NCJ Number
146457
Journal
Aztlan Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1988-1990) Pages: 125-142
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an overview of gang activity in Orange County, California, which is growing at an alarming rate, and a critique of public policy measures aimed at containing gang activity; these policies tend to posit that gangs operate only among inner-city minority youth.
Abstract
The prevailing theory used to explain gang activity is the urbanization model, which holds that gangs are the results of urban problems including poverty, unemployment, high dropout rates, the absence of adequate recreational facilities, family disorganization, and the concentration of minority groups in the inner city. As a result, policymakers focus on Chicano youth gangs, even though most youth at risk for gang involvement in the county are white. The authors propose a more comprehensive structural and economic model which sees gang activity as a product of economic, demographic, and residential patterns which has created what they term a "neo-apartheid" situation in Orange County in which whites are clearly separated from minority groups and an expanding capitalistic economy creates demands for cheap labor. Instead of continuing policies of suppression, denial, importation of gang problems from other areas, tougher laws, and harsher penalties, policymakers should focus on directing funds toward research on juvenile gang behavior and creating jobs for Chicano youth. 1 table