NCJ Number
211192
Date Published
2005
Length
66 pages
Annotation
This report explores how gangs affect Latino communities in Minnesota.
Abstract
While gangs are not an element of Latino culture, gang involvement has become a significant problem in Latino communities in the United States, with a 1998 National Youth Gang Survey reporting that Hispanics/Latinos comprised the majority of gang members nationwide. This report pulls together multiple voices from a broad cross-section of individuals (youths, teachers, small business owners, and policymakers) all of whom are Latino or have strong ties to the Latinos communities in Minnesota and all of whom acted as key informants on gang issues. The focus of the report was to learn why young people join gangs, what their experiences of gangs entail, and how others can learn from those experiences. The findings revealed that among the Latino youth, gangs were part of the everyday life experience in Minnesota yet their parents were perceived as either unwilling or unable to interfere in the gang problem. The report provides both adult and youth perspectives of why kids join gangs and dissects the distance that gang involvement creates between youths and their families, schools, and wider communities. Finally, the report offers perspectives on the roles that policymakers, police, schools, community organizations, parents, and youth have in gang prevention. Tables, boxes, footnotes, appendixes, references