Criminal Gangs Research Articles

‘I loved to be included’ (Proverbs 1:8–19): The Church and Tiv Christian Youth Development

This article examined the warning against evil companions in Proverbs 1:8–19 and the role of the church in addressing the involvement of Tiv youths in crime in Benue State and its implications for actions. Wicked people were zealous in seducing others into the paths of destruction. Would young people shun temporal and eternal ruin? This was the reason for Solomon’s instruction in Proverbs 1:8–19. He admonished his son with the caption ‘hear,’ which presented the son with a choice. However, Solomon implored the child to refuse to take any step in destructive paths of evildoers. The persuasive nature of the pericope was important in addressing the growing crime rate amongst Tiv youths in Benue State. Most youths in Tiv communities were being enticed into joining criminal gangs, secret cults and rituals in order to make quick wealth. Unfortunately, the number of youths in these immoral acts such as YahooYahoo amongst Tiv youths kept on increasing in the midst of the growing number of churches in most Tiv societies. Rhetoric analysis was used as the methodology. As part of recommendations, parents should instruct, discipline and stop their children from engaging in acts that lead to death. The youths should also avoid evil companions to avoid falling into trouble. Contribution: Youths are the leaders of tomorrow, which makes admonition to youths a necessity for the growth of the Tiv Society. Proverbs 1:8–19 provides roadmaps that Tiv leaders and the church could adopt in preserving morality among Tiv youths.

Can Precision Policing Reduce Gun Violence? Evidence from “Gang Takedowns” in New York City

AbstractDuring the last decade, while national homicide rates have remained flat, New York City has experienced a second great crime decline, with gun violence declining by more than 50 percent since 2011. In this paper, we investigate one potential explanation for this dramatic and unexpected improvement in public safety—the New York Police Department's shift to a more surgical form of “precision policing,” in which law enforcement focuses resources on a small number of individuals who are thought to be the primary drivers of violence. We study New York City's campaign of “gang takedowns” in which suspected members of criminal gangs were arrested in highly coordinated raids and prosecuted on conspiracy charges. We show that gun violence in and around public housing communities fell by approximately one third in the first year after a gang takedown. Our estimates imply that gang takedowns explain nearly one quarter of the decline in gun violence in New York City's public housing communities over the last eight years.

The Enemy Within? Anti‐Rights Groups and Restrictions on Civil Society

AbstractA growing body of literature focuses on restrictions imposed on the space for civil society, or civic space. Recent research has noted that over the past decade, states have expanded their repertoire of legal and extra‐legal measures to curtail the freedoms of association, expression and assembly. Although time‐series data show that the state apparatus continues to be the primary perpetrator of restrictions on civil society organisations (CSOs) and activists, increasing evidence suggests that non‐state actors (NSAs) also play a relevant role in restricting civic space. A broad and heterogeneous category, NSAs include paramilitary forces, private corporate security, criminal gangs and religious fundamentalist groups, among others. This article analyses civic space restrictions driven by a specific type of NSA, that of so‐called ‘anti‐rights groups’. Research conclusions suggest that this distinct set of actors, which usually cultivates close links to the state, is increasingly playing an understudied role in restricting human rights CSOs.

Restricting NGOs: From Pushback to Accommodation

Restricting NGOs: From Pushback to Accommodation

Call for more youth workers to tackle emerging gangs threat

The pandemic has changed the methods criminal gangs use to exploit children. Experts say the shift is exposing young people from rural and affluent areas to greater risks, who will need the support of 10,000 more youth workers

Competition in the Black Market: Estimating the Causal Effect of Gangs in Chicago

I study criminal street gangs using new data that describes the geospatial distribution of gang territory in Chicago and its evolution over a 15-year period. Using an event study design, I show that city blocks entered by gangs experience sharp increases in the number of reported batteries (6%), narcotics violations (18.5%), weapons violations (9.8%), incidents of prostitution (51.9%), and criminal trespassing (19.6%). I also find a sharp reduction in the number of reported robberies (-8%). The findings cannot be explained by pre-existing trends in crime, changes in police surveillance, crime displacement, exposure to public housing demolitions, reporting effects, or demographic trends. Taken together, the evidence suggests that gangs cause small increases in violence in highly localized areas as a result of conflict over illegal markets. I also find evidence that gangs cause reductions in median property values (-$8,436.9) and household income (-$1,866.8). Motivated by these findings, I explore the relationship between the industrial organization of the black market and the supply of criminal activity. I find that gangs that are more internally fractured or operate in more competitive environments tend to generate more crime. This finding is inconsistent with simple, market-based models of criminal behavior, suggesting an important role for behavioral factors and social interactions in the production of gang violence.

Governance Deficit, National Security and the Development of Nigeria: ENDSARS Protest Perspective

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with financial fortunes bolstered by enormous natural endowments and human resources. Yet Nigeria is faced with myriads of economic and socio-political woes and has earned the infamous sobriquet of the world’s poverty capital. Scholars and other stakeholders have not only wondered why Nigeria, the supposed giant of Africa is trailing behind in anything positive, but also have consistently observed that Nigeria’s endemic problems are anchored on ill- governance. The paper interrogated Nigeria’s national security which has been compromised through incessant and runaway corruption, the activities of boko haram terrorists, the daily killings by the Fulani herdsmen and other criminal gangs in Nigeria, menacing poverty, dearth of infrastructure, institutions with weak performance capacities, a governance elite that is far away from the aspirations of the governed and too removed that it has become irresponsible and insensitive to the plight of its subjects, which was adequately exposed through the ENDSARS protests in the country in early October 2020. A qualitative research, the paper is anchored on Social Contract as its analytical theory. The paper’s findings, amongst others, include a governance deficit foisted by self-styled leadership of a schizophrenic nature that has caused a reversing development, unemployment, human and income poverty, a recourse to inflaming ethnic, tribal and religious sentiments to cover up their primordial interests as well as maladministration and several other challenges arising from their prebendal nature. The recommendations include, among others: elimination of machine politics which is a progenitor of bad leadership and a culture of impunity with negative effects on human development and national security; a resort to entrenching human security if Nigeria intends to achieve national security which will usher in national integration and national development, as well as attract foreign investment and international goodwill.

Organized Crime and Social Security

This research is an analytical theoretical research that stands on the most appropriate ways to confront the danger of organized crimes through combating, This research has focused on the concept of organized crime and its implications, and the global management to eliminate this dangerous phenomena. the research consists of four chapters. First chapter covers the general frame of the research, defining concepts, and view a collection of previous studies. Second chapter includes organized crimes and social security, third chapter was assigned to discuss the motivations of organized crimes, and the fourth chapter presents crime prevention methods, conclusions, recommendations and resources. The research had found that: Organized Crimes were available previously, but within a specific limit that did not extend a single region or country. 2-Organized crimes and its affiliate gangs are characterized by great of high degree of social control 3-The existence of hierarchal formation in the organization that depends on central authority, governed by a set of customary rules. 4-Organized crimes activities extend beyond the regional borders of the homland.5-Organized crime tends to have a range of organizational complications to keep up with the developments of modern societies. 6-Organizational crime has become global, so national response measures are no longer sufficient but rather need to take global measures.7-Transitional societies are more vulnerable and exploitation from such criminal gangs than other societies.8-Organized crimes’

Factors associated with frequent marijuana consumption in young people before admission to juvenile detention centers in Peru.

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the world, especially among young people. This study is relevant to policy makers because it expands the knowledge regarding drug use in vulnerable youth, allowing health authorities to reduce marijuana consumption via educational, family, and governmental strategies and policies. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of frequent marijuana consumption and its associated factors in young people before admission to juvenile detention centers in Peru. The data was taken from the 2016 National Population Census of the Youth Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Centers in Peru. The final sample was made up of 1,848 people with ages between 14 and 22 years old, with a median age of 17 (95.6% males). The variable frequent marijuana consumption was defined as the use of marijuana at least once a week, prior to entering the center. The main factors associated with frequent marijuana use were male sex, running away from home before the age of 15, physical abuse during childhood, having a family member who consumed alcohol or drugs frequently, and the presence of criminal gangs in the housing area. Additionally, it was found that living with parents up to a specific critical age decreases the probability of frequent use of marijuana in young people. These results could aid the development of strategies and public policies that help prevent the consumption of marijuana and other drugs from an early age.

Ley Penal del menor en Colombia: un enfoque participativo*

Delincuencia y menores de edad son dos categorías con intensas relaciones en la realidad colombiana del presente. La problemática criminal que padece la sociedad colombiana implica muy habitualmente la acción de menores de edad, niños en muchos casos, como herramientas en manos de los distintos grupos criminales que realizan sus actividades delincuenciales en Colombia. Nuestro país es también, y desde la Constitución de 1991, uno de los países con un mayor número de instrumentos participativos. El presente artículo busca exponer la regulación penal del menor en Colombia y plantear el posible desarrollo y reforma a través de los mecanismos de democracia participativa que existen en Colombia. Se tratará de evaluar la utilidad de dichos mecanismos para mejorar la regulación penal del menor, ayudando con ello a mejorar la integración en la sociedad del menor delincuente.

Aguu: From Acholi Post War Street Youth and Children to ‘Criminal Gangs’ in Modern Day Gulu City, Uganda

This paper analyses the origin and evolution of the Aguu, a group of street youth/children labelled as a criminal gang operating in the streets of Gulu, Uganda. Based on a series of interviews, focus group discussions, participant observations, archival work and literature review, the paper traces the origin of the Aguu to the conflict in Northern Uganda, and describes the transformation of the Aguu from street youth/children linked to war and displacement to their present day labelling as ‘criminal gang’. Anchored in an analysis based on Assemblage Theory, this paper demonstrates the complexity, multiplicity and fluidity of the Aguu identity as a group whose inception and evolution, both internal and external, occurs through a process of relationship between social, political, economic and infrastructural changes linked to war, culture, aid and politics, affecting present day security discourses in Gulu, Uganda.

Aguu: From Acholi Post War Street Youth and Children to ‘Criminal Gangs’ in Modern Day Gulu City, Uganda

This paper analyses the origin and evolution of the Aguu, a group of street youth/children labelled as a criminal gang operating in the streets of Gulu, Uganda. Based on a series of interviews, focus group discussions, participant observations, archival work and literature review, the paper traces the origin of the Aguu to the conflict in Northern Uganda, and describes the transformation of the Aguu from street youth/children linked to war and displacement to their present day labelling as ‘criminal gang’. Anchored in an analysis based on Assemblage Theory, this paper demonstrates the complexity, multiplicity and fluidity of the Aguu identity as a group whose inception and evolution, both internal and external, occurs through a process of relationship between social, political, economic and infrastructural changes linked to war, culture, aid and politics, affecting present day security discourses in Gulu, Uganda.

Analysis of water-soluble paper for forensic discrimination

Water-soluble paper (WSP), which easily dissolves in water, has been found in criminal gang hideouts as evidence in crimes including bank transfer fraud, phone fraud, and grandparent scams, i.e. identity fraud to steal money. Distinguishing WSP products used in crimes is required in forensic investigations to link fraud groups with paper evidence or prove connections among fraud groups. In this work, we investigate distinguishing WSP products. White sheets of six WSP products available in Japan were analyzed by measuring the grammage and thickness, determining additive compounds by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and performing fiber analysis by transmitted light microscopy. The six products were categorized into three groups by grammage and thickness. XRD, XRF, and SEM/EDX analysis provided elemental information about additive compounds and their distribution on the surface. Pulp analysis by Graff “C” stain provided the composition and morphology of the pulp. The six products could be distinguished in a similar way to plain paper by these analyses. Our results demonstrate that conventional analytical methods used for plain paper analysis can also be used to discriminate WSP in forensic investigations.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking youth in Greece: protection, liberation and criminalisation

ABSTRACT This article examines how shifting local attitudes and migration management policies from an emphasis on care and liberation to temporality and criminalisation shape the migration and integration experience of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in Greece. To address this issue, the study relies on three discourses: voluntary vs. involuntary migration; child protection vs. child liberation; and minors as a potential resource vs. a security threat. Through analysis of testimonies and semi-structured interviews, we found that the state’s interpretation of the ‘best interests’ principle disregards both the needs of UAMs and their rights for protection and ethical care. We argue that the performativity of UAMs as voluntary migrants leaves many of them exposed to violence and abuse by both state (e.g. police, welfare services, migration officials) and non-state (NGO workers) actors. These actors push the minors to ‘invisibility’, which in turn increases their vulnerability to illegal and criminal activities, such that they often become engaged in or lured into the vicious cycle of criminal gangs, smuggling, trafficking, sexual exploitation and kidnapping.

Challenges Facing the Directorate of Criminal Investigation On Management of Criminal Gang Activities in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract
 This paper uses data collected for an MA Thesis on the challenges facing the Directorate of Criminal Investigation Department on management of criminal gang activities, in Nairobi County, Kenya. This study has been necessitated by continued concern among policymakers, security pundits and citizens about the rising criminal gang activities in the country, more pertinently in Nairobi County. Although there are few studies that tried to scratch this area, there has never been a detailed and systematic inquiry and analysis of this problem. The study was guided by several specific objectives; the first objective examined the tactical challenges that the police face in policing gang related activities in Nairobi County, Kenya; assessed the effect of corruption in undermining the war against gang related activities in Nairobi County, Kenya; and finally explored other technological challenges that the police face in policing gang related activities in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive research design and purposive sampling technique to collect data. Interview schedules and key informants (K.I) guide were the main tools used to collect data using the interview method of data collection. 60 officers of the Special Crime Prevention Unit were the main respondents. Major challenges faced by the DCI officers when dealing with criminal gang activities especially within Nairobi County include; poor relationship between police and the general public as reported by 89.1% of the respondents, increased involvement of women in gang activities which is exacerbated by low ratio of female-male officers for undercover operations and 90.9%. of respondents indicated due to woman innocence will create a greater challenge. Others include; gang related activities with networks and markets especially for stolen vehicles across the borders as a result of corruption along the borders by both police, custom and military officers. Further, 85.5% indicated that cross border gang activities were worsened by lack of harmonized law for the regulation and prevention of these activities that led to enhanced proliferation of weapons as well as drugs to and from the neighboring countries. Major recommendations for policy considerations included; increased recruitment and deployment of female officers to beef up their ratio in undercover operations. Harmonized laws for the neighboring East African community countries and increased cooperation between the security organs of these countries in order to have a coordinated approach of tracking and apprehending criminals who escape to neighboring countries. The study also recommends mandatory training for DCI officers in computer/ technological skills to be able to intercept, interpret and or decode gang related communication and cybercrime related activities.

Vicisitudes de la labor docente en un contexto de violencia por el crimen organizado

La institución educativa tiene el mandato social de transmitir la cultura de la comunidad que la sostiene, pero en muchas ocasiones olvidan su función básica porque padecen de violencias, marginación y pobreza, entre otras problemáticas. La metodología de esta investigación es cualitativa, de corte descriptivo e interpretativo. El objetivo consistió en describir las diversas violencias externas e internas que sufren los profesores de un Colegio de Bachillerato Tecnológico ubicado en el Estado de México. Se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad y grupos focales, así como observaciones naturalistas sustentadas en el análisis institucional, también conocido como etnografía escolar. Los resultados evidencian violencia externa perpetrada por el crimen organizado, así como violencia interna ejercida por el director y los estudiantes. Ambas cuestiones generan que los profesores cedan en su labor docente por las amenazas de algunos delincuentes y ante la incompetencia del Estado, la laxitud de las normas institucionales, la falta de apoyo de la sociedad, los directivos y los padres de familia. Las violencias en la institución de análisis son un reflejo de la dinámica social, económica y política, similar a los resultados encontrados en otras investigaciones del país. La escuela tiene episodios alarmantes de violencia, al igual que muchas otras alrededor del mundo, y ha alcanzado un estatuto de naturalización como fenómeno social. De igual manera, se advierte cómo la educación formal pierde importancia en términos de movilidad social para los estudiantes debido a las ganancias económicas que obtienen de forma inmediata por participar con el crimen organizado.

Social housing for urban households sheltering children responsible for the "kuluna" and "black babies" phenomena in Congo Brazzaville.

Housing as a place where household members spend about half (12 hours) of their daily time, including six to eight hours in sleep, is one of the essential conditions in the fight against poverty and precariousness. The current Congolese urban environment is facing serious problems: small plots of land, lack of suitable housing in relation to the size and composition of households, overcrowding, and water and electricity supplies. This situation is becoming critical with the appearance of deviant behavior among children aged between 10 and 30. The government and its development partners have demonstrated their powerlessness face to this situation, leaving thousands of children on the streets without education or family warmth to form real criminal gangs. These street children have created the phenomena of "kuluna" and "black babies". It has been shown that these one act in this way for their survival, claiming their rights. In this study, we find innovative proposals to provide households sheltering adulterine and adoptive children with low-cost social housing, in order to restore the image of the head of the household and provide the children with a pleasant space for their physical, economic, cultural and spiritual development. This will undoubtedly help to find solutions to the problems facing children and indeed Congolese society as a whole today. The study revealed that if the government does not take practical measures in response to the phenomena created by wayward children, especially "black babies" and "kuluna", there will be a massive adherence of other children, especially the adulterine and adoptive ones. There will be a risk of the phenomena will to be exported to rural areas. The study recommends a "State - Household" partnership in the manufacture of new types of urban housing for households housing children likely to integrate or create gangs, jeopardizing social order and public security.

Defining the contours of a ‘criminal gang’ and a ‘pattern of criminal gang activity’ under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act

Before an accused can be convicted under Chapter 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 (POCA), two preliminary elements must be proven. These preliminary elements can be found under Chapter 1, and require the accused to be a gang member or active participant in a criminal gang and that a pattern of criminal gang activity should exist. Even though POCA was promulgated over 20 years ago, much uncertainty still exists as to the interpretation of various elements of the preliminary requirements under Chapter 1. This article examines the requirements set out in Chapter 1 of POCA, with a specific focus on how courts have interpreted these requirements. To do so, reference is made, amongst others, to the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act of 1988 (STEP) (as POCA was modelled after this legislation) and Chapter 2 of POCA (which deals with racketeering and is similarly structured to Chapter 4). This article will ultimately illustrate that courts have largely ignored these definitions which gave rise to legal uncertainty. Various suggestions will be made regarding the amendment or desired interpretation of these definitions.

ПРОБЛЕМЫ КВАЛИФИКАЦИИ ПРЕСТУПЛЕНИЯ, СВЯЗАННОГО С ВОВЛЕЧЕНИЕМ НЕСОВЕРШЕННОЛЕТНЕГО В ПРЕСТУПНУЮ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ

The article presents an analysis of the norms of pre-revolutionary criminal legislation (Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments of 1885), regulating such a form of criminal complicity as a «gang». The article shows the position of the legislator, who actually brought together the elements of crimes committed by a criminal gang (primarily property robbery) and crimes against the state in the form of an armed attack on «volost and public administrations». The conclusion is made that, taking into account the strengthening of the revolutionary movement at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the increased social danger of armed criminal gangs dictated the need to separate an independent corpus delicti, which was done, but after 1917, by the Soviet legislator in the form of banditry.

«ШАЙКА» КАК ФОРМА ПРЕСТУПНОГО СОУЧАСТИЯ В ДОРЕВОЛЮЦИОННОМ УГОЛОВНОМ ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬСТВЕ (В КОНТЕКСТЕ ПОСЛЕДУЮЩЕЙ ТРАНСФОРМАЦИИ В «БАНДУ»)

The article presents an analysis of the norms of pre-revolutionary criminal legislation (Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments of 1885), regulating such a form of criminal complicity as a «gang». The article shows the position of the legislator, who actually brought together the elements of crimes committed by a criminal gang (primarily property robbery) and crimes against the state in the form of an armed attack on «volost and public administrations». The conclusion is made that, taking into account the strengthening of the revolutionary movement at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the increased social danger of armed criminal gangs dictated the need to separate an independent corpus delicti, which was done, but after 1917, by the Soviet legislator in the form of banditry.