A Research Report on Youth Gangs: Problems, Perspective and Priorities

This project was undertaken to explore, and provide information about, an issue or topic. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Government of Canada.

Executive Summary

The topic of youth gangs has emerged as a major issue of serious concern in many communities in Canada, especially for the law enforcement community. Available empirical evidence indicates that youth gangs exist in almost every continent, mostly in urban areas, but increasingly also in other areas. This paper reviews the research literature available in print and published on the Internet.

Due to the diversity of gang phenomena, no universally accepted definition of youth gang exists in the research literature. Often, the terms “street gangs” and “youth gangs” are used interchangeably. For the purpose of the present paper, the Klein and Maxson definition seems to be the most acceptable as it includes the most salient aspects of a youth gang as well as presents sufficient flexibility for addressing the diversity of the phenomenon in terms of law enforcement and community responses. The definition is as follows: "[A gang is] any denotable..... group [of adolescents and young adults] who (a) are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others in their neighborhood, (b) recognize themselves as a denotable group (almost invariably with a group name), and (c) have been involved in a sufficient number of [illegal] incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighborhood residents and/or enforcement agencies."

Scholars have identified a number of risk factors for the emergence and continuation of youth gangs. Research indicates that socio-economic (poverty and unemployment, actual or perceived disadvantage), family-related (dysfunctional, abusive or negligent family), school (poor academic performance and low attachment to schools) and community (disorganized, crime-prone and unsafe) factors that contribute to marginalization of youth, as well as negative individual/biological factors (anti-social attitudes, FASD) may contribute to the emergence and continued existence of youth gangs.

Data indicate that there are both push and pull factors that contribute to youths' decision to join a gang, and they overlap with the risk factors. These include: a dysfunctional family - characterized by abuse and neglect, socially disorganized communities, poor academic performance, lack of opportunities for pro-social activities including legitimate employment, presence of gang members in family, peer group and/or neighbourhood leading to modeling, and youths' needs for acceptance, love, discipline, structure, money, safety, personal protection and drugs.

Available research evidence demonstrates that youth gang members' age range is wide, from 8 to 50+ in some cases, that the average age tends to be 14-16, that there are more male than female gang members, and many gang members happen to come from socially marginalized and disadvantaged ethnic minority groups. A recent tendency of youth gangs including older youths or young adults has also been noted.

Most well-established gangs tend to have codes of conduct. They sometimes include initiation rites and distinct style and colour of clothing; they use graffiti, tattoos and special terminology to identify themselves as well as to mark their turfs. The price of non-compliance could be physical punishment, even death.

Gang members commit a variety of offences ranging from minor to serious, such as: graffiti, burglary, theft, vandalism, motor vehicle theft, arson, assault, drive-by shooting, selling crack, powder cocaine, marijuana and other drugs, home invasion, arson, intimidation, rape, robbery, shooting, and homicide. They may also engage in frauds, pirating and selling movies and music, identity theft, witness identification and intimidation, and communicating with other members of their gangs through cell phones, the Internet, and computers.

Researchers believe that gang membership has both short-term and long-term consequences for the youths and the community. Examples include risks of arrest, of incarceration, of injury and/or a violent death, non-transition to normal adult life-style that includes legitimate employment. The impact on the community, justice system and health care system is also enormous, and sometimes not well recognized. Financial cost due to gang activities in all these domains is considerable; in addition, there are social costs in lost potential and fear of crime inhibiting normal activities of citizens.

No conclusive empirical evidence is available to suggest that youth gangs are interconnected within a community or among different communities. Some evidence exists, however, to indicate that there is considerable rivalry among gangs for control of territories or, of illegal drug business. Violence is a common tool used to establish such control. It seems that although not all youth gangs have associations with organized crime groups, some (especially street gangs) most probably do. It is also conceivable that in gangs characterized by fluid structures, some young adults will form liaisons with adult gangs. Another possibility that needs special attention is that gang members may be brain-washed and recruited by terror groups, especially within prison walls. It would be rather easy to attract youths with anti-social, anti-mainstream attitudes, and convince them that they need to fight against social injustice by whatever means.

Most researchers believe that for most youths who join gangs, gang membership is a transitory experience, lasting for one year or less. However, in some circumstances such as multigenerational or highly-structured gangs, youths, especially the hard-core or long-term members, may find it difficult to leave gangs. The desire to leave a gang may arise from natural maturation and wish to lead a stable, "normal" life, and/or fear for personal safety, of incarceration, experience of loss of key individuals to drug abuse, injury or death. A strong support network and provision of life-skills are crucial for the successful re-integration of these youths into the mainstream. But some youths may never give up the gang lifestyle and join prison gangs as young adults.

Combating gang problems is a serious challenge faced by the law enforcement community as well as the society in general. Research indicates that gang phenomena are extremely complex in their origin and functioning, in which socio-economic, psychological, family-related, personal factors, to name just a few, contribute to youths' creating, joining and remaining in gangs. It would be naïve to think that the problem can be solved without addressing these underlying issues. It seems that the law enforcement community has a logical role in providing leadership in efforts to counter youth gang development and gang-related activities, albeit in partnership with communities, societal institutions such as schools, universities and churches, outreach workers, youth service agencies and youth and family counselors. The RCMP's community policing foundation and restorative justice principles are especially consistent with playing a leadership role in this area, provided there are sufficient resources available. Following some available examples, it might be possible to develop an effective gang-related incident tracking system that does not rely on individual offence data currently collected in the Uniform Crime Records system.

The basic premise for any prevention and intervention effort seems to be that programs must be targeted at providing at-risk and gang-involved youth with legitimate alternatives for fulfilling their basic needs such as love, discipline, structure, belonging, personal safety and protection. In other words, any gang-reduction or -prevention program must include support and counseling for youths and their families, especially for hard-to-reach families and communities, education and training for youth for earning an honest livelihood, skills for conflict resolution, and provision of recreational opportunities (for example, after-school programs) that offer youth a healthy lifestyle alternative as well as a sense of self-worth and self-respect. Anti-bullying programs may also help in reducing children's and adolescents' reliance on physical violence for protection and personal safety.

Empirical evidence has shown that community mobilization was one of the most effective strategies in addressing gang problems. This implies garnering support and full participation of neighbourhood residents - both young and adult, churches, and educational/social/outreach agencies in both urban and rural communities, in all socio-economic levels and both racially homogeneous and diverse neighbourhoods that are affected. Community mobilization and strengthening, and sharing resources at the grassroots level, need to be integrated with long-term prevention strategies in any gang-reduction program. Intervention for youth already involved in gang activities and targeted suppression of hard-core gang members known for their repeated serious crimes will also be required under some circumstances. However, a thorough and accurate assessment of each community's gang problem needs to be undertaken as a first step to plan, develop and implement appropriate strategies. Research also points out the effectiveness of a multi-faceted, multi-partner, comprehensive, and balanced strategy to prevent, reduce and combat gang problems.