Everything You Need to Know About Street Gangs

Everything You Need to Know About Street Gangs
Author: Evan Stark, Ph.D.
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Total Pages: 72
Release: 1999-12-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780823933051

Examines the phenomenon of street gangs, the reasons people join them, the danger they can hold, and ways of avoiding getting involved with them.

Indigenous Women and Street Gangs

Indigenous Women and Street Gangs
Author: Amber
Publisher: University of Alberta
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2021
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1772125490

"Amber, Bev, Chantel, Jazmyne, Faith, and Jorgina are six Indigenous women previously involved in street gangs or the street lifestyle in Saskatoon, Regina, and Calgary. In collaboration with Indigenous Studies scholar Robert Henry (Métis), they share their stories using photovoice, an emancipatory research process where participants are understood to be the experts of their own experiences. Each photograph in Indigenous Women and Street Gangs was selected and placed in order to show how the authors have changed with their experiences. Following their photographs, the authors each share a narrative that begins with their earliest memory and continues to the present. Together the photographs and narratives bring a deeper meaning to the women's lived realities. Throughout, these women show us the meaning of survivance, a process of resistance, resurgence, and growth. While often difficult to read, the narratives shared by Amber, Bev, Chantel, Jazmyne, Faith, and Jorgina are direct, explicit, sensitive, and imbued with hope and humour. They provide unparalleled insight into the lives of these women and break all kinds of stereotypes along the way."--

Street Gang Patterns and Policies

Street Gang Patterns and Policies
Author: Malcolm W. Klein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2010-04-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0199890102

In the past two decades, many prevention and suppression programs have been initiated on a national and local level to combat street gangs--but what do we really know about them? Why do youths join them? Why do they proliferate? Street Gang Patterns and Policies is a crucial update and critical examination of our understanding of gangs and major gang-control programs across the nation. Often perceived solely as an urban issue, street gangs are also a suburban and rural dilemma. Klein and Maxson focus on gang proliferation, migration, and crime patterns, and highlight known risk factors that lead to youths form and join gangs within communities. Dispelling the long-standing assumptions that the public, the media, and law enforcement have about street gangs, they present a comprehensive overview of how gangs are organized and structured. The authors assess the major gang programs across the nation and argue that existing prevention, intervention, and suppression methods targeting individuals, groups, and communities, have been largely ineffective. Klein and Maxson close by offering valuable policy guidelines for practitioners on how to intervene and control gangs more successfully. Filling an important gap in the literature on street gangs and social control, this book is a must-read for criminologists, social workers, policy makers, and criminal justice practitioners.

Gang Leader for a Day

Gang Leader for a Day
Author: Sudhir Venkatesh
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2008-01-10
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1440631891

A New York Times Bestseller "A rich portrait of the urban poor, drawn not from statistics but from vivid tales of their lives and his, and how they intertwined." —The Economist "A sensitive, sympathetic, unpatronizing portrayal of lives that are ususally ignored or lumped into ill-defined stereotype." —Finanical Times Foreword by Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics When first-year graduate student Sudhir Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects, he hoped to find a few people willing to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty--and impress his professors with his boldness. He never imagined that as a result of this assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade embedded inside the projects under JT’s protection. From a privileged position of unprecedented access, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of his gang as they operated their crack-selling business, made peace with their neighbors, evaded the law, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang’s complex hierarchical structure. Examining the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, and often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone, Gang Leader for a Day also tells the story of the complicated friendship that develops between Venkatesh and JT--two young and ambitious men a universe apart. Sudhir Venkatesh’s latest book Floating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York’s Underground Economy—a memoir of sociological investigation revealing the true face of America’s most diverse city—is also published by Penguin Press.

The History of Street Gangs in the United States

The History of Street Gangs in the United States
Author: James C. Howell
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2015-06-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1498511333

This book is an historical account of the emergence of youth gangs and the transformation of these into street gangs in the United States. The author traces the emergence of these gangs in the four major geographical regions over the span of two centuries, from the early 1800s to 2012. The author’s authoritative analysis explains gang emergence and expansion from play groups to heavily armed street gangs responsible for a large proportion of urban crimes, including drive-by shootings that often kill innocent bystanders. Nationwide, street gangs now account for 1 in 6 homicides each year, and for 1 in 4 in very large cities. In recent years, the number of gangs, gang members, and gang homicides increased, even though the U.S. has seen a sharp drop in violent and property crimes over the past decade. The author’s historical analysis reveals the key contributing factors to transformation of youth gangs, including social disorganization that occurred following large-scale immigration early in American history and urban policies that pushed minorities to inner city areas and public housing projects. This analysis includes the influence of prison gangs on street gangs. The first generation of prison gangs emerged spontaneously in response to dangers inside prisons. The second generation was for many years extensions of street gangs that grew enormously during the 1980s and 1990s, particularly in large urban areas in which public housing projects have served as incubators for street gangs. The third generation of prison gangs is extremely active in street-level criminal enterprises in varied forms, often highly structured and well managed organizations that are actively involved in drug trafficking. In recent years, returning inmates are a predominant influence on local gang violence. Now, prison gangs and street gangs often work together in street-level criminal enterprises. This book identifies the most promising ways that gang violence can be reduced. The best long-term approach is a combination of gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies and programs. Targeted suppression of gang violence is imperative. Street-workers that serve as violence interrupters can break the cycle of contagious gang violence.

Gangs

Gangs
Author: Anna Collins
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2019-07-15
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 1534567569

Gangs have both worried and fascinated Americans for many years, but gangs are not a uniquely American problem; they can be found all over the world, from Sweden to Japan. Most of what people learn about gangs through movies and television does not reflect the reality researchers have discovered through firsthand studies of gang life. The detailed main text, informative charts, annotated quotes from experts, and full-color photographs explore this reality and various social factors that allow gangs to arise. With this knowledge, young adults can identify areas where they can make a difference in their own communities.

Understanding Street Gangs

Understanding Street Gangs
Author: Robert K. Jackson
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2000
Genre: Gang prevention
ISBN: 9780942728170

UNDERSTANDING STREET GANGS offers a unique and pioneering approach to the street and prison gang dilemma and provides both local and national perspective. This popular book is used by colleges, universities, and academies, and also for advanced officer training throughout the country. The authors are leading authorities on gang activities. No other book offers such insight or understanding into this escalating threat. It covers causative factors, family structure and profiles, socioeconomic pressures, and drugs. It also defines gangs, membership, structure and organization, communication, and measurements of gang violence, offers perspective on gang activity, and suggests possible solutions.

Gangs and Law Enforcement

Gangs and Law Enforcement
Author: Linda M. Schmidt
Publisher: Charles C Thomas Publisher
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0398077495

"Gangs are on the rise again." This portent of trouble comes from the FBI'S expert on gangs, Linda Schmidt. Today, there are over 30,000 gangs across America and over 800,000 gang members. Gangs are savvy and scarier than ever. Their firepower, military background and lack of restraint have made some city centers too dangerous to patrol. As gang power grows, knowledge is the best antidote and the best inducement to corrective actions. The interviews, street wisdom and advice that are used throughout this book show its heavy dose of reality. Specialist Linda Schmidt goes deep into gang territory without a badge or gun. She uses a lethal mix of wily street smarts, courage, and determination. She possesses the secret weapons of confidence and caring, and the unnerving manner and moral compass of a grandmother. There are very few in law enforcement who have gotten so far beneath the surface of gang life. Linda can look at a wall of graffiti and read the hieroglyphics that predict an impending murder. She has leaned over unidentified corpses on the cold steel of the coroner's table and told their life story by interpreting the codes of their tattoos. Linda's book is a crucial primer for anyone who needs to learn the customs and codes of the gang world. She brings you systematically through the anthropology, psychology and pathology of the gang culture. This book is not an ideology approach but rather a practical book with a set of steps to follow. It provides specific advice and ideas for actions. Interviews, photos, experiences and case studies are included to make the book much more user-friendly to prosecutors, police and corrections officials. One of the goals of this book is to provide all law enforcement (local, state, and federal) with a method for working together to get the best results when dealing with gang cases. It will make law enforcers sit up and take notice. This book will get real results in a short time if it's carefully explained advice is heeded.

The Re-Evolution of American Street Gangs

The Re-Evolution of American Street Gangs
Author: Dale L. June
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2015-09-25
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 149876651X

The problem of gangs and gang subculture is a growing threat to the stability of neighborhoods and entire communities. During the past two decades, gang members have increasingly migrated from large urban centers to suburban areas and other countries. This book addresses the intricacies and diversities of street gangs, drawing on the expertise of high-ranking law enforcement officials monitoring terrorist activity and gang-related crimes as well as professional private investigators who have spent several decades investigating gangs and learning their subculture, lifestyle, motivations, and relationships. Ideal for supplemental reading in gang violence courses on criminal justice, sociology, law, and psychology, this comprehensive anthology presents thorough coverage of a notoriously difficult subject. It explores the following key topics: Social, psychological, and criminal impact of street gangs on juveniles Psychology of gang membership and the pathways that lead into and out of gang culture Relationship between religion and dangerous criminal gangs How U.S.-based gangs are using technology to advance their operations Use of graffiti by street gangs Evolution of gangs and recommendations for preventing future growth Gang enhancement crimes and associated misconduct of police and prosecutors Like any type of crime, street gang criminal activity cannot be totally eliminated. This book aims to provide a better understanding of gangs so that we can influence today’s potential gang members to make the right decisions for their sake and the sake of society.

Street Gangs Throughout the World

Street Gangs Throughout the World
Author: Herbert Covey
Publisher: Charles C Thomas Publisher
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2021-07-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0398093725

This new third edition provides an update on what is known about street gangs throughout the world and summarizes some of the major works on street gang phenomena. It focuses on those countries that have a greater presence in the literature. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of street gangs throughout the world. Chapter 2 identifies some of the challenges faced by scholars when studying gangs in different countries. Chapter 3 reviews some of the basic research on street gangs in the United States and Canada. Chapter 4 covers what is known about street gangs in Europe and Russia. Chapter 5 reviews the literature on street gangs in one of the hottest areas of the world for gangs, Central America. In addition, this chapter examines South American and Caribbean gangs. Street gangs in Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad, and other countries are covered. The presence of street gangs and gang violence in these and other countries has been identified as a major factor in the mass migration of refugees to the United States. Chapter 6 reports on the street gangs of Africa. Research on gangs in South Africa goes back decades and the country has a unique history on how gangs evolved. Other countries, such as Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya are developing a body of literature that highlights the distinctive nature of gangs and gang members in these countries. Chapter 7 addresses street gangs in Asia, including China, India, Hong Kong (post-reunification), Japan, and other countries. This chapter provides rare glimpses of gangs in China, a relatively secretive country. Although different in many ways from gangs in Asia, information is also included here about gangs in Australia and New Zealand. Practitioners in the criminal justice and juvenile justice fields will find this book to be a valuable resource.