Notes that the 19th-century problem of street children parallels contemporary problems of homelessness, youth gangs, and violence. Suggests that past and present programs developed to deal with these problems have many similarities and that understanding the origins of both the problems and the child welfare response is crucial to avoiding past…

Getting tough on youthful offenders has been a 1990s political slogan. Unfortunately, many reforms of the juvenile-justice and education systems fail to foster understanding between those systems' creators and the youth they serve. Viewing these systems through the eyes of several young people confers important lessons. Contains 21 references.…

This ethnographic study of 50 male African-American gang members constructs a portrait of the culture in which these young men lived and points out factors that helped 11 of them begin to escape gang life, in contrast to the other 39 who lacked these supporting factors of families, teachers, and peers. (SLD)

Using data gathered from a multi-year field study, this article identifies specific life-course events shared by gang-affiliated women. Gangs emerge as a cultural adaptation or pro-social community response to poverty and racial isolation. Through the use of a social-network approach, data show that violence dramatically increases in the period…

This report presents findings of a study, conducted by the United States General Accounting Office (GAO), that investigated programs used by schools to curb violence. Specifically, the study examined four promising school-based violence-prevention programs. Data were obtained from: (1) interviews with violence-prevention program directors, federal…

An examination of the incidence of eight activities believed to be associated with gang membership indicates different patterns of gang involvement for urban Black and Hispanic males. The following activities are examined: (1) perceived advantage in gang membership; (2) hanging out where gang members hang out; (3) having friends identified as gang…

In order to examine the phenomenon of gangs among Chinese youths in New York, interviews were conducted with members of the Chinatown community and with persons working in this community. In this document the texts of the author's discussions with eight individuals are presented. A social worker who works with delinquent Chinese youth and a former…

The effect of general and subject-specific prompts in eliciting a zero- or low-probability behavior in three Hispanic gang members, selected because of their artistic or writing abilities, was examined by monitoring their behavior in submitting any original work, written or pictorial, that could be published in a community newsletter. Dependent…

This report details the results of the 1998 Idaho Substance Use and School Climate Survey, conducted by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory for the Idaho Department of Education. Sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students were asked about the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, as well as about their perceptions of the…

This report describes approaches used by schools to prevent or reduce gang involvement among schools. The study of gang prevention and intervention builds on a large-scale National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. A sample of 1,279 schools participated in the study. Overall, 7.6% of the male and 3.8% of the female secondary students…

The Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs is a study of approaches used by schools to reduce or prevent gang involvement among schools. Principals in a probability sample of 1,287 schools were asked what they were doing in their schools to prevent problem behavior or to promote a safe and orderly school environment.…

A sample of gang members and a comparison group of club boys are compared on 11 factors from the Objective-Analytic Personality Factor Battery. The findings are examined in light of several hypotheses drawn from theories of personality and of gang delinquency. (Author/CTM)

California is the only state to require school-violence training as a condition for state certification of teachers, school administrators, and pupil service personnel. This report presents findings of a study conducted by the State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing's advisory panel on school violence. The study identifies the…

Government officials, researchers, and especially educators must consider the "big picture" as they develop strategies to address violence in schools. This report presents findings of a study conducted by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's advisory panel on school violence. The study identifies the effects of school violence on…

This study assessed the readiness and practice of specialist-level training programs in school psychology to address the preservice training needs in the area of school violence and youth gang prevention. A survey of 189 programs yielded 90 usable replies describing their training programs. Most of these programs were located in or near midsize…