NCJ Number
148489
Date Published
1991
Length
58 pages
Annotation
This booklet provides information on gangs and gang- intervention programs designed to help communities formulate such programs that are tailored to their community characteristics and problems.
Abstract
The booklet defines a street gang as a "group of individuals who may or may not claim control over a certain territory in the community and engage, either individually or collectively, in violent or other forms of illegal or antisocial behavior." Gang types are distinguished as traditional (cultural and neighborhood); and nontraditional, which are organized for a specific criminal purpose, such as dealing drugs and committing robberies. Evidence of gang affiliation includes territory, names, nicknames, leadership, cliques and sets, membership lists, letters and correspondence, photographs, banners, school notebooks, brims of baseball caps, and tattoos. Other sections provide information on gang member characteristics, gang structure, factors that cause gangs, and how gangs are organized. Common gang myths, gang identification through dress and colors, gang graffiti, and gang hand signs are also discussed. The three recommended phases of community response to gangs are suppression, intervention, and prevention. The suppression phase is police-based and involves the identification, arrest, and incarceration of gang members. The intervention phase is community-based and focuses on working within the community to provide activities that will divert youth from gangs and gang activity. The prevention phase is school-based and emphasizes teacher training, parent training, an antigang curriculum, and crisis management. Plans for each of these phases are outlined. 12 references and sample fact sheets