenile arrests and the juvenile court caseload. It looks at the history and the organization within the youthgang and the different developmental pathways to delinquency. It also discusses some of the laws effecting juvenile delinquents.
From the Paper "It seems that as the years go by, we hear about so many crimes committed by youths. One memorable crime that comes to mind is the shooting at Columbine High School that happened on April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were associated with a group called the "trenchcoat" mafia. This group is made out of students that are an outcast from the school. When the shooting occurred, it was targeted to athletics. The athletics were popular and had great social influence at the school, which was one of the main reasons that the "trenchcoat" mafia hated. This is an example of youth gang and a horrific crime that they committed. 14 students and 1 teacher died from the shooting. It was clear that when Dylan and Eric planned for the shooting, they were going to kill all the athletics."
Abstract This paper explores the social problem of youthgangs in the United States. It looks at some of the historical roots of the problem, the increase in gang activity society is experiencing, and how the media tends to sensationalize and exaggerate the extent of the problem.
From the Paper "During the last decade, crime coverage by the media has increased dramatically, especially juvenile gang crime. The Center for Media and Public Affairs revealed in its study that from 1993 to1996 the U.S. homicide rate fell 20 percent, yet the "media coverage of murders increased an incredible 721 percent" (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). Therefore, it is not surprising that between June 1993 and January 1994, ?the number of Americans naming crime as the nation's "most important problem" increased six-fold"at a time when official crime statistics and victimization surveys showed little change" (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). Critics charge the media with over-reporting and exaggeration of crime-related events and "producing outputs of crime-related articles that bear little resemblance to official crime trends" (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). For example, official crime statistic stories will downplay, ignore, or focus on certain statistics, thus creating a misrepresentation of the actual figures (Perrone, Chesney-Lind 1997). Critics claim this misrepresentation amounts to public manipulation."
Abstract This paper examines through an extensive literature review how the problem of violence in the schools continues to increase and while the incidents of extreme violence, are the most visible, there is an ongoing current of public school violence that includes rape, sexual assault, physical assault and attacks with various weapons, including guns. It evaluates how much of this violence is associated with gang activity, although not all of it and how associations with youthgangs create a climate that is not supportive of an academic environment, even without the violence and drugs that they bring.
Outline
Introduction
Background to Topic
Organization of Review
Historical Overview
Characteristics and Traits
Prevention
Rationale for Study
Summary and Conclusions
From the Paper "Gordon (1998a) reported that the youth gangs in the Puyallup area also differed significantly from the stereotypical urban youth gangs of the 1980s and 1990s. The urban gangs, typified by the Crips and Bloods, were more likely to deal in drugs, claim turf, and engage in drive-by shootings. The gangs in Puyallup, which were limited primarily to two rival gangs, seem to be more like earlier gangs in their activities. They tend to support more one-on-one fights, rather than gang banging. They tend to be multi-racial and multi-ethnic, rather than belonging to only one race of ethnic group. They also tend not to use weapons in their warfare, although clearly knives are an occasional resource. Finally, the gangs do not actually claim, and fight over, specific neighborhood turf."
Abstract This paper will seek to understand the concepts that have defined youthgangs in American history. By exploring the different periods of gang interpretation within the media, we can see how this is projected up until modern times.
Abstract This paper discusses research into North American youthgangs and suggests a basic intervention for senior public school girls involved in girl gangs. The paper focuses on explaining the vulnerabilities of girls when they're involved in gangs or associating with gang members and paper discusses urbanyouthgangs according to a systems approach borrowed from the study of North American families. In particular, the paper examines how the school has proven to be a place where parents or other adults can commence volunteer service towards protecting girls and their communities from gang influences. The paper also looks at how school-based interventions for young people tend to attract concerned adults who can make strong everyday contributions to 'reclaiming' their areas while aiding youths involved in gangs.
Outline:
Introduction
The Problem
Significance
Review of Literature
A School or Community Centre Intervention
Presenting Materials
Responding to Questions on Girl Gangs Including Adults
Discussion
Concluding Remarks
From the Paper "Alarm at the crack cocaine culture of often violent youth gangs began in the mid-1980s, at first, failing to address the reality of girls as opposed to gang-involved boys, but by the time of the 1990s national assessment of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program, it was known that girls should be addressed as a distinct entity, that one could not refer to generic young people. (Ramsey Et Al: 2003, Williams Et Al: 2002, Esbensen & Osgood: 1999) Girls are threatened by gang membership because their experiences of gang life differ from those of most boys in the presence of a very sexist subculture. "
Abstract Considers the origins of youth-gang membership, the causes, the sociology of gangs and gang participation, linkage of youth to violent antisocial or criminal behavior, gang dynamics, and the personal support offered by gang members.
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to evaluate reports of studies regarding the origins of youth-gang membership. The research will set forth a general statement of the sociology of gangs as a social subculture and then discuss five accounts of research into..."
Abstract This paper explains that, on the basis of variant external awareness of the group's activities, a group formally turns out to be a gang as it gives out reactions to the awareness. This paper points out that many gangs undertake an array of entrepreneurial activities patterned to give money to members and esteem and authority to the gang. The paper relates that family disarray is another important impact in enrolling in a gang; deficient family manipulation plans boost the danger of gang enrollment.
Table of Contents
Definition
Review of Literature
Theoretical Image of Gangs Major Components
Policy Implications
From the Paper "By the middle of 1960s, research and analytical studies on youth gang formation summed up yet another conceptual facet. During this time, sociologists debated that youth gangs were created in accordance with social events, and that gang members were of loose morals or inadequately socialized entities who tied up together to do delinquent activities in groups rather than as separate entities. Malcolm Klein's portrayal of a gang mirrors the evolution from a subculture/class analysis to a social reaction study. A gang is any noticeable adolescent group of youngsters who are generally envisaged as a separate sum of others in their neighborhood; acknowledge themselves as an identifiable group, almost differentially with a group name and have been taking part in a required number of criminal events to call for a persistent opposition from nearby residents and/or enforcement agencies. (Klein, p.45) And finally, the chief aim of studies on youth gangs revolved around the association between gangs and delinquency. Nowadays, scholars are inclined to envisage youth gang creation bonded with some attire of criminality, chiefly violence and drug application and dissemination."
Abstract This paper looks at why girls are attracted to gang life, the effects gang life has on their adulthood, and in particular, how gang life contributes to their disenfranchisement and eventually brings them into contact with adult criminal justice system. The likelihood that a girl would leave gang life is also discussed.
From the Paper "In 2001, ninety percent of America's largest cities reported youth gang problems, a figure that represents a fifty percent increase since 1983. Estimates put the number of gangs at 4,881, and the number of members at 249,324. Estimates of membership of girls in those gangs ranges from ten to thirty percent, (Laidler and Hunt, 2001) meaning anywhere from about 25,000 to 75,000 girls are involved in gangs. This number also means each of those cities has an average of 277 to 831 girls who are beyond ?at risk,? and have entered an arena of behavior"minor to major crime"that some experts believe is increasing faster in the youth population than in the adult population. (Esbensen and Winfree, 1998) More interesting, perhaps, is material presented by Miller and Brunson regarding the reporting of girl gang incidents. "Law enforcement data is widely known to underreport girls" gang involvement, in part because the data weights heavily toward older members and members involved in more serious crimes,? they report. (p. 425) Since girls are generally considered by parents and teachers to be more "mature" young than boys, what is the reason for female involvement in gangs, either girl gangs or as members (like the VFW auxiliary) of male gangs?"
Abstract This paper explains that, during the 1940s, the period of the Pachucos, Mexican-Americans were considered second-class citizens, suffering similar segregation and oppression as African-Americans of this time. The author stresses that the Pachucos and Chicanos are excellent examples of both the alienation and estrangement of the Mexican-Americans. The paper relates that a major problem of gangs is the loss of parental guidance.
From the Paper "Chicanos have adopted a unique style of dress. Much like the Pachucos, this fashion style is immediately recognizable by the public. Long-sleeved flannel shirts buttoned at the neck only over a t-shirt and baggy long pants, no matter how hot it is outside begins the ensemble. A bandana, of typically significant colors dependent on the gang they associate with, around the forehead or worn as a skullcap completes the outfit. A ball cap is optional; of course if worn, it will have the logo of the gang's adopted sports team. All in an overt attempt to let everyone know without question to which gang they belong. This outfit is so important to them, that it is not uncommon to see a gang member dressed in this more appropriate for winter garb, out on the sunny beach of Southern California in the middle of July."
Abstract This paper looks at how criminal street gangs have created social disorder in various parts of the United States, prompting policymakers and politicians alike to face an unpleasant truth; they must realize the tremendous task ahead of them in preventing and suppressing gangs and their illegal and violent activities. It discusses how gangs are often of the majority of "urban minority underclass" and how they are often a result of dismal socioeconomic and social conditions. It concludes that social disorganization plays a major part in why youth of today (and even yesteryear) have and will continue to join gangs.
From the Paper "Establishing public social control in schools to help bridge the gap between police and children and help them promote a collective efficacy in their community could be the first step. The other might be that churches, schools, and afternoon programs establish specially designed programs that help keep children away from trouble. The third policy might be that peers, families or relatives help to be involved. Promoting self-awareness and trust within the community will help keep collective efficacy down. Neighbors who look out for one another have a better chance of keeping out crime. Having trust in their public servant, (i.e. the police) will establish cohesiveness between the community and police. Community-watch programs can thus be established and lower the crimes within the community because there is trust amongst the community as well as with the police and vise versa."
