The United States has recently seen a significant increase in the number of unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle of Central America (i.e., El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala). These children and youth are refugees fleeing extreme poverty and gang violence. This study examined the narratives of 16 refugees from the Northern Triangle…

Substance use is a frequently cited health risk behavior in the youth gang literature, yet little is known about how substance use patterns vary among gang-involved youth or the social ecological factors that contribute to potential variation. Developing relevant and effective service approaches will require an understanding of this variation and…

To date, there is a paucity of empirical evidence that examines gang membership in schools. Using statewide data of 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students from California, this study focuses on the prevalence of gang membership by county, region, ethnicity, and grade level. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed with…

Ensuring that children are safe is imperative for any educational institution. This case presents a realistic scenario of the safety concerns of leaders and staff in a middle school concerned with potential gang activity. Inspired by actual events, this case illustrates burdens that many middle school leaders across the nation face on a daily…

A joint effort by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in schools and colleges. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources--the National Crime…

As student diversity in higher education continues to encompass myriad groups that include numerous intersecting combinations of backgrounds, higher education actors must be aware of the changing dynamics of the 21st century student. These changes include growing numbers of previously incarcerated and formerly gang-involved students seeking higher…

The goal of this study was to understand whether ethnic pride among young, incarcerated Black and Latino men was associated with successful community reentry. We interviewed 397 Black and Latino men 16 to 18 years old in a New York City jail and then again 1 year after their release to determine the relationship between participants' sense of…

This paper reports the findings of an eight-month ethnographic study of a small group of at-risk youths in a school of a southern coastal city in China. The process leading to the young students being marginalised by the school system and how they developed a "muddling through" subculture to counteract this marginalisation is revealed.…

It is possible that multiple moves and deployments of family service members are associated with military-connected students' gang membership and involvement with school violence behaviors. In this study, 13,484 students completed modules of the California Healthy Kids Survey. Logistic regressions examined the odds of a student being a member of a…

HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk-reduction interventions are needed to address the complex risk behaviors among African-American female adolescents in disadvantaged communities in North Carolina. In a two-group randomized trial, we reached 237 sexually active, substance-using African-American female adolescents, to test a…

Decreasing gang activity in inner city neighborhoods is an essential component to reducing violence and improving our society as a whole. This study was conducted to help generate awareness and a better understanding as to how schools can be best utilized as a protective factor against youth gang activity. The participants consisted of 6 educators…

This longitudinal study examined the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents who affiliate with antisocial crowds in a gang-impacted urban environment. We followed 405 adolescents (219 boys, 186 girls; average age of 11.51 years, SD = 0.61; 84% Latino, 9% Asian, and 7% other or unclassified) for one academic year. These youth attended a middle…

Youth involved in illegal street activities such as drug trafficking and violence are at high risk for school failure and other negative outcomes. Research often seeks to identify what is "wrong" with them, what makes them different from "normal" youth, but relatively few studies focus on variations in how youth engage in and…

California's state youth correctional system, the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), is violent, isolated, and lacks accountability. Fights and riots are a part of daily life and create a culture of fear. DJJ's violent conditions are concealed by an absence of state oversight and the facilities' long distances from youths' families and…

In almost every state, a state agency or organization is charged with playing a little known but important role in keeping schools safe. In some states, there are organizations whose entire responsibility is related to school safety. These are typically referred to as state school safety centers (SSSC). In other states, staff within state agencies…