The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach

by Irving A. Spergel

Overview

Every day there are new stories of gang-related crime: from the proliferation of illegal weapons in the streets and children dealing drugs in their schools, to innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of never-ending gang wars. Once considered an urban phenomenon, gang violence is permeating American life, spreading to the suburbs and bringing the problem closer to home for much of America. The government, schools, social agencies, and the justice system are conspicuous by their sporadic interest in the subject and have failed to develop effective policies and programs. Existing social support mechanisms and strategies for suppressing violence have often been unsuccessful. And, state and federal policy is largely nonexistent. In The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach, Irving Spergel provides a systematic analysis of youth gangs in the United States. Based on research, historical and comparative analysis, and agency documents and the author's extensive first-hand experience, the work explores the gang problem from the perspective of community disorganization, especially population movement, and the plight of the underclass. It examines the factors of gang member personality, gang dynamics, criminal organization, and the influence of family, school, prisons, and politics, as well as the response of criminal justice agencies and community groups. Spergel describes techniques used by social agencies, schools, employment programs, criminal justice agencies, and grass-roots organizations for dealing with gangs, and recommends strategies that emphasize the use of local resources, planning, and collaborative procedures. There is no single strategy and no easy solution to the youth gang problem in the United States. There are, however, substantial steps we can take, and they must be honestly and systematically tested. Offering a practical and alternative approach to a serious social problem, The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach is a major and long-awaited contribution to this dilemma. It is required reading for criminal justice personnel, school staff, social workers, policy makers, students and scholars of urban and organizational sociology, and the general reader concerned with the youth gang problem and how to control, intervene, and prevent it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195357868
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/01/1995
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

University of Chicago

Table of Contents

I	Description and Analysis
1.	Introduction: Comparative and Historical Perspectives	3
	Gang Problems in Other Countries and Times	3
	Gangs in the United States before the 1990s	6
	The Contemporary Gang Scene in the United States	9
2.	Research Limitations: Data Sources and Definitions	12
	The Limits of Data	12
	Solving the Definitional Problem	16
3.	Scope and Seriousness of the Gang Problem	26
	Extent of the Problem	26
	Youth Gang Violence	33
4.	Gangs, Drugs, and Violence	43
	Gang Drug Use and Trafficking: Historical Perspectives	43
	Increase in Gang Member Drug Trafficking	45
	Gang Drug Trafficking and Criminal Organization	47
	Changing Relationships of Gangs and Drug Dealing	49
	Gang Violence, Drug Use, and Drug Trafficking	50
5.	Gang Member Demographics and Gang Subcultures	55
	Demographics	55
	Gang Subcultures and Social Contexts	61
6.	The Structure of the Gang	70
	Gang Organization and Community Structure	70
	Development of Gang Organization	71
	Patterns of Organization of the Gang	74
	Evolving Gang Organization	77
	Limitations of the Idea of Gang Organization	79
	Cliques or Subgroups	81
	Types of Gang Members	83
	Leaders and Core Gang Members	85
	Territory	87
7.	The Gang Member Experience	90
	Joining the Gang	90
	Group Process	96
	Leaving the Gang	104
8.	The Ecological Context	110
	Local Context and Gang Development	111
	Family	113
	School	116
	Politics	120
	Prisons	125
9.	Youth Gangs and Organized Crime	129
	Defining Organized Crime	129
	The Evolving Youth Gang-Organized-Crime Connection	131
	Transformation of the Black Street Gang	134
	Hispanic Youth Gang-Criminal-Organization Connections	137
	Asian-American, Pacific, and Asian Gang Criminal-Organization Connections	138
II	Policy and Program
10.	Theoretical Perspectives	145
	Poverty-related Theories	145
	Social Disorganization	152
	Racism	161
	Personal Disorganization	163
11.	Planning for Youth Gang Control and Violence Reduction	171
	Historical Considerations	171
	Elements of a Community Planning and Mobilization Process	178
12.	Criminal Justice System: The Police	189
	Suppression: "Recent" Traditional Law Enforcement Approaches	189
	Emerging Police Approach	199
13.	Prosecution, Defense, and the Judiciary	208
	The Specialized Prosecution Strategy	209
	Defense Attorneys	216
	Court Attention to the Problem	219
14.	Probation, Corrections, and Parole--After Care	229
	Probation	230
	Corrections	235
	Parole--After Care	243
15.	Social Intervention	247
	Traditional Approaches: Street-Gang Work	248
	Recent Innovative Approaches	256
16.	Social Opportunities: Education and Jobs	262
	Macro Level Educational Perspective	263
	Local School Programs	267
	Macro Level Employment Perspective	272
	Local Employment	277
17.	Local Community Mobilization and Evolving National Policy	281
	Local Citizen and Organization Mobilization	281
	State-Level Mobilization	287
	Need for National Policy	290
Appendix A.	Community Mobilization/Planning: Selected Structure and Process Summary	297
Appendix B.	Nature and Level of Youth Gang Member Problems to Be Addressed	299
Appendix C.	Selected Strategic Activities/Structures for Particular Settings (Organizations)	301
	Glossary and Discussion of Terms	309
	References	313
	Index	337

Editorial Reviews

"Likely to be a basic resource for students of youth gangs for some time to come."—Choice

"The book provides a comprehensive and insightful theoretical examination of youth gang problems, related phenomena, and alternative explanations. It also provides and extensive and current description and analysis of the policies and strategies that are being used to deal with gang problems in the community. I enthusiastically recommend it to students of criminal justice in general and of juvenile delinquency in particular."—Dr. Amnon Lazar, University of Haifa, Israel

"This is not "another" book on youth gangs. It is a descriptive, scholarly, and thought-provoking treatise on the proliferation of youth violence, gang membership, gang mobility, and the mandatory responses of government, the criminal justice system, and social agencies...Adds a major contribution to our knowledge of crimingla interaction patterns and techniques...Spergel has written an organized and scholarly piece...Rich in theory and practical application."—Journal of Criminal Justice

"This book is the product of a lifetime of research and action by one of the most senior scholars in this field. The author's long involvement with gang interventions provides welcome depth and judgment in categorizing and assessing these efforts."—American Journal of Sociology

From the Publisher