Yes / Informal prisoner governance in Latin American penal institutions raises a number of dilemmas for policy. The responses must encompass decarceration and diversion policies, and an approach to prison security that emphasises co-production and co-governance rather than coercive control.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The problem of gangsterism in the Western Cape is taking on huge proportions especially among high school youth. Previous studies found that the initial expectations of gang members and their actual experience of gang membership differed. An ethnographic study was done with high school pupils from a semi-urban setting in the Western Cape who were gang members to find out how they constructed meaning out of their membership to the gangs. Transcripts of unstructured interviews with five participants were analysed using Strauss and Corbin's method of Grounded Theo . The analysis - showed that the pupils from this setting predominantly joined the gangs because they were exposed to the gang members, who operated in the same streets that they live in, and as a result received much more positive information about the gang from their friends. They chose to remain committed to the gang because the gang members were perceived as being very supportive, providing for them financially, emotionally (by giving them acceptance) and physically (protecting them). The study found tha COnfl~!).,as a major part of the gang life or culture. Members could not escape the violent gang activities, despite all their attempts to make peace. The gang culture which resembled that of the prison gang c~, was perpetuated and sustained by the persistent group dynamics and processes that imposed social roles and expectations on members. The members became more deviant in behaviour out of loyalty to the gang. Contrary to current beliefs on the causes of gangsterism, the present study found that social control and feelings of relative deprivation had no conscious influence on the participants' decision to become gang members. The research suggests that future gang intervention should seek to develop programs around providing alternative modes of support to youth at risk. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bendevraagstuk in die Westelike Kaap neem groot afmetings aan onder die jeug van verskeie plaaslike hoerskole. Vorige studies het getoon dat die aanvanklike verwagtinge van die jeug en hulle werklike ervaring van bendelidmaatskap verskil het. 'n Etnografiese ondersoek is geloods waarin hoerskoolleerlinge uit 'n semi-stedelike gebied van die Westelike Kaap betrek is om die betekenis van bendelidmaatskap te konstrueer. Die ongestruktureerde onderhoude met vyf deelnemers is aan die hand van Strauss en Corbin se metode van analise ontleed. Die daaropvolgende analise het getoon dat hulle hoofsaaklik by 'n bende in hul woonbuurt aangesluit het omdat hulle baie blootstelling aan, en positiewe terugvoer van die bendelede gekry het. Die deelnemers het verkies om lojaal teenoor die bende te bly omdat die bende hulle emosionele (aanvaarding), fisiese (beskerming) en finansiele ondersteuning gebied het. Die huidige studie het gevind dat konflik 'n integrale kern van die bendekultuur gevorm het. Ten spyte van die vele pogings wat bendelede aangewend het om vrede te bewerkstellig, kon hulle nie daarin slaag om die geweldadige akitiwiteite te stuit nie. Hierdie bendekultuur wat sterk ooreenstem met die tronkbende-sisteem is in stand gehou deur groepsdinamika wat sekere sosiale rolle en verwagtinge op lede afgedwing het. Bendelede het groter gedragsafwykings getoon soos wat die lojaliteit aan die bende toegeneem het. In teenstelling met algemene bevindings betreffende die oorsprong van bendelidmaatskap, het hierdie studie getoon dat sosiale beheer en die ervaring van relatiewe deprivasie geen noemenswaardige invloed gehad het nie. Daar word voorgestel dat programme vir intervensies moet konsentreer op alternatiewe vorme van ondersteuning vir hierdie "riskante" jeug.

No description available.

This study is an investigation of how the white English Language Press reported on black gangs in Soweto and their crimes during the 1940s and 1950s. The aim of this investigation is to increase our understanding of white English-speaking racial attitudes during the 1940s and the 1950s by investigating white perceptions of criminal gangs in Soweto during this time. To provide a yardstick, the study includes a discussion of our present state of knowledge on the topic as reflected in the secondary literature about gangsters and their crimes. During the 1940s black gangsters and their crimes were very seriously underreported compared to what we now know to have been the situation at that time. This suggests that English-speaking whites were not particularly interested in black gangsters and their crimes at this time. The reports that did appear reflected the attitude that unemployed blacks, whether they were part of gangs or not, had to be expelled from urban areas as they were all perceived to be gangsters. The headlines, reports and letters on black gang crime worked together to imply that blacks were criminals by nature. In the 1950s the level of reporting improved, as compared to the 1940s and reflected a much more serious concern about “Tsotsis”. The detailed descriptions of Tsotsis, their fashion and the language that they spoke reflect this concern. But the newspapers failed to indicate that not all young men who fitted their descriptions were Tsotsis. This omission strengthened white readers’ negative perception about young black men in general instead of distinguishing between criminals and other elements. Today, we know far more about black migrant and urban gangs and their crimes during this period from modern secondary sources than was reported in the white English Press at the time. This underreporting must have helped whites to remain ignorant of the real state of affairs in the black communities of the area. Both in the 1940s and 1950s the press concentrated on the harmful influence and criminal activities of gangs, which further strengthened the prevailing negative perceptions about young black men, who would all be perceived as “Thieving Blacks”. / Mr. GR Allen

Thesis advisor: Jennie Purnell / This thesis discusses, by chapter, the following topics: the rise of gang violence in El Salvador, the structure of gangs in El Salvador, contributing factors to the rise of gang violence in El Salvador, United States deportation legislation, and the deportation of Salvadorans and the nature of their re-assimilation into El Salvador. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Splendor of Ruins examines the growth of street gangs in Honduras in the aftermath of the Cold War, as a flourishing criminal economy and the devastation of Hurricane Mitch destabilized life in the capital, Tegucigalpa. I examine the displacement of smaller gangs in the city by the broad community of international gangs with ties to Los Angeles, California, called the maras, and campaigns against them by the Honduran state and United States Homeland Security. I emphasize the ways in which Mano Dura, or Strong Hand policing, along with Anti-Gang legislation, undermined the immediate distinction between anomic violence and sovereign power across the country. Splendor of Ruins focuses on the transformation of gang aesthetics during this same period, as gang members began tattooing their bodies, particularly the face, with detailed arrangements of Satanic and chthonic imagery. I ask how the appearance of the devil and other motifs of transgression can be understood politically, both within the context of state power reaching beyond the limits of its own laws, as well as within the easy lucre of the criminal economy in which many young Hondurans were choosing to live.

The purpose of this study was to determine what current Master of Social Worker Students in their advanced year know about adolescent gang affiliation, including statistics, predictive factors, and possible interventions. Adolescent gang involvement is a very serious issue that historically has had very problematic effects on society, as well as serious and troublesome effects on the life course of the individual. Despite the knowledge that has been gained in recent years regarding predictive factors of adolescent gang involvement, many intervention programs designed to address this issue are still rarely effective. Despite the fact that there are conflicting findings in the research on adolescent gang affiliation there is also much research that has claimed many similar predictive and preventive factors, such as relationships with family and school. This study will show if current social worker students are aware of the more common factors that lead to adolescent gang affiliation. This will help determine if social work students are just getting a little bit of education on juvenile delinquency and deviance or an abundance of education on the subject matter. The specific population that was surveyed was the Master of Social Work advanced year students at California State University, San Bernardino. Although there were few statistically significant findings in the study, the students for the most part had positive attitudes and perceptions regarding those involved with gang affiliation. The participants for the most part also agreed with factual statements regarding actual predictive factors of gang affiliation. The participants also overwhelmingly all agreed on a more rehabilitative approach when working with youth involved in gang affiliation as opposed to punitive approaches.

The purpose of this study was to determine what current Master of Social Worker Students in their advanced year know about adolescent gang affiliation, including statistics, predictive factors, and possible interventions. Adolescent gang involvement is a very serious issue that historically has had very problematic effects on society, as well as serious and troublesome effects on the life course of the individual. Despite the knowledge that has been gained in recent years regarding predictive factors of adolescent gang involvement, many intervention programs designed to address this issue are still rarely effective. Despite the fact that there are conflicting findings in the research on adolescent gang affiliation there is also much research that has claimed many similar predictive and preventive factors, such as relationships with family and school. This study will show if current social worker students are aware of the more common factors that lead to adolescent gang affiliation. This will help determine if social work students are just getting a little bit of education on juvenile delinquency and deviance or an abundance of education on the subject matter. The specific population that was surveyed was the Master of Social Work advanced year students at California State University, San Bernardino. Although there were few statistically significant findings in the study, the students for the most part had positive attitudes and perceptions regarding those involved with gang affiliation. The participants for the most part also agreed with factual statements regarding actual predictive factors of gang affiliation. The participants also overwhelmingly all agreed on a more rehabilitative approach when working with youth involved in gang affiliation as opposed to punitive approaches.

No description available.

Les médias occupent une place importante au sein des sociétés occidentales, notamment en raison de l’accessibilité des « nouvelles technologies de l’information ». Le marché de la nouvelle en subit des conséquences en ce qui a trait à la création de la nouvelle entourant des phénomènes sociaux ou plutôt, aux yeux des médias, des problèmes sociaux. La présente thèse jette un regard sur le discours médiatique à l’égard de l’une de ces « problématiques sociales », celle des gangs à Montréal. En observant la sélection des faits qui sont rapportés, commentés et interprétés dans la presse, notre recherche montre comment le phénomène des gangs est représenté dans le journal La Presse entre 1980 et 2010. 348 articles ont été analysés durant ces trente années où les gangs sont évoqués. Nous avons pu en dégager trois grands axes. D’abord, la définition du concept de gang n’est pas plus claire dans les médias qu’elle ne l’est dans la littérature scientifique. D’ailleurs, la ligne entre les gangs et les groupes criminels traditionnels n’est pas toujours facile à tracer dans la représentation médiatique. Ensuite, les membres des gangs ne sont pas seulement présentés comme des Autres au sens criminologique, mais généralement comme des ‘Autres étrangers’, les minorités visibles étant implicitement ou explicitement associées à cette problématique sociale tout au long de notre période à l’étude. Finalement, les gangs sont dépeints comme étant plus présents et plus dangereux chaque jour, et ce, dès 1989. Cette dimension alarmiste du discours médiatique sur les gangs semble liée au fait que, très souvent, les journalistes relaient les dires des policiers sans leur ajouter des faits explicatifs, qui auraient favorisé une meilleure compréhension de ce phénomène complexe.