Lost Children

• NCJ Number: 155247
• Author(s): D Askerlund; S Burke; K Cravens; M Felkner; K Hansen; B Harmon; L Medina; D Marchant; T Mason; C Mays; Tausin
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 116 pages
• Grant Number(s): 93-DB-CX0049
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA); Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice
• Corporate Author: Salt Lake Area Gang Project
• Sale Source: Salt Lake Area Gang Project
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Utah Gang Conference, May 23-24, 1994.

Annotation

Following the presentation of the Gang Conference workshop schedule and brief descriptions of the 31 workshops, 25 papers on various aspects of gang life and gang prevention are presented.

Abstract

The first paper provides a 4-year perspective on gang trends and the Gang Project in the Salt Lake County (Utah) area. The Gang Project was the first multijurisdictional gang unit in the Nation. It now has 13 member agencies. The project focuses on involving the community in the response to gangs and in gang prevention. The second paper provides an overview of gangs in Utah. It notes that although the gang problem is not new to Utah, its makeup has changed as gangs have become more violent and apparently more attractive to juveniles. A third paper profiles youths who have joined gangs, noting that what they have in common is the need to be accepted and valued by their peers as well as obtain emotional and physical security. Other papers address such subjects as gang retaliation, graffiti, a neighborhood action model for responding to gangs, gangs in schools, gang tattoos, female gang members, Hispanic gangs, Asian gangs, gang colors, various types of gangs, and State laws that target gangs.