Youth Gangs Running Head: Youth Gangs

Youth Gangs Author's Name Institute's Name

2 Abstract This research paper has been written in order to explore the youth gangs operating in the United Kingdom, London being the focus. It attempts to evaluate various factors that motivate a youth to join a gang in addition to this; it also tries to see different perspective by also interviewing not only the youth involved in gangs but also the youth who are not involved in gangs as well as the youth workers. Chapter 1 Introduction The "gang problem," and our society's attempts at controlling the more violent aspects of youthful delinquency and crime, has preoccupied ordinary Americans, law enforcement officials, researchers, and youth specialists for generations. Philosophers, such as Nietzsche, and even the ancient Greeks, most notably, Plato and Aristotle, were no exception to this concern, as they pondered the problems of youth and how to socialize and inculcate in the young the values of the community. As early as 1555, England struggled with control of the "ragged classes": the destitute, handicapped, vagrant, orphaned and delinquent youth (Brake 1985). Today, gangs, drugs, and guns severely complicate society's efforts at social control of young people. In the nineteenth century, Nietzsche (1969) asked the poignant question: What happens when the social contract, the written and unwritten rules of society, no longer has meaning or promise for the young persons living in marginal circumstances? The social "instinct," the notion of striving to be an important and valued member of one's community, does not simply wither away. Those individuals who have been cast aside, aware that they are not respected, still have a "will to power" (Nietzsche's phrase) and will seek other channels to exercise their demands

Youth Gangs for empowerment and inclusion. "Everyone wants to have power over their world," rapper Ice-T (1995) argues in "The Killing Fields," even if it requires the total negation of the larger community. Gangs were born out of this chaos--the inner city. When you grow up in London, and you've never had anything in your life you control, you seek control.

Gangs offer you ultimate control to do what you want. Just getting that for a minute is very intoxicating. Gang members are out there trying to control their own little world. It's only a little tiny block they live in for years, and in some cases their entire lives. It's theirs. That becomes their whole world. Everyone wants to have power over their world. In this sense, gangs reflect the unravelling of community in favour of competitive relations between micro life worlds; a life strategy, we argue, that is calculated for self- and other destruction. It is useful to retain the concept of community as we explore a parallel construct of the "pseudo community." Briefly, the community embraces the idea of a social group whose members live in a specific locality, share institutions and governance, have a common heritage, experience a sense of mutuality, and in viable communities, care for one another. In the sociological sense, the term community evokes images of security and familiarity. A community is also characterized by diversity: variations in population, social and occupational groups, and interest groups, which combine to create a social organization of common character.

4 Chapter 2 Literature Review History of gangs in the UK The gang as pseudo community has adapted some of the familiar institutions of society, such as work/business/money activities, extended family structures, social relationships, and fraternal organizations' rituals and membership rules. The gang, however, has restructured this apparatus into a quasi-tribal or pre-modern social organization that mimics a feudal economic order. For example, with some exceptions, much of the "feuding" between gangs is organized around "turf," or areas demarcated as one gang's territory or boundary. The gang's attempt to create parallel social, economic, educational, and political structures to replace those its individual members believe they have lost--or, more likely, never had--has failed. A widely recognized gang characteristic includes alienation from the traditional foundations of community--home, school, work, as well as adult and elderly role models and associates--which serves to isolate the gang, rendering it apart from the fabric of society. This chapter examines the methods by which youth and street gangs seek to create a sense of community. Gangs are formed from the commonalities of ethnic identity, neighbourhood residence, language, cultural background, financial pursuits, hobbies, economic deprivation, close associations built upon interests, affiliation, hierarchical relationships, gender, or age--considered together, these could conceivably fashion a community. But a community is also about caring for its members--providing a collective sense of security; offering opportunities to earn a livelihood on a sustained basis; and ensuring the durability of the community for future generations. At this point, the lack of fit with the community concept is pronounced.

Youth Gangs We first draw upon the widely cited definition of gangs by Malcolm Klein (1999, 13), a distinguished researcher of gang life. A gang is any identifiable group of youngsters who (a) are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others in their neighbourhood, (b) recognize themselves as a distinct group (almost invariably with a group name), and (c) have been involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighbourhood residents and/or law enforcement agencies. The second part of this definition has been expanded by Vigil (1990, 61) in his discussion of the marginalization of ethnic minority youth, who actively seek a "sense of belonging." Some of his gang

informants drew almost exclusively upon the gang for their sense of self and place in the social order, although this identity varied with the individuals' commitment to the gang (p. 62). The unique distinguishing feature of this expressive culture, Fleisher adds, is its fatalistic ritualism predicated on a "mythology of death." In fact, funerals are the only events at which all members of a gang gather together (Fleisher 1995, 143). Defining young gang members Teenage gang members in the London metropolitan area purchase their own coffins, decorate them with gang graffiti, and pose inside the coffin for "death photographs." In addition to group rules, leadership structure, internal sanctions, initiation and exit rituals (e.g., especially death), Fleisher contends that the intergenerational nature of gangs--the gang lasts more than one generation, or put another way, gangs do survive beyond their membership--be recognized as the distinctive gang feature. This quality, above all, separates delinquent groups from neighbourhood gangs (Fleisher 1995).

6 Rather than creating community, many gangs in the 1990s represent the antithesis: undermining community through alienation, random violence and law breaking, and their numbers are growing. Precise counts of gangs are difficult to determine, as police contact is the basis for obtaining statistical crime data. And who is a member of the gang may vary with the purposes and methods for defining "gangs". Another perspective, subculture theory, lends credence to the pseudo community notion we have proposed. The subculture concept earlier dominated the study of gangs, and continues to offer insights into gang formation. Theorists stress that some environments are characterized by atypical, criminogenic values and normative systems, making deviant behaviour more or less normal in that setting. These environments effectively prevent gang members from integrating into the dominant society, as well as causing open or covert conflicts. Subculture theory offers a rich mine of studies on gangs. Youth criminal subcultures comprise boys from poor and ethnic backgrounds who perceive few or no legitimate opportunities and live in low-resourced families and communities. Factors that contribute to youths joining gangs The gang serves as an alternative to rejection. The gang as subculture represents a collective response to a shared problem. Fleisher (1995, 149) sees few benefits in such subcultures. Instead, he notes that "gangs are a visual symbol of depraved families," the outcome of intra-community poverty and society's political and economic neglect. Although it could be argued that no two gangs are alike, a number of characteristics appear consistently in a gang member's profile. Ethnicity strongly factors into gang membership, particularly if the individual is a member of an ethnic

Youth Gangs group that has experienced significant difficulty and discrimination in work, housing, residence, income and socioeconomic status, education, language, or other social

indicator. Typically, the minority gang youth's family is poor or underemployed. If the family has recently immigrated to the United Kingdom, the parent or parents may be preoccupied with financial survival and may not have time or attention to devote to the youth. Age is a critical variable in youth gang membership. Typically, gang members are between ten to twenty-two years of age, but children as young as five and adults (less frequently) up to age thirty-two have been reported to be involved in gangs. Contemporary theorists have added other dimensions. Bursik and Grasmick (1993) perceptively argue that "interstitial" refers to a geographic locality in cities; "interstitial" neighbourhoods are adjacent to the central business district and the more-upscale neighbourhoods. Characterized by high residential mobility and marked urban decay, in recent years, urban "renewal" has resulted in high-rise housing primarily for low-income households and the construction of freeways. In this way the city has created virtual boundaries guaranteeing the institutionalization of poverty in urban neighbourhoods and the effective isolation of their hapless residents. The young captured in these neighbourhoods are among the most impoverished of all age groups. Nationally, one of every three children lives in poverty; in inner-city areas, one of every two children is condemned to poverty. It is not surprising, given the high concentration of persons in poverty, neighbourhoods in distress and decay, and a perception of the intractability of one's personal circumstances, that the impetus for adolescent crime is in place. Is delinquency the primary motive for gang membership? Sociologists disagree. Delinquency may be the by-product of intense peer relationships among

8 adolescents, who typically are high-end risk-takers. Some of the factors that contribute to youths joining gangs are the following. First, gang membership confers status and identity for the young person, often with the added attraction of standing out from the crowd with gang insignia, colors, nomenclature, language, hand signals, and the like. Second, gang membership can provide the youth with the feeling of being protected from harm, because he or she typically lives in a gang-prone neighbourhood and will surely be at-risk from other rival gangs. Gang ideology is infused with de facto contractual obligations of the gang to support individual members if attacked, and to provide backup for retaliatory attacks if wrongdoing by other individuals or gangs is perpetrated against the member. Third, the gang "promises" to be the substitute for the family, offering support and safety. The youthful gang member may never have experienced an interpersonal relationship offering affiliation and acceptance. Hence, even the meager version the youth experiences in a gang could be the most significant experience the youth has encountered. Fourth, the specter of threats to the youth's physical safety often make the gang appear to be the only "safe haven" to which he can turn when repeated intimidation takes place via practices, such as stealing personal expense money or physical assault. Research on youth gangs in London The search for gang numbers remains an inexact science. It has been estimated that London has at least 50,000 gang members Malcolm Klein (1995) asserts that nearly 800 towns and cities in U.K. have gangs. In London, street gangs thrive in 15 areas, with over 200 gangs. Orvis (1996) calculates that there are more

Youth Gangs than 100,000 youth gangs with a combined membership of over 1,000,000 juveniles and adults in the United Kingdom. Studies suggest a statistical profile that reflects

actual numbers reported by survey respondents. Bear in mind that the nation's gang crime problem is underestimated because many cities do not have the capacity to compile statistics and to report on gang-crime activity. A research yields a total of 8,625 gangs with 378,807 members and a total of 437,066 gang-related crimes. Malcolm Klein (1999) also emphasizes the precipitous increase in gang-involved cities from 54 cities in 1961 up to 766 cities in 1999 that reported gangs, a multiplier effect of 14 times the original number of gangs over a thirty-year period. What has struck researchers of late is the rapidly increasing numbers of gangs in settings other than urban areas. Specifically, in suburban, small town, and even remote rural areas, such as Indian reservations, gang activity has been found. Gangs have been initiated by youth who have never been exposed to urban environments. Instead, they draw upon other sources, such as "pop" music, movies, advertisements, or other media coverage of the gang phenomenon (M. Klein 1999).

Differences between male and female gangs A number of scholars has examined the complex relationships of young women involved with delinquency and gangs. Until the last ten to fifteen years, the subject has been largely dismissed by male scholars in sociology and criminology, and has been generally treated with prurience and sensationalism in the media. The 1992 NIJ National Gang Survey reported ninety-nine independent female gangs spread over thirty-five law enforcement jurisdictions. Estimates of female gang

10 membership in New York City range between eight thousand and forty-thousand members, 10 percent of whom are female (Campbell 1995). Like male members, they become active in their early teens, and may maintain gang membership into their thirties. Many have children, and although marriage is not commonplace, neither is it rare. Campbell (1995) asserts that traditional scholarship in female gangs has mythologized the roles taken by such girls. A primary myth is that girls join gangs for upward mobility. Despite their lower-working-class status, these young women are basically choice makers, determined to improve upon their family's circumstances. Middle-class values and lifestyles include postponing the fulfilment of immediate wants in favor of future goals and making an effort to improve oneself. Girls envision marrying for love, having a supportive husband for bearing the burden of raising the children, and living well. These girls have been viewed as "dabbling" in gangs, as part of an adolescent phase, but eventually left behind as the virtuous role of "good girl" takes over. The other prong of the gang girl myth is that she is "bad." She holds no illusions about her socioeconomic status and the lack of opportunities it affords. She is likely to have performed poorly in school, particularly if English was not the language spoken in the home. The struggle for money is relentless, and she is taunted by television stories of the wealthy and prominent, but knows this will never materialize for her unless she "wins the lotto." Being "bad" provides an outlet, a diversion from the monotony of her life and that of her friends. Possessions and partying are major preoccupations. Authority figures provide opportunities to prove toughness and control in challenging situations. With both female stereotypes, males figure prominently. With the "good" girls,

Youth Gangs they compete as peers, fighting with the boys, backing them up. Gang girls are stereotyped as "tomboys," even taking up criminal activity, such as robbery. The

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major difference between the two--and they are both engaged in promiscuous sexual liaisons--is that the former maintains heraffiliative relationships with other females, whereas the "bad" girl, now denigrated into a "sex object," focuses exclusively upon male relationships. This restrictive role portrayal does justice to no one, for, according to Campbell (1995), These types of roles tend to suggest a no-win situation for gang girls. As Sex Objects, they are cheap women rejected by other girls, parents, social workers, and ironically often by the boys themselves. As Tomboys, they are resented by boys and ridiculed by family and friends who wait patiently for them to "grow out of it." (p. 70) Among lower-class women, the "independent woman," as often as not, raises her children in an all-female household. In so doing, she becomes the target of government, academic, and media concern by those who accuse her of rearing a new cycle of delinquents or, if she works, of ousting the male from the labor force by taking low wages. Clearly, female participants in gangs share some of the characteristics of male gang actors. However, there are some factors that may offer additional explanations for why young women are attracted to gangs and gang violence. First, there has been a significant increase in gang activity, particularly in areas outside the major population centres. As gangs grow, more young people are drawn into gang activity: siblings, friends, and sweethearts. Girls are urged to consider themselves equal to boys, and a significant amount of their male points of reference are comprised of relationships that are grounded in abuse and violence. It is not merely

12 physical abuse; it is overwhelmingly sexual abuse. In Seattle's King County juvenile lock-up, a recent survey found that 98 percent of incarcerated girls, compared to 65 percent of boys so detained, were victimized sexually. James Washington, a gang intervention specialist in London perceptively observed: "Girls are continuing the pecking order. They've been abused by men, their families, and society, so they're busting out" However, just 13 percent of felonies, such as assault, weapons charges or robbery, were committed by young women. In London in 1993, females were 17 percent of all youth incarcerated in juvenile detention. These numbers, however, have been stable over the last ten years. Girls who engage in high-risk sexual behaviour experience a gender-specific exploitation not encountered by male gang members. For example, girls can be invited to join a gang to be primarily sexual outlets for the males, or in more extreme cases, to work as prostitutes to generate income for the gang. In a few cases, girls refusing to be so degraded were violated sexually with objects by other female gang members. The female gang members interviewed in London took a traditional view of females in gangs: Those who could fight and "hold their own" were accorded more respect (a male gang construct). Those who used more conventional means to gain acceptance, sexual willingness and availability, were accorded less respect, or no respect whatever. The lines are stark. One girl, aged 21, revealed the following: There are two ways girls get into gangs. She comes in as a slut, or she comes in as a home-girl. If she wants to jump from homeboy to homeboy, then she's going to be seen as a slut. But no one's forcing her. Her sister added, "Don't these girls think about what they're doing?"

Youth Gangs The appellation "homegirl" captures a complex set of meanings immediately connected with the gang context. Girls who allow themselves to be abused

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physically or sexually are not accorded this honor. It is only those who "act like boys" and can conduct themselves with respect and defend themselves as well as the men who are duly recognized. As one girl explained: "Homegirl is more solid than friend. I think of a friend as just someone you work with. But if I say, 'What's up, homegirl?' that means I trust you. And these are my homegirls" Fighting thus protects the female gang member from sexual victimization. Indeed, membership in a gang provides a number of discrete functions that provide a bulwark against a very hostile environment. Often coming from families where they are extremely isolated, female gang members tend to be "loners" and may find a sense of belonging never before experienced. The promise of family-like relationships inside the gang, intensified by conflict coming from without, draws gang members together. Expressions of "sisterhood" are commonly exchanged, and the ideology of gang togetherness often covers up intra-gang conflicts, many of which are focused upon competition over male attention. The young women are extremely male-referenced, and gang membership, even as auxiliaries, provides a continuous connection with men in dominant roles. Many have not experienced a significant relationship with a father-figure, except in the role of victim. Motivations for joining a gang In lives filled with boredom, the gang interjects excitement and "something happening." Literally, no arena in their lives exists where they can be considered successful. School is a road that leads to nowhere; and emancipation and independence are out of reach, given their limited family and community networks. Avenues of opportunity for urban underclass girls are blocked by several

14 sobering realities. Most lack any possibility of access to a career, which normally requires not only obtaining a college education, but also knowing persons who work in a professional capacity--parents, relatives, friends, or associates from places other than the neighbourhood. Their role models typically are their mothers and grandmothers, who, if they are native-born, may be second- and third-generation welfare recipients. For girls, the pseudo community of the gang provides a haven for sexually abused and battered girls who, having no genuine sense of safety, of being significant, or of the promise for a better life away from their neighbourhood or community, join in the hope of finding something they have never experienced. But the various evils--poverty, racism, ignorance, sexism, violence-none is escaped, even in the gang. The irony of gang membership is that the more heavily involved the young person is, the more at-risk she is for injury or violent death. The protection and security sought is illusory. The appeal of the gang is in an idealized, romanticized life that confers prestige and honour in the commitment of often base and horrific acts (Campbell 1995). The gangs born out of the disarray of the urban underclass are not the least of the new gangs on the scene today. For some observers, it is the gangs emerging out of the last generation's racial, class, and economic cleavages who appear to be the biggest threat to civil society. They are a chilling revisiting of the scourge of fascism of some fifty-plus years ago. These are the hate gangs: groups holding rigid ideologies of white racial supremacy and of the elimination of all "enemies" of racial purity. A resurgence of such groups has occurred; first in Germany and throughout Europe, and now in the United Kingdom. Chapter 3

Youth Gangs Research Methodology This area outlines explanations as to the data sources, data types and the statistical analysis employed to investigate the aims and objectives of the investigation. Harrad et al (2008) emphasise that various methods of research do exist and one should chose methods consistent with their research. The method to be used in this research is conducting interviews by the gang members and the youth workers. The choice of method has been reached because this allows easy reach of serious respondents, fairy easy to administer and not much pressure is exerted on respondents. The downside to this method might be that there is no guarantee if answers might be biased and observations might be easily being misinterpreted. Interviews

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Interviews tend to be used for descriptive or exploratory research. Descriptive research, such as that undertaken using attitude and opinion interviews. Respondents have been warned that anyone wishing to withdraw from the study can do so before interview starts. Once the interviews starts then respondents can not withdraw from the research .The respondents have been assured that their information will be discarded as soon as data analysis is completed. Those who wish to know the results of the study have been directed to the relevant supervisor as soon as the results are known. Observations and Surveys Surveys and observations will supplement the information to be derived from the interviews. The researcher is familiar with how the systerm works but the survey and observations have been necessary just to make sure the researcher has first hand information about work operations and authenticity of the data.

16 Variables The need to be clear about the relationships which are likely to exist between variables. A dependent variable changes in response to changes in other variables. An independent variable causes changes in a dependent variable. An extraneous variable might also cause changes in a dependent variable. Rating have been used on the questionnaires and this ordinal data allows (Harrad et al, 2008) some sort of comparison between datasets. The research questions have taken the likert-scale format system probing either opinions or behaviour in respondents. Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics such as mean, median, mode and standard deviation have been used to identify pattern and variations in the distribution of the data. Harrad et al (2008) reiterates that probably the most important assumption is whether the data are normally distributed or not. Once the nature of the distribution has been determined, we can make a decision as to whether parametric tests or non-parametric test can be used. Research Timetable Milestone Pilot study Research data collection Data Analysis Target Date 1 week 1-2 weeks depending on sample size 2 weeks Data analysis and drawing conclusions for Write ups Resources 3 weeks research. Writing up dissertation Description Includes administration of interview Follow up of interview

Youth Gangs

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Time for this research work has been split between exam study in the evening and research time during the day. The research does not have any costs as envelopes and printing material have been provided. The researchers have used public transport to visit the malls and take opinions from consumers around. Online questionnaires have also been distributed which again have no cost associated to it. There has been no cost of the research since all resources are obtainable online too. Chapter 4 Results and findings Gang membership can provide the youth with the feeling of being protected from harm, because he or she typically lives in a gang-prone neighbourhood and will surely be at-risk from other rival gangs. Gang ideology is infused with de facto contractual obligations of the gang to support individual members if attacked, and to provide backup for retaliatory attacks if wrongdoing by other individuals or gangs is perpetrated against the member. The specter of threats to the youth's physical safety often make the gang appear to be the only "safe haven" to which he can turn when repeated intimidation takes place via practices, such as stealing personal expense money or physical assault. Detective Suarez notes that this pressure may be so severe that if a particularly violent gang war is in progress, recruitment tactics used by a gang can be extremely violent, even to the point of murdering the non-member to coerce others into joining the gang. Gangs are a visual symbol of depraved families, the outcome of intracommunity poverty and society's political and economic neglect. Robert Bly (1996), a poet and mythologist, depicts troubled youth as expressing the "rage of the unparented." Hence, gangs serve merely to act as parent substitutes for emotionally

18 abandoned youngsters. For many minority youth, the ethnic community of which he or she is a part may not provide the strong ties of kinship and relatedness for the English-born or newcomer ethnic youth. The alienation experienced by these youth may not be understood by the family, and the young people may quickly assess the reluctance of their "mainstream" peers to accept them into their social groups. The gang becomes the "substitute" or "surrogate" family, as well as the primary youth cohort group.

Gang membership confers status and identity for the young person, often with the added attraction of standing out from the crowd with gang insignia, colors, nomenclature, language, hand signals, and the like. It has been deduced from the interview conducted with the youth professionals that: A dynamic worsening of the underclass is associated with a large increase in new gangs. A static underclass is associated with only few new gangs. Lack of job opportunities and a high proportion of youth populations (ages fifteen to twenty-four) leads to increased gang presence. Racial segregation significantly predicts gang emergence. A low proportion of people in the neighborhood/area in the labor force is related to higher gang emergence. The interaction between loss of manufacturing and unemployment predicts the rise of gangs. The so-called "diffusion hypothesis" suggests that gangs spread as a result of members moving from place to place; a kind of out-migration pattern. The idea is

Youth Gangs that gangs move from city to city primarily as an outgrowth of illegal drug

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involvement, especially crack cocaine (Lee 1993). This thesis provides the dominant rationale for federal and urban police intervention. But this hypothesis is not borne out by the data. First, the bulk of newer gang cities has emerged since 1980; and especially since 1984. Fifty-six percent of larger cities with street gangs have emerged since 1984, and 76 percent of smaller cities have surfaced into view after this date. This gang-diffusion process has occurred coterminously with the deterioration of the underclass, because of loss of manufacturing jobs, massive unemployment, failure of the educational system, and intensification of racial segregation. Second, other factors intrude to create gangs as a kind of cultural icon of youth. Inadvertently, gang experts and the media have played a role in augmentation of gangs, as knowledge of gang patterns and behaviour styles becomes known. Certainly, the media performs a major role in disseminating information about gangs (Klein 1995, 206). Gangs are both dramatized and romanticized in movies, TV dramas, and news programs. Suburban school children imitate the inner-city gang symbols, such as gang signs, clothing, and graffiti. Gang life as a symbol of freedom and rebellion has infiltrated into the heartland of America. Third, the transformation from a delinquent subculture that engages in vandalism or other non-violent behaviour to a violent street gang is a more common occurrence than law enforcement groups recognize. Consider the case of "taggers." These are youth who seek walls, bridges, signs, and vehicles to spray-paint their "tag"--initials, graffiti, or other signs. Fourth, institutional suppression frequently has had counterproductive results in actually promoting gang affiliation and cohesion, which contributes to higher crime

20 rates. How is this possible? When groups are deprived of self-expression and normative outlets for their rage, other means will be found to make a public statement. Sociologists have also long observed the process of "deviance amplification" (Davis and Stasz 1990). The reaction to deviance by expanding social control can produce the unanticipated consequences of an escalation in deviance. When police counter gangs with "zero tolerance" and anti-gang street sweeps, picking up everyone available on already-existing warrants, and arresting them for gang-related behaviours (e.g., flashing signs, wearing "colors") and minor offenses (e.g., violating curfew), they set up a process of neighbourhood resistance and gang member cohesion. Another case: When schools dismiss students for wearing gang clothing (e.g., baggy pants) and displaying gang insignia or "hanging out" in close proximity, the students are more likely to drop out rather than comply with what appears to be arbitrary control. Chapter 5 Conclusions Most street gangs are not criminal in nature; gang membership is related to identity, status, companionship, and protection against perceived threats. The gang does not have "purposes"--only members do. Similarly, until external suppression (along with inter-gang rivalries) force gang members together in a cohesive mass, the gang may have been merely a disparate and fragmented youth group. Membership is a judgment call rather than a clear identity. Many youth claim membership that they really do not have. Finally, Klein points out that a vast array of "crack-down" tactics under the guise of "deterrence" can backfire and produce the now-cohesive, nothing-to-lose violent crime gang. "War" declared against gangs and violence tends to be implemented by highly

Youth Gangs confrontational units of law enforcement: heavily-armed paramilitary police forces and SWAT teams, employing still more violence to achieve dubious, if nonquantifiable, ends. Threatening young criminals with even the death penalty for violating the social contract provides virtually no disincentive, inasmuch as many youth living in the underclass have little hope of living into adulthood. Zimring and Hawkins (1973, 317) confirm the relationship between punishment and gang

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proliferation as one of providing "incentives" to embattled members to function as a gang and the likelihood that they will convert stigmata into status symbols. Moreover, prosecuting gangs has been a major problem for law enforcement, because victims and witnesses fear subsequent gang intimidation. The findings strongly recommend a community, rather than law enforcement, approach to curbing the gang problem. Two factors were especially relevant among this agency group: Opportunities provision (better schools, jobs, resources) and community organization (mobilizing the community, building community trust, educating and changing the community and in general creating an enhanced social context for growing youth) receive strong support. Organizational change and development also play a significant role in creating a more positive community, approaches that were especially positive when an independent advisory board was present to deal with the agency's problems. The research clarifies that the suppression policy, entailing police, prosecution, and court, was not an effective preventive strategy. The social intervention approach, which superimposes professional values and lifestyles on oppressed communities, proved to be the least effective. This research strongly recommends generating a public policy that replaces suppression and intervention with collective responsibility to all young people. The

22 social commitment to the most vulnerable among us has been lost and must be renewed to counter the marked deterioration of families, neighbourhoods, and communities during the past forty years. Bibliography Bursik Robert J., Jr., and Harold G. Grasmick. 1993. The Dimensions of Effective Community Control. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. Campbell. 1995. "Female Participation in Gangs". Pp. 70-77 in The Modern Gang Reader, edited by Malcolm W. Klein, Cheryl L. Maxson, and Jody Miller. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Co. Davis Nanette J., and Clarice Stasz. 1990. Social Control of Deviance: A Critical Perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill. Fleisher Mark S. 1995. Beggars and Thieves: Lives of Urban Steet Criminals. Klein Malcolm W. 1999. Street Gangs and Street Workers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Lee Gary. 1993. "A New Frontier of Violence: Drugs and Gangs Transform Heartland Cities". Washington Post National Weekly Edition (June 28-July 4, 8). Orvis Gregory P. 1996. "Treating Youth Gangs Like Organized Crime Groups: An Innovative Strategy for Prosecuting Youth Gangs." Pp. 93-104 in Gangs: A Criminal Justice Approach, edited by J. Mitchell Miller and Jeffrey P. Rush . Cincinnati, OH: Anderson. Zimring Franklin E., and Gordon J. Hawkins. 1973. Deterrence: The Legal Threat in Crime Control. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.