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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this paper by Lopez and Mirande was to present an overview of the suburban gangs of Orange County and critically evaluated public policy measures aimed at containing gang activity. A theoretical model on the emergence of gang activity was proposed in contrast to the prevailing urbanization model.
METHODOLOGY:
A non-experimental design utilizing secondary data from the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times newspapers was used to gather information on gang activity in Orange County. Data were reviewed for an eighteen-month period (July 5, 1986-December 15, 1987) and was supplemented with ethnographic research, participant observations, and personal and telephone interviews with officials from law enforcement, the probation department, and other county and city agencies. The Final Report of the State Task Force on Youth Gang Violence, the Orange County Department of Education's Gang Violence Prevention Network and the City of Anaheim's Youth Crime Reduction Strategy were also consulted because they heavily influenced Orange County's public policy on gang violence. In addition, Jose Lopez, the principal author of the paper, was a Orange County gang member and provided personal insight and knowledge in developing the theoretical bases for understanding the emergence and development of youth gangs.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Gang activity in Orange County was found to be multiethnic and countywide. Chicano gangs were found mainly in the central part of the county, Black gangs were found exclusively in Santa Ana, Southeast Asian gangs were found in Garden Grove, Westminster and Costa Mesa, and White gangs were found in the northern and southern part of the county. Many of the non-Chicano gangs were from suburban middle class neighborhoods and focused their activities on drugs, sex, music, and hatred directed at racial and ethnic minorities. The emergence of White middle class gangs seemed related to parental neglect, intergenerational conflict, and the alienation among youth, while the emergence of Chicano gangs seemed related to residential segregation, low wages, high dropout rates from school, and the absence of economic and political power. Some gangs had ethnic and gender diversity, while other gangs were ethnic and gender exclusive, territorial, and had been influenced by older criminal gangs such as the Mexican Mafia or the Aryan Brotherhood. Each city reported some form of gang activity ranging from graffiti problems to drive-by shootings. There were nine violent gang acts reported in Santa Ana, two in Westminster, and one in Anaheim, Laguna Beach, La Habra, and Buena Park. There was a tendency for the cities to down play gang problems, and it was most apparent in White middle-class communities. In 1987, at least nine new skinhead gangs appeared in Orange County, and these White hate gangs marked a new trend in the county's gang activity, for they came from predominately White neighborhoods and tended to be openly racist and violent. Orange County incorrectly evaluated the gang problem and has developed and implemented three programs that only targeted inner-city youth. The "Iron Fist" response utilized a strong law enforcement approach to suppressing gang violence, the "velvet glove" response denied the existence of gangs in the community, while developing strategies for law enforcement to suppress the gang activity, and the "just say no" response utilized other cities gang programs such as "Operation Safe Schools," which identified, and removed gang members from the school system, and placed them in alternative schools. These programs were developed by identifying gang behavior according to the urbanization model. This model focused on internal characteristics of minority communities, and classified gangs as urban, ethnically homogeneous, territorial based, and violence prone. Yet urban factors such as poverty, racism, unemployment, and faulty family socialization could not explain the emergence of gangs in this county, for they come from predominately suburban middle class neighborhoods. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors stated that the county needs to direct its funds towards researching gang behavior and how suburban youth empower themselves. They argued that a theoretical model on gang activity that focuses on economic, demographic, and residential patterns of separation between White America and non-White America would give a clearer picture of the gang problems in Orange County. EVALUATION:
This article broadens exploration of gang activity past the stereotypical bounds of minority, inner-city gang activity. Gang activity was found not only among Chicano youth but also among black, white, and Asian youth. The observation that public policy has been hindered by this stereotypical view of gangs is a critical one; one must know the problem before one can know how to solve it. The argument that both "iron fists" and "velvet gloves" are not contributing to the solution is also an important observation. This article provides an important starting point for real inquiry into understanding which challenges classist, racist, and closed-minded beliefs. Implementation of such aware policies could only help. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - 1980s
KW - Suburban Gang
KW - Suburban Violence
KW - Suburban Youth
KW - California
KW - Juvenile Gang
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Gang Violence
KW - Gang Intervention
KW - African American Gang
KW - African American Juvenile
KW - African American Juvenile
KW - African American Violence
KW - Caucasian Gang
KW - Caucasian Juvenile
KW - Caucasian Offender
KW - Caucasian Violence
KW - Hispanic Gang
KW - Hispanic Offender
KW - Hispanic Juvenile
KW - Hispanic Violence
KW - Gang Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Pulbic Policy
KW - Policy Evaluation
KW - Policy Effectiveness |