Ebook Gangs In Hawaii: Past And Present Findings
The volume assesses the various dimensions of the gang problem locally and nationally. It also examines Hawaii’s response to that profound social challenge, and it places these efforts in the broader national context.
With specific reference to the number of gang members locally and nationally, better numbers exist at the national level than in Hawaii. Federal agencies put the number of gang members, nationally, at 731,500 gang members and 21,500 active gangs in the U.S. in 2002. This was lower than the estimates two years prior. In spite of these lower estimates, other gang observers note a resurgence of gang activity in part because of a redirected focus on terrorism among law enforcement officials. In addition, they faulted a weakened economy and the abolishment of gang-intervention units. The job market also tightened, providing fewer opportunities for teenagers. The latest research from the National Youth Gang Center states that 93 percent of cities with 100,000 or more people have active gangs. Locally, the gang trends are more difficult to track, due to shifts in gang monitoring technology, pointing to an urgent need to consider adoption of readily available federal law enforcement software. However, media accounts of gang membership show a dramatic decline in news articles covering “gang” related incidents. However, in the course of doing this research, the YGP noted that the media were no longer covering gang stories, even those clearly related to gang activity, in the same intense way that characterized earlier periods. While some of the media coverage in past years can clearly be characterized as problematic in overstating the gang problem, Hawaii could in fact be entering a period of denial of gang problems, complete with an absence of media attention (perhaps due to the island’s tourist economy).
Dissatisfied with the available official data, YGP reviewed other measures available on Hawaii’s gang problem. Perhaps the best data, though still somewhat limited, are self-report delinquency and gang membership data drawn from the The Hawaii Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Study. The surveys are administered to 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders every other year.
Of particular interest to YGP is the variable “gang involvement,” which is a summated scale of three items on the 2000 Hawaii Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use Survey. These items include (1) have you ever belonged to a gang; (2) did the gang have a name, and (3) are you currently in a gang? Over-all these data indicate that roughly one youth in five is gang involved, with a range of 0-37.5 percent.
Reviewing these data by school complex (and reviewing other reported risk factors) showed that schools with high levels of gang involvement in rural areas—Ka’u, Leilehua, Lanai, Hana, Kohala, and Keaau—also showed problems with family and academic risk factors (e.g. poor family supervision, suspensions, etc) are consistently higher. In more urban areas—Campbell, Waipahu, and Farrington—it appears that personal risk-taking behaviors (such as selling drugs) and delinquent peer groups yield comparatively higher reports. One exception is Lanai that reported myriad risk factors at higher levels.
Overall, these data suggest that the gang problem is clearly not simply an urban, Oahu problem. Indeed, many neighbor island communities report as high or higher levels of gang involvement than the stereotypical gang neighborhoods of Waipahu and Kalihi. More significantly, the data establish that for one in five youths in Hawaii, gang involvement is a significant part of their lives.
Dissatisfied with the quality of the quantitative data available, the YGP also conducted key informant interviews. Throughout 2004, YGP conducted interviews of people who work in the juvenile justice system and/or are familiar with delinquent, gang-involved and at-risk youth. In order to gather respondents’ most subjective feelings about juveniles and their experiences working with youth, unstructured, open-ended interviews were used.
Taken together these interviews suggest that Hawaii, like other states, faces a gang problem uniquely shaped by our own geography, ethnicities, economy, and history. At the same time, gang influences from the mainland are undeniably present. Dynamics that have played out over the decades are also found. One example is the emergence of gang like behavior among new immigrant youth as a way to negotiate a new, and unknown culture. Likewise, the gangs are gendered in ways that call for specific concern, and there are also inter-generational patterns that suggest that older, adult criminals see at least some gangs as a resource in drug distribution and prostitution activities.
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER ONE: HISTORY AND FUTURE OF THE YOUTH GANG RESPONSE SYSTEM
A History of the Youth Gang Response System
Funding for YGRS and Youth Service Centers
Current Status
Evaluation of YGRS’ Impact on the Community
Future Role and Functions of the Youth Gang Response System
Conclusion
References
CHAPTER TWO: SCOPE OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL GANG PROBLEM
National Trends in Gang Membership
Trends in Gang Membership in Hawaii
Media Accounts of Gang Activity: Late Eighties to Early Nineties
Media Accounts of Gang Activity: 1996-2004
Gang Related Articles in 1996
Gang Related Articles in 1997
Gang Related Articles in 1998
Gang Related Articles in 1999
Gang Related Articles in 2000
Gang Related Articles from 2001-2003
Gang Related Articles in 2004
Summary
Measuring the Extent of the Gang Problem—Police Gang Tracking Systems
Gang Reporting Evaluation and Tracking System GREAT
Hawaii Gang Members Tracking System (HGMTS)
Current Status of Quantitative Assessments of the Gang Problem
Gang Involvement in Hawaii’s Communities: An Overview of Self-Report Data
References
CHAPTER THREE: UNDERSTANDING GANG INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITIES: RESULTS FROM THE 2002 HAWAII STUDENT
ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND DRUG USE STUDY
Introduction
Methodology
Risk Factors and Gang Membership
Summary of Findings
CHAPTER FOUR: SCOPE OF THE GANG PROBLEM IN HAWAII FROM INTERVIEWS
Introduction
Methodology
Why Youths Join Gangs
Family Risk Factors
Community and Individual Risk Factors
Prevalence of Gangs
Adult Organization of Youth Gangs
Increase in Rural Gang Activity
Gang Violence
Link Between Drugs and Gangs
Longstanding Urban Gang Affiliation
Characteristics of Gangs
Gang Affiliation and Acculturation
Community Denial
Conclusion
CHAPTER FIVE: GANG MEDIATION SERVICE MODEL
Gang Intervention
Why is Gang Activity a Problem?
Signs of Gang Involvement
Gang Mediation
Personal Conduct with Gang-Related Youth
Successful Mediation Models and Programs
References
Appendix A
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