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October 23, 2005
Fighting Gangs: What Doesn't Work
Getting kids to avoid or withdraw from gangs is among the most difficult tasks in youth work, and a fresh set of evaluations of federally funded anti-gang programs shows why.
After spending $13.3 million and 10 years on demonstration projects in five cities, the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention found that almost nothing had a significant impact. But there were plenty of lessons, some of which are being applied to new efforts. Among the key problems: not enough use of youth outreach workers, difficulties of community-based organizations acting as the “lead” agencies in the projects, and – a familiar one to anyone trying to implement a program model in different locations – failure to adhere to the program model.
This particular model tested the theory of Irving Spergel, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, who hypothesized that gang-related violence could be reduced if community agencies and groups engaged in coordinated efforts to assess, suppress, intervene and offer alternative opportunities to gang members. [...] One type of organization emerged as the most effective lead agency. "The police generally did a better job than the social agencies," Spergel says. "They had more resources. They were more committed." [...] Spergel, who has worked extensively with Mexican-American gangs in Chicago, says some of the most effective outreach workers are former gang members. (See "Retired Gangsters Gang Up on Youth," November 2000.)
The reports are available free here
Posted by Emma at October 23, 2005 09:24 AM
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