Gangs: Information

We may have the television images of gangs in our minds when we look around our classrooms and our school grounds looking for gangs. You may not see gang colours, gang graffiti, or individuals you would identify as the gangster type, but your school may have gang or organized crime associated problems. This backgrounder will help you better understand what a gang is, who is at risk, how they become involved and the dangers of being involved in a gang.

This overview is available below in PDF format for printing or offline viewing and in HTML format for online viewing.

Gangs Overview(PDF format)

Gangs

What is a gang?

From a legal perspective, gangs are about organized crime. They may be present in the city, suburbs, and in rural areas. The crime can range from graffiti, vandalism, and minor theft to break and enter, car theft, extortion, drug trafficking, assault, prostitution, money laundering, and weapons offences. The organization can vary from a small loosely organized group of youth to a large criminal network. The gangs may or may not be easy to identify by their clothing, but their presence may be felt in the community through the associated violence and crime. Gang presence may also be a reflection of other issues for concern within a particular community.

How is a gang a criminal organization? Lets look at the following definition of a “Criminal Organization” from the Criminal Code:

In summary, it is a group of individuals who intentionally gather together to commit crime for their material/financial benefit.

This definition may include youth involved in a break and enter or a car theft ring. Someone who buys drugs from their dealer in order to sell to their friends is probably also involved with a criminal organization.

Other relevant parts of the Criminal Code include consequences for supporting a gang....

.... participating in gang activities ....

.... or directing gang activities.

What does a gang member look like?

There is not a unified set of factors that indicate a youth will become a gang member, however there are a number of associated risk factors. Many of these risks relate to environmental factors, internal factors, and unique personal experiences associated with isolation or alienation of the youth:

• They may have a disconnected or troubled relationship with their family.
• They may not identify with a particular peer group or may be excluded by their peer group.
• They may not be connected to or have a sense of belonging to their community and are not involved in community recreational activities.
• They may feel ethnically, culturally, or linguistically isolated.
• They may not be connected to or have a sense of belonging to their school and may have learning difficulties or perform poorly at school.
• Some may come from aggressive or violent environments and in turn may seek ways of expressing themselves aggressively or violently.
• Youth who use drugs or alcohol or have criminal involvement are also at greater risk.
• Finances can be a factor as youth may see gang membership as a means of stepping out of a bad financial situation or as a means of being financially successful.
• The simple presence of gangs in the community or through the youth's social of family connections is also a risk factor.
• Personal and developmental factors including poor motivation, low self-esteem and held moral values, attitudes and beliefs that justify violence and criminal behaviour.

Given the above, are gangs simply group of youth committing offences for financial or material benefit or are they are also gathered together for particular social and support benefits? You may have noticed that risk factors for youth involvement in gangs relate to inadequacies or deficiencies in a number of social, family, economic or personal factors. What does this mean for dealing with gang or gang related issues?

What do gangs have to offer? Why do kids join gangs?

Look back at all of the risk factors on the previous page. If you were recruiting one of these individuals at risk into a gang what would you offer? What attracts youth to gangs?

Think about who attracts the most attention or interest at a party? Now look at the surface attractions: money, alcohol, drugs, sex, risk-taking. Notice any similarities? How can your local response to youth at risk compete with these motivators?

Next, lets consider the messages beneath the surface and ask “How do these underlying attractions: acceptance, belonging, attention, power, and respect motivate interest in joining a gang?” Look back at the risk factors on the previous page again: what is the relationship between the risks and the motivations? What are the social, emotional and physical needs of individuals at risk and how can these needs be met? While the surface motivators may seem very salient to the youth, the deeper motivators may be more directly related to the risk factors mentioned earlier. Gangs, it would seem, provide a unique social service. Responses which address issues related to the underlying risks and motivators are well on their way to drawing attention away from gangs as well as the detrimental attraction of many of the surface motivators as well. Clearly, response to a community gang problem needs to take a broad and holistic approach, taking into consideration and involving the individual, the family, the school and the community.

Where do I sign up?

Youth are recruited into gangs through people they know, either directly or casually. Youth do not sign up for gangs, they are incorporated into the gang through a gradual process of association and involvement. While there may be a number of enticements, youth who join gangs usually don't do so by accident; it is an active decision.

A youth may get to know someone who is a gang member through their friends or where they commonly gather or hang out. Where do youth in your community hang out if they have nothing to do, nowhere to go and are looking for a good time? These may be the same places where gangs will find potential recruits who are disconnected from their family, community or school. In any given community the place may be different, but it is not the place that is the motivator, it is the company and associated attractions. If a youth has needs that are not being met, they will search out others who may be able to help meet them.

Further, some gang members may identify or target isolated youth with a problem, whether financial or personal, and offer them a solution: profit, protection, or friendship. Involvement in gang activity may even begin as a favour :“Hey help me out just this once and you can make some quick cash, or get free drugs, or hang with me”. It may also involve extortion or manipulation: “Hey I did this for you now you need to do this for me...” and then “...wasn't that easy... you keep helping me out and this is what the benefits will be... you don't and this is what your problem will be...”.

Some youth who become involved with gangs may may have friends or family members who are involved in gangs. Gang involvement may seem like a natural transition for them. Other youth who are involved with the legal system for an individual crime often meet gang members and are recruited while they are both in care or custody. Simple gang presence can increase the possibility of gang involvement.

How much does it cost to join?

Time and Money

Quite simply, being involved in or associated with criminal activity can lead to involvement with the law. Some of the costs of gang involvement are criminal records, imprisonment and court costs. Particularly, those who enter gangs to make money increase their risk of arrest, involvement with the law, and imprisonment, especially as the the amount of money they attempt to make increases. Further, while the gang may attest to having a code of honour, when it comes to being arrested going to jail, this code quickly gives way to individual personal interests; gang members quickly find themselves on their own again without supports – it is every man for himself.

Health, Medical Benefits, Drugs

Involvement in organized crime can be a dangerous activity. A common characteristic of gangs is the use of violence. Gangs may commit violent acts in their own right or as part and parcel of another crime. Violence may also be used to protect the group, their territorial interests or their market interests.

While gangs may fall under the category of organized crime, they tend to be loosely structured and fluid. Gang membership may change regularly as some individuals transition out of the gang and others transition in. Violence may be used within a gang to uphold rules, codes of conduct, or to take disciplinary action. With regular changes in leadership and allegiance there my be “revolutions” and “rip-offs”, internal conflicts, or disagreements, all leading to the possibility of violence within the gang, between gang members.

Where drugs and weapons are involved, there is also the potential for violence or even death; intentional or unintentional. The mere presence of weapons may lead to the increased potential to use that the weapon, be it a knife, club, or a gun. Weapons may be used for protection, to threaten and intimidate, or they may be used to commit a robbery, assault or murder. One gang may be targeted by another gang as a territorial threat, for payback, or as a source of money or drugs. Friends, tag-along or wannabe gangsters, and other bystanders are not immune to the violence as it may be applied indiscriminately to the gang member, those around him and others who may be caught in the crossfire.

Drug use also caries a number of risks. The availability of drugs within gang culture may lead to an increase in level of addiction or the potential to overdose. Intravenous drug use and the sharing of drug equipment can also lead to the spread of disease including hepatitis C and HIV.

Some gang related crime involves the use of motor vehicles. Any combination of speed, drugs, alcohol and motor vehicle use can increase the opportunities for harm and injury.

Family and Retirement planning

Gang members put their families at risk simply by being a target. Other individuals or gangs may target the gang member in order to rob them, take over their business, or as payback. They may seek out the gang member at their family home and this puts their family at risk, even though the gang member may live elsewhere. A gang member's family may be threated or harmed in order to control or send a message to the gang member. Even after they have left that gang, a gang member may still be considered a gang member by rival gangs or the police. A criminal record acquired as a youth may follow a gang member into adulthood, and an adult record may stick with them for life, affecting employment, education and travel opportunities. While many gang members may grow out of gang involvement, the impact of their gang association can be everlasting.

Really? In My Neighbourhood?

As mentioned previously, gangs may be present in the city, suburbs, and in rural areas. Their presence is a public safety issue due the associated violence and criminal activity, but it is also an indicator of the social health of a community.

Community based strategies to reduce gang presence focus on multi-faceted approaches which include prevention, intervention, and suppression. Addressing gang and gang related issues or any crime in your community may involve a coordinated effort including the police, social service agencies, community organizations, schools, and parent groups. Initiating dialogue and involving other groups in the process of assessing and addressing your particular concern is an important first step.

Prevention strategies particularly, can offer safe opportunities for youth to belong, be respected, and be an active part of the community. These strategies can specifically target inadequacies or deficiencies in the youths' life and improve the overall health of the community.

Please visit the Gangs links page in the for a collection of links to other gang related resources