NCJ Number
148912
Journal
Social Work Volume: 10 Dated: (October 1965) Pages: 60-68
Date Published
1965
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Data are presented on the activities and contacts of 10 workers assigned by the Los Angeles County (Calif.) Probation Department to the most active gang neighborhoods in the county.
Abstract
The workers included eight men and two women, three blacks, one Asian American, two Hispanics, and four white workers. Some worked with one gang; others with two or three. The gang members were either black or Hispanic. The workers completed reports every 4 weeks for 16 weeks during the late winter and spring of 1964. Findings suggested personal and field determinants of selected aspects of workers' styles. The workers varied greatly in their use of time and their activities. Results also indicated that while the time allocations of workers are mainly field-determined, counseling styles are not. Results suggested the need for detached workers and supervisors to analyze both community structure and gang structure and cohesiveness before beginning work. In addition, agencies must have a system for accepting variability in worker styles, place greater emphasis on diagnostic and prescriptive skills in individual relationships, and increase field supervision and rewards to both workers and supervisors on the basis of field activity. Footnotes and tables