A study of aboriginal youth gangs

Native gangs spreading across Canada

Importantly, the way a particular problem is defined also influences the kinds of solutions offered in response to the problem. As one respondent reports, he began drug running for gang member when he was 12 years old and began selling drugs by the age of An overview How can we define and understand Aboriginal gangs in the context of the larger issue of gang activity in Canada?

One of our respondents reports that at the age of seven, he was taken away from his mother who was a prostitute. While more research is needed to ascertain whether this particular speculation has any validity, if we for a moment consider this to be a possibility, then lumping all these groups together, and attempting to deal with them all in the same way, might prove futile.

Others look at diet, hormones, and some look at an interplay between biological and social factors. Footnote12 Some newcomers can face a number of barriers to integration into Canadian society. Many argue the effect has been devastating. Rogers produced the first recorded Canadian piece of work on juveniles in street gangs in Toronto.

For this reason, prevention and intervention initiatives should include both gender-neutral with a proven record of improving female as well as male outcomes and gender-specific approaches and programs. They should be provided in a safe A study of aboriginal youth gangs nurturing environment including single-sex space favourable to therapeutic change.

The clientele needs to be well defined age, gender, cultural identity, degree of gang involvement, overall risk level and programming must consider the clientele being targeted to ensure that appropriate supports and resources are being provided e.

Youth Gangs in Canada: A Review of Current Topics and Issues

These multiple levels of marginality create social and geographic conditions favourable to gang formation and involvement among Aboriginal youth. Gangs are functional for individuals in this situation. For example, police in Calgary did not acknowledge a "gang" problem in the city untilfollowing public outcry after a rash of drive-by shootings Mathews, Listed below are potential protective factors against youth gang membership.

Compared to risk factors, protective factors have received less attention in the research literature on youth gangs.

Dependent on more structured criminal organizations for their drugs, Indian Posse members are involved in street level dealing. Cheating on exams in school is easier and less labour intensive than having to spend hours studying.

Hirschi recognized the importance of peers to bonding, though his initial theorizing that bonding, regardless of whether bonding occurred with conventional or delinquent peers, was modified later to acknowledge that developing bonds with antisocial peers could facilitate delinquent behaviour instead of guard against it.

Second, Aboriginal street gangs generally have distinct identifying characteristics including tattoos, graffitized areas that mark territory, clothing and gang paraphernalia, gang symbols, hand signs and a self-chosen name, which is a direct link to the African American and Latino street gangs in the United States.

Joining may be a band-aid solution to a variety of deeper, core issues and internal conflicts. This means A study of aboriginal youth gangs a multi-dimensional approach that targets individual, peer, school, family and community conditions, and involves collaboration between a network of agencies and organizations with a vested interest in addressing youth gang involvement in Canada.

When we refer to Aboriginal gangs in the media as "just another example" of young people today being attracted to a criminal lifestyle, and when the media and others construct all "ethnic" gangs in this manner, we lose sight of what are likely very significant differences.

Nonetheless, the fact is that Aboriginal families have suffered as a result of colonization and the resultant residential school policies which separated children from parents, and attempted to destroy culture, language, lifestyle, spirituality — belonging. A gang can be a source of empathy and emotional support to its members, and provide individuals with a sense of belonging.

Many people rely on these scripts — convenient short cuts that are created by media and propaganda — to understand our world.

To collaborate fully with partners, organizations must form alliances and adopt an approach that brings together various stakeholders based on shared goals and through the establishment of infrastructure and multi-disciplinary teams that support program elements.

The majority of the theoretical knowledge and empirical work on youth gangs has come from the United States. Further, Totten suggests that the number of female gang members is higher now, as sources indicate that female gang involvement in Canada has been on the rise.

Similarly, there is also evidence that the accumulation of protective factors has an opposite effect on gang involvement McDaniel, As youth undergo street socialization they may form a street subculture, namely a gang. Why individuals join gangs is a complex issue and it is one that has been the focus of research efforts since the early s Cohen, ; Cloward and Ohlin, ; Gordon, ; Horowitz, ; Joe and Robinson, ; Klein, ; Mathews, ; Sutherland, ; Thrasher, ; Yablonsky, One of our respondents recalls being called a "dumb little Indian who would never amount to anything" by one of his school teachers, which illuminates the difficulties described by ex-gang members who were interviewed regarding their childhood school experiences.

An indication of the nature of the crime and violence perpetrated by youth in Canada, and youth gang members by extension, is reflected in recent national statistics. There is continued support for the use of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to address youth gang involvement and gang-related violence.

Through their gang membership, they may reject such values as passivity and subordinance to males Peterson, Raising children, caring and respect for the elderly have always been communal activities and have remained integral to Aboriginal culture.Aboriginal gangs are proliferating across Canada as criminal organizations exploit the intense poverty and squalid conditions that many.

An investigation into the formation and recruitment processes of Aboriginal gangs in Western Canada. PDF ( KB) Table of contents. Introduction; An investigation into the formation and recruitment processes of Aboriginal gangs in Western Canada Mercredi found that former and active members of "Aboriginal youth gangs" in prisons "take.

Perspectives in the Study of Gangs There are a number of perspectives and approaches in the sociological study of gangs.

The most important are the following.


ReVue de L’IPC 3 The gang: A study of 1, gangs in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Tichit, L.

Aboriginal-based organized crime (Canada)

(). Gangs juvéniles et construits ethniques dans le contexte américain. Aboriginal youth gangs are visible groups that come together for profit-driven. Exploitation and Woman Abuse in the Canadian Aboriginal Population: A Preliminary Study Mark Totten a and The Native Women’s Association of Canadab Abstract The purpose of this study, prepared for the Native Women’s the involvement of Aboriginal women and youth in gangs is it is difficult to disentangle the effects of FASD from the.

Youth gangs in Canada is becoming more and more of issue. Adolescents across Canada resort to joining youth gangs for many different reasons. A youth gang is a group of young adolescents who use intimidation and violence to gain prestige among other gangs and control certain areas of unlawful activities.

A study of aboriginal youth gangs
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