Youth Gang Involvement

MET CJ/631—Youth Crime Problems

Boston University

Dr. Frank Carney

April 20, 2013

Abstract

Within the United States, youth involvement in gangs has become a serious problem for the future safety and security of the United States. The following thesis explores the growing problem of youth involvement in gangs and attempts to understand the growing trend by exploring historical facts and figures, policies and programs. Within the last half of a decade the number of gang members has risen to 1.4 million, an increase of nearly 40 percent and the number of youth gang themselves has stayed consistent at the high rate of disproportionate rate of 40 percent. This paper attempts
In the following section, Statement of the Problem, we will assess the current state of youth involvement in gangs and the strengths and weaknesses of current policies and practices through the use of empirical evidence to support the assessment. In the next section, Proposed Future Directions, a proposal for addressing the problem will be presented through a series of goals and strategies that are carefully chosen and guided by a body of theoretical research. In doing so, future policy improvement will be recommended and evaluated against current policy. By addressing these issues it is anticipated that the overall goal of understanding youth involvement in gangs can be better understood, in doing so, policy recommendations will be more effective.
Historical Perspective

To fully understand the magnitude of the issue it is important to highlight historical gang related facts and statistics. These numbers help to illustrate the concern and the potential for development of the problem unless effective policies and programs are implemented.
Gang Development

In the 1600s, London was terrorized by organized gangs that classified themselves as Hectors, Bugles, Dead Boys, and other colorful names (Siegel and Welsh, 2012, p. 326). Gangs were first reported in the U.S. in the 1780s, when people began to notice gangs of young people hanging out on the street corners in Philadelphia neighborhoods