New Wine in Old Bottles? Change and Continuity in American Gangs (From Gangs in America, P 223-239, 1990, C Ronald Huff, ed. -- See NCJ-125752)

• NCJ Number: 125763
• Author(s): J F Short
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This analysis of recent research on gangs, communities, and crimes emphasizes that contemporary gangs are more sophisticated and more lethal than gangs of the past.

Abstract

In addition, they involve members for longer periods of time and appear to be more involved in drug abuse and drug trafficking than earlier gangs. However, recent research on communities and crime show the critical importance of communities and their conditions. Two Chicago gangs, the Vice Lords and the Nobles, illustrate these points. The available research also shows that more important issues than changes in gangs are the persistence and urbanization of poverty, the development of a segmented labor market, and the emergence and expansion of a ghetto underclass. Thus, establishing functional communities and strengthening social and human resources is crucial to efforts to address gang problems. Note and description of interventions with families with young children in Chicago.