Youth Gangs

Youth gangs go by many names: street gangs, troublesome youth groups, sets, and squads. Generally, it is the practice to reach meaning when one refers to youth gangs as groups of young people involved in crime and violence. Gang definition is a complicated issue. There is no universally agreed-upon definition of a gang. Academics, law enforcement agencies, and gang members themselves all have different ways to define gangs. The absence of an agreed-upon definition can result in difficulties when researching them. It also means that different states or countries have differing definitions, and thus, the policing and treatment of gangs are not uniform. Therefore, whether a crime is identified as a gang crime will depend on the definition that law enforcement is using, which in ...