Practice Profile: Gang Membership Prevention Programs

This practice includes programs that are designed to deter youth from joining gangs. Programs can be delivered either to a universal population (i.e., all youth regardless of risk level), or to youth identified as being at-risk for gang membership. Programs include preventive awareness strategies and gang membership prevention strategies. The practice is rated Promising for reducing the likelihood that youth will join a gang.

Practice Goals/Target Population

Gang prevention strategies attempt to deter youth from joining gangs. Because these programs are implemented to prevent youth from joining gangs, they do not target existing gang members.

There are generally two types of gang prevention programs: preventive awareness strategies and gang membership prevention strategies (Gravel et al. 2013). Preventive awareness strategies are designed to reduce gang membership for all youth, regardless of risk level. These programs are delivered to a universal population (for example, all students in a classroom), based on the rationale that any youth may be at risk of gang membership. Gang membership prevention strategies specifically target at-risk youth. At-risk youth are defined as youth who live in areas with gang activity or areas that have conditions in which gang activity thrives. At-risk youth may also be those who display characteristics that make them vulnerable to the appeal of gangs or behaviors conducive to gang activity, such as violence or aggression (Arbreton and McClanahan 2002).

Practice Activities/Key Personnel

Preventive awareness and gang prevention strategies include 1) addressing the risk factors associated with gang membership, 2) improving supervision of youth, 3) providing referrals to services and supports, 4) training youth in interpersonal skills (i.e., conflict resolution), 5) encouraging healthy-relationship building with prosocial peers, 6) offering safe spaces for youth recreation, and 7) emphasizing academic engagement (Esbensen et al. 2013; Arbreton and McClanahan 2002).

Preventive awareness strategies help youth develop skills to deal with at-risk situations, such as having peer pressure to engage in substance use or other illegal activities (Gravel et al. 2013). Gang prevention programs resemble those used in preventive awareness but place greater emphasis on risk factors and risky situations. Furthermore, prevention strategies typically recruit at-risk youth for participation and focus on times (late nights, weekends, after high-profile incidents) or places (neighborhoods with known gang activity) where risk of contact with gangs is heightened (Gravel et al. 2013).

Both preventive awareness and gang membership programs rely on collaboration across law enforcement, schools, local stakeholders, and community members, and may be delivered in schools or afterschool recreational settings. Some are also designed to help youth develop a positive bond with law enforcement (Esbensen et al. 2013).

The results of the meta-analysis of six studies (Wong et al. 2016) suggest that gang prevention programs reduced the likelihood of gang membership; however, sensitivity analysis indicated that this finding was largely driven by the results of a single evaluation of one specific program (G.R.E.A.T.) When this study (Esbensen et al. 2013) was removed, the overall effect of the five remaining prevention programs on the likelihood of join a gang was non-significant.

These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:

These sources were used in the development of the practice profile:

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?