Gang Recidivism

The shift to a criminal justice system based on partnerships between law enforcement and the community from the previous idea of strict punishment and a lock-them-up attitude has only occurred in recent years. This means there has been ample time for few programs to be implemented to prevent gang member offending and to rehabilitate gang members. Due to the small number of programs that have been implemented in recent years, only a small amount of research has been done to see if these programs are effective. Furthermore, only a portion of this research conducted has been conclusive. One reason for the largely inconclusive research is the programs themselves are not uniform. Their recent implementation means they are still in a sort of trial and error phase to see what works, what does not work, and especially what is cost-effective. Because of this, different agencies are trying a …show more content…
The majority of members said they would give up selling drugs for steady employment, even if it meant less money for them. Early programs that only found employment for members of gangs and did no additional methods of intervention were unsuccessful; however, in more recent years it has been found that paid employment does reduce recidivism for offenders who are not incarcerated. Gang Resistance Education and Training, or G.R.E.A.T, has been implemented in a number of schools to teach kids how to avoid becoming gang members as well as supplements a healthy relationship between the kids and law enforcement. G.R.E.A.T was implemented in seven cities and every city showed less numbers of kids in gangs who were part of the programs versus the kids who were not put through the program. In general, education is awareness, and awareness is prevention. When youth and their communities are more aware of possible offending, then they can more easily prevent