Gang Violence

Quick Facts/Overview

* Over 2,000 law enforcement agencies reported that 23,388 youth gangs and 664,906 youth gang members were active in their jurisdictions in 1995. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1997)

* There are approximately 100,000 gang members in the United States. (Mydans, 1992)

* Homicide arrest rates for 17-year-olds jumped 121 percent between 1985 and 1991 -- from 34.4 per 1000,000 to 76 per 100,000. Arrest rates among those age 15 and 16 grew even faster. (Teen Killers, 1992)

* The amount of crime one gang can produce is staggering. Seven percent of youth, mostly gang members, are responsible for 70 percent of juvenile crimes. (National School Safety Center, 1988).

Gangs tear apart our communities and disrupt our schools. Although most gang violence occurs between rival gangs of the same ethnic background, gang activity affects nearly everyone in the community in some personal way. In America's schools, gangs often create an environment of intimidation and fear that can make it all but impossible for students to learn.

Gangs today are involved in a wide variety of crimes; their influence on the flow of crack and other drugs into our schools and communities has resulted in additional social problems. Unfortunately, easy access to firearms has made the threat from gangs even greater. In the past, most disputes between gang members were solved with their fists; now they are often solved with handguns and semiautomatic weapons (Bing, 1989). Today there are over 200 million guns in the United States -- twice as many as in 1970 -- and many of those are in the hands of our 100,000 gang members (Jurgenson, 1992). In New York and other urban areas, the problem has become so great that high schools have been forced to spend vital educational resources on the installation of metal detectors in schools city-wide. Every two years in America, as many people are killed by handguns alone as were killed during the Vietnam War (Jurgenson, 1992).

The problems produced by placing such a tremendous amount of fire-power in the hands of our youth are exacerbated by a terrifying fact: most juveniles don't have very good aim. In 1989, Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner reported that half of all drive-by shooting fatalities (a practice common to gangs) in his city were "innocent bystanders" (Harper, 1989, pp. 12-15). Recently, one gang member explained the problem: "Keep in mind we don't have no target ranges were we get prolific with these guns" (Bing, 1989). In communities ravaged by gang violence, it is the stray bullet people fear the most. As a tragic example, several children have been killed in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing complex in recent years as a result of bullets from gang cross-fire.

In recent years, the problem of gang violence has also increased due to the mobility of gangs. Large, well-established gangs frequently relocate from one city to another so that they can become the dominant gang in another area. Thus, more and more people in more and more communities become affected (NSSC, 1998). Why Do Gangs Exist -- Why Do Kids Want to Join Them?

There have been many explanations for why the gang population has exploded in the United States, including:

• Increased drug trafficking;
• The ease of access to drugs/guns;
• Poverty;
• Racial divisions;
• Lack of parental supervision;
• Lack of employment opportunities;
• Lack of recreational opportunities;
• Breakdown in family structure;
• Excessive sex and violence in television shows and moves; and
• The breakdown of the structure of the community and of the church (Harper 1989, p. 31).

All may have contributed in some way, but no single reason is solely responsible. Although the risks and sacrifices are great, the truth is gangs provide many benefits to their members. Some of these include:

• Companionship;
• Protection;
• A sense of belonging;
• Fast money;
• Training;
• Relief of frustration;
• Power; and  Self-esteem (NSSC, 1988).

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