Youth Gangs

Gangs recruiting younger and younger members is not a new trend; however, as these organizations become increasingly violent and savvy with their recruitment tactics, prevention to keep youths safe from dangerous influence is more important than ever before.

In Youth Gangs: History, Recruitment, and Community Response, author Laura Pinto Hansen invites readers to explore the history of youth gangs, the diverse types of gangs, how they form, and what makes gangs attractive to children, adolescents, and young adults. The book highlights the fact that youth gangs cannot be lumped into the same category as traditional organized crime due to nuances related to the age of their members, the influence of the juvenile justice system, and their short-lived nature as neighborhood demographics shift or small groups are absorbed into more established gangs.

Readers learn classical and contemporary theories to help explain youth gang involvement before exploring key topics, including youth gang recruitment and initiation, the use of social networks by gangs and their members, and violence in youth gangs. Dedicated chapters examine female membership in youth gangs, juveniles’ involvement in adult gangs and organized crime, and the effect of gangs on schools. The book discusses how youth gang members interact with the juvenile and adult justice systems, global issues related to youth gangs. It underscores the importance of prevention and highlights specific strategies to protect youths when they are most vulnerable.

Interdisciplinary in nature, Youth Gangs offers readers a wide range of viewpoints from the fields of sociology, psychology, criminology, criminal justice, and public health. This approach not only introduces criminal justice and sociology students to a vital, more holistic approach to tackling the issue of lost youth in the United States and abroad, but also makes the book suitable as a supplementary resource for courses in social work, child welfare, school counseling and administration, and community leadership.