FAQ SUBURBAN GANGS

Provided By: International Focus Press (IFP) Adapted From:Suburban Gangs-The Affluent Rebels (1995) by Dan Korem Key Words: gang, gangs, suburban gangs, crime, juvenile crime, crime prevention, violence, suburb, suburbs, suburban

OVERVIEW The material provided here is adapted from the critically acclaimed book SUBURBAN GANGS-THE AFFLUENT REBELS by investigative journalist and internationally recognized gang expert, Dan Korem. In the mid-1980s Dan Korem predicted in university lectures that gangs in upscale communities would become a chronic trend due to specific social trends he had observed first-hand. This led to research on suburban gangs over a period of seven years in eleven countries and the only comprehensive book on the subject. Then, in the late 1980s, youths from affluent, upscale communities began forming their own gangs for the first time in the US and European history. Even countries such as Switzerland are experiencing the unprecedented appearance of these gangs. This FAQ answers some of the most frequently asked questions about this new gang phenomenon. Also detailed is the only gang prevention strategy that will sure-fire stop gangs from forming. This is not an overstatement. When this strategy--which can be incorporated into virtually any existing program or initiative--was applied to over 400 severely at-risk youths, not one youth joined a gang. According to many of the world's leading researchers, this is an unprecedented success story. (For further in-depth answers and information, please consult Dan Korem's excellent text, which is filled with helpful insight and is now being used in numerous universities.) Click here to obtain this text.

USE OF MATERIALS
Please feel free to copy and use any of the information in this FAQ with the following copyright acknowledgment: Adapted from SUBURBAN GANGS-THE AFFLUENT REBELS
by Dan Korem (Richardson, Texas: International Focus Press, 1995)

 

1. Are gangs in upscale communities new or have we seen this trend before?
   Answer:
   This is a new trend without precedent. While lone youth gangs have appeared in isolated cases, the current trend has been persistent and steadily growing since the mid-1980s.
   
   
   
2. Are suburban gangs as dangerous as inner-city gangs?
   Answer:
   The numbers of violent crimes per gang member isn't as great , but homicides do occur and with increasing frequency. However, we have recently seen that affluent youths with money, mobility, and education can pose a deadly terrorist threat. A small cell of these youths can wreak massive devastation. (See Suburban Gang Update for case examples.)
   
   
   
3. Aren't suburban gangs just like the on-the-edge groups and cliques when I grew up?
   Answer:
   No. When we say, "gang," we are only talking about a group of youths banded together in a specific context who commit crimes. If a specific group of youths-regardless of their cultural facade-doesn't commit crimes, then it shouldn't be described or labeled as a gang.
   
   
   
4. What types of gangs are forming?
   Answer:
   There are three gangs types that have been identified and typed by Dan Korem, and each type can have have many different variants. (Four chapters in Suburban Gangs details the many variants that have appeared in the US and Europe and how youth gang types are now inspiring one another across the Atlantic for the first time in history.)
   

   	Delinquent Gangs: Desire for profit and thuggery.
   	Ideological Gangs: Attachment to a specific ideology, which may or may not be political.
   	Occultic Gangs: Attachment to beliefs in occultic powers.

5. How many females are in gangs?
   Answer:
   Typically 5-10% in suburban communities, while in urban areas membership can be as high as 25% and some are even exclusively female. .
   
   
   
6. Why have I never heard of this trend before?
   Answer:
   

   	When gangs first appeared in most affluent communities there was a natural resistance to label these groups as gangs because of the stereotypical image that gangs only appear in economically depressed communities.
   	When gangs are first observed in a community, there is often pressure from city hall to play down the trend. Some common reasons for this are: protect property values; maintain an image that is conducive to attract outside business, thus protecting the tax base, and; avoid publicity that might make "gang-banging" appealing to attention-seeking youths. While there might be some good intentions concerning this last point, it is almost never a good idea not to educate a community so that preemptive action can be taken.
   	Only in the last 3-4 years have local law enforcement agencies been able to publish their statistics-due to local political pressure. Most juvenile officers, however, favor open disclosure, which is now occurring across the US. Presently, suburban gang awareness is at a similar point as the drug crisis in the 1970s-when many communities denied having a drug problem. As drug prevention programs eventually became a permanent fixture in most communities, so too will gang prevention programs in the next few years.

7. How many gangs/gang members are there in the average middle- and upper-middle-class community?
   Answer:
   It is common for anywhere from 50 up to 250 gang members to be present in a middle- or upper-middle-class community. For example, in the surrounding Dallas suburbs, the number of gang members identified by local police departments are as follows:
   

   	Plano-150
   	Richardson-100
   	Farmers Branch-150 (it was as high as 250 in 1992, but was reduced to the present levels due to prevention measures)

   
   

8. Why are we seeing gangs in upscale communities for the first time in US and European history?
   Answer:
   The popular misconception is that the appearance of gangs is due to economic deterioration. That is, gangs initially appear and form due to economic blight. This misconception was due to the fact that gangs first appeared in the US in economically depressed inner-city areas. (Note: inner-city in the US specifies poor, run-down communities in a major city, while in Europe inner-city specifies any community that is within the ring-the ring road or highway that circles many European cities-which may or may not be economically blighted.)
   
   The formation of gangs in persistent numbers in affluent communities, however, dismisses this notion. The consistent connecting factor between affluent and inner-city youths who join gangs is that they both typically come from broken or severely dysfunctional homes. For years the number of youths from these kinds of homes in inner-city communities has been catastrophically high. Since the late 1950s, the number youths from broken/ruptured homes in upscale communities has skyrocketed. In the mid- to late-1980s the number of at-risk youths in affluent communities hit a critical mass and affluent gangs started to form.
   
   
   
9. Is there a predictable profile of a typical gang member?
   Answer:
   Most gang members come from a family environment where we find one of five family factors:
   
   1. Divorce
      
   2. Separation
      
   3. Physical Abuse
      
   4. Sexual Abuse (verbal abuse alone is an uncommon factor)
      
   5. One of the parents is severely dysfunctional, such as alcoholism
      
      

   	Additionally, about 75% of gang youths have the Missing Protector Factor (MPF) operative in their lives, which is explained below. When the MPF is neutralized in a youth's life, gangs stop forming.
   	The ruptured/broken home acts as a magnifying glass on a youth's rebellion, particularly those who already have a more rebellious bent than their peers. Frustration, anger, loneliness, isolation, etc. become exaggerated, youths find those like themselves. The result: the gang. Other factors, such as destructive entertainment media, inspire gang variants, but the primal root cause of gangs is family deterioration.
   	Regarding personality traits, there is typically no distinguishing pattern from other groups of youths: some youths will display emotional control, while others won't, some will be directive, while others prefer to be directed, etc.

   
   

10. Is there one key factor when layered on top of the ruptured/broken home that increases the likelihood that a youth will be recruited into a gang?
    Answer:
    Yes, and it is called the Missing Protector Factor (MPF) referenced above. Simply stated, the MPF is when a youth is faced with a crisis and there is no adult that he/she can turn to for help. That is, there is no adult protector in his/her life. The MPF dramatically increases the risk of gang recruitment as is found operative in about 75% of gang youths. It is clear that more youths from broken/ruptured homes resist gang recruitment, but when the MPF is added to a youth's life, a youth is significantly greater at risk of gang recruitment, suicide, drug abuse, etc.
    
    
    
11. Who qualifies as a Protector?
    Answer:
    A protector is an adult who sees a youth once a month in person and maintains phone contact at least once a week. An older non-adult sibling typically doesn't qualify. Youths need protection provided by those who are older and wiser. The protector, who lives conveniently close to a youth, simply responds to a youth's call for help. This doesn't mean that the protector will be able to solve all of a youth's problems. Not even parents can do that. A protector simply tries to to help, counsel, guide, or seek outside help for a youth-just like a concerned parent.
    
    A protector is different from a mentor, such as volunteers in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program in which volunteers spend significant time helping direct a youth's life. While mentoring programs are a more desirable influence in a youth's life, mentors are hard to recruit. Even those who are concerned about helping youths simply don't have two or three days/nights a week to spend with a youth. However, when youths have adult protectors, most won't join a gang-even if they remain in an at-risk home or neighborhood.
    
    An Unprecedented Success Story-When the MPF was specifically addressed in the lives of over 400 severely at-risk youths in Dallas County over a period of six years, not one youth joined a gang. Dan Korem, the author of Suburban Gangs-The Affluent Rebels, personally participated in this effort. Over 1/3 of these youths had actually seen someone shot or stabbed in their neighborhoods loaded with gangs. Yet, when concerned adults made a very small investment of their time not a single youth opted for gang activity.
    
    
    
12. Is the gang just a replacement for the family?
    Answer:
    The root need is even more primal than the need to have a family: it is the desire to be released from pain, anger, anguish, etc. spawned by the broken/ruptured home. Youths hope that the gang will provide one of three following devices or payoffs:
    

    	The Mask-You put on your gang regalia, swagger, look imposing, fire off your secret hand signals and you can pretend that you are something that you are not.
    	Distraction Device-Join a gang, become absorbed in the crazed culture and you don't have to think about what is going on at home. You can avoid dealing with the real issues in your life.
    	Empowering Device-This is particularly common for females in gangs who have been molested or abused. For them, the gang can give them power over others. (Female membership in suburban gangs is typically 5%-10%.)

    
    

13. Which is more effective gang prevention or gang intervention?
    Answer:
    Almost unanimously those in law enforcement in the US and Europe agree that gang prevention is what will win the war while intervention will only have a marginal effect. Logically, which would you rather address, a youth addicted to drugs or initiate action that will prevent a youth from ever using drugs the first time? The same is true when it comes to gang prevention.
    
    Prevention: Actions taken by individuals, schools, churches, social organizations, etc.that results in the reduction of a youth's at-risk factors before a youth is recruited into a gang.
    
    Intervention: Strategic action that disengages youths from gangs, ranging from one-on-one interaction to incarceration. Dan Korem identified the eleven reasons why a youth will disengage from a gang, but experience reveals that in inner-city communities disengagement efforts will only be successful approximately 10-20% of the time and efforts directed at youths in affluent communities approximately 25-50%.
    
    
    
14. What can I do to stop gangs from forming in my neighborhood?
    Answer:
    The only known gang prevention strategy that will sure-fire stop gangs from forming is addressing and neutralizing the MPF in the lives of youths. When a youth has someone to turn to when there is a crisis in their life, then gang enticements are negated, such as: We understand you; we'll help you deal with your fear; we'll give you protection; we'll give you a distraction away from what is troubling you, etc. As noted above, when Dan Korem and other Dallas volunteers applied this strategy youths stopped joining gangs. More importantly, you can easily apply this strategy in your community without government involvement, large expenditure of dollars, etc. This strategy can be launched by any local PTA or neighborhood church, and it can be attached to any existing community programs. Or you can start by getting a group of neighbors together on your own block. Here is the bare-bones of the strategy when it is initiated by a local PTA group in an elementary school:
    

    	Identify adults who are willing to be protectors. (It may be wise to ask your local police department to help screen out any pedophiles.)
    	In a presentation to kids, explain the family profile of a gang member and what is meant by the MPF-although one can use other language than "Missing Protector Factor". For young, elementary school children one might describe the MPF as follows: "If you have something real bad happen to you or someone in your family and you don't have an adult that you know you can turn to for help . . . or, "If your brother is arrested, or maybe you just flunked several tests . . . "This is when you need to turn to an adult who is older and wiser to help you. Someone like a teacher, your youth pastor, the officer here at school, or someone else you trust to help you find an adult who lives near your house to help you." (A lengthy sample dialogue along with many other illustrations and suggestions is included in Suburban Gangs-The Affluent Rebels).
    	Ask those youths who don't fit the profile and who do come from stable homes to think of a least one of their friends who does fit the profile. Their job is to take this friend home letting the parents help someone who will be a protector.
    	It's crucial that this idea be communicated to youths beginning in elementary school before they reach puberty and they begin to operate out of their emotions and are often harder to reach with just logic.
    	For further refinement of this strategy

15. How do you help a youth who is already in a gang disengage?
    Answer:
    Attempting to help youths disengage from gangs is a matching process. One must match the payoff(s) a youth hopes to get from gang activity as described in Question 8 with one or more of the eleven predictable reasons why a youth will disengage as identified by Dan Korem. Some of these reasons are surprising, such as when one points out to a youth that he fits a predictable profile. Youths in gangs often don't want to believe that adults can figure them out. It isn't uncommon for such a youth to disengage because the facade has been peeled away and they realize that why they do what they do isn't a mystery, thus the raciness is gone. To facilitate the matching process, the following strategic steps are suggested:
    

    a. Appoint a Strategist-This person has the following key characteristics:
    

    1. Common sense and an ability to develop a short-term plan of action.
       
    2. Calm under pressure and not given to hysteria.
       
    3. Equipped with some understanding of the particular issue(s) affecting the youth.
       
    4. An ability to relate to youths and establish trust if the strategist is going to interact directly with the affected youth.
       

    a. Establish Effective Communication with a Youth
    

    b. Investigate the Facts-Separate fact from fiction.
    

    c. Develop a Preliminary Strategy for Resolving the Problem
    

    1. Reduce the danger to a youth, or other affected youths, if a threat factor is present.
    2. Establish communication with a youth.
       
    3. Identify reasons why a youth might disengage.
       

16. Should I personally get involved in gang intervention efforts?
    Answer:
    Crimes committed by gang youths are often random and seemingly without rationale. For this reason, direct gang intervention efforts should be left to those with experience engaging these youths such as juvenile officers, youth ministries, etc.
    
    
    
17. Should I be concerned that my child is likely to get into a gang?
    Answer:
    Most parents only need be concerned if their child has one of the five factors detailed earlier and/or the MPF is operative in their child's life.
    
    
    
18. What are some of the indicators that a youth might be involved in a gang?
    Answer:
    Below is a sampling of potential indicators which might indicate gang interest. None of these items by themselves is a sure-fire indicator, but if several of these indicators in an at-risk youth's life, it is wise to start asking questions. If in doubt, local juvenile officers, school teachers, social workers, and youth pastors are good sources of information regarding local gang attire, activities, etc.
    

    	Severe change in grooming, such as shaved or spiked hair.
    	Severe change in attire, such as baggy pants always worn below a youth's underwear waist bank.
    	Extreme forms of music with violent or extremely provocative lyrics
    	Excessively secretive
    	Excessively rebellious and defiant-typical teen rebellion doesn't qualify
    	Hand signals used between friends in a group
    	Graffiti-like drawings in notebooks

19. Aren't small towns less vulnerable to gang activity?
    Answer:
    No. Gang related crimes, such as homicides, are occurring in small towns across the US. Sometimes this is due to gang members moving to a community. More commonly, however, the n umber of at-risk youths in small towns has risen to intolerable levels, and these youths are then inspired by youth subculture media (movies, music, magazines) just like their counterparts in large metropolitan cities. There is no evidence that this trend will reverse itself anytime soon.
    
    
    
20. Are other countries witnessing the appearance of affluent gangs in upscale communities?
    Answer:
    Yes. All Western, Central, and Eastern European countries have been experiencing this trend since the mid- and late-1980s-from England to Switzerland to Hungary.
    
    
    
21. If I suspect that gang activity is present in my neighborhood, what should I do?
    Answer:
    First, let your exposure to this new gang activity to encourage you to get involved in a youth's life preemptively before he/she joins a gang. Become educated about this new affluent gang trend. Second, unless you have proven experience dealing with juvenile delinquency, don't directly confront gang members, rather contact your local juvenile officer and the appropriate school officials for assistance.
    
    
    
22. Are there any gang prevention/intervention programs that can be implemented in my neighborhood?
    Answer:
    An excellent program that educates kids about the dangers of gangs is the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) PROGRAM. The Phoenix Police Department has teamed up with Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to create the first gang education program taught in neighborhood schools. Over 1500 juvenile officers have undergone rigorous training and are currently presenting this program in schools throughout the US. If your local community doesn't have a juvenile officer trained to present the GREAT program, encourage your local police department to contact GREAT

    .
    
    THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS has developed a successful program that directly reaches out to gangs members who are predominantly from urban areas. In 1994, in Ft. Worth, Texas it helped implement a gang intervention program that helped reduce gang related homicides by 25% in the first year.

    
    The Art of Profiling
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