Responding to gangs Comparing gang member, police, and task force perspectives

Perceptions of four groups of actors—members of a gang task force, police officers, gang members, and nongang youth—involved in the St. Louis gang problem response were compared. The two groups of youths regarded gangs as a significantly more serious problem than did either of the adult groups. Yout...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of criminal justice 2000-03, Vol.28 (2), p.129-137
Main Authors: Decker, Scott H, Curry, G.David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Criminal justice
Criminality
Criminology
Gangs
Law enforcement
Missouri
Perceptions
Perspectives
Police
Police department
Police officers
Saint Louis, Missouri
Social aspects
Task forces
United States
Work with youth
Young people
Youth
Youth gangs
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Summary:Perceptions of four groups of actors—members of a gang task force, police officers, gang members, and nongang youth—involved in the St. Louis gang problem response were compared. The two groups of youths regarded gangs as a significantly more serious problem than did either of the adult groups. Youths were significantly more likely to view gangs as instrumentally delinquent, while the adult groups were significantly more likely to view gangs as social organizations. Applying the Spergel-Curry categorization of gang strategies to these data revealed that none of the groups offered consistent response strategies for dealing with gang problems.
ISSN:0047-2352
1873-6203
DOI:10.1016/S0047-2352(99)00037-9