These hearings open with introductory statements detailing the nature of the gang violence problem and legal precedents for federal intervention. Proceedings from the Los Angeles hearings include testimony by a county supervisor, disrict attorneys, a former gang member, the executive director of the Community Youth Gang Services, and the director…

This study examined the specific nature of the relationship between involvement in various risk-taking behaviors and levels of gang involvement. Forty-nine high school students, 24 girls and 25 boys, ages 14 to 18, from a rural Texas community, completed a gang involvement questionnaire and the Risk Inventory and Perception Scale during individual…

This report summarizes past and current research on female gangs, noting programmatic and research needs. Seven sections include: "Early Reports: A History of Stereotypes"; "Number of Female Gang Members"; "Being in a Gang: The Background" (economic and ethnic forces, family pressure, and sex stereotyping and…

This report focuses on the activities of the National Institute of Justice in 1998. It begins by discussing the organization and its financial data. Funding growth and collaborative activities since 1994 are also described. Overviews of basic and applied research, technology development, testing the research and technology, initiatives with other…

Study questions treatment services offered to children in trouble and suggests mental health services be specifically strengthened. Excerpted from Juvenile Justice Confounded: Pretensions and Realities of Treatment Services'' published in 1972 by National Council on Crime and Delinquency. (DS)

Presents evidence suggesting that one can delineate certain types of male delinquents from biographical data and that there is some correlation between type and later incidence of recidivism. (RW)

The paper examines the effect of two types of prompts in eliciting a zero- or low-probability behavior in three Chicano gang members. A general prompt was ineffective, but subject-specific prompts elicited the target behavior (chain of responses terminating in the publication of writing and art work in a community newsletter). (NQA)

Describes some of the ways public schools are coming up with innovative methods to help students stay out of gangs. Examples from urban high schools in New Mexico, California, and Arizona illustrate creative solutions based on personal relationships and projects that engage students' interest. (SLD)

Assessed the extent of gang involvement among homeless and runaway youth, comparing gang members, gang-involved youth (not members), and non-gang youth on several dimensions. Interview data indicated that 15.4 percent of the youth were gang members and 32.2 percent were involved in gangs. These youth reported more family problems and school…

Examined stability of gang membership in early adolescence, concurrent behaviors, family characteristics, friendships, and school attitudes of stable and unstable gang and nongang members. Found that stable gang members, compared to nongang members, had higher teacher ratings of fighting behavior, hyperactivity, inattention and oppositional…

Describes how students in a juvenile detention center became deeply involved in reading through Book Club, which offered them identity, established an environment for peer approval and recognition, and gave them a chance to excel. (SR)

Challenges recent portrayals of the demonic character of female gang members by examining the life histories and social organizations of several different female gangs. Interviews with 65 female gang members from seven groups show that these young women experience potential and actual violence in different violence prone situations. (SLD)

Because some known gang members were wearing rosaries as gang symbols, a Texas school district told two students--who were not gang members--that they could not wear rosaries outside their shirts. A federal district court ruled (Chalifoux v. New Caney Independent School District) that the district's entire gang-apparel policy was void because of…

Extended interviews with 50 Navajo men, aged 21 to 45, provided information on peer relationships and gang formation among male Navajo youth in the 1960s through the 1980s. Results suggest that gangs are an extreme example of traditional hell-raising among young Navajo men and that most gang members "age out" of their gangs. Suggestions for gang…