Problem+Research

Englander, Elizabeth Kandel. "Youth Gang Violence and School Shootings Are Serious Problems." //Violent Children//. Ed. Hayley Mitchell Huagen. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. At Issue. //Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CEJ3010032214&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w


 * In 1991 juvenile groups committed 6% of all serious violent crimes.
 * another 8% were committed by a group of offenders that included at least one adult and one juvenile.
 * The average of gang members is around 14-17 (in the United States).
 * 14% of juvenile homicide involved two offenders, 6% involved three, and only 3% involved four or more.
 * In 1987, 135,000 boys carried guns to school daily. Weapon possession in schools raised by 12 percent from 16% to 28%.

"Gangs in Perspective." //Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources//. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 209-214. //Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CCX2588900095&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
 * Gang violence is one of the greatest criminal activities.
 * It is responsible for more then 25,000 deaths in the past two decades.
 * It is also linked to crimes like armed robbery and homicide.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. "Youth Gang Violence Is a Serious Problem." //Violent Children//. Ed. Hayley Mitchell Huagen. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. //Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CEJ3010032226&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w


 * Students ages 12-18 were asked about the presence of gangs in their schools during the prior 6 months. In both years, about 1 in 5 reported that gangs were present.
 * A significant factor may be the strong association between gang membership and gun possession. Gang members are far more likely than nonmembers to own or have access to guns, to carry them on the street, and to use them to commit crimes. Gang membership both facilitates juveniles' access to guns—through illegal markets and through borrowing—and provides strong and constant incentives for being armed in public. Rochester gang members' rates of gun-carrying were 10 times higher than those of nonmembers. For these youth, gun-carrying not only multiplies opportunities to commit violent crimes and raises the risk that ordinary disputes will escalate into violence —it may increase a youth's crime-readiness by supplying an all-purpose, aggressive confidence that unarmed youth do not have.
 * 2004 estimated race of U.S. youth gang members: Hispanic 49%, black 37%, white 8%, Asian 5%, other 1% (94% of that were males).

"State targets youth violence; Task force to crack down on gang activity." //Washington Times// [Washington, DC] 29 May 2003: B01. //Infotrac Newsstand//. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA102531186&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Police suspect Mr. Kennedy was killed because he wanted to leave a gang. Even if your in a gang or trying to leave one something is going to happen because gang members feel threatened by it.
 * Christopher S. Kennedy, 19, of Staunton was found partially submerged in a pond. He died after he was stabbed a dozen times in the upper body.
 * There are to be approximately 1,500 gang members in 82 identified gangs throughout Fairfax County in Northern Virginia.
 * The Department of Justice estimates there are approximately 27,900 gangs, with 774,000 members, impacting communities across the United States.
 * Gangs use kids because they know if they are under 13, they cannot go to jail.

"Innovative tools to fight gang violence." //Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics// Winter 2007: S118+. //Student Resources in Context//. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA172908537&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
 * There are problems in gangs where females are "sexed in" voluntarily, but are then unable to leave the gang or stop having sexual relationships with members later.
 * 32.4% of all the nation's cities, suburban towns and rural areas experienced gang problems in 2008.
 * Approximately 15,000 gang related deaths occur a year in the U.S.

"Group holds rally to fight gang violence." //News Virginian// [Waynesboro, VA] 14 Apr. 2007. //Infotrac Newsstand//. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA165881916&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
 * There are 150 active gang members and 100 associate members in the greater Augusta County region.
 * People see kids that are gang members as being disconnected from their families and friends. That's why they join gangs because they feel they are apart of something that they never been apart of.
 * Gangs remain the primary distributors of drugs throughout the U.S.
 * Today’s gangs are very sophisticated, crossing state lines to establish groups and recruit members as young as 10 years old in communities across the country.

"TEEN MUM SHOT AS SHE CRADLES BABY; Gun gang hit her and two sisters." //Sun// [London, England] 1 Oct. 2011: 17. //Infotrac Newsstand//. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA268482898&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
 * I do not believe the girls were the intended target. The guys in the large group were aware something was going to happen because they ran off. It is lucky no one was killed.
 * Gangs can hurt or even kill people that they didn't attend to.
 * Gangs are dangerious to everyone.
 * People who are not the intended target can still get seriously hurt.

"Youth Crime and Violence: Past, Present, and Future." //Youth Violence, Crime, and Gangs//: //Children at Risk//. Ed. Kathleen Edgar. 2004 ed. Detroit: Gale Group, 2004. Information Plus Reference Series. //Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CEJ3011390101&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
 * 1,393,752 arrests of juveniles in 2002 represents a 10.9 percent decrease since 1993.
 * Some gang members are apart of gangs to try to make a name for themselves.
 * Police say they are trying to reduce the numbers of gangs but its not working.
 * Police people will ask anybody who knows anything or who is related to try and stop juvenile crimes.

"Gangs." //Current Issues//: //Macmillian Social Science Library//. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. Document URL []

Gangs." //The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology//. Ed. Bonnie Strickland. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 269-272. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.

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