abstract: Research on the consequences of gang membership is limited mainly to the study of crime and victimization. This gives the narrow impression that the effects of gang membership do not cascade into other life domains. This dissertation conceptualized gang membership as a snare in the life-course that disrupts progression in conventional life domains. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Cohort of 1997 (NLSY97) data were used to examine the effects of adolescent gang membership on the nature and patterns of educational attainment and employment over a 12-year period in the life-course. Variants of propensity score weighting were used to assess the effects of gang joining on a range of outcomes pertaining to educational attainment and employment. The key findings in this dissertation include: (1) selection adjustments partially or fully confounded the effects of gang joining; despite this (2) gang joiners had 70 percent the odds of earning a high school diploma and 42 percent the odds of earning a 4-year college degree than matched individuals who avoided gangs; (3) at the 11-year mark, the effect of gang joining on educational attainment exceeded one-half year; (4) gang joiners made up for proximate deficits in high school graduation and college matriculation, but gaps in 4-year college degree and overall educational attainment gained throughout the study; (5) gang joiners were less likely to be employed and more likely to not participate in the labor force, and these differences accelerated toward the end of the study; (6) gang joiners spent an additional one-third of a year jobless relative to their matched counterparts; and (7) the cumulative effect of gang joining on annual income exceeded $14,000, which was explained by the patterning of joblessness rather than the quality of jobs. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are addressed in the concluding chapter of this dissertation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2012

abstract: The research on female juvenile gang members is limited in scope and research has not yet examined mental health issues in this population. This study examines the case histories of 127 female juvenile gang members who were arrested by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. To add to the limited gender-specific research on female juvenile gang members, data are presented regarding this population's mental health problems, childhood maltreatment, substance abuse problems, age of contact with the juvenile justice system, and other factors salient to female juvenile gang members' prevention, treatment, and intervention needs. Female juvenile gang members who had a mental health diagnosis were significantly more likely to report childhood maltreatment. Female juvenile gang members who were younger at their age of first arrest were significantly more likely to report chronic substance use. Clinical levels of anger-irritability and depression-anxiety were found for approximately half of female juvenile gang members and suicide ideation was found for approximately one fourth. These findings have important implications for practitioners and gender-specific prevention, intervention, and treatment programs targeted specifically for female juvenile gang members. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.W. Social Work 2012

Drawing on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in a poor and notorious neighbourhood, this dissertation examines how evolving dynamics of urban violence have affected life in a Guatemala City gang territory. The maras of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras - the gangs that help give these countries some of the world's highest homicide rates - have changed dramatically in their group cultures and criminal economies since they appeared in the 1990s. I trace what I call the mara's predatory turn: the elaboration of an extortion economy, which has had far-reaching consequences for the relationship between gang cliques and their barrios. This transformation has re-shaped the experience of chronic insecurity in the communities that maras operate from: inhabitants report that it is now less manageable, less predictable, and more frightening. They speak of a heightening of danger in their lives brought about by the decline of certain local norms and mechanisms that had previously moderated gang violence and bolstered community resilience. Local narratives of insecurity and decline illuminate when, how, and why violence disrupts and disorders social life. What many informants emphasized was not a cataclysmic appearance of violence in their lives, but rather a catastrophic breakdown in the mechanisms that had controlled it. In this distressing context, residents struggle to minimize their insecurity and to reclaim or create forms of order. I examine two principal ways that they seek to do so: by working to maintain a moral order based on narratives about the neighbourhood and its values or 'codes', and by looking to external providers of order in the state and its security forces. Exploring the complex relationships and interactions between inhabitants, gang members, and state forces in this barrio, I contribute to academic debates about local and state responses to insecurity in Latin America and propose modifications to prevailing models of state and criminal 'governance' in marginal urban communities.

The field of mediation within peace and conflict studies has remained almost entirely focused on state-based armed conflicts and traditional non-state armed groups (NSAG). This restricts our ability to address other actors and emerging forms of conflict in non-conflict and post-conflict settings. This includes a certain classification of gangs who display strong similarities to typical NSAGs. This study analyses gang mediation and its effects on levels of violence in gang conflicts in El Salvador through the lens of traditional mediation theory from the field of peace and conflict studies. It seeks to answer the question, how does mediation influence levels of violence within gang conflicts? More specifically, addressing the hypotheses that, mediation between gangs, and government support for mediation, will likely lead to lower levels of violence. Using a qualitative comparative case study method, employing a structured, focused comparison between three different time periods in El Salvador, I find support for both hypotheses, showing that gang mediation leads to a significant reduction in violence albeit conditional on government support. In addition, factors such as dialogue, information sharing, leverage, concessions and the signing of an agreement are essential in the process between mediation and lower levels of violence.

Orientador: Sueli Andruccioli Félix / Banca: Lídia Maria Vianna Possas / Banca: Maria Teresa Miceli Kerbauy / Banca: Fábio Lanza / Banca: Elson Luiz de Araújo / Resumo: Este trabalho analisou as violências praticadas por grupos de Skinheads e os esforços da Instituição Policial em preservar a Segurança Pública. As políticas penais lançam respostas diante das demandas sociais por punição cada vez mais severas, por meio de penas consideradas por parte da população como justas, visando atenuar os sentimentos de medo da sociedade quanto à criminalidade. Este procedimento leva a redefinições dos grupos Skinheads e das suas ações de preservação das formações identitárias, o que garante a continuidade de suas práticas violentas no espaço público. O objetivo foi analisar como o Estado, por intermédio da instituição policial, articula políticas de prevenção para conter e reprimir as sociabilidades juvenis de Skinheads no espaço público. O trabalho sustenta a hipótese de que os procedimentos de policiamento preventivo colocados em prática pela instituição policial não são suficientes para evitar as violências praticadas pelos grupos de Skinheads; restando, portanto, o papel investigativo, repressivo e punitivo da Delegacia de Crimes Raciais e Delitos de Intolerância (Decradi), inserida na lógica retributiva das políticas criminais. Metodologicamente, recorremos a revisão bibliográfica, análise de documentos e de dados estatísticos da Secretaria da Segurança Pública do Estado de São Paulo no recorte temporal de 2001 a 2011. As fontes foram analisadas por meio dos referenciais teóricos utilizados aqui como "caixa de ferramentas", a fim de que contribuíssem no desenvolvimento das hipóteses deste trabalho. Concluímos que apenas a punição e a prisão como retribuição 'justa' à sociedade não têm surtido o efeito desejado na redução dos crimes de ódio e de intolerância praticados pelos grupos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This dissertation analyzes violence committed by Skinhead gangs and the effort required by the Police Institution to preserve Public Security. Criminal policies provide answers in face of the social demand for punishment, to be, more and more severe by means of punishment the population has viewed as fair aiming at mitigating the feelings of fear shown by society concerning criminality. Such a procedure leads us to the redefinition of Skinhead gangs and their actions to preserve identity features, what favors the continuing practice of violence within public spaces. It was carried out to analyze how the State, by means of the police institution articulates prevention policies to refrain and repress Skinheads' juvenile sociabilities within public spaces. This research sustains the hypothesis that preventive police procedures put into practice by the police institution are not enough to avoid the violence committed by Skinhead gangs; therefore, the only thing left is the investigative, repressive and punitive role played by the Police Department against Racial and Intolerance Crimes (Decradi) inserted into the retributive logic of criminal policies. As far as methodology is concerned, we have made use of a bibliographical review, document analysis and statistical data provided by São Paulo State Public Security Department comprising the period from 2001 to 2011. Such sources were analyzed by means of theoretical reference used here as "tool box", so that they might contribute to the development of the hypotheses formulated in this dissertation. We came to the conclusion that only punishment and imprisonment as a "fair" retribution to society have not worked effectively to reduce hate and intolerance crimes committed by Skinheads. Data show that the frequency and variety of occurrences committed by such intolerance gangs have... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Thesis (MTech (Education and Social Sciences))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / This study examines the nature and the extent of school gang activity and how it impacts on learner academic performance in South African township schools. The research evidence shows that learners in South Africa have been exposed to widespread school gang activity leading to poor learner academic performance in the township schools. The effects of the phenomenon of school gang activity on learner academic performance are given a more insightful understanding of its effects. The literature review supports the central argument that school gang activity persists in South African schools, especially in the townships. In addition, the literature provides both international and local perspectives of the high prevalence of school gang activity and claims that it results in an insecure teaching and learning environment. The specific research design selected for the study is a phenomenological study and is qualitative, explorative and descriptive in nature. A semi-structured interview method was employed to gather the data required. The findings of the study reveal that many learners in the township schools experience direct incidences of school gang activity either at school or on the way to or from school. In addition, the findings reveal that feelings of insecurity are most intense in the classroom situation because the opportunities to escape danger are minimal. The conclusions drawn from the study are that classrooms are dangerous places and this impacts on the ability of learners to achieve academically. Based on the findings, this mini-dissertation recommends collaborative efforts of all role-players to interact and produce amicable strategies and solutions that will decrease the occurrence of school gang activities and school violence. Gang activity in schools severely hinders learner academic performance. Hence incorporating interdisciplinary perspectives, involving activities such as teamwork and programme development can provide some solutions. This mini-dissertation is dedicated to my little angel, Avuyile Boqwana, in memory of the day she was born. I said that day, "A professor is born in my house," trusting that my wishes will be fulfilled one day. As young as she is, she is the source of all my inspirations to pursue life-long learning. My little is a source of motivation every time I look at her. She is my hope for the future. It was her enduring love when she always missed her bedtimes waiting for me to come back from my late tiring sessions that provided "the wind beneath my wings" to complete this educational journey.

The gang has been a focal concern in UK media, political discourse, policy, and policing interventions in the last decade, occupying the position of contemporary ‘folk devil’. Despite the heightened attention on urban ‘gang culture’, sociological research on gangs in the UK is limited. However, some sociologists do stress a deterministic relationship between gangs and black urban youth, rendering urban men a source of fascination and repulsion, easy scapegoats in explaining street violence. Arguably, current work that privileges the idea of gang membership misunderstands much about the lives of some men involved. This thesis contributes to correcting that misunderstanding. The study adopts a social constructionist perspective in understanding the (multiple) ways urban men in an inner city area of London construct their lives when immersed in what they refer to as being ‘on road’, a symbolic space in which everyday lives are played out. As a broadly ethnographic study, the data for the thesis were generated using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with a range of participants, including young and adult men. The study identifies three distinct ways in which some men become trapped in difficult experiences and identities ‘on road’. It focuses on the implications of the notion of ‘trappedness’ on their experiences in public space, employment opportunities and, self- identity. The ‘on road’ lives of the men in the study represent a paradox: the road appears to offer opportunity to build masculine identity but entangles them further in a trap, restricting freedom and stunting personal growth. This study has significance for sociological theory. Theoretically, the idea of being ‘on road’ can be understood as a discourse that persists in the language and symbolism that flows through these men’s experiences and narratives. As such the idea of ‘onroadness’ powerfully shapes all aspects of their lives. It is argued that more focus is needed on the psychosocial factors that force some men into volatile social worlds, and the personal contexts that frame local narratives of ‘on road’ culture, especially within wider experiences of friendship, faith, and identity. The thesis suggests that this form of analysis offers a critical explanatory framework within which it is possible to understand the lives of some of the young and adult men in certain inner city areas in the UK.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / The subculture of gang violence has become a most feared phenomenon in many povertystricken communities in South Africa and especially in the Western Cape. The gang violence that is prevalent in these communities affects mostly the adolescents, who are supposed to be ‘the leaders of tomorrow’. The purpose of this research study was to focus on adolescents in a community where gang violence is rife and in turn reveals their perceptions on gang violence, what the causes of gang violence are and how they are affected by it as expressed in their own words. The researcher establishes the significance and necessity of focusing on adolescents as influenced by gang violence through a phenomenological exploration of their lives. The position that is developed affirms that adolescents are adversely affected by gang violence both from a behavioral and cognitive standpoint. The dire extent of gang violence on these adolescents’ lives is illustrated by using Fanon’s six dimensions of violence. Furthermore various theoretical hypotheses are provided to explain the or igin of gang violence in comparison to the explanations expressed by the adolescents themselves from the interviews conducted. The study is concluded with recommendations extracted from relevant literature as well as comments expressed by the participants of this study. The main limitation within this study was the lack of research outputs within the South African context on the topic of how gang violence affects adolescents who are not gang members. The rich information produced by this study in conducting in-depth interviews with adolescents makes this study significant. / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Post-apartheid local government in South Africa has significant responsibilities in terms of redressing the socio-economic imbalances of the past, including basic service delivery and fostering local economic development. In meeting the socio-economic and material needs of communities, local government is also required to be democratic by enhancing various forms of public participation in governance and through the election of community representatives for local decision-making. So far as participation is concern, Cornwall (2002), distinguishes between two forms of mechanisms for public participation to include; ‘invited spaces’ (authorized participation) and ‘invented spaces’ (unauthorized participation). In the context of local government in South Africa, invited spaces include elections ward committees and public consultation around the annual budget and integrated development planning (IDP) process. While, invented spaces include protest, civil society engagement with the state and social movement activities. However, the last ten years has revealed that, the promise of effective, responsive and inclusive local governance has not been fulfilled. Rather local government has proven to be unresponsive as revealed by increasing protests over poor service delivery, as well as formal assessments of local government performance. In this context of poor state performance and unresponsiveness, substantial literature points to civil society as a source for deepening democracy and active citizenship. This thesis explores one version of this idea by examining two civil society programmes in the impoverished and gang-ridden community of Manenberg in Cape Town. More specifically this thesis examines the security programme of the Proudly Manenberg Organisation (PMO) and the infrastructure development programme of the Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading Programme (VPUU). Contrary to the claim that civil society is a source for enhancing democracy and service delivery, this thesis has found that neither of these programmes has yielded much in terms of fostering democracy and service delivery. In interrogating concerns regarding forms of representation, accountability and participation, it may be argued that in terms of both representation and accountability, the PMO represents and accounts to a certain minority only. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that participation in the safety sector activities reinforces rather than challenging the coercive rule iii of gangs (drug lords) in Manenberg. With reference to VPUU, failure to implement the programme has frustrated many potential community allies. Furthermore, inclusion in the VPUU project in Manenberg was only accorded to two NGOs (notably PMO), despite the fact that there are two hundred and thirty NGOs conducting activities in Manenberg. This has limited participation in the first stages of the project to those groups. While, the VPUU project has delayed in Manenberg, its representatives have also been seen to be unaccountable to the community. In short, with reference to Manenberg, the notion that civil society can solve or model alternative solutions to democratic development remains farfetched.

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