"Female Gangs in America" challenges a long tradition of "color them male" scholarship about gangs in our country by exploring the experiences of girls in gangs. Recognizing that girls have long been "present but invisible" in American gang life, this book offers the first comprehensive collection of essays every published on the topic. The chapters are linked by interpretive essays that explore issues like girls' violence, ethnic variations in girls' gang behavior, gender differences in female and male experiences of gang life, and the role of economic marginalization in the lives of girls in gangs. -- From publisher's description.
This statutory guidance on injunctions to prevent gang-related violence draws on the experience and knowledge of the police service, local authorities and a wide range of local partners involved in dealing with violent gangs. It has been developed and approved by partners across the Criminal Justice System, as well as local practitioners. It has been produced after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls, and has been laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary. The Policing and Crime Act 2009 contains provision for injunctions to prevent gang-related violence to be sought against an individual; these were commenced in January 2011. The Crime and Security Act 2010 contains provisions for breach of an injunction to be enforced against 14 to 17 year olds; these will be commenced in January 2012.
"[Gangs in America′s Communities] is one of the most comprehensive treatments of gangs in the marketplace. . . . I highly recommend its adoption as you will not be disappointed and, most importantly, neither will your students." —Elvira White-Lewis, Texas A&M University-Commerce Gangs in America′s Communities, Third Edition blends theory with current research to help readers identify essential features associated with youth violence and gangs, as well as apply strategies for gang control and prevention. Authors Dr. James C. Howell and Dr. Elizabeth Griffiths introduce readers to theories of gang formation, illustrate various ways of defining and classifying gangs, and discuss national trends in gang presence and gang-related violence across American cities. They also offer evidence-based strategies for positioning communities to prevent, intervene, and address gang activity. New to the Third Edition: A series of new case studies document the evolution of numerous gangs in large cities, including the community aspect, evolutionary nature, and how cities influence levels of violence. New discussions highlighting the role of social media, insights into how gangs use it to recruit members, and the response from law enforcement. Current nationwide gang trends are discussed to encourage readers to analyze and interpret the most recent statistics for which representative data is available. Updated macro and micro gang theories enable readers to explore a recent encapsulation of leading developmental models. New discussions around female gang members offer readers potentially effective programs for discouraging females from joining gangs—along with highly regarded delinquency prevention and reduction programs that have the potency to be effective in reducing gang crimes among young women. A comprehensive gang prevention, intervention, and suppression program in Multnomah County, Oregon shows how theory was successfully applied to reduce gang activity in a local community. New research on "gang structures" and their rates of crime illustrate the connections between violent crimes and the amount of violent offenders within a gang. Additional discussion of distinguishing features (e.g., typologies) of major gangs, and numerous examples of gang symbols, tattoos, and graffiti has been added to help readers identify and differentiate various types of gangs.
One of the Guysexamines the causes, nature, and meaning of female gang involvement. Miller situates the study of female gang membership in the context of current directions in feminist scholarship and current research on both gangs and female criminal offenders. The body of the book draws on interviews from girls in two mid-sized midwestern cities with relatively new gang histories, St. Louis, Missouri and Columbus, Ohio. It discusses how and why girls join gangs, the nature of girls' involvement in gangs (including initiation rituals, gang rules, inter-gang-rivalries, and criminal activities), and how gang involvement shapes girls' participation in delinquency and their risk of victimization, as well as the ways their gender affects this experience.
Dismissed by the police as mere adjuncts to or gofers for male gangs, girl gang members are in fact often as emotionally closed off and dangerous as their male counterparts. Carrying razor blades in their mouths and guns in their jackets for defense, they initiate drive-by shootings, carry out car jackings, stomp outsiders who stumble onto or dare to enter the neighborhood, viciously retaliate against other gangs and ferociously guard their home turf. But Sikes also captures the differences that distinguish girl gangs-abortion, teen pregnancy and teen motherhood, endless beatings and the humiliation of being forced to have sex with a lineup of male gangbangers during initiation, haphazardly raising kids in a household of drugs and guns with a part-time boyfriend off gangbanging himself. Veteran journalist Gini Sikes spends a year in the ghettos following the lives of several key gang members in South Central Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. In 8 Ball Chicks, we discover the fear and desperate desire for respect and status that drive girls into gangs in the first place--and the dreams and ambitions that occasionally help them to escape the catch-22 of their existence.
As communities face ever-growing gang-related problems, Gangs in America III provides the most up-to-date information on the diverse perspectives and complex issues that arise in our efforts to understand, prevent, and control gang violence and crime.
Gangs in America's Communities offers a comprehensive, up-to-date, and theoretically grounded approach to gangs and associated youth violence. Authors Dr. James C. Howell and Dr. Elizabeth Griffiths introduce readers to the foundations of gang studies through the origins of gangs, definitions and categories of youth/street gangs, transnational as well as prison gangs (and the distinctions between these arguably different types), national trends in gang presence and gang-related violence across American cities, distinguishing attributes of serious street gangs, and myths and realities. Students and instructors will benefit from the Second Edition’s comprehensive treatment of the state of the literature on individual-level causes and consequences of gang membership. Going beyond the traditional topics covered in most texts in the market, this book uniquely describes specific gang patterns, trends, and cultures within a group-based structure while illuminating the most promising avenues for reducing the presence and seriousness of gangs in American communities.
The United States has seen rapid proliferation of youth gangs since 1980. During this period, the number of cities with gang problems increased from an estimated 286 jurisdictions with more than 2,000 gangs and nearly 100,000 gang members in 1980 (Miller, 1992) to about 4,800 jurisdictions with more than 31,000 gangs and approximately 846,000 gang members in 1996(Moore and Terrett, in press). An 11-city survey of eighth graders found that 9 percent were currently gang members, and 17 percent said they had belonged to a gang at some point in their lives (Esbensen and Osgood, 1997).Other studies reported comparable percentages and also showed that gang members were responsible for a large proportion of violent offenses. In the Rochester site of the OJJDP-funded Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency, gang members (30 percent of the sample) self-reported committing 68 percent of all violent offenses (Thornberry, 1998). In the Denver site, adolescent gang members (14 percent of the sample) self-reported committing 89 percent of all serious violent offenses (Huizinga, 1997). In another study, supported by OJJDP and several other agenciesand organizations, adolescent gang members in Seattle (15 percent of the sample) self-reported involvement in 85 percent of robberies committed by the entire sample (Battin et al., 1998).This Bulletin reviews data and research to consolidate available knowledge on youth gangs that are involved in criminal activity. Following a historical perspective, demographic information ispresented. The scope of the problem is assessed, including gang problems in juvenile detention and correctional facilities. Several issues are then addressed by reviewing gang studies to provide aclearer understanding of youth gang problems.An extensive list of references is provided for further review.
Gangs have long been a social and criminal threat to society. Introduction to Gangs in America explains how gangs are addressed as a criminal justice and public policy problem, providing a student-friendly, easily accessible, concise overview of the role, place, structure, and activities of gangs in American society. The book describes what gangs a
This vital resource offers an intervention designed to help divert young women from engaging in girl gang culture by providing them with the opportunities to explore alternative options for themselves that ensure a sense of self-worth and belonging in a non-aggressive culture where crime in not integral to their self-definition. This unique resource will give your school access to tools and evidence-based solutions that educate students about the risks of gang culture and provide them with strategies to rationalise and reject anti-social and offending behaviours. This essential resource will enable you to: identify the existence of both girl and boy gangs in school; develop whole school curriculum offering effective teaching and learning about gang issues; adopt a holistic approach to tackling gang culture including parents, community groups and local agencies; secure help for the most vulnerable students; and, prepare staff to deal with the difficulties that arise in tackling these issues.
