As a steady source of juvenile delinquents and an incubator for future adult offenders, the youth gang has long been a focus of attention, from their origins and prevalence to intervention and prevention strategies. But while delinquent youth form gangs worldwide, youth gang research has generally focused on the U.S.

"Youth Gangs in International Perspective" provides a needed corrective by offering significant studies from across Europe, as well as Trinidad-Tobago and Israel. The book spans the diversity of the field in the cultural and scholarly traditions represented and methods used, analyzing not only the social processes under which gangs operate and cohere, but also the evolution of the research base, starting with the Eurogang Program's definition of the term "youth gang." Cross-national and gender issues are discussed, as are measurement concerns and the possibility that the American conception of the youth gang is impeding European understanding of these groups. Among the topics covered:

Gang dynamics through the lens of social identity theory.Defining gangs in youth correctional settings.Gang gender composition and youth delinquency.From Stockholm: a holistic approach to gang intervention.Gang membership as a turning point in the life course.The impact of globalization, immigration, and social process on neo-Nazi youth gangs.

Filling a critical gap in the literature, "Youth Gangs in International Perspective" will find a wide audience among criminologists, policymakers specializing in youth crime, and researchers and graduate students in criminology, political science, and youth studies.

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Street Gang Patterns and Policies provides a crucial update and critical examination of knowledge about gangs and major gang control programs across the nation. Malcolm Klein and Cheryl Maxson here focus on gang proliferation, migration, and crime patterns, and highlight known risk factors that lead to youths joining gangs and to gang formation within communities. Dispelling long-standing assumptions that the public--and the media and law enforcement--have about street gangs, they present a comprehensive overview of how gangs are organized and structured. The authors assess the major gang programs across the nation, and argue that existing prevention, intervention and suppression methods, targeting individuals, groups, and communities, have been largely ineffective, when evaluated. Klein and Maxson close by offering policy guidelines for practitioners on how to intervene and control gangs more successfully. Filling an important gap in the literature on street gangs and social control, this book will be a must read for criminologists, social workers, policy makers, and criminal justice practitioners.

This unique volume explores why and how youth join and leave gangs, as a lens for exploring intervention and prevention through comparative, international research. The book explores three key questions: how do youth gangs form and how do they change over time? Why do youth join street gangs, and why do they leave? How can we use this knowledge to foster more effective interventions for gang problems? Drawing from research conducted in ten different countries (Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Venezuela)and a variety of disciplines, sixteen original chapters provide unique insights into: 1) patterns of gang participation and how it impacts individual behavior 2) individual transitions and their impact on gang transformations 3) fostering gang transition and transformation. This work will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in youth gangs, developmental and life-course criminology, criminal careers, and criminal networks, as well as related fields such as sociology, psychology, and comparative law, and public health.

As a steady source of juvenile delinquents and an incubator for future adult offenders, the youth gang has long been a focus of attention, from their origins and prevalence to intervention and prevention strategies. But while delinquent youth form gangs worldwide, youth gang research has generally focused on the U.S. Youth Gangs in International Perspective provides a needed corrective by offering significant studies from across Europe, as well as Trinidad-Tobago and Israel. The book spans the diversity of the field in the cultural and scholarly traditions represented and methods used, analyzing not only the social processes under which gangs operate and cohere, but also the evolution of the research base, starting with the Eurogang Program's definition of the term youth gang. Cross-national and gender issues are discussed, as are measurement concerns and the possibility that the American conception of the youth gang is impeding European understanding of these groups. Among the topics covered: Gang dynamics through the lens of social identity theory. Defining gangs in youth correctional settings. Gang gender composition and youth delinquency. From Stockholm: a holistic approach to gang intervention. Gang membership as a turning point in the life course. The impact of globalization, immigration, and social process on neo-Nazi youth gangs. Filling a critical gap in the literature, Youth Gangs in International Perspective will find a wide audience among criminologists, policymakers specializing in youth crime, and researchers and graduate students in criminology, political science, and youth studies.

This unique volume explores why and how youth join and leave gangs, as a lens for exploring intervention and prevention through comparative, international research. The book explores three key questions: how do youth gangs form and how do they change over time? Why do youth join street gangs, and why do they leave? How can we use this knowledge to foster more effective interventions for gang problems? Drawing from research conducted in ten different countries (Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Venezuela)and a variety of disciplines, sixteen original chapters provide unique insights into: 1) patterns of gang participation and how it impacts individual behavior 2) individual transitions and their impact on gang transformations 3) fostering gang transition and transformation. This work will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in youth gangs, developmental and life-course criminology, criminal careers, and criminal networks, as well as related fields such as sociology, psychology, and comparative law, and public health.

In the past two decades, many prevention and suppression programs have been initiated on a national and local level to combat street gangs-but what do we really know about them? Why do youths join them? Why do they proliferate? Street Gang Patterns and Policies is a crucial update and critical examination of our understanding of gangs and major gang-control programs across the nation. Often perceived solely as an urban issue, street gangs are also a suburban and rural dilemma. Klein and Maxson focus on gang proliferation, migration, and crime patterns, and highlight known risk factors that lead to youths form and join gangs within communities. Dispelling the long-standing assumptions that the public, the media, and law enforcement have about street gangs, they present a comprehensive overview of how gangs are organized and structured. The authors assess the major gang programs across the nation and argue that existing prevention, intervention, and suppression methods targeting individuals, groups, and communities, have been largely ineffective. Klein and Maxson close by offering valuable policy guidelines for practitioners on how to intervene and control gangs more successfully. Filling an important gap in the literature on street gangs and social control, this book is a must-read for criminologists, social workers, policy makers, and criminal justice practitioners. "This is an important book. Malcolm Klein and Cheryl Maxson here draw upon their own rich and pioneering research experience and that of others to provide the most comprehensive review of what is known and what needs to be known about gangs and their control in community contexts. I stand in awe of their accomplishment."-James F. Short, Jr., Past President of the American Sociological Association "The need to intervene successfully with street gangs is self-evident; unfortunately the way to do so is not. Klein and Maxson, based on a masterful review of the empirical literature on gangs and on gang intervention efforts, lay out a balanced and comprehensive strategy for confronting this problem head-on. Neither falsely optimistic nor unnecessarily gloomy, they provide a road map that, if followed, will yield substantial progress in our fight against gangs."-Terence P. Thornberry, Director, Research Program on Problem Behavior, University of Colorado

This book provides an overview of the dominant philosophical approaches and practices in handling status offenders--those children who habitually resist the control of their parents and schools, who run away from home, who drink and stay out after curfew. The three basic and competing social philosophies in responding to these troubled and troublesome youths--discussed at length in this book--are known as the treatment, deterrence, and normalization rationales. In examining these philosophies, the authors consider the quality and quantity of response to and for status offenders at local community service outlets in seven different cities. In this way, Maxson and Klein are able to determine whether such response practices conform with the ideological thrusts embedded in state legislation.
The results will surprise many legislative and youth service policy professionals. Agency characteristics, service-delivery patterns, and youth clients do indeed reflect the treatment, deterrence, and normalization rationales, but in ways that have little bearing on the dominant philosophies embodied by state legislation.
Special chapters are devoted to those minors most likely to slip through the safety-net of youth service --chronic runaways and street kids. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for lawmakers and policy developers.