Juvenile and Youth Gangs

According to Spergal and Curry, five strategies have typically been used to respond to gangs: (1) suppression, (2) social intervention, (3) social opportunities, (4) community mobilization, and (5) organizational change. Suppression included law enforcement and criminal justice interventions such as arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and surveillance. Most jurisdictions use suppression as their primary response to gang problems. The second most used strategy is social intervention, such as crisis intervention, treatment for youths and their families, and social service referrals. This response includes traditional social service interventions such as counseling. Organizational change is the next most likely choice as a gang intervention strategy. This method typically includes the development of task forces to address gang problems. Community mobilization is the primary response to gangs in a small number of communities. This strategy is deigned to create cooperation across agencies and was designed to produce better coordination of existing services. Social opportunities is the primary response for the smallest number of cities and towns across the country; this approach stresses education, job training, and job provision as its intervention. Cities with chronic gang problems least often employ social opportunities and community mobilization. Despite this, these were the strategies assessed as most effective by the individuals who work most closely with gangs.