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Gang Members (gang + member)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Law and Criminology87%

Selected Abstracts

DISPUTES INVOLVING YOUTH STREET GANG MEMBERS: MICRO-SOCIAL CONTEXTS,

CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
LORINE A. HUGHES
This paper examines microsocial contexts of violent and nonviolent dispute-related incidents involving gang members. Data consist of reports of field observations of twelve black and eight white youth street gangs in Chicago between 1959 and 1962. Dispute-related incidents (N = 2,637) were classified according to three primary pretexts: normative or order violations, identity attacks and retaliation. Findings show that disputes associated with each of these generally unfolded consistently with expectations based on the extent to which status concerns were likely to be outweighed by such situational constraints as a close relationship between disputants and audience intervention. We suggest that understanding violence in the gang context will be enhanced greatly by further consideration of the microsocial level of explanation and linkages to its macro- and individual-level counterparts. [source]

VOICES FROM THE BARRIO: CHICANO/A GANGS, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES,

CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 2 2000
MARJORIE S. ZATZ
Based on in-depth interviews with 33 youth gang members and 20 adult neighborhood leaders and youth service providers, we explore the complicated relationships among gang members, their families, and other residents of poor Chicano/a and Mexicano/a barrios in Phoenix. Listening to the multiple voices of community members allows for a multifaceted understanding of the complexities and contradictions of gang life, both for the youths and for the larger community. We draw on a community ecology approach to help explain the tensions that develop, especially when community members vary in their desires and abilities to control gang-related activities. In this exploratory study, we point to some of the ways in which gender, age, education, traditionalism, and level of acculturation may help explain variation in the type and strength of private, parochial, and public social control within a community. [source]

"IT'S GETTING CRAZY OUT THERE": CAN A CIVIL GANG INJUNCTION CHANGE A COMMUNITY?*

CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2005
CHERYL L. MAXSON
Research Summary: Civil gang injunctions are an increasingly popular gang suppression tactic. This article reports on the first scientific evaluation of the community impact of this strategy. San Bernardino residents in five neighborhoods were surveyed about their perceptions and experience of crime, gang activity, and neighborhood quality 18 months before and 6 months after the issuance of an injunction. Analyses indicated positive evidence of short-term effects in the disordered, primary injunction area, including less gang presence, fewer reports of gang intimidation, and less fear of confrontation with gang members, but no significant changes in intermediate or long-term outcomes except lower fear of crime. Comparison of this injunction area with a previous one suggested that improvements in neighborhood dynamics might accrue over the long term. Negative effects were observed in the secondary, less disordered injunction area. Policy Implications: This study suggests that the strategic suppression of gang member activities may translate into modest immediate improvements in community safety and well-being. Furthermore, the findings suggest that law enforcement use caution regarding the size of an injunction area and the type of gang targeted by the tactic. Coupling an injunction with efforts to improve neighborhood social organization and provide positive alternatives for gang members might substantially improve its effectiveness. [source]

POLICY AND INTERVENTION CONSIDERATIONS OF A NETWORK ANALYSIS OF STREET GANGS,

CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2005
JEAN MARIE MCGLOIN
Research Summary: This study details a network analysis of the street gang landscape in Newark, New Jersey. Using individual gang members as the unit of analysis and multiple layers of associations as the linkages within the networks, the results suggest that the gangs in Newark are loosely organized with pockets of cohesion. In addition, there is variation with regard to individual connectedness within the gangs, and certain gang members emerge as "cut-points" or the only connection among gang members or groups of gang members. Policy Implications: The results lend further credence to the notion that problem analysis should precede gang interventions. In particular, the findings suggest that particular groups of gang members may be amenable to the collective accountability tactic, whereas others may become more cohesive as a consequence. Indeed, an intervention focused on individuals may be more productive in Newark. The cut-points within gangs are particularly worthy of attention, both for their capacity to act as communication agents for a deterrence message and for their potential vulnerability to the pulling levers strategy. [source]

An Epidemic of Illicit Fentanyl Deaths in Cook County, Illinois: September 2005 through April 2007

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 2 2008
J. Scott Denton M.D.
Abstract:, Between September 2005 and April 2007, 350 fentanyl intoxication deaths were investigated and certified by the Cook County Medical Examiners Office. Investigations revealed that the majority of these fatalities were by intravenous injection of a white powder followed by a rapid collapse. The fentanyl was clandestinely produced in a lab in Toluca, Mexico and sold by the Mickey Cobra street gang. The term "Drop Dead" was coined for this "tainted heroin." Postmortem samples were screened by ELISA and confirmed by standard GC-MS methods. Fentanyl fatalities peaked at 47 per month in May and June 2006. Fifty-two percent were single fentanyl intoxications, with the remainder accompanied by either cocaine, morphine from heroin, or alcohol. This epidemic stressed the limited resources of the toxicology laboratory and autopsy service of the Medical Examiners Office. The clandestine lab was terminated, distributing gang members and leaders arrested, and the epidemic ceased in April 2007. [source]