ABSTRACT
Youth gangs are an important focus of contemporary research into youth crime and delinquency due to the fact that gang-affiliated youths are responsible for a disproportionate amount of serious and violent criminal offences with their concomitant social, legal, and criminal justice costs. This chapter illustrates the origins of triad societies and the "evolution" of youth gangs in Singapore. It reviews the research on youth gangs in Singapore and discusses the rehabilitation strategies within the local context. Gang-affiliated youth offenders engage in a wide variety of criminal activities, including but not limited to violent and drug offences. As Singapore moved towards self-governance and independence, the hard-line stance towards triad societies was maintained. As with most countries around the world, youth violence is a major concern in Singapore. Triads and secret societies are considered organised crime groups that are constituted mainly for economic gains through criminal activities and operate as a whole group rather than subsets.
