This publication updates the bibliography of gang research maintained at the National Gang Center.
This bibliography, published with the support of funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) of the Department of Justice, gathers resources that could provide guidance and support in preventing and controlling gang violence and updates the gang bibliography maintained at the National Gang Center. The intended audience is state and local juvenile and criminal justice officials and legislators, school administrators, and concerned citizens. In addition, the Office of Justice Programs can use this bibliography to guide researchers who wish to submit applications—to explain more succinctly how their proposed search could add knowledge and best practices to the existing body of gang research. The authors hope this gang research bibliography will help substantiate and expedite the work of all assiduous gang researchers. The impetus for generating an up-to-date bibliography of gang research emanated from the National Gang Center’s recognition several years ago that gang problems in the United States were not diminishing, and it was apparent that state and local governments needed more assistance with growing gang activity. The enormous body of youth and street gang research generated to date has greatly enhanced our understanding of gang origins, expansion, ongoing criminal activity, and the successes and failures of gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies and programs. Thus, OJJDP can use this bibliography to advance the work of gang researchers who are prepared to launch new studies that would expand the existing body of gang research.