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Youth Gangs: A 1990s Perspective
Author(s) -
Cromwell Paul,
Taylor Dorothy,
Palacios Wilson
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
juvenile and family court journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1755-6988
pISSN - 0161-7109
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6988.1992.tb00731.x
Subject(s) - criminology , juvenile delinquency , intervention (counseling) , perspective (graphical) , economic justice , distribution (mathematics) , political science , psychology , sociology , social psychology , law , psychiatry , computer science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , artificial intelligence
The juvenile gang in the 1990s differs in many significant ways from the gangs described in the “classical” gang studies of the 1950s and 1960s. Juvenile justice professionals should be aware of the changes in the nature, organization, motivation, and activities of gangs and plan intervention strategies accordingly. One important issue in gang research—one which has great implications for public policy—is defining “gang” and “gang‐related crime.” The existence of a “gang problem” in a community may be more related to the definition of “gang” and “gang‐related” than to the objective issue of whether, or not, a gang problem exists. Further issues relating to the gang of the 1990s involve changing age and sex distribution of gang members, increasing violence by gangs, and deeper involvement with drug distribution. Implications for public policy are discussed.