Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership, Chapter 3. What Is the Role of Public Health in Gang-Membership Prevention? (From Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership, P 31-49, 2013, Thomas R. Simon, Nancy M. Ritter, and Reshma R. Mahendra, eds. - See NCJ-239234)

• NCJ Number: 243467
• Author(s): Tamara M. Haegerich; James Mercy; Billie Weiss
• Date Published: 2013
• Length: 20 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Issue Overview; Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter promotes and explains the role of public-health agencies in working with law enforcement agencies to prevent youth from joining gangs.

Abstract

Although youth gangs have been viewed as a criminal justice problem rather than a public health problem, the public-health sector can play an important role in monitoring trends in gang violence, researching risk and protective factors linked to joining gangs, evaluating the impacts of preventive interventions, and supporting the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies in complementing law-enforcement strategies. Many communities do not have a comprehensive strategy for preventing gang membership that includes the research and practice of public health departments. It is critical, however, to establish interdisciplinary collaboration among partners in multiple sectors concerned about challenges to positive youth development. This includes sectors related to health, education, criminal justice, labor, and urban planning. Because of its focus on improving community health, public-health agencies are uniquely positioned to initiate partnerships, encourage collaboration across disciplines and sectors, and develop and evaluate comprehensive strategies for preventing gang membership. Key challenges in initiating and expanding the role of public-health agencies in preventing gang membership include a lack of attention to primary prevention, an underdeveloped system for supporting and sustaining preventive interventions and programs, a lack of uniform definitions and data system that can adequately monitor the gang problem, and limited attention to the underlying environmental and societal forces that drive the proliferation of gang involvement. Because of tight budgets for government-sponsored services, it is important that the multiple sectors concerned about youth gangs pool their personnel and financial resources in the development, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive strategies for preventing youth from joining gangs. 1 figure and 21 chapter notes