NCJ Number
162952
Date Published
Unknown
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Southeast Asian youth gangs are a significant problem in Dallas and the United States and require action both to reduce the spread of violence involving refugee youth and the impact of escalating public opinion against refugee immigration.
Abstract
Asian gang members have assaulted, threatened, and harassed merchants and invaded homes and terrorized their victims. The Asian community often perceives the police as insensitive and unable to control crime and regards the criminal justice system as favoring the criminal over the victim. Compounding these issues is the reluctance of Federal resettlement agencies to share information and resources with local governments and service providers while engaging in concentrated resettlement policies, resulting in a burgeoning underclass of people with complex needs that are not being met. Needed actions include the establishment of refugee coalitions; the decentralization of local governments through the establishment of storefront units within communities; community meetings with workshops focusing on parenting, gang prevention, and other topics; and classes sponsored by school districts in these storefronts, apartments, and shopping malls. Other actions should include steps to identify, prevent, and stop acts of racism; visual and interactive teaching strategies; translation of school correspondence and crime prevention literature; the involvement of refugee youth in cocurricular activities to help develop leadership skills and knowledge of community problems and resources; and recruitment of Southeast Asians as teachers and public service officers. 8 references