Our focus is to reintegrate Aboriginal Youth Gang members back into conventional society. Each youth will focus on themselves, regain values and become accustom to their culture, spirituality, and community. A large portion of youth gangs members in Canada are 22% Aboriginal. In addition, Aboriginal people are three times more likely to be been victimized. “Social interventions included counseling, crisis intervention, gang homicide intervention, job placement, and family, school, and special education, programs and services. There also was notable improvement in residents’ perceptions of gang crime and police effectiveness in dealing with that crime” (Howell & Wilson 2000). This existing program shows evidence and improvement in youth who …show more content…
Some conflicts we may come across would be having them participate in the program. To overcome this difficultly, our program offers, a system similar to that of Big Brothers/Big Sisters pairing an elder or an ex-gang member to act as an authoritative figure from the aboriginal community with a youth. These ex- gang members will easily relate and connect with youths, making them more comfortable with themselves, society, and with family and friends. Helping them to learn things about their culture, spirituality, language, rituals, and relationship with Mother Earth, along with the importance of education and clean living. All aboriginal youths will meet with their mentors who have become positive and influential in leading these troubled youths to success. This program will provide youth with different activities to enjoy. This includes sports, cooking, art and many other activities. If youths are interested in other activities, the program will supply what they need. In addition, youths will be taught basic skills such as communication, problem solving, and life skills aimed towards correcting behavioural problems; encouraging schooling, post-secondary and employment. This program will be offered after school as well as on all reserves. The program will be accessible for all Aboriginal youth gang members. This after school program will provide snacks and drinks to all who
The first reason youth leave home is according to Klodawsky, Aubry and Farrell, “pervasiveness of family conflict and violence”. Most street youth, including aboriginals, have been victims of disruption in their family homes, violence and abuse. A considerable amount of them reported having to live in group homes, foster care, jail or i...
In 2003 as a response to communities with a large amount and growing number of youth gangs the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, initiated the Gang Reduction Program (GRP) (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). The formation of gangs is seen as a response to system failures and community dysfunction. As a result, one of OJJPD’s anti-gang initiatives is to make communities safer and have a pro-social environment (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). Furthermore, OJJDP plans to provide economic and social opportunities that gangs often promise to new recruits which are often obtained in an illegal and dangerous fashion (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). OJJDP believes that the GRP is capable of addressing the underlying issues for the increasing popularity and intensity of gang activity in specific suburban and rural neighborhoods (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). The program takes an integrative approach to dealing with the issue of increasing membership and participation with gangs. The following will discuss the program’s goal, theoretical basis, methods of operation, and overall effectiveness. After reviewing these major aspects of the GRP I will personally assess the value of this program and conclude whether or not the evidence supporting the program’s efficiency is strong enough for me to recommend it for implementation.
Canada is referred to as a multicultural country because it openly accepts new immigrants from around the world (Gabor, 1994; Nodwell and Guppy, 1992). It has been documented that approximately 11.2% of Canada’s total population identify themselves as visible minorities (Varma-Joshi, Baker, and Tanaka, 2004; Fantino and Colak, 2001). Starting a life in a new country not only brings happiness, but also anxiety and a fear of losing one’s identity. Often feelings of being an outsider act as a catalyst for gang related violence and crime, especially in the Indo-Canadian community. However, there is not enough documented evidence explaining why violence is so prominent amongst Indo-Canadian youth. Although there is not enough evidence accumulated by researchers on this topic, based on research that I have gathered about other minorities involved in gang related violence, I will show that there is a tendency for Indo-Canadians to follow the same pattern as other minorities who become involved in gang activities. The lack of academic research on Indo-Canadian gang violence is significant to the practice of social work because it is the absence of research which makes it difficult for social workers to pinpoint key signs of gang violence and how they maybe related to their clients. As a result of a lack of academic based research on Indo-Canadian gangs, it limits one from finding possible solutions to deter future incidents of gang violence.
Theriot, Matthew T., and Barbara “Sunshine” Parke. "Native American Youth Gangs." Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice 5.4 (2008): 83-97. Print.
Although youth gang violence only accounts for a “small portion of all gang violence, (5-15%)”, it is important that we intervene and stop the growth of youth gangs as early as possible in hopes of decreasing those numbers, and overall gang violence (Gangs in the U.S. PowerPoint). There are many prevention programs in place currently that try and reduce the number of youth joining gangs, each program aims to focus on problems that would lead youth to join gangs, the Aggression Replacement Training program (ART), focuses on the youth who show extreme aggression early signs of a troubled youth. ART has been implemented in schools, communities, mental health facilities, and countries all around the world; this program has been around for a many years and has been effective in many ways. This program, like many others, purpose is to stop youth violence and gang involvement, but can be very effective if implemented in the
Gangs have been a point of concern for states and societies around the world for centuries. Youth gangs are not exempt from that same categorization and have operated for the same amount of time worldwide. Over the last century however, a proliferation of youth gangs has been witnessed, especially among Hispanic youths immigrating into the United States. Researchers and scholars have offered multiple theories as to why youths, and Hispanics youths in particular integrate themselves into gang organizations. Three schools of thought arise when conducting gang integration research. Rational Economics Theory1 proposes that youths, and all individuals, join gangs for financial and material benefit. Cultural Deviance Theory considers youth gang members as exposed to a lower class subculture that rationalizes and even promotes crime, delinquency and gang membership, contrasting to the “normal” set of prescribed values and culture in more civilized society. Acculturation Theory argues that youths join gangs as a means to be acculturated by ethnically or compositionally similar peers, whether as a response to ethnic marginalization by members of the host country or inability to acculturate to their new home.
Throughout Canada, the issues surrounding Youth Gangs has become a major issue not only for members of authority, but for the justice system. Youth gang activity, which can be defined when there is direct or indirect involvement in gang related crime or incidents, occurs in almost every province or territory in Canada, mostly in urban areas, but is increasing in other areas. In Canada, there are 434 youth gangs with about 7 000 members in total (in class notes). Not only do youth gangs exist in Canada, they exist in other countries around the world. There is some controversy defining the term “youth gang”, but there is a general definition to the term. A youth gang can be defined as a “self-formed group of people who engage in anti-social and/or profit-driven criminal activity” (from class notes). Youth gangs run within a certain community and cause a sense of fear and intimidation in others.
It is important to look at the relationship between aboriginal people and the Canadian criminal justice system, the trends, and current aboriginal involvement in the justice system, and our own perspectives, and reactions to the information we encounter in
The story, Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh, is a ethnographic study of a Black King Gang in the Robert Taylor community. Venkatesh accidentally stumbles upon the gang lead by J.T. and decided to study them. Throughout his journey he learns from the violence and illegal activity he witnesses that “in the projects it’s more important that you take care of the problem first. Then you worry about how you took care of it”’ (Venkatesh. 2008:164). He witnesses beatings, selling of illegal drugs, and exploitation of residents; but he also gained a lot of knowledge about the community. He works with J.T. and Ms. Bailey, the community leader, closely through his study. J.T. has taken a sociology class and he allows Venkatesh to shadow the gang
Families are constantly suffering the loss of their children at an age too young, which now seems to be a reoccurring theme. The area in which these delinquent activities are happening need to be identified and solutions should be put into effect immediately to assist in preventing or deterring the youth gang involvement around these larger cities and suburban counties. People should be able to feel safe in their own neighborhoods but in order to do so; the community itself needs to work in cooperation with police and other organizations to help situate the issue. The police cannot work alone in preventing youth gang membership and involvement with delinquent peers, this is another important task that needs to be brought on by citizens of the community and the families of those youth’s in a joint effort to deter youth gang involvement. America is already the number one country for the highest incarceration rate and the highest country for gun violence and this outbreak in youth gang membership does not need to top this list as well. The statistics will only continue to increase if America continues to become numb to the delinquent activities, therefore they will only stand by and watch as more and more youths become corrupted into this
Wood, Michelle, et. al. “Understanding Psychological Characteristics of Gang-Involved Youths in a System of Care: Individual, Family, and System Correlates.” Education and Treatment of Children 20 (August 1997): 281-294.
The term gang refers to “a group of people with a discernible structure, a recognized territory, and distinctive beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors” (Pearce and Pettis, 2011). Gang violence is a wide spread phenomena. Gang violence can be found in all fifty states and in most major cities. With gang violence being so common, it is no surprise that this type of violence is not only affecting are youth, but they are also becoming a main cause of this violence (Graulich, 2010). Youth gang violence has grasped the attention of the communities. Members of the community are joining forces to put a stop to this type of violence (O’Brien, Daffern, Chu, and Thomas, 2013). It is important to learn and understand the history
Canada’s history of violence has influenced the acts of youth we see today. The first youth gang recorded in history was discovered before World War II. However, these gangs that were seen in the past lacked a criminal element contrasting what we see in today’s gangs (Tunstall, 2009, pg 1). The history of youth violence in the United States was superior to and more violent than it was in Canada at the time, however, trends of violence among youth made its way from the United States to influence Canada in more violent youth behaviour. More recently, 180 youth gangs were discovered to be active in the Greater Toronto Area in 2005, this resulted in the most violent year for youth in Ontario (Tunstall, 2009, pg 1). This history of youth violence from both Canada and the United States, most definitely shaped the amount of crime and violence we see from youth today.
Youth gang-related crime has been growing for years, but little data. exists about the extent and precise nature of crimes committed by gangs. members. The. Gangs have been said to have committed many crimes such as drug smuggling, murder, and theft.
Branch, Curtis W. Clinical Interventions with Gang Adolescents and Their Families. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997.