Outcomes of the Gang Violence Reduction Project

• NCJ Number: 187763
• Journal: On Good Authority Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2000 Pages: 1-4
• Author(s): Irving A. Spergel Ph.D.; Kwai Ming Wa M.S.
• Date Published: August 2000
• Length: 4 pages
• Grant Number(s): 92-DB-CX-0017; 93-DB-CX-0017; 94-DB-CX-0017; 95-DB-VX-0017; 96-DB-MU-0017; 97-DB-MU-0017
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Description of the gang violence reduction project is presented in NCJ-187765.

Annotation

This article reports some of the findings of a gang violence reduction project.

Abstract

The project began operating in mid-1992 and continued through mid-1997. It targeted two major hard-core violent gang constellations. Underlying the project's structure was the assumption that gang problems, especially serious violence, occur in response to community social disorganization and lack of avenues of social opportunities. The project focused on having social organizations and representatives of the local community work together to de-isolate, socially assist, and control young gang members so they could participate in legitimate mainstream activities. Youth in the program sample generally reduced and/or lowered their level of arrests for violence and drug crime in relation to youth in a comparison sample in the program period. Program youth also showed greater reduction in arrests that typically characterize police tactics for dealing with young gang members, i.e., mob action, disorderly conduct, gang loitering and obstruction of justice. Serious offenders in the program group experienced a greater reduction in crime levels than serious offenders in comparison groups. Figure