NCJ Number
148553
Date Published
1991
Length
80 pages
Annotation
This guide was written to help counselors and other professionals become more familiar with identifying factors associated with the street juvenile gang culture.
Abstract
The author notes that gang members are often underachievers with no real sense of identity; the gang provides a way for them to make money and gain power. Because different norms and rules prevail in the gang culture, the guide is designed to make counselors more aware of how to detect clients who are involved in gang activities and to help counselors refer gang members to the appropriate agencies. The guide covers gang structure; gang identifiers, such as clothing, graffiti, colors, and hand signs; and specific gangs (Disciplines, Vice Lords, Crips, and Bloods). The guide includes a checklist to help identify gang members. Factors that cause some youth, particularly troubled adolescents, to become gang members are discussed, as well as social learning theory, the effect of broken homes on juvenile delinquency, differences between male and female delinquency, and peer group influences on gang members. Procedures for conducting clinical interviews with gang members are described, and an interview form is included. Stages in becoming a gang member are identified, a counseling approach to gang members and substance abusers is detailed, and a questionnaire designed to detect children at risk for gang activity is provided. References and figures