Treat Gang Members as Human Beings to Reform Them (From Gangs: Opposing Viewpoints, P 98-103, 1996, David Bender and Bruno Leone, eds. -- See NCJ-159928)

• NCJ Number: 159941
• Author(s): G Boyle; S R Bard
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Opposing Viewpoints Series

Annotation

This interview with a Jesuit priest indicates that young gang members are human beings who must be treated with love and compassion in order to reform them and that poverty and despair are prime reasons why young people join gangs.

Abstract

In working with Los Angeles gangs, the priest found that youth need jobs and other opportunities because they live in an environment characterized by poverty, dysfunctional families, unemployment, and school failure. Although law enforcement plays an important role in gang prevention, the police cannot address the root causes of social problems. The priest emphasizes the need to to empathize with gang members and reach out to them, despite their criminal activities, and the significant role poverty plays in gang involvement.