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…

Gang membership is an indicator of chronic illicit substance use and such patterns of use may have a normalized character. Using epidemiological and qualitative data collected between 2006 and 2007, this manuscript examines the drug normalization thesis among a small sample (n=60) of gang youth aged 16-25 years from Los Angeles. Overall, while…

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study (Moustakas, 1994) was to describe the experiences that single Hispanic mothers of gang-affiliated male juveniles face during their sons' reentry process after being released from a Texas Juvenile Justice Department state facility. Methods: After an extensive review of…

Aggression in adolescents is harmful and emotionally devastating to youth and surrounding communities. This article integrates martial arts and therapeutic principles into a culturally sensitive model that cultivates change in the aggressive behaviors of disenfranchised adolescents. The art form of Capoeira is proposed for promoting positive…

Although previous research has examined factors related to gang membership and offending, research on the relationship between gangs and victimization is limited. The present study builds on previous research and examines gang membership, victimization, and self-control among 2,414 jail inmates. Results from self-report surveys indicate that gang…

This study examines the relationship between neighborhood structure, violent crime, and concentrations of gang members at the neighborhood level. We rely on official police gang list data, police crime data, and two waves of decennial census data characterizing the socioeconomic and demographic conditions of 93 neighborhoods in Mesa, Arizona.…

The current study explores the rate at which members of Lagos' "area boys" engage in drug and alcohol use, and determines the predictive roles of parental and neighbourhood characteristics in the gang patterns of psychoactive substance misuse behaviour. The study approached gang members (N = 129) aged from 18 to 38 years (M = 25.83, SD = 4.82)…

Violence is a problem that affects the family structure, schools, and communities. Although some violence takes place behind closed doors, the effects are devastating to society and the community. The overwhelming results are seen with the increase of visits to abuse shelters and emergency rooms. Domestic violence in households tends to continue…

The Student Substance Use and Safety Survey, administered annually to a random, representative sample of AISD middle and high school students, provides self-report data on student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to substance use and school safety issues. These are the results from the spring 2014 survey.

The nation's schools should be safe havens for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence. Any instance of crime or violence at school not only affects the individuals involved, but also may disrupt the educational process and affect bystanders, the school itself, and the surrounding community. Establishing reliable indicators of the…

We examined the association of joint trajectories of ethnic identity and criminal offending to psychosocial maturity, gang membership, and Mexican American affiliation among 300 Mexican American male juvenile offenders from ages 14 to 22. There were two low-offending groups: one was the highest in ethnic identity and changing slightly with age and…

Marijuana use and violent behavior are causing widespread public concern. This article reviews theory and research on the relation between marijuana use and aggressive/violent behavior. It is evident from the inconsistent findings in the literature that the exact nature of the relation remains unclear. This article identifies several possible…

Gang involvement is an increasing issue among Latino youth, yet nuanced research on its potential causes is scarce. Quantitative and qualitative data were used to explore links between acculturative stress and gang involvement among immigrant and U.S.-born Latino middle school students (N = 199). Regression analyses showed that U.S.-born youths…

This article explores the experiences of adolescent males in Cambodia who, simultaneous to their maltreatment and marginalization within the family and community, have reduced opportunities to produce identities of sociomoral value through access to cultural capital. It draws on ethnographic data gathered from adolescents boys aged 9 to 16 in Siem…

This autoethnographic study contextualizes gangland visual culture (graffiti, tattoos, public/private shrines) in order to illustrate how young African American males memorialized victims of violence between the years 1993-1997 in Beltzhoover, an inner city African American community on Pittsburgh's Southside. The author, a former resident of the…