NCJ Number
147632
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: (1964) Pages: 152-156
Date Published
1964
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines ethical issues for those who work with street gangs.
Abstract
As a new technique for the control of juvenile delinquency, work with street gangs poses difficult legal and ethical issues. Since effective street work is based on the development of trust and confidence between the worker and the gang members with whom he is involved, the worker often has knowledge of their offenses. Disclosure of such information to the police impairs the development of trust, and nondisclosure creates the ethical problem of abetting delinquency and the legal problem of accessory after the fact. Two proposed resolutions of this dilemma are acceptance that the dilemma is unavoidable and extension of the right of privileged communication to the social work profession. The author suggests a third solution, based on the fact that the ethical and legal dilemma encountered in street gang work stems from the worker's own ambiguity regarding observance of the law. On the assumption that the younger, less criminally sophisticated groups are the more appropriate targets of street work, the worker's unqualified commitment to observance of the law supports rather than impedes his work with gangs.