Handbook on Gangs in Schools: Strategies to Reduce Gang- Related Activities

• NCJ Number: 170867
• Author(s): S R Lal; D Lal; C M Achilles
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 88 pages
• Sale Source: Corwin Press, Inc.
• Publication Type: Citizen Involvement Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: From the "Practicing Administrator's Leadership Series."

Annotation

This handbook intends to alert educators to the phenomenon of gangs in schools; to express a point of view about this situation; to share some practical and conceptual knowledge regarding gangs in schools; to suggest some strategies for minimizing and coping with gang problems in schools; and to identify how educators can learn more about gangs.

Abstract

Strategies described in this handbook were partially derived from two formal studies conducted from 1982 to 1990 on school campuses in the west, southeast, and south central sections of Los Angeles. Both studies concluded that effective strategies for working with gangs emphasize positive, proactive, cooperative, and preventive approaches. School officials who used these approaches stated that gang-related activities on their campuses decreased or at least had not increased over a 5-year period. The first chapter cautions school administrators not to deny the existence of gangs in the schools nor to fail to address potential problems this may cause. The chapter advises that current trends, research, and theory support the need for change in the way school personnel and school programs address gangs and gang members. The second chapter provides an overview of gangs and their characteristics, as well as what makes them attractive to youth. A plan of action for relating to gangs on school grounds is discussed in another chapter. This involves the establishment of a philosophy and a plan for action, the creation of a support team with specific tasks, a continuous flow of information, and an ongoing evaluation of program operations. The effective implementation of the plan is discussed in another chapter. The authors do not rely on conventional gang-control wisdom. They propose a "radical approach" that they have personally tested. It involves assimilating gangs into the fabric of daily school life. This includes offering acceptance of gangs and their members rather than rejecting and punishing them, involving gang members in positive activities, and eliciting cooperation and participation of gang members in the pursuit of the school's goals. A sample questionnaire about school gangs and their activities, a 10-item annotated bibliography, and 28 references