This program was intended for disruptive boys in early elementary school (i.e., 7–9 years of age). Nurses, especially those who provide well-child care, play an important role in screening and Reimagining gangs and gang members research identifying families at risk and in need of intervention (Sidora-Arcoleo et al., 2010). Although sexual education is controversial in some school districts, it may be particularly important for schools with gang problems. Minnis et al. (2008) used a social determinates model to identify how the underlying social determinant of gang membership influences pregnancy through intermediate behavioral factors (e.g., contraceptive use, pregnancy intentions, and partnership characteristics).
- Brief descriptions of the five strategies follow.
- New members are invited to join to ensure the membership reflects the diversity of perspectives around gang violence and to broaden ownership of the issue.
- Programs must be culturally sensitive and responsive to the specific challenges faced by the community.
- They also want to know that the interventions they are supporting will produce more positive benefits than harmful side effects.
Unsafe schools
In particular, more research is needed on effective strategies to address the needs of members of female, Aboriginal, and ethno-cultural youth gangs. For instance, there is a limited body of knowledge pertaining to youth gang programs targeting specific populations with diverse needs. A viable alternative, therefore, is for communities to adopt strategic risk-based responses to youth gang problems (Wyrick and Howell, 2004).
Exposure to violence and racial prejudice
At least eight proposals to address gang violence on the federallevel are currently pending before Congress. Thus, state and local governments are best suited torespond to the ordinary street crimes committed by gangs. To address gang-related crime appropriately, the nationalgovernment should limit itself to handling tasks that arewithin its constitutionally designed sphere and that state andlocal governments cannot perform by themselves. In2004, the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS), a nationallyrepresentative sample of law enforcement agencies, estimated thatthere were 760,000 active gang members and 24,000 gangs in theUnited States. We hope to help more people understand the power of gang prevention and GAP’s leadership role in preventing young people from joining gangs.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported in 2006 thatviolent crime incidents increased by 1.3 percent and property crimeincidents decreased by 2.9 percent from 2005 to 2006. The Department established an Anti-Gang Coordination Committee to organizethe Department�s wide-ranging efforts to combat gangs, which includes focusingneeded attention in every region. The Department of Justice has enacted a comprehensive plan across its manycomponents to effectively fight and limit the impact of gang violencenationwide.
The United States has vastly increased its anti-gang training in Central America, including efforts through the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in San Salvador. The FBI, with funding support from the State Department, has accelerated the implementation of the Central American Fingerprinting Exploitation (CAF�) initiative in order to better identify, track, and apprehend gang members. In fall 2007, the FBI, DOJ’s Criminal Division, and the Department of State assisted El Salvador’s National Civilian Police (Policia Nacional Civil, or PNC) in creating a new Transnational Anti-Gang (TAG) unit to better pursue and prosecute gang members. This series of initiatives include efforts such as vetted anti-gang units, the CAF� Fingerprint Initiative, and increased international anti-gang training. This strong level of regional cooperation was exhibited in the 2nd Annual International Chiefs of Police Summit on Transnational Gangs, which was held in Los Angeles in March 2008 and included senior anti-gang officials from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Canada, Nicaragua and other nations.