Youth Gangs

This was an urban-based intensive supervision program in which high-risk, gang-affiliated youths (ages 12–19) were assigned to work with a probation officer who was paired with a paid “street mentor.” The program is rated Promising. Youths in the program were significantly less likely than those in the comparison group to have a new conviction in the follow-up period of up to 3 years and remained offense-free for a longer period.

This is a home-visiting program for youth on probation who are considered at high risk of recidivism. The program is rated No Effects. Compared with the treatment group, the control group was more likely to have completed probation, less likely to have probation revoked due to a technical violation, and committed fewer new crimes during probation; however, they recidivated sooner. There were no differences in the probation revocations due to severity of a new crime.

This focused deterrence strategy in New Orleans, Louisiana, aims to reduce gang violence and homicide. The program is rated Effective. There were statistically significant reductions found in overall homicide, firearm-related homicide, gang member-involved homicide, and firearm assault from the pretest to the posttest period. Further, New Orleans showed significantly decreased homicide rates after the program was implemented, compared with 14 cities with similar violent crime rates.

A crime focused initiative, designed to address gang-related gun homicides in selected cities. The initiative involved a comprehensive model of suppression (enforcement), prevention, and reentry. The program is rated Promising. There was a significant reduction in gun homicides related to gang crime in cities that implemented the initiative.

A culturally focused, gender-specific program that provides young females, primarily Mexican American, alternatives to substance abuse and gang involvement. The program is rated Promising. The program significantly reduced self-reports of damaging property; stealing more than $50; and buying, selling, or holding stolen goods. However, it had no impact on self-esteem, grades in school, concealing of weapons, and stealing less than $50.

This program comprises a violence prevention curriculum, which is designed to assist youth in detention to overcome obstacles such as gangs, violence, crime, and substance abuse. The program is rated Effective. Treatment group youth who participated in the program had lower rates of recidivism and took a longer amount of time to recidivate, compared with control group youth, at the 1-year follow up. These differences were statistically significant.

This program consists of a judicial intervention, which seeks to improve the prosecution of gang-related crimes. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group cases were associated with a statistically significant greater number of convictions and incarcerations of gang members, and a lower number of case dismissals and rejections, compared with control group cases. However, there was no statistically significant effect on the rate of pleas.

This is a comprehensive gang violence reduction program designed for the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group youth who participated in the program had statistically significant reductions in total violent crime, serious violent crime, and drug crime arrests, compared with control group youth. However, there was no statistically significant difference in property crime arrests or total arrests.

This is a comprehensive, multiyear program designed to reduce youth gang crime and violence. The program is rated Promising. The target area demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in calls for shots fired and gang-related incidents compared with the comparison area. However, there were no statistically significant impacts on calls for vandalism, incidents of serious violence, gang-related incidents of serious violence, or student attendance.

This is a school-based, gang- and violence-prevention program, which is designed to teach youth to avoid gang membership and to develop positive relationships with law enforcement. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group students had a statistically significant lower likelihood of being in a gang, compared with control group students, at the 1-year follow up. However, there were no statistically significant differences between groups in delinquency or in violent offending.

This is a problem-solving police strategy, which was designed to reduce gang violence, illegal gun possession, and gun violence in communities in Boston, Mass. The program is rated Effective. There were statistically significant reductions in youth homicide, citywide gun assaults, calls for service, and recovered new guns following implementation of the intervention.

A violence prevention program that uses a public health approach, using trained street violence interrupters and outreach workers, public education campaigns, and community mobilization to reduce shootings and killings. This program is rated Promising. The program was associated with significant reductions in shootings, killings, and retaliatory homicides and also appeared to make shooting hot spots cooler in some neighborhoods but not others.

This is a focused-deterrence policing initiative designed to reduce gun homicide in Stockton, Calif., by providing gang-involved youth with positive alternatives to violence. The program is rated Promising. The intervention was associated with a statistically significant 42 percent decrease in the monthly number of gun homicides, compared with pre-intervention trends.

This was a policing initiative that targeted specific gangs in the Hollenbeck area of Los Angeles, California, through aggressive enforcement and problem-oriented policing. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant reduction in overall violent crimes in targeted blocks, compared with matched comparison blocks. However, there was no statistically significant effect on gang crimes or gun crimes.