Criminal Violence Riedel and Welsh, Ch. 11 “Gangs and Gang Violence”

1. Criminal ViolenceRiedel and Welsh, Ch. 11“Gangs and Gang Violence”

2. A Problem of Definition • No consensus on the meaning of the term • Definition provides indication of the number of gangs • Gang member vs. gang motive • Definition provides information for resource allocation and public fear of crime • Cities may deny there is a gang problem for political and social reasons. • Awareness of gang problems hurts tourism.

3. Focusing the Definition • “A street gang is any durable, street-oriented youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of its group identity” (Klein and Maxson, 2006, p. 4) • Definition has been agreed upon by more than 100 American and European researchers. • Minimal definition is sufficient for distinguishing street gangs from other youth groups.

4. Are You a Gang Member? • Self-nomination One method of determining who is a gang member is to ask adolescents. • Research indicates that as definitions involved more gang characteristics, respondents became more antisocial. • Self-nomination has been shown to be a useful technique.

5. Are You a Gang Member? (cont.) • Law enforcement uses crimes committed as an important criterion. • Law enforcement also uses self-nomination to designate individuals • Rural counties rely on display of tattoos, colors, or other symbols. • Self-nomination and crimes committed are the two most important measures.

6. Table 11.1 gives the criteria used to designate that gang members belong to a gang. In larger and small cities and suburban counties, from 68% to 79% emphasize the use of self-nomination techniques. The figure is 47.8% for rural counties, which show a preference for the display of tattoos, colors, or other symbols for designation as gang membership. In short, law enforcement, except for that in rural areas, seems to rely on crimes committed together and self-nomination as an operational definition of gang membership.

7. PATTERNS • Since 1996, the National Gang Center, through the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS), has collected data annually from a large, representative sample of local law enforcement agencies to track the size and scope of gang activity nationwide. • http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/248025.pdf • Approximately 85 percent of larger cities, 50 percent of suburban counties, and 15 percent of rural counties have reported gang activity in each of the past four surveys. • The greatest change in recent years has occurred in smaller cities, where the percentage of agencies reporting gang activity has significantly declined—approximately 25 percent reported gang activity in 2012, down from 34 percent in 2010. • This is the lowest rate recorded in more than a decade.

8. Growth and Change in Gangs Source: OJJDP (2014). Highlights of the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey. Available at: http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/248025.pdf Figure 1 shows the percentage change over time in the estimated number of gangs, gang members, and gang-related homicides in 2012 compared with the national average for the past 5 years (2007 to 2011). The increase in the estimated number of gangs (8 percent) and gang members (11 percent) is primarily attributable to increased estimates that larger cities reported.

9. Gang Magnitude Indicators Source: OJJDP (2014). Highlights of the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey. Available at: http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/248025.pdf • Law enforcement agencies do not regularly record offenses as “gang related,” with the exception of homicides. Thus, the NYGS can only report findings related to this one criminal offense type. • As shown in table 1, respondents reported a total of 2,363 gang-related homicides in the United States in 2012. • The FBI estimates that there were more than 14,800 homicides nationally in 2012. Thus, gangs were involved in approximately 16 percent of all homicides in the United States in 2012 and underscore the considerable overlap between gang activity and violent crime.

10. Demographics • Age: Percent of gang members over 18 has consistently increased, to 63.5% in 2006. • Gender: Over 90% of gang members are males. • Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino gang most frequent, followed by African American gangs • White gangs are the fewest in number.

11. Gang Organization and Violence • Five types of gangs: Traditional, neotraditional, compressed, collective, and specialty • Specialty gang is narrowly focused on specific set of criminal acts such as burglary or drugs. • Gang violence: Most frequent crimes are drug sales, aggravated assaults, and robberies. • Gang-related homicides are 5% to 7%.

12. Explanations Strain Theories:Based on Merton’s theory Merton (1957) believed that the disparity between cultural goals and institutionalized means leads to a number of adaptations.

13. Strain Theories (cont.) Cohen: Lower-class rejection of middle-class values • Cohen’s delinquent acts were “malicious, nonutilitarian and negativistic” Cloward and Ohlin: Saw a conflict between lower- and middle-class values and limited structural opportunities • Posited illegitimate opportunity structures

14. Explanations • Cultural deviance theories emphasize conflicts in cultural beliefs • Walter Miller’s theory emphasized focal concerns: cultural values that coincidentally conflicted with middle-class beliefs • Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti postulated a subculture of violence theory: • Lower-class youth use violence as a method of solving interpersonal problems

15. Explanations (cont.) • Social control theories try to explain why people do not commit crimes and violence. • Travis Hirschifocused on the social bond: • What are the social forces and institutions that “keep people in line”? • James Vigil and Steve Yun applied social control and multiple marginality to Mexican gangs.

16. Interventions • Five Types of Intervention • Suppression includes arrest, incarceration, and other forms of criminal justice. • Social Intervention includes social and psychological approaches, street workers, and religious conversions. • Organizational Change and Development • Community Organization • Opportunities Provision refers to job training, increasing opportunities for employment, and assistance with school.

17. Antigang Measures Source: OJJDP (2014). Highlights of the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey. Available at: http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/248025.pdf • Targeted patrols and a dedicated gang unit (or officer) were the most frequently used measures, followed by participation in a multiagency gang task force and coordinated probation searches.

18. Operation Ceasefire • Boston Police Department started program to reduce gang violence. • Focused on small number of serially offending, gang-involved youth • Emphasis was on gun trafficking within the state • “Lever pulling”meant that any violent event would set off a coordinated response by police and social services. • Evaluationswere positive, and programs in other cities were started.