Gang Research Articles

Privatized jails: Comparing individuals' safety in private and public jails

An estimated 5.4% of individuals in United States jails are in private facilities. While our knowledge about jail experiences and private prisons has grown in recent years, little is known about the private jail experience. Jail stays are often assumed to be a less severe punishment; however, transient and diverse populations and limited investments in treatment and programming suggest jails may be particularly unsafe. The current study uses the 2011–12 National Inmate Survey to compare how individuals' perceive and experience safety while incarcerated in public and private jails. A quasi-experimental approach is taken using propensity scores to match individuals in private jails to those in public facilities based on demographics, past experiences, and incarceration measures. The findings suggest that individuals in private jails perceived these facilities as less safe compared their public counterparts. Respondents in private jails reported higher levels of gang activity in their facility, more had belongings stolen while detained, and fewer individuals believed the facility was adequately staffed or that corrections officers ended fights quickly. This study highlights harms experienced in both public and private jails and underscores a need for more research on the private jail experience.

Abstract 15442: Street Gang Territories and Hypertension in Chicago

Hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk factor. Gang violence is an unfortunately common reality in urban communities and violence is associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes. However, the relationship between street gang territories and cardiovascular risk is unknown. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to determine if residence within a street gang territory is associated with higher blood pressure compared with demographically similar patients who resided outside of gang territories within Chicago. A balanced dataset of 1,016 unique-but-demographically-similar patients with at least 3 available pre-pandemic ambulatory blood pressure measurements at our urban, academic tertiary-care center were sampled from over 70,561 available patients. Patients were matched for the number of BP measurements, age, race, sex, and other sociodemographic variables. Patients were geo-coded and mapped, and known street gang territories were similarly geo-coded and mapped using publicly available data from the Chicago Police Department data portal. Out of 66 known street gangs in Chicago, our institution served patients from 28 unique gang territories. Patients residing within a known street gang territory had on average 6.2 mmHg higher BP than those living outside any known street gang territory (median = 133.2 vs 127.0, respectively,p<0.001). SBP control in each unique street gang territory was highly variable with medians ranging between 108.8 to 165.0 mmHg (Figure). In conclusion, we find that residence within a street gang territory is associated with significantly higher systolic blood pressure compared with demographically similar patients who do not live in a gang territory. While poverty and other social determinants of health are known to affect hypertension and cardiovascular risk, residence within a gang territory may represent a new social risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Exceptionalism for most, excess for others: The legal foundation of a bifurcated criminal justice system in Denmark

Following a change in the Danish gang milieu in 2008, where ethnic minority street gangs challenged the established outlaw motorcycle gangs, the Danish government has formulated three anti-gang policy ‘packages’. To unfold the development they represent to Nordic penology, this article analyses elements of both penal exceptionalism and excess. In this article, it is shown how the packages are based on the notion of gang membership as a choice, which legitimated the development of a parallel justice system for gang members. This foundation is built upon a gang-specific subsection that allows for the doubling of gang-related sentences and for restricting prisoner rights and traditional rehabilitative treatment for gang-related convicts. The packages, however, maintained ‘a way out’ for gang members who voluntarily entered a formal EXIT program, and thus gained access to traditional penal treatment and also support for leaving the gang milieu. It is argued that the packages represent a development of intended bifurcation based on status differentiation between citizen groups, a process also observed in regard to Danish anti-ghetto policies. Thus, rather than resembling a general turn to punitiveness, the packages indicate a penological development based on penal differentiation, which raises questions about access to justice for those found wanting.

Traumatic Sequelae of Exposure to Street Gangs in Young Women Placed in Residential Care During Adolescence: Examining the Dose-Response Relationship

ABSTRACT Exposure to street gangs in girls represents a complex trauma experience due to many reasons, including their complicated relationships with male gang members, repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events within the gang setting, and the developmental stage of adolescence when gang exposure typically occurs. However, research exploring the various complex trauma symptoms associated with gang exposure among girls has been sparse. Therefore, using a longitudinal design, this study examined the impact of adolescent girls’ street gang exposure on complex trauma symptoms in emerging adulthood, considering the influence of previous traumatic experiences in childhood. The study involved 110 adolescent girls admitted at two residential care centers in Montreal, Canada, between January 2008 and October 2009. It analyzed the effects of both initial occurrence and recurrence of exposure to street gangs. The findings demonstrated the harmful effects of repeated and prolonged exposure to street gangs during adolescence and emerging adulthood on a wide range of complex trauma symptoms, including post-traumatic stress, insecure attachment, externalization, and somatization. These findings emphasize the need for implementing trauma-informed approaches when addressing the challenges faced by girls who have been exposed to street gangs.

The Role of Intelligence Unit in Preventing Potential Motorcycle Gang Crimes (Study in Bandung Regency)

In carrying out the prevention of motorcycle gang crimes, the Intelkam Unit has inhibiting factors, namely the limited budget given to carry out investigation tasks, the lack of public participation in reporting motorcycle gang actions that interfere with Kamtibmas, the lack of Unit Intelkam personnel, and the lack of member capabilities. For find out how the implementation of Bandung Police Intelligence Unit in Preventing Crimes committed by Motorcycle Gangs, then factors that influence the prevention of motorcycle gang crimes and to find out what efforts are made by the Intelkam Unit when facing obstacles in preventing crime. Method in this research descriptive method which describes based on the reality that exists and was found at the time of doing the research. This research was conducted by interview, literature study and documentation. The results showed that the Bandung Police Intelligence Unit played a role in carrying out early warning systems and early detection carried out through investigation efforts, namely by collecting information or information material, then taking security to overcome existing Kamtibmas disturbances through monitoring places. vulnerable places and the last is by raising funds to seek and obtain information to be presented to the leadership so that further it can take a policy to tackle the crime of theft with violence which is in the jurisdiction of the Bandung Police

Unpacking Unexplored Psychological Factors in Alcohol and Substance Use in Gang Members

The extant literature has identified that gang involvement is associated with increased substance use frequency and severity. Unfortunately, most gang intervention programs concentrate on minimizing and reducing delinquent behavior and ties to gangs; while neglecting to address substance use among gang members. The current study examines psychopathic traits role in alcohol consumption and substance use among gang members and individuals with a history of gang involvement using the Pathways sample. The study implemented a count mixed effect models to investigate the impact of psychopathic traits on alcohol and substance use in individuals with a history of gang involvement and gang members longitudinally in waves 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, while controlling for other variables associated with alcohol consumption and substance use frequency. The current study found the impulsivity/irresponsible dimension of psychopathy is associated with consumption of alcohol and substance use longitudinally.

Racial Othering and Relational Wellbeing: African Refugee Youth in Australia

Racialised and culturally distinct refugee groups increasingly face hostilities and negative representations in countries of resettlment. The experience of African refugee youth in Australia illustrates this general trend. This paper explores how racial Othering discourse seriously undermines the group’s wellbeing. The article concentrates in particular on two aspects of relational wellbeing, the capacity to move in public without fear or shame and the ability to feel a sense of belonging to the place where one lives in. Theoretically, the paper draws together work on wellbeing from a capability approach and relational perspective with interdisciplinary literature on racial Othering. Empirically, the paper demonstrates the pervasive culture of racial Othering through media identifications of African youth with criminality and gang violence and illustrates impacts on young people’s wellbeing through data from interviews with African refugee youth. The youth’s accounts show how it feels to be a problem and what it means not to belong.

Tattoo Removal in People of Color Who Were Formerly Incarcerated or Were Gang Members: Complications and Best Practices

Abstract: There are limited data about the tattoo removal process in formerly gang-involved and incarcerated people of color. This single center retrospective study was conducted on patients treated at Homeboy Industries' Ya'Stuvo Tattoo Removal Clinic between January 2016–December 2018. It reviewed data on 2,118 tattoos, and a representative sample of 502 patients was used to conduct our analysis. Treatment on 118 of the tattoos (5.57%) resulted in at least one complication (hypo-or hyper-pigmentation, keloids, or scarring). Patients who experienced tattoo removal complications (7.3%) were less likely to return to complete the removal process. More complications were experienced with higher fluences of energy, on tattoos placed by professional artists, on colored tattoos, and tattoos on clients who had a greater number of treatments. The study highlights complications and best practices in tattoo removal in people of color, a process critical to the reintegration and gang disengagement of this vulnerable population.

Securing development: Uneven geographies of coastal tourism development in El Salvador

Over the last ten years, El Salvador has emerged as a popular coastal tourist destination known for its beautiful beaches and world-renowned surf. Riding this wave, the government, international donors, and investors have championed tourism as a strategy to alleviate poverty, promote sustainable development, and address the country’s long-standing migration and security crises. Yet, while tourism has brought novel economic opportunities to coastal communities, it has also increased pressures on local people, land, and resources, as well as complicated gang-state security dynamics in complex ways. This paper contributes to geographic scholarship on tourism in the Global South by examining the uneven social and environmental impacts of tourism development on rural coastal communities in El Salvador. I use a mix of ethnographic and survey methods to analyze socio-spatial reconfigurations in livelihoods, land and resource access, and the securitization of space in a case study site from the country’s rapidly touristifying western coast. The results find that inequalities are produced through development-driven processes of socioeconomic and resource stratification between mostly affluent, White foreigners and domestic elites and poor Salvadoran residents. The benefits of job growth in tourism-related sectors are largely undermined by the loss of access to land, economic power, and community identity through the foreignization of space. These impacts are compounded by uneven geographies of securitization, which protect wealthy tourist spaces while exposing poor rural residents to both gang and state-sponsored violence. Advancing a critical framing of tourism (in)securities, the paper argues that rather than promoting sustainable development, tourism contributes to the insecurity and unsustainability of life for many poor rural residents, reinforcing rather than reducing incentives to migrate. By highlighting the socio-spatial production of inequalities in the context of tourism, the research calls for policies ensuring more just and inclusive tourism development in El Salvador and other Global South destinations.

Analisis Pola Asuh dan Komunikasi Orang Tua pada Remaja Geng Motor Kelurahan Jati Utomo Kota Binjai

Juvenile delinquency occurs along with the development of technology, where their behavior is deviant and violates norms to the occurrence of crime. In this phase, a good role and communication between parents and children is needed because there are many emotional, cognitive and physical changes.This study aims to determine the form of parenting and communication of parents in teenage motorcycle gangs in Jati Utomo Village, North Binjai, North Sumatra and the method used in this study is descriptive qualitative. This research data collection technique uses interviews, observations and literature studies. The subjects of the study were several motorcycle gang members and several neighborhood heads in Jati Utomo Village. The results of this study show that the form of parenting greatly affects the way adolescents get along, as well as the communication built between parents and children which is a guide in determining their social environment. Teenagers make the community formed as a forum that can express themselves and get a very wide scope of friends. While the form of parenting they get from parents is very minimal, ranging from teaching responsibility, mentoring worship problems and solving social life problems they experience Keyword: Parenting, Teen, Motorcycle Gangs

Analisis Pola Asuh dan Komunikasi Orang Tua pada Remaja Geng Motor Kelurahan Jati Utomo Kota Binjai

Juvenile delinquency occurs along with the development of technology, where their behavior is deviant and violates norms to the occurrence of crime. In this phase, a good role and communication between parents and children is needed because there are many emotional, cognitive and physical changes.This study aims to determine the form of parenting and communication of parents in teenage motorcycle gangs in Jati Utomo Village, North Binjai, North Sumatra and the method used in this study is descriptive qualitative. This research data collection technique uses interviews, observations and literature studies. The subjects of the study were several motorcycle gang members and several neighborhood heads in Jati Utomo Village. The results of this study show that the form of parenting greatly affects the way adolescents get along, as well as the communication built between parents and children which is a guide in determining their social environment. Teenagers make the community formed as a forum that can express themselves and get a very wide scope of friends. While the form of parenting they get from parents is very minimal, ranging from teaching responsibility, mentoring worship problems and solving social life problems they experience Keyword: Parenting, Teen, Motorcycle Gangs

The impacts of ethnic and mainstream culture on Māori-themed films

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of Hollywood crime-thrillers and that of Māori cultural conventions in Māori-themed New Zealand films. The influence of the former is detected in the figure of the gang member, whilst that of the latter in Taiaiake Alfred’s New Warrior, who uses social skills and mental rather than physical strength to fight for the wellbeing of the community. By analysing the portrayals of such characters, we detect how they negotiate the conventions of art films, or ethnically involved ‘Fourth Cinema,’ and those of popular entertainment. We come to the conclusion that although certain gang-related images in these productions are gory, romanticized or Hollywoodized, the representation of contemporary Māori warriors still displays, to a greater or lesser degree, social issues related to modern leadership and the wellbeing of Māori tribes.

Is violence a gender issue among community health agents in Northeast Brazil?

Abstract A biopsychosocial phenomenon, violence may be defined as the hurtful outcome of conflicting social forces. Violence affects individual and collective health, creating a demand for targeted public policies and the implementation of services for the prevention and treatment of injury. Community Health Agents (CHAs) are the link between the Brazilian primary health care system and the community. As they live and work in the same neighborhoods, they are involved in what happens in the community, including observants and or potential targets of violence. We aimed to investigate the violence to which CHAs are exposed and if female CHAs experience and or perceive violence the same way as male CHAs. A structured questionnaire applied to CHAs was used to collect information. Two periods (2019 [n = 1402] and 2021 [n = 364]) were compared. The sampled CHAs were found to be highly exposed to violence (>80%), whether as victims in the workplace and at home or as witnesses within the community served. In general, while the occurrence of violence towards CHAs decreased, their perception of community violence increased. Moreover, between 2019 (before the Covid-19 pandemic) and 2021 (a year into the pandemic) the prevalence of perceived urban/community violence (physical aggression, assault, stabbing, lethal and non-lethal gunshots, and gang violence) increased among female CHAs, but remained practically unchanged (with the exception of ‘assault') among male CHAs, indicating a gender-related difference for this variable. In addition to impacting the health and work routines of CHAs, violence is also injurious to the health of the community (directly or indirectly - inability of CHA to deliver care). Given the complexity of violence and its repercussions on the daily routines of CHAs, intersectoral and interdisciplinary partnerships between health workers and other stakeholders are needed to create strategies capable of dealing with expressions of violence in the territories served. Key messages • CHA are highly exposed to violence (> 80%), whether as victims in the workplace and at home or as witnesses within the community served. • There is a gender-related difference for the perception of violence among CHA, which may be due to social inequalities or women's vulnerability to violence.

Streetwork at the crossroads: An evaluation of a street gang outreach intervention and holistic appraisal of the research evidence

AbstractSpurred by the success of public health violence interventions, and accelerated by policy pressure to reduce violence without exacerbating overpolicing and mass incarceration, streetwork programs—those that provide anti‐violence services by neighborhood‐based workers who perform their work beyond the walls of parochial institutions—have positioned themselves as the most important non–law‐enforcement violence prevention option available to urban policy makers. Yet despite their importance, the state of the field seems difficult to interpret for academics and practitioners alike. In this article, we make several contributions that bring forth new findings and deliver new perspectives on streetwork as a violence reduction strategy. First, we offer an extended analytic review of the streetwork evaluation literature that connects the study of contemporary public health violence interventions to a preceding tradition of criminologically inspired streetwork studies. Second, we present the results of an impact evaluation of StreetSafe Boston (SSB)—a multiyear streetwork intervention that served 20 Boston gangs. We find that the SSB intervention had no detectable effect on violence among the gangs that it served. We conclude by offering a framework for understanding a field at multiple crossroads: past and present, proclaimed successes and failures, help and harm.

Outlaw Ludens: Explaining Traditional Outlaw Motorcycle Club Violence Through Ludology

ABSTRACT This article explains how the war mentality of Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMCG) culture of interclub violence is a form of game established as an outlet for the natural consequences of the reactionary masculinity of its members. It disputes the claim that all violence by clubs is motivated by organized criminal activity. The original OMCG culture exemplifies extreme camaraderie, risk-taking, a lifestyle that condones violence, and an elitist mind-set that expresses itself through violent defense of club honor, including vendetta between clubs. The war mentality and the battles it produces are performed in accordance with the description of games developed by ludology, being played in a magic circle, according to rules, and only by members of the OMCG cultural milieu. This understanding is important to ensure that intelligence analysis of OMCG activity can distinguish between the game of war mentality and genuine organized criminal activity. Failure to perceive the difference can distort intelligence conclusions and misdirect policing responses.

Finnish and Swedish ‘gangsta rap’ as a window on the dismantlement of the Nordic welfare state

Sweden, often cited as an exemplary welfare state, has experienced a significant increase in gang-related gun violence in recent years. In parallel, Finland debates the growing problem of youth violence and street gangs. The media discourse surrounding these issues often focuses on ‘gangsta rap’ and certain artists within the genre. Despite rap music’s popularity and expression of underprivileged and racialised youth globally, it has earlier been subject to policing and criminalisation, now introduced in the Nordic countries. Using Finnish and Swedish media discourse and rap lyrics and videos as data, this article contributes to prior understanding by 1) linking narratives of ‘gangsta rap’ to the dismantling of the Nordic welfare state, 2) highlighting the racist targeting of ethnic minorities through the public discussions of rappers and 3) discussing similarities and differences between Sweden and Finland, adding nuance to understanding how rap and its criminalisation vary across countries.

Entry Mechanisms into the Belgian Synthetic Drugs Market

Organised crime groups prefer existing ties, such as family and friendship, to maximise trust. However, they might also win from a certain degree of heterogeneity. External individuals might add value in the form of skills, expertise or money. Accordingly, including suitable co-offenders is an important activity for the organised crime group. This article studies the entry mechanisms of individuals into the synthetic drugs market in Belgium, namely by gaining insight into the factors and mechanisms introducing people into this market. Interviews with 29 inmates detained for their involvement in the production and/or trafficking of synthetic drugs in Belgium revealed that: (1) poly drug supply markets exist in Belgium; (2) financial reasons to enter the market are common; and (3) there are six different entry mechanisms, in which trust is crucial, namely criminal family ties, criminal friends, drug use, earlier time in prison, outlaw motorcycle gang membership, and criminal professional ties.

After the Gang: Desistance, Violence and Occupational Options in Nicaragua

AbstractGangs are widely considered major contributors to the high levels of violence afflicting Latin America, including in particular Central America. At the same time, however, the vast majority of individuals who join a gang will also leave it and, it is assumed, become less violent. Having said this, the mechanisms underlying this ‘desistance’ process are not well understood, and nor are the determinants of individuals’ post-gang trajectories, partly because gang desistance tends to be seen as an event rather than a process. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research carried out in barrio Luis Fanor Hernández, a poor neighbourhood in Nicaragua's capital city Managua, and more specifically a set of ‘archetypal’ gang member life histories that illustrate the occupational options open to former gang members, this article offers a longitudinal perspective on desistance and its consequences, with specific reference to the determinants of individuals’ continued engagement with violence (or not).

Deprivation and Importation Measures as Predictors of Bullying Perpetration in Young Correctional Institutions

Bullying is a perennial problem in correctional institutions. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of bullying perpetration in young correctional institutions, and to identify environmental and personal factors as predictors of bullying perpetration. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 289 male and female young people from eight correctional institutions in Malaysia. The Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behavior Checklist (DIPC-SCALEDr) was used to measure both bullying perpetration and victimization. The study reported more than 90% of the participants engaged in at least one behavior indicative of bullying others during the 1 month period. Participants reported involvement across six bullying forms. Direct logistic regression analysis identified eight significant predictors of bullying perpetration i.e. time served in the institution, disciplinary punishment; gang membership, no self-injury, respect, bureaucratic legitimacy, fairness, and family contact. To conclude, this study confirms bullying perpetration is determined by both personal and environmental factors. Juvenile justice system can use these key findings to anchor future interventions to prevent bullying and other forms of violence in correctional institution. In the future, this study might include a focus on staff-offender bullying and protective factors for bulling perpetration in correctional institutions.

Sweden turns to facial recognition to fight rise in gang crime

Sweden turns to facial recognition to fight rise in gang crime