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Written Assignment 4

RMJ

Gangs, Thomas Edison University

384: SOC

Attapol Kuanliang

June 1, 2022
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Written Assignment 4

Gang creation in a city's neighborhood may spread panic and bloodshed throughout the

area. Communities infested with gangs are suddenly plagued by intimidation, social and

economic problems, and death. The bonds that formerly linked these towns are fraying.

Unfortunately, children begin to fear coming to school, catching the bus to work becomes

impossible, and public spaces become useless. It may be difficult to engage populations affected

by violence. The notion that violence is the norm, fear of revenge, and a lack of trust that

reporting violence would result in action are all barriers to reporting violence. It is difficult to

create a strong and cohesive community from the ground up, but statutory agencies such as

councils and police, as well as community safety partnerships, may assist. Neighborhood

councils, steering committees, policy action teams and other statutory institutions are well-

positioned to build the infrastructure required to engage communities. Although there is no "one

size fits all" solution, numerous broad community engagement principles tend to work in the

context of gangs and juvenile violence such as the following three approaches: prevention,

intervention, suppression.

According to Nancy (2019), prevention refers to the services, activities or programs

designed to prevent people from joining gangs. As a general rule, it is thought that prevention is

preferable to cure. As a result, the preventative program focuses mostly on youth. Situational

gang crime prevention also focuses on the source of the crime rather than the perpetrators or

offenders. This allows government/police to get to the bottom of the issue and prevent it from

happening again.

Intervention programs and strategies provide sanctions and services for younger youth

who are actively involved in gangs to push them away from gangs (Gang Prevention: An
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Overview of Research and Programs | Youth.gov, n.d.). The goal of intervention is to get gang

members and close allies to abandon their existing gangster lifestyle. There are already several

projects involving law enforcement collaboration with society. They also collaborate with

religious organizations for faith-based organizations in general, and provide games, education,

job training, and community services as incentives for gang members to leave. By concentrating

on the positive aspects of individuals, it may be feasible to assist those involved.

Suppression tactics address the underlying reasons of gangs. Suppression includes law

enforcement and criminal justice interventions such as arrest, imprisonment, and surveillance.

Forty-four percent of the responding agencies reported that suppression was their primary

strategy in responding to gangs (Youth Gangs: Interventions and Results - Criminal Justice -

IresearchNet, 2015). To be successful, they must be part of a larger set of reactions to gang

members' criminal conduct. Cities that rely only on suppression strategies are likely to be

frustrated in their efforts to eliminate gang activity.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Comprehensive

Community-Wide Gang Model is one of the prevention-focused initiatives. The OJJDP (or

“Spergel”) Model includes five strategies for dealing with gang-involved youth and their

communities (Burch and Kane, 1999). According to Burch and Kane, at each of the five sites

utilized to implement the five strategies; a steering committee made up of key community

leaders and staff from local agencies provides overall direction and guidance. The initiative

targets young gangs and supports a variety of programs and activities aimed at preventing and

combating gang violence and recruiting.

Local approaches in Japan towards gangs share similitaries and differences to the ones in

the United States. A little background about the Japanese ordinance; Japan's Yakuza Exclusion
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Ordinances (YEOs) are designed to combat organized criminal syndicates and aim to cut the

citizen–yakuza relationship. The regulations aim to sever any implicit links between civilians

and the yakuza. Some of the bans include penalties for citizens. However, several definitions and

their area of application are hazy. What activities should be considered as a reward that aids the

yakuza's activity or operation and close affiliation with the yakuza are particularly ambiguous for

the police. As previously stated, the OJJDP is prevention-focused and attempts to minimize gang

crime and violence, particularly against youth. The Japanese ordinance, on the other hand,

concentrates on members, most of whom are adults, as well as existing concerns. However, both

try to target the community and employ citizens to solve gang problems in a more collaborative

manner. The success of the Japanese Yakuza ordnance has been immensely great as the

Membership in Japan’s designated organized crime groups (bōryokudan) has dropped sharply. The total

number of full members in all 22 designated gangs was 18,100 as of the end of 2016, according to

statistics from the National Police Agency (Noboru, 2018).

Gang problems are not only felt in the United States. All over the world, governments are

faced with the dilemma of how to deal with gang issues. However, there has been programs,

approaches, and policies that have been implemented in order to combat the issue. Despite recent

success in decreasing gang participation and lowering violent gang crime, the complexity of the

gang problem has no simple solution or single policy. There is currently little knowledge about

which interventions are beneficial in preventing and decreasing overall gang issues. The most

effective program model will almost certainly be a combination of preventive, intervention, and

suppression measures implemented collaboratively, backed by a management information

system, and validated by thorough assessment. Communities around the country are working

together to combat the influence of gangs, but few of these programs and initiatives are being

thoroughly assessed. State and local governments must conduct a thorough review of current
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gang programs and initiatives in this country. The knowledge learned about what works and

what doesn't will benefit not only their local communities, but communities across the country.
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References

Burch, J., & Kane, C. (1999). Implementing the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Mode.

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/fs99112.pdf

Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs | Youth.gov. (n.d.). Youth.gov.

https://youth.gov/feature-article/gang-prevention-overview-research-and-

programs#:~:text=Intervention%20programs%20and%20strategies%20provide

Nancy, R. (2019). Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership. National Institute of Justice.

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/changing-course-preventing-gang-membership

Noboru, H. (2018, January 5). No Way Out: The Dilemma of Japan’s Ex-Yakuza. Nippon.com.

https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00372/

Youth Gangs: Interventions and Results - Criminal Justice - IresearchNet. (2015, April 25).

Criminal Justice. http://criminal-justice.iresearchnet.com/system/youth-gangs-

interventions-and-results/