Youth Gangs: Continuity and Change

No region of the United States is without youth gangs. Gangs exist in many large and middle-size cities and are spreading to suburban and smaller communities. Youth gangs increasingly create problems in correctional and school settings. Compared with nongang offenders, gang members are responsible for a disproportionate percentage of serious and violent offenses and engage in the sale and distribution of drugs. Race or ethnicity and social isolation interact with poverty and community disorganization to account for much of the gang problem. The gang is an important social institution for low-income male youths and young adults from newcomer and residual populations because it often serves social, cultural, and economic functions no longer adequately performed by the family, the school, and the labor market. Four major policy emphases for dealing with gangs have evolved: local community mobilization, youth outreach, social opportunities, and, most recently, gang suppression. Improved policies require the integration of these approaches. Strategies of community mobilization, social support, social opportunities, and suppression should be coordinated within a framework of social control and institution building.