American Indian Youth Involvement in Urban Street Gangs: Invisible No More?
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American Indian Youth Involvement in Urban Street Gangs: Invisible No More? Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Hailer, Julie Ann Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 14:24:57 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/195960 AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN URBAN STREET GANGS: INVISIBLE NO MORE? By Julie Ann Hailer Copyright © Julie Ann Hailer 2008 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the GRADUATE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM IN AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2008 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by: Julie A. Hailer entitled: “American Indian Youth Involvement in Urban Street Gangs: Invisible No More?” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 9, 2007 Dr. Nancy Parezo - Dissertation Director _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 9, 2007 Dr. Jay Stauss - Committee Member _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 9, 2007 Professor Eileen Luna - Committee Member Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: April 9, 2007 Dissertation Director: Dr. Nancy Parezo 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without Special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is Made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or Reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by The copyright holder. SIGNED: Julie Ann Hailer 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As any graduate student will tell you, the completion of the dissertation process is quite a journey – one we do not undertake alone. There are many people I must thank for their assistance along the way. First, is my committee chair and mentor, Nancy Parezo whose expertise, time, and patience helped me immensely in surviving this process. She not only facilitated the completion of the dissertation, but also provided me with guidance and mentorship that will benefit me throughout my professional career. My committee members, Eileen Luna-Firebaugh, Jay Stauss and Marianne Nielsen all made significant contributions to the final dissertation. A special thank you to Marianne for taking time out of her busy teaching and research schedule to read and comment on every page of the dissertation. I thank all of my committee members for their time, encouragement and direction they provided me. I will always be indebted to you for all you have done. I would also like to thank the staff of American Indian Studies: Bev for your expertise and willingness to help in any situation, Shelly for all of your help with administrative details over the years, and Debbie and Brian who provided assistance on so many occasions and always provided encouragement when needed. I also want to thank my fellow American Indian Studies PhD students and friends whose willingness to share ideas as well as their friendships have been invaluable throughout the years. I must also thank those law enforcement officers who took the time to participate in this study. I appreciate their time and effort to complete a survey instrument that asked for much information from them. The information they provided has been useful in promoting and expanding our knowledge on American Indian gangs. I also need to thank Christopher M. Grant, a retired Captain from Rapid City, SD police department who is an expert on American Indian gangs. Chris took his time and answered my many questions in phone conversations and e-mails. I thank him for his willingness to share his expertise. I could not have made this journey without the support and love of my family. I am grateful to my daughter whose patience and encouragement has always been there even when it meant leaving our home state and coming to Tucson for this new undertaking. Finally, this dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Beverly Hailer who was my biggest supporter in life as well as in this endeavor. Even though she is on her own journey now, I know she is still around us providing a guiding hand. 5 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the loving memory of my mother, Beverly May Hailer (nee Rowe), 1930-2006. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................................7 LIST OF CHARTS ..............................................................................................................8 ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 1 - OVERVIEW OF URBAN STREET GANGS – PAST TO PRESENT.............................................................................................17 CHAPTER II – DEFINITIONS AND LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................35 Literature Review...................................................................................................39 CHAPTER III - THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..........................................................48 CHAPTER IV - URBAN INDIANS TODAY ..................................................................76 Urban Native Youth and Gangs.............................................................................82 CHAPTER V - OVERVIEW OF GANGS IN INDIAN COUNTRY ...............................87 Why Native Youth Join Gangs ..............................................................................89 CHAPTER VI - THE STUDY.........................................................................................111 Methodology........................................................................................................111 Survey Analysis ...................................................................................................114 Extent of American Indian Gangs In the Urban Setting......................................114 Urban Street Gangs (Non-Indian)........................................................................138 Summary of American Indian Gangs in the Urban Setting.................................154 CHAPTER VII - TRIBAL POLICE SURVEY RESPONSES........................................157 Reservation Gang Demographics ........................................................................162 Summary of Reservation Gangs/Members ..........................................................196 Comparison of Urban Indian and Reservation Gangs/Gang Member Demographics ..........................................................................................200 Summary of Comparisons between Urban Indian and Reservation Gangs/Members .......................................................................................214 CHAPTER VIII - DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS..............................................217 APPENDIX A – SURVEY INSTRUMENT ...................................................................232 APPENDIX B – LIST OF ALL AGENCIES SURVEY SENT TO................................252 APPENDIX C – LIST OF RESPONDING AGENCIES ................................................261 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................264 7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 - Responding Agencies with American Indian Gang Members vs. Responding Agencies with No American Indian Gang Members.......................116 Table 2 – Agencies with American Indian-Only Gangs..................................................119 Table 3 - Number of American Indian-only Gangs and Gang Members ........................120 Table 4 - Ethnic/Racial Gangs American Indian Youth Aligning With.........................123 Table 5 - American Indian Gang Names by Geographical Region .................................... 128 Table 6 – Breakdown of Urban Indian Gang Crimes .................................................................. 130 Table 7 - Number of Gangs and Gang Members in the Urban Setting (excluding American Indian gang members).........................................................................139 Table 8 - Racial Composition of Urban Gangs................................................................141 Table 9 – Criminal Activities at Schools (non-Indian gangs)..........................................149