Abstract
Despite previous research, there remains no consensus on definitions of who is a gang member, what is a gang, and what is gang activity. This paper examines these issues based on results of a survey administered to two groups involved in responding to gangs—members of a gang task force and officers of an urban police department—and a group of juvenile detainees. Considerable differences are observed among the three groups in their appraisal of the extent and impact of gang activity, number of gangs and gang members, and gang-relatedness of five vignettes. The implications for formulating a policy response to gangs are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 271-291 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Criminal Justice Policy Review |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1991 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Law
Cite this
Constructing Gangs : The Social Definition Of Youth Activities. / Decker, Scott; Kempf-Leonard, Kimberly.
In: Criminal Justice Policy Review, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1991, p. 271-291.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Constructing Gangs
T2 - The Social Definition Of Youth Activities
AU - Decker, Scott
AU - Kempf-Leonard, Kimberly
PY - 1991
Y1 - 1991
N2 - Despite previous research, there remains no consensus on definitions of who is a gang member, what is a gang, and what is gang activity. This paper examines these issues based on results of a survey administered to two groups involved in responding to gangs—members of a gang task force and officers of an urban police department—and a group of juvenile detainees. Considerable differences are observed among the three groups in their appraisal of the extent and impact of gang activity, number of gangs and gang members, and gang-relatedness of five vignettes. The implications for formulating a policy response to gangs are discussed.
AB - Despite previous research, there remains no consensus on definitions of who is a gang member, what is a gang, and what is gang activity. This paper examines these issues based on results of a survey administered to two groups involved in responding to gangs—members of a gang task force and officers of an urban police department—and a group of juvenile detainees. Considerable differences are observed among the three groups in their appraisal of the extent and impact of gang activity, number of gangs and gang members, and gang-relatedness of five vignettes. The implications for formulating a policy response to gangs are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84973817773&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84973817773&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/088740349100500401
DO - 10.1177/088740349100500401
M3 - Article
VL - 5
SP - 271
EP - 291
JO - Criminal Justice Policy Review
JF - Criminal Justice Policy Review
SN - 0887-4034
IS - 4
ER -