Transcript Gangs and delinquency

Gangs
Role of the police
Definition
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No one definition
Common elements
Persistence over time
Appearing in a group publicly
Self-Identification as a gang
Symbols
Claims over turf and criminal activity
Gangs
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Over 26000 gangs, 780,000 gang members
(broad estimates, usually based on police data)
Traditionally common in urban slum areas
Migration to smaller communities? Occurring,
does not appear to be planned
Provides sense of belonging, status, success,
self-esteem and cohesion, protection
Studies
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Thrasher (1920s)
Cloward and Ohlin (1960s)
Do gangs cause delinquency?
Recruitment of already delinquent youth
Or, do gangs make it easier to become
delinquent?
Increase in violence in gang, esp. lethal
Studies
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Considerable drug use
Sale of drugs for profit varies from gang to
gang
Increase in autonomous female gangs
Traditional: “auxiliary” groups
Increase in females as members of
predominantly male gangs
Interventions
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Suppression (CJS)
Intervention: detached workers, outreach
workers, social work orientation
Organizational change: units that deal with
gangs that are specialized, trained (often
police)
Community organization: community
mobilization, outgrowth of social
disorganization theory
Interventions
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Opportunity: providing alternative
opportunities to gang members
Suppression: Harsher penalties, making gang
activities a crime, not particularly effective
Detached workers: rather mixed results
Gang units: an evaluation indicated that police
actually receive little training
Interventions: GREAT
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Gang Resistance education and training
Sme positive results: better attitudes toward
police, more negative views of gangs, less
victimization, less risky behaviors
However, gang participation was not reduced
Gang units
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Most focus on intelligence gathering and
description and investigations of crimes
committed by gangs. Not particularly
effective
Boston Gun project: targeted firearms among
gang members—if a gang member commits a
crime with a gun, all members are given
increased attention (stop and question,
Gang units
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Loitering ordinances, check on probationers
and paroles, (legal harrassment)