ABSTRACT
What You Need to Know
■ Many studies note that delinquency is often committed in groups, and that such offending is more recognized by agents of social control.
■ There is no one accepted definition of a gang, although common elements of most definitions include persistence over time, congregating in public, self-identifying as a gang, claims over turf, and participation in illegal activity.
■ Thrasher provided one of the earliest studies on gangs and viewed them as mainly “spontaneous play groups” in lower-class areas of town.
■ Measuring the extent of gang membership is not easy and generally is reliant on reports from police or other social control agencies.
■ Most gang members are young, male, and Hispanic.
■ Despite the frequent concern that gangs are migrating from the large cities to other locations, there is little evidence of any planned migration, and most movement is actually due to chance or relocation of gang members for non-gang reasons.
■ Youths join gangs primarily for a sense of belonging, status, success, self-esteem, and cohesion.
■ While most portrayals show gangs as violent and very criminal, actual gang behavior is mainly social and noncriminal. Criminal activity, however, is an important part of gang membership.
■ Most gang violence is isolated and between gang members rather than directed at the general public.
■ Among intervention strategies with gangs, suppression is the most used but considered the least effective, while opportunities provision is the least used but considered the most effective.
■ Law enforcement/deterrent efforts to address ganging, such as the Boston Gun Project and civil injunctions, can be highly successful, but that success may last only as long as the project operates.
■ Classroom-based anti-gang programs such as G.R.E.A.T. are showing promise in limiting gang membership and altering youthful views of gang behavior, although the impact on delinquency and criminality appears limited.
