How do we deal with Youth Involvement in Gang Activities?

Youth involvement in gang related activities is a topic that frequents the Winnipeg media, whether it be a story of a youth killed in yet another gang feud or the tale of young males taking a hot car to their court assigned anti-car theft counseling. Ultimately, news briefs such as theses serve to scare those foreign to the inner city. In Winnipeg, the city’s solution to youth gangs caters to the notion that firstly, the city is experiencing a recent ‘wave’ of youth violence and that secondly, this stems partly from insufficient police presence in Winnipeg’s inner city. Youth involvement in gang activities is not a recent development, but rather the result of deeper social inequalities, such as poor or no housing, family or community support.

In Winnipeg one of the latest policies to deal with youth involvement in gangs has manifested in Operation Clean Sweep. This near-sighted policy attempts to deal with violent youth in the inner city by providing more police presence in Winnipeg’s West End. Since it conception, Clean Sweep has reportedly contributed to the recovery of illegal weapons, narcotics, cash, and has lead to hundreds of arrests. Certainly, this project has been successful in terms of increasing police quotas, but there is little to suggest that Clean Sweep has been successful in discouraging illicit activities in the area.

Winnipeg is not alone in taking the police intervention approach to discouraging youth gangs. Three units within Vancouver’s Police Department are dedicated to dealing with youth gangs. These are School Liaisons, Youth Services and Gang Crime. Each of these units operates by a specific mandate. School Liaisons focus on community awareness and gang prevention initiatives within schools, such as peer mentoring. However, a significant part of their duty is to also send intelligence of gang activities to the Youth Services and Gang Crime units who are mandated to deal primarily with enforcement issues (National Forum on Youth Gangs, 1999, p. 11). Similarly to how Operation Clean Sweep increases police presence on the streets of Winnipeg, Vancouver’s tri-unit force merely increases police presence in schools.

At the 1999, National Forum on Youth Gangs, sixteen youth delegates, representing organizations from British Columbia (841-KOZ), Winnipeg (Teen Talk) and Montreal (Centre des jeunes l’escale 13/17) gave a presentation on their perspective of youth and gang activities. The youth gave recommendations to the Forum participants, which consisted of representatives from government, police, community service agencies and research institutions. These recommendations aimed at addressing the needs of youth at various stages in gang involvement. The delegates stressed that youths at risk of involvement in gang activities or who are currently involved with gangs should have services that are important to them, like peer mentoring and skill learning.

Programs should aim at reaching out to high risk youths and not assume that youths will seek out these services. Those individuals who are involved with a gang need to have reliable support systems that will limit the harm of their lifestyles, such as access to safe houses and anonymous health care (National Forum on Youth Gangs, 1999, p. 7). Youth gang members must have information on how to leave a gang, when they choose to do so. Most importantly, once a youth decides to leave a gang they must have access to reliable support services to assist them in doing so, such as access to safe, quality housing, education, employment and positive social settings.

The article Housing for Aboriginal Youth in the Inner City of Winnipeg explores the affects of the welfare system and homelessness on aboriginal youth. Although the article does not specifically address youth and gang activities, it does shed light on the destitute existence many inner city youth face. Undoubtedly, the social support of the gang structure, including protection from the elements and rival gangs, can be very appealing to homeless youth who have little to no support from their relatives or the welfare system.

Data from 30 interviews conducted with males and females age 13 to 21 were compiled and classified into six themes: temporary living, sense of safety, being in control, support networks, future goals and taking care of others. All of the youth stated that for some length of time, whether it was for hours or for years, they had been homeless. Perceptions of homelessness varied also, but most described a state of living in extreme poverty and lacking the basic necessities of life, including quality shelter. For many, the perception of homelessness was created in part by an unsafe atmosphere, such as a land lord harassing them for rent, or when living with an abusive loved one.

A lack of independence was also described as a major contributor to the state of homelessness. Many youth had been forced into a living arrangement where they were taken advantage of by a friend or relative. One interviewee described being manipulated into a role of servitude through childcare and house cleaning so that she could have a temporary place to stay. For those youth that had started to turn their life around, support networks were identified as one of the most important resources they used. In terms of organized support services, like community centres, a common wish was that these facilities advertised more, since many only heard about them through word-of-mouth. Youths’ also expressed a wish to help out others in similar situations to themselves. However, it was mentioned that a willingness to help one’s self is the only way to create everlasting change.

In conclusion, it is obvious that opinions on the best approach to ending youth involvement in gang activities vary greatly. Often, those who occupy stations of authority – police, politicians, community service groups – tend to favour a police intervention method, which increases police presences and resources in areas deemed ‘affected’ with youth gang activity. Opposed to this approach and in favour of a community based method are often those very youth affiliated at one time or another with gang activities. Though events such as the National Forum on Youth Gangs have brought these opposing viewpoints together in the past, in places such as Winnipeg it appears to have had little affect on currently policies. Perhaps, the ideological shift in policies necessary to properly address youth involvement in gang activities will have to wait until the mainstream public is better informed of the underlying problems to this issue and not simply the violent outcomes.

References
Brown, Jason, Dilly Knol, Sonia Prevost-Derbecker, & Kelly Andrushko. (2007). Housing for Aboriginal youth in the inner city of Winnipeg. First Peoples Child & Family Review. Vol. 3, No. 2, Special Issue, pp. 56-64. retrieved February 21 st, 2008, from http://www.fncfcs.com/pubs/vol3num2 /Brown_Knol_Derbecker_Andrushko_pp56.pdf.

Solicitor General of Canada, Department of Justice, and the National Crime
Prevention Centre. (1999). National forum on youth gangs. retrieved February 21 st, 2008 from http://www.youngthugs.ca/pdf/forum.PDF.