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Law Enforcement Officials Perspectives on Gangs

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Law Enforcement Officials Perspectives on Gangs LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS PERSPECTIVES ON GANGS A Project Presented to the faculty of the Division of Social Work California State University, Sacramento Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK by Arturo Velasco SPRING 2018 © 2018 Arturo Velasco ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS PERSPECTIVES ON GANGS A Project by Arturo Velasco Approved by: , Committee Chair Jennifer Price-Wolf, PhD, MSW Date iii Student: Arturo Velasco I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the project. , Graduate Program Director Serge C. Lee, PhD Date Division of Social Work iv Abstract of LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS PERSPECTIVES ON GANGS by Arturo Velasco The researcher performed face-to-face interviews with six selected law enforcement officials from different social service agencies in the City of Sacramento. There was found to be a measure of lack of understanding by law enforcement and gangs. The study was aimed to investigate the perceptions of community needs and awareness from both sides of the spectrum; and examine the relationship between the level of awareness of law enforcement and gangs. The author found four main themes within this research of law enforcement officials’ perspectives on gangs, these included lack of collaboration, negative influence at gangs’ homes, lack of positive exposure and lack of accountability. These findings suggest that law enforcement officials are not approaching youth gang members with a strength-based approach. Greater collaboration between law enforcement and social work could lead to better outcomes for gang-affiliated youth. , Committee Chair Jennifer Price-Wolf, PhD, MSW, MPH Date v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my Creator first and foremost because he allowed me to have life. My Creator through the scriptures taught me the principles and morals to guide me throughout this journey of life. Those principals and morals consists of honesty, respect, boundaries, and being of service. In addition, my Creator gave me a beautiful wife and son that has been by my side, especially throughout these past 10 years of my journey in the academic world. I could not have done this without them. In addition, I would like to thank everyone in the Social Work department and all other academic associates that I met in the academic field going back 10 years. I would need a whole chapter to write all of their names, I am so grateful to all of you that supported me through this chapter of my life. Furthermore, my passion for social work, all the struggles, and hardships my family and I have overcome together from poverty, and gang life has allowed me to feel a lot of the issues that gang members go through. My Grandfather, father, and I were all deeply overshadowed in gang life. I have broken the chain with my son and I thank my Creator for this. — Arturo Velasco Sr. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................... 1 Background of the Problem ............................................................................... 4 Purpose of the Study .......................................................................................... 5 Major Question .................................................................................................. 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................ 6 Introduction….................................................................................................... 6 History of Gangs in United States ...................................................................... 7 Consequences of Gangs ................................................................................... 10 Law Enforcement Work with Gangs................................................................ 11 Interventions with Gangs.................................................................................. 13 How to prevent youth from entering gangs ..................................................... 18 What are some known healing practices… ....................................................... 20 Summary ...........................................................................................................20 Theoretical Framework… ................................................................................. 21 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 24 vii Introduction…................................................................................................. 24 Study Design ................................................................................................... 24 Participants...................................................................................................... 24 Instrument: A. Survey-questions, and scales….............................................. 25 Data Gathering Procedure ............................................................................... 26 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 26 Protection of Human Subjects ........................................................................ 26 4. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................. 28 Study Findings ................................................................................................ 28 Qualitative Interviews… ................................................................................ 28 Themes……………………….…………………………………….... 29 Risk Factors from Home ................................................................................. 29 Exposure Equals Maturity ............................................................................... 31 Accountability .................................................................................................33 Barriers............................................................................................................ 34 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................... 36 Summary of Study ........................................................................................... 36 Implications..................................................................................................... 36 Limitation of Study .......................................................................................... 37 Implications for Social Work .......................................................................... 38 Concluding Thoughts… ................................................................................... 39 viii APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................... 41 References ................................................................................................................... 103 ix 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem This research intends to explore factors that can assist those working with gangs, as well as healing practices for those exiting this life style. This research will also be based on the perspectives of law enforcement officials on gangs. This study will not be generalizable due to the qualitative nature, but the information collected will hopefully further the understanding of how law enforcement view working with gangs. This project will also examine how a Social Worker will be able to utilize this information in their field. This research will focus mostly on gangs from the United States and California. There are many gangs in the United States. In the U. S., there are estimated to be 1.4 million people who are members of some 33,000-violent street, motorcycle, and prison gangs (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n.d.). Statistic Brain (2017) estimates that the U.S. has 1,150,000 gang members and 24,250 street and prison gangs (Howell, 2016). The difference between these estimates highlights that nobody really knows exactly how many gang members or gangs there really are because of the complicated and complex manner of trying to get accurate statistics from different law enforcement agencies and the hidden nature of gangs. Given the significant presence of gangs in the United States, it is important to understand how gangs get started, and especially the youth gangs and their involvement in society. 2 Gangs have a negative impact on our society, communities, and custody institutions and on individuals and families. On a society level, the negative impact of gangs comes at a cost. In the United States, gangs cost taxpayers $655 billion dollars per year (“Adverse Effects”, 2006). This money is spent by state, county, city and the federal government on gang prevention, response to crimes, incarcerating individuals and getting individual’s assistance with rehabilitation. Within society, many gang members grow up without a good nurturing foundation. Gang members usually come from abusive families, live in poverty, and lack parental
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