Conceptualizing gang involvement under the purview of a life-course framework is beneficial for understanding gangs, gang membership, and gang-related behaviors. Gang membership, as well as the gang itself, operates within the three key life-course processes—onset, continuity, and change.
May 01, 2011 · The processes accounting for this enhanced illegal activity, however, remain speculative. Employing a life-course perspective, the authors propose that gang membership can be conceptualized as a turning point in the lives of youth and is thus associated with changes in emotions, attitudes, and routine activities, which, in turn, increase ...
Feb 25, 2019 · Studies informed by the developmental, life-course perspective have also explored the periods during which individuals are actively engaged in their gang activities and identities, along with members’ abrupt or gradual gang-exiting processes (i.e., desistence). Overall, research guided by these models and theories has established myriad ...
This chapter argues that a life-course perspective provides a framework for conceptualizing gang membership as a career that can vary according to the age …
May 25, 2011 · The processes accounting for this enhanced illegal activity, however, remain speculative. Employing a life-course perspective, we propose that gang membership can be conceptualized as a turning point in the lives of youth and is thus associated with changes in emotions, attitudes, and routine activities, which, in turn, increase illegal activity.
Employing a life-course perspective, we propose that gang membership can be conceptualized as a turning point in the lives of youth and is thus associated with changes in emotions, attitudes, and routine activities, which, in turn, increase illegal activity.
The model takes a comprehensive approach to reduce and prevent youth gang violence using five core strategies: Community Mobilization, Opportunities Provision, Social Intervention, Suppression and Organizational Change and Development.Sep 13, 2019
the activities that gang partake in are illegal. often, gangs are a form of domestic terrorism. they commit shootings, assaults, robberies, and drug trafficking. loose-knit groups often evolve into powerful, organized gangs.
Some children and adolescents are motivated to join a gang for a sense of connection or to define a new sense of who they are. Others are motivated by peer pressure, a need to protect themselves and their family, because a family member also is in a gang, or to make money.
Five basic strategies have evolved in dealing with youth gangs: (1) neighbor- hood mobilization; (2) social intervention, especially youth outreach and work with street gangs; (3) provision for social and economic opportunities, such as special school and job programs; (4) gang suppression and incarceration; (5) and an ...
To prevent youth from joining gangs, communities must strengthen families and schools, improve community supervision, train teachers and parents to manage disruptive youth, and teach students interpersonal skills.
With exceptions, every crime has at least three elements: a criminal act, also called actus reus; a criminal intent, also called mens rea; and concurrence of the two.
1. Any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal which: 2. has as one of its primary objectives or activities the commission of one or more predicate criminal acts as defined by statute (assault, drugs, etc.), and.
More than 20,000 gangs consisting of approximately 1 million members exist in the United States; gangs are present in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories.
Poverty, Substance use (e.g. illicit drugs and alcohol), Community disorganization, Availability of drugs and firearms, and.
Compared to non-gang members, gang members commit a disproportionate amount of violent crimes and offenses across the country. Gangs and gang involvement result in short- and long-term negative outcomes for gang-involved youth, their friends and families, and the surrounding communities.
Impact on Communities Further, communities with gang activity are disproportionately affected by theft, negative economic impact, vandalism, assault, gun violence, illegal drug trade, and homicide.
Some of the life-course models and theories commonly applied in studies of gangs include Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory of informal social control, Hawkins and colleagues’ social developmental model, Thornberry and Krohn’s interactional theory, and Howell and Egley’s developmental model of gang membership.
With distinct advances since the 1980s, developmental, life-course criminology has expanded to become one of the most prominent subdivisions in the field of criminology, as the knowledge gained from this perspective has propelled the field forward. Although studies of gangs and gang membership predate the emergence of developmental, life-course criminology, the proliferation of research in both of these areas shares many parallels. Furthermore, increased applications of developmental, life-course perspectives to gang-related research, as well as scholars’ continued efforts to generate life-course-rooted theories specific to gang delinquency, can and have benefited the study of gangs.
Gang-involved youth are more likely to engage in substance abuse and high-risk sexual behavior and to experience a wide range of potentially long-term health and social consequences, including school dropout, teen parenthood, family problems and unstable employment.
In describing the individual and family factors in early childhood (ages 0-5) and during the elementary school years (ages 6-12), the authors note that joining a gang should be understood as part of a life course that begins when a child is born (or before).
Until recently, girls in gangs were often "invisible," says Meda Chesney-Lind. One reason for this is that girls enter gangs — and exit from gang activity — at younger ages than boys.
Gang membership has traditionally been viewed from a public safety, rather than a public health, perspective. In Changing Course, however, three public health experts argue that looking at the issue solely through the public safety lens fails to leverage the extensive expertise of our nation's public health professionals, who understand the impact on the health of an individual gang member and on the health of a community.
Push motives and non-hostile methods were the modal responses for leaving the gang. While it was not uncommon to experience a hostile departure from the gang, most former gang members reported walking away without ritual violence or ceremony. This method was conditional on the motive for departure, however. None of the individuals leaving the gang for pull or external reasons experienced a hostile departure. While gang ties persisted regardless of motive or method, retaining such ties corresponded with serious consequences.
Specifically, the perspective examines the onset, persistence, and desistance of involvement in crime throughout the life course. This has not been a simple task, as explaining how individuals desist from crime is quite different from how individuals initiate their involvement in crime ( Laub and Sampson, 2001, Uggen and Piliavin, 1998 ). In addition, considerably more attention has been focused on initiation than desistance. There are also difficulties in the operationalization of desistance, as it has been problematic to determine at what stage an individual truly has desisted from their involvement in crime ( Kazemian, 2007, Piquero et al., 2007 ). Despite these challenges, the life-course perspective has proven valuable in a number of areas of inquiry, including the study of delinquent networks, adult offenders, and—the object of examination of the present study—gangs. The understanding of gang members, gangs, and the behavior of their members can benefit from the life-course perspective as it examines explanations for why adolescents join, persist, and desist from their involvement in gangs.
A life course framework is capable of organizing similarities between leaving the gang and desistance from other forms of crime and deviant groups. The process of gang desistance is consistent with asymmetrical causation. Due to limited attention to this process, a typology is introduced as a basis for understanding leaving the gang in relation to desisting from crime.
Specifically, the perspective examines the onset, persistence, and desistance of involvement in crime throughout the life course. This has not been a simple task, as explaining how individuals desist from crime is quite different from how individuals initiate their involvement in crime (Laub and Sampson, 2001, Uggen and Piliavin, 1998). In addition, considerably more attention has been focused on initiation than desistance. There are also difficulties in the operationalization of desistance, as it has been problematic to determine at what stage an individual truly has desisted from their involvement in crime (Kazemian, 2007, Piquero et al., 2007). Despite these challenges, the life-course perspective has proven valuable in a number of areas of inquiry, including the study of delinquent networks, adult offenders, and—the object of examination of the present study—gangs. The understanding of gang members, gangs, and the behavior of their members can benefit from the life-course perspective as it examines explanations for why adolescents join, persist, and desist from their involvement in gangs.
A life course framework is capable of organizing similarities between leaving the gang and desistance from other forms of crime and deviant groups. The process of gang desistance is consistent with asymmetrical causation. Due to limited attention to this process, a typology is introduced as a basis for understanding leaving the gang in relation to desisting from crime.
Youth violence is a complex, social, criminal justice and public health issue that requires both a systems approach and a life course perspective to unravel it. Interpersonal violence among youths includes a number of different categories including homicide, fighting, family violence, dating violence, sexual violence, gang violence, bullying, and cyberbullying. Youth violence is influenced by the interaction of numerous, multilevel characteristics, and risk and protective factors, including a personal, family, peer, and school history, experiences, and relationships, as well as characteristics of the community and society within which they live and grow up. Studies suggest that it is the confluence of certain “risk” factors and behaviors that contribute to violent behavior, and the existence of certain “protective” factors that create resiliency. Understanding the complex nature of youth violence and the role of risk and protective factors can lead to improved screening, treatment, and referrals or engagement in community change by physicians and other members of the healthcare team. The HEADSS (Home, Education and Employment, Activities, Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide/Depression, and Safety) assessment is a good prevention screening framework for primary care providers, and it addresses developmentally appropriate tasks of adolescence that most teens will encounter. The focus of this chapter is to provide a description of the range of types of youth violence; a public health perspective of youth violence prevention; risk and preventive factors for preventing youth violence; primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions; a developmental-ecological model; and implications for healthcare providers.
Although prior criminal record and concurrent criminal charges constitute the main eligibility and aggravating circumstances used in capital sentencing, relatively little research has examined the criminal careers of offenders who are ultimately sentenced to death.
Researchers commonly use secondary data counts of police employees from police agencies. There has been some concern with using such data, yet there have been no published systematic assessments of their reliability.
Desistance from gang membership is not well understood, certainly less well understood than criminal desistance generally. There is a parallel between this state of affairs and knowledge about desistance from crime a decade ago, as researchers held that crime desistance was understudied (Bushway et al., 2003, Piquero et al., 2003). Understanding why and