The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S.

Department of Justice and prepared the following final report:

Document Title: Gangs in Rural America, Final Report

Author(s): Ralgh A. Weisheit ; L. Edward Wells

Document No.: 190228

Date Received: September 17, 2001

Award Number: 99-IJ-CX-0036

This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice.

To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federallyfunded grant final report available electronically in addition to

traditional paper copies.

Opinions or points of view expressed are those

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect

the official position or policies of the U.S.

Department of Justice.
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Gangs in Rural America 0 

Final Report 

to 

The National Institute of Justice 

Grant Number: 1999-IJ-CX-0036 

Presented by 

Ralph A. Weisheit 

Department of Criminal Justice 

Illinois State University 

Normal, IL 61790-5250 

Phone: 309-43 8-3 849 

e-mail: raweish@,ilstu.edu 

FAX: 309-438-7289 

L. Edward Wells 

Department of Criminal Justice 

Illinois State University 

Normal, IL 61790-5250 

Phone: 309-438-2989 

e-mail: ewells@,ilstu.edu 

FAX: 309-438-7289 

August 2001 

PROPERTY OF 

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) 

Box 6000 

Rockvi!ie, MD 201349-6080 --- 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Contents 

I. Executive Summary 

11. Part 1. “Gang Problems in Non-Metropolitan Areas: A Longitudinal Assessment” 

A quantitative analysis of factors related to the emergence of gangs in non-metropolitan 

areas utilizing a unique data set created for this project. 

111. Part 2. “The Social Construction of Gangs in Non-Metropolitan Areas” 

Interviews with officials in non-metropolitan jurisdictions in which gangs had been 

reported in 1997 to establish the criteria they utilize in defining gangs and gang problems. 

IV. APPENDIX 

Advance Letter to Agencies 

0 Questions Used to Guide Telephone Interviews 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Gangs in Rural America 

Executive Summary 

Ralph A. Weisheit 

and 

L. Edward Wells 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Executive Summary 

Gangs in Rural America 

Introduction 

Both researchers and the popular press suggest that gangs are increasingly becoming a 

problem in rural areas, but to date there has been limited empirical consideration of these 

perceptions. The only gang data that utilizes a representative national sample, includes a 

substantial number of rural jurisdictions, and is collected annually, is that gathered by the 

National Youth Gang Crime Center beginning (with a nationally representative sample) in 1996. 

The National Youth Gang Surveys (NYGS) are given to a near-census of urban or metropolitan 

police agencies and nationally representative samples of cities and counties in rural or nonmetropolitan areas. These surveys show that gang problems are occurring in communities of all 

sizes and locations, although they are still most heavily concentrated in medium and large cities. 

While the data are limited by using the police as informants, there is no other data set that is 

comparable in coverage or quality. 

Utilizing the NYGS, this study has two distinct components. First, the NYGS data were 

merged with other county-level data to create a completely unique data set for secondary 

analysis. This secondary analysis considered the relationship between reports of a gang presence 

and county-level social, economic, and demographic characteristics. The second component of 

this study utilized interviews with agencies in nonmetropolitan counties reporting gangs. Those 

agencies were contacted and interviewed about their current gang status, what they meant by the 

term gang, the nature of gang-related problems in their jurisdiction, and effective responses to 

rural gangs. 

Executive Summary Page 1 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Part I: Secondary Analysis 

Recent NYG surveys document that small towns and rural areas are not immune to youth 

gang or street gang problems, but we do not know what community attributes are most strongly 

correlated with reports of gang problems, nor do we have a well-developed theory that would 

predict these correlations. 

This study employs a comparative macro-level perspective in which the focus is on 

analyzing variations in reports of gang problems across communities in nonmetropolitan 

counties, Data for this study were drawn from four separate sources: (1) local police agency 

responses to three waves (1 996, 1997,1998) of the NYGS, (2) county-level economic and 

demographic data, (3) a rural-urban classification and county-level measures of primary 

economic activity, and (4) county-level data on access to interstate highways. The three waves of 

the NYGS were merged into a single data set using the FIPS (Federal Information Processing 

Standards) codes for state, county, city, and place. The FIPS county code also made it possible to 

merge NYGS agency-level gang data with corresponding county-level contextual data. The basic 

unit of data in the merged datafile is the police agency (municipal or county). The various 

county-level characteristics are included as contextual variables for each police agency. 

While there may be few explicit models of rural gang development and little existing 

research empirically describing rural gang problems, it was possible to extrapolate from ideas 

raised in the urban gang research or appearing in the popular press. From these sources we 

suggested four general explanatory fiameworks about rural gang development. These 

perspectives were: (1) ecological, (2) economic deprivation, (3) population composition, and (4) 

diffusion. Twenty-one county-level variables were used as indicators of these four frameworks. 

Executive Summary Page 2 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Linking the three years of gang survey data, we began our analysis by distinguishing 

among three types of jurisdictions, based on police reports on the persistence of gangs from 1996 

through 1998. Among agencies in non-metropolitan counties 22.6 percent reported persistent 

pang Droblems, 57.0 percent reported a persistent absence of gangs, and 20.4 percent reported 

transitow gang .problems. Given that the data cover only a 3-year period, the percentage of nonmetropolitan agencies with transitory gang problems was quite high. Of the agencies with a 

transitory gang problem, over half (58 percent) reported gangs in year one but not in year three-- 

raising questions about the commonly held belief that after gangs have a foothold in a 

community it is rare for them to leave. 

The bivariate analysis, with gang situation as the dependent variable and each of the 21 

county-level measures as independent variables, suggested that the most consistent indicators of 

a gang presence in non-metropolitan counties were those reflecting social stability and the 

composition of the population. Our findings suggest that urban gang models based on economic 

factors may not be directly applicable to non-metropolitan areas. Economic stability was not 

associated with gangs and measures of economic deprivation were mixed and not consistently in 

the predicted direction. In fact, gangs were more likely to be reported in jurisdictions located in 

counties experiencing economic growth. 

There was only modest support for arguments that urban gangs spread into rural areas 

through diffusion. The presence of an interstate highway was associated with the presence of 

gangs, as was the percentage of the workforce working outside the county, but this latter 

difference was in an unexpected direction--i.e., counties with the most people working outside 

the county were 

work while maintaining their current residence may be highly committed to the community in 

likely to report gangs. Perhaps people willing to drive to another county to 

Executive Summary Page 3 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
which they live and would rather drive than move. Alternatively, gangs may be more attracted 

to rural areas with a strong local labor market in which it is not necessary to leave the county for 

work. 

In the multivariate analysis, several variables important at the bivariate level dropped out 

of the analysis. The presence of an interstate highway was no longer important, nor was the 

divorce rate, the high school graduation rate, the percent Black, the percent Hispanic, the percent 

living the the same county from 1985-1990, or the percentage of the population ages 15-24. 

The data suggested many similarities between models of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan gangs. Both were strongly associated with indicators of social stability and both 

were shaped by characteristics of the population. The biggest difference was in the role of 

economic factors, which appear more important in accounting for gangs in metropolitan areas. 

The findings suggest that gang activity may have a different relationship to poverty in 

metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. Specifically, gangs were more likely to be reported in 

nonmetropolitan areas experiencing economic growth. 

In both the bivariate and the multivariate analyses the single most important predictor of 

gangs in non-metropolitan areas was the percentage of the county’s population living in urban 

areas (i.e., incorporated areas with a population of 2,500 or more people). That the strong 

association remains while controlling for a substantial number of other factors suggests that 

urbanization has an influence that may be distinct from conventional measures of social 

disorganization or economic conditions. 

This study has a variety of implications for future research. First, the current study 

illustrates that it cannot be assumed that urban models of gang development apply everywhere. 

Second, this study emphasizes the importance of being explicit about the level of analysis used in 

Executive Summary Page 4 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
gang research, and making certain that the level of analysis is consistent with the level of 

explanation. Third, the study provides another reminder of the distinction between theories of 

crime and theories of gangs. Fourth, this study is an important first step in the development of 

more explicit models of gangs in smaller cities and rural areas. These findings confirm the view 

that in non-metropolitan areas the social context is an important factor in shaping crime, gangs, 

and the operation of the criminal justice system. 

Part 11: Interviews with Police in Nonmetropolitan Counties 

This portion of the study was based on a telephone survey of municipal and county police 

agencies in nonmetropolitan counties in the United States reporting the presence of a gang in the 

1997 NYGS. By using agencies reporting the presence of gangs in 1997, we were able to 

maximize the likelihood of contacting rural agencies with gang problems, while also providing a 

random sample of such agencies. In the 1997 survey sample there were 980 nonmetropolitan 

agencies. Of these, 286 (33.1 percent) reported the presence of gangs in their jurisdiction. These 

286 agencies were contacted for interviews about gangs, gang problems, and their agency’s 

response. The findings here are based on responses from 216 agencies distributed across 39 

states. 

We did not give respondents a precise definition of a gang, but consistent with the 

National Youth Gang Survey, we made it clear our focus was on youth gangs and not on adult 

gangs, and we made a distinction between youth groups and youth gangs, with the latter having a 

higher degree of organization and structure. Beyond these general distinctions, we allowed 

representatives of each agency to define gangs and youth groups for themselves. 

Of those agencies reporting gangs in 1997, only 4 1 percent indicated the presence of at 

Executive Summary Page 5 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
least one youth gang at the time of our interview. Further, of the nonmetropolitan agencies 

reporting gangs in 1997, the percentage also reporting them for our 2000 interview declined as 

the county in which the agency was located became more rural, suggesting that gangs may be 

relatively ephemeral in rural areas. It is likely that because both the number of gangs in any 

single rural jurisdiction is small, and the number of members in any single gang is also small, 

that rural gangs are often short-lived. Losing one or two members through arrest, movement out 

of the area, or maturing out could easily mean the end of a rural gang. 

As an illustration of how complex the concept of gangs can be, particularly when applied 

to rural areas, several respondents indicated that although there were no gangs in their 

community there were gang members: 

ID#212: We don’t really have any gangs that are centered here in our community, because 

we just don’t have that large of a community. But we have some that are members of 

gangs in surrounding communities and, occasionally, they come over here. 

For purposes of this study, such communities were categorized as not having gangs, but it would 

be easy to argue otherwise. 

Respondents generally used several indicators of a gang presence in these communities. 

Perhaps the most frequent indicator was self-identification by youth. Also frequently used was 

the presence of graffiti, tatoos, a youth’s affiliation with others thought to be gang members, and 

the wearing of gang colors. In a number of jurisdictions, any one of these indicators might, by 

itself, be used as evidence of the presence of a gang. Other jurisdictions were more selective, 

requiring several indicators. A few jurisdictions used guidelines established by their states. 

Some of the agencies reported using relatively detailed and concrete indicators, while other 

jurisdictions used criteria that were more vague and impressionistic, such as “ . . . well, I don’t 

know. I just look at them.” Relying on outward signs of gang membership has become more 

Executive Summary Page 6 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
problematic in jurisdictions in which gangs are attempting to keep a low profile by not displaying 

signs, tattoos, or colors - something that many agencies thought was becoming more common. 

Even when criteria were quite demanding, they generally were used to decide if an 

individual could be labeled as a gang member, and were not used as proof of the existence of a 

gang. This system could be problematic in rural jurisdictions in which there were reported to be 

gang members but no gangs. 

Questions about the types of problems associated with gangs led to a wide range of 

responses. In some jurisdictions having a gang problem meant nothing more than the presence of 

graffiti, while in others there were reports of murders committed by gang members. Of the 

agencies reporting the presence of a gang, nearly all believed that at least some gang members 

used drugs, sold drugs, and engaged in violence -- though respondents were seldom able to 

differentiate actions engaged in by individual members from activities orchestrated by the gang. 

When asked to self-generate a list of problems they experienced as a result of gangs the most 

frequent responses were drugs, assaults, theft, and burglary. 

Despite reports of drugs, assaults, drive-by shootings and even homicides, only 43 

percent of those reporting gangs described the gang problems in their community as “Serious.” 

And, some of those describing the problem as serious, qualified their rating with such comments 

as: 

ID#l79: In a small town like this our little gangs, to the people, are serious. But, to the 

big city, this would be minor. 

ID# 15 1 : Well, again, the problem is significant for us, but I suppose if you were 

comparing it to an urban environment it would be minimal. 

Although drug use and drug sales were common among gang members, and while violence was 

periodically seen, most of the observed gang crime problems were of a relatively minor nature, 

Executive Summary Page 7 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
such as graffiti, parties, and alcohol consumption. 

Some have assumed that gangs spread from urban to rural areas through a process in 

which urban gang members themselves migrate to rural areas, while others have assumed that 

only the symbols and culture of the gang are exported to rural communities. We asked about 

how many of the gang members came from outside the local area, and the results were mixed. 

The estimated number of current gang members who came into the area from another jurisdiction 

varied from “none” to “all of them,” but most estimates ranged between 10 and 30 percent. That 

is, in most rural jurisdictions reporting gang activity, the majority of gang members are local 

youth. However, in many jurisdictions the impact of imported gang members was substantially 

greater than their numbers alone would suggest, because they became an important conduit for 

the movement of ideas and symbols into these areas. 

Officials gave a variety of reasons why gang youth moved into the area, but were 

specifically asked about five reasons: social reasons (e.g., their family moved there, often for 

employment), expand drug markets, engage in other illegal activities, avoid the police, and 

getting away from gang influences. Although urban gang members often moved into rural areas 

for more than one of these reasons, most gang youth move into the area for social reasons, that is, 

to accompany the family or to move in with relatives. Other reasons occurred with enough 

frequency to suggest that a single model of the in-migration of urban gang members into rural 

areas will not suffice. 

These agencies appeared ready to deal with gangs. Most had at least some officers with 

gang training. Among agencies reporting gangs problems, there was reported to be a “great” 

interest in additional gang-related training (52 percent), in receiving technical assistance 

regarding gangs (35 percent) and in assistance in forming task forces (28 percent). 

Executive Summary Page 8 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
The most frequent agency response to gang activity was suppression through strict 

enforcement - “zero tolerance” - a style one might easily associate with urban police. It was 

also suggested that zero tolerance practices were easier to apply in smaller communities where 

gang members stood out and in which individual police officers, prosecutors, probation officers, 

and judges may have had a closer working relationship. For many agencies, strict enforcement 

against individuals perceived to be gang members was accompanied by a more tempered 

approach to potential gang members. Many also stressed the importance of prevention and of 

working with the community. Thus it appeared that for outsiders engaged in gang activity, or for 

insiders deemed beyond redemption, harsh criminal penalties were seen as appropriate. 

However, for youth with stronger bonds to the local community, and for whom there was some 

hope, the emphasis shifted to community and family pressure and to prevention. 

Executive Summary Page 9 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Part 1 

Gang Problems in Non-Metropolitan Areas: 

A Longitudinal Assessment 

L. Edward Wells 

and 

Ralph A. Weisheit 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Gang Problems in Non-Metropolitan Areas: 

A Longitudinal Assessment 

ABSTRACT 

The spread of youth gangs to non-metropolitan counties in the 1990s has been widely 

cited but difficult to document empirically and to interpret theoretically. Using linked data from 

the 1996, 1997 and 1998 National Youth Gang Surveys, and by merging the combined National 

Youth Gang Surveys with demographic data from the Departments of Commerce and 

Agriculture, this study provides a comparative analysis of social, economic, and demographic 

differences among nonmetropolitan jurisdictions in which gangs are reported to have been 

persistent problems, those in which gangs have been more transitory, and those which report no 

gang problems. In the process, it provides a preliminary assessment of the application of urban 

gang explanations to less urbanized areas. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Gang Problems in Non-Metropolitan Areas: 

A Longitudinal Assessment 

During the 1990s youth gangs drew considerable attention from law enforcement 

officials, policy makers, and academic researchers, along with repeated warnings about the 

proliferation of gangs within urban centers and their spread to other communities. As Fagan 

(1 999: 165) noted: “. . . gangs have emerged now in more cities than ever before, a response to 

profound social structural changes, fueled by processes of rapid and efficient cultural diffusion 

and sustained by a gang enforcement apparatus that itself has diffused to legal institutions across 

the country.” Of particular concern has been the spread of large urban gangs into smaller cities 

and outlying rural areas--a pattern widely reported by researchers (e.g., Maxson, 1998; Caldarella 

et al., 1996; Curry et al., 1996; Hagedorn, 1999; Howell, 1998; Klein, 1995; Short, 1998), and in 

the popular press (e.g., Miller, 1996; Poe, 1998; The Economist, 1996; Coates and Blau, 1989). 

While widely “known” and reported, the proliferation of urban gangs in small cities and 

rural communities has been difficult to document empirically. With a few recent exceptions, the 

focus of gang research and policy has been on urban gangs and has generated a large and detailed 

literature on gangs in metropolitan centers (see Howell, 1998). In contrast, research on gangs in 

small cities and rural areas is almost nonexistent. There is no body of systematic field studies of 

gangs in rural communities. Most case studies of gangs in smaller communities have been 

anecdotal and impressionistic, limited to a few interesting but atypical cases. Most community 

surveys of gang problems have been limited to larger cities (e.g., of 100,000 population or 

greater), which provide no data on the prevalence of gangs in small towns and rural communities, 

or have limited geographic coverage, such as the survey of gangs in North Carolina by Oehme 

(1 997). Other studies (e.g., Maxson, 1998) include small jurisdictions, but do not distinguish 

Part 1 Page 1 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
between those in metropolitan and those in nonmetropolitan areas. This is problematic for 

purposes of this study because many small jurisdictions are located within urbanized areas 

(Weisheit, Falcone and Wells, 1999). 

More comprehensive data on gangs and gang crimes in smaller communities have 

recently become available with the publication of the National Youth Gang Surveys (National 

Youth Gang Center, 1997; 1999a; 1999b). These data document reports of youth gangs across 

many different sizes of communities, and show that reported gang problems do not occur 

everywhere to the same degree. While valuable, the National Youth Gang Survey data provide 

only the most general descriptive information about gang patterns and only minimal information 

about community characteristics that correlate with reported gang problems. 

Along with a lack of comprehensive data on gang problems in smaller communities, there 

is a shortage of explicit theoretical models of gang development in smaller communities. This 

reflects two distinct and problematic tendencies of the available research. One is to presume that 

the social dynamics of urban settings are universal. Existing theoretical accounts of gang 

development and dynamics have been developed for a few large urban centers, with an implicit 

premise that these analyses yield general theoretical accounts of gang development applicable in 

all sizes and types of community. As several writers have noted (e.g., Fagan, 1999; Hagedorn, 

1988; Jackson, 199 l), the simple generalizability of these gang development models to smaller 

towns and rural areas remains unexplicated, untested, and unlikely. 

A second limitation is the common tendency to treat community-level models of crime 

and theoretical accounts of gang development as equivalent. While, crime rates and gang 

problems may be substantially related in many areas, the correlation between gangs and crimes is 

highly variable across communities and across different types of crimes. Indeed, Jackson (1 991) 

Part 1 Page 2 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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reports a near zero correlation between crime rates and gang problems across a sample of 60 

urban communities. These two phenomena represent conceptually distinct community problems 

and cannot be substantively regarded as equivalent, as others have noted (Curry and Spergel, 

1988; Jankowski, 1991). In brief, recent surveys document that small towns and rural areas are 

not immune to youth gang or street gang problems, but we do not know what community 

attributes are most strongly correlated with reports of gang problems, nor do we have a welldeveloped theory that would predict these correlations. 

Conceptual Framework for the Analysis 

This study employs an explicitly comparative macro-level perspective in which the 

research focus is on analyzing variations in reports of gang problems across nonmetropolitan 

communities. The aim of the study is to replace impressionistic speculation about gang 

proliferation in rural communities with a more systematic empirical analysis of police reports on 

gangs. To do this, we must first operationalize three key concepts: rural, community, and gangs. 

Rural (versus urban): An empirical analysis of changes in the presence of gangs in rural 

areas requires a conceptually meaningful operational definition of rural. Several authors have 

addressed the difficulty of this task (e.g., Weisheit, Falcone, and Wells, 1999; Bealer, Willits, & 

Kuvlesky, 1965; Deavers, 1992), a discussion too large to repeat here. While conceding that no 

single operational definition is completely satisfactory, we argue that the usual rural-urban 

dichotomy found in crime and delinquency research is too coarse to be theoretically useful. 

Among possible empirical definitions, we selected the rural-urban continuum coding developed 

by the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Cook, 1989)-- 

also referred to as “Beale Codes” after its initial developer. This typology has the advantage of 

Part 1 Page 3 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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being a county-level measure that allows for finer analytical distinctions among non-metropolitan 

counties, reflecting both urban population size and proximity to metropolitan areas. The ERS 

data provide for 10 categories on the rural-urban continuum, including four categories of 

metropolitan and six categories of non-metropolitan counties. Using the Census Bureau 

definition, metropolitan counties are those containing a city of 50,000 or more people, along with 

the less populated areas that are economically dependent on such a city, with a total area 

population of 100,000 or more. Nonmetropolitan counties are all those not included within a 

census-designated metropolitan statistical area. As an exploratory analysis we elected to utilize a 

simple metropolitdnon-metropolitan dichotomy, which results in our sample including 1866 

agencies from 645 metropolitan counties and 1 145 agencies fiom 10 10 counties in our revised 

non-metropolitan category.’ 

Communitv: The idea of community is implicit in all research on gangs, since by 

definition gangs represent a collective response to a particular set of socially organized 

conditions or contexts. In these terms, gang processes are inherently contextually embedded and 

relative to the social settings in which they develop. Despite its theoretical primacy, the issue of 

community remains a rather undeveloped element in most gang research, which generally has a 

micro-social focus on gang dynamics and gang members, and invariably is carried out within a 

single community or a few selected communities. Even where community is explicitly listed as 

an important theoretical concern in gang studies (e.g., Monti, 1993; Spergel, 1995), the concept 

of community is left undefined and theoretically unexplicated. 

Although the general sense of what a community is may seem obvious, it is not at all 

clear what is the most meaningful level of social organization or aggregation for empirically 

describing community. “It has long been recognized that American communities do not consist 

Part 1 Page 4 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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of a number of discrete and separate entities but that there are communities within communities, 

depending on what level of goods and services and social behavior is under consideration 

(Warren, 1978:7).” The level at which gang patterns are most meaningfully analyzed has not 

been explicitly considered. Without exception gang research has implicitly defined and 

operationalized communities merely through the administrative or governmental units in which 

the population and areal statistics were collected--e.g., neighborhood, census block, or 

municipality--without additional consideration of its theoretical validity. At first glance such 

operational definitions may seem reasonable, but a even a casual review of community studies in 

sociology and human ecology--particularly those adopting a social systemic perspective--shows 

that the assumption is questionable (Hawley, 1950; Warren, 1978; Wilkinson, 1991). 

The “community” as a meaningful sociological unit of collective social life can seldom, if 

ever, be equated with a single neighborhood. If by “community” we mean the spatial and social 

arena within which a population of people collectively carry out and sustain their daily lives, then 

community is generally a much larger area than a census block or neighborhood and often larger 

than a single city (Hawley, 1950; Poplin, 1972; Bursik and Grasmick, 1993). This becomes 

increasingly true in less metropolitan areas where the effective scope of community stretches 

well outside city limits to include the surrounding outlying areas and even other cities in the 

region. This pattern was noted by rural sociologists at the beginning of the century and it has 

become even more pronounced as recent developments in transportation, communication, and 

technology have dramatically stretched the effective dimensions of people’s daily worlds (e.g., 

Hawley, 1950; Poplin, 1972; Warren, 1978; Wilkinson, 1991). Thus, simply equating 

“community” with “city” becomes less plausible once analysis moves beyond large metropolitan 

areas. 

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In this analysis we expand the analysis of community gang research by conceptualizing 

community in broader terms and more inclusive units than previously used. While 

acknowledging that the effective size of a community will vary between more urbanized and 

more rural areas, we propose that in non-metropolitan areas, as a first approximation, the county 

serves as an important organizational context that shapes the local community. Many local 

social, economic, and political functions are organized at the community level with the county 

seat serving as the hub of the social system. Many collective actions may be accomplished at 

smaller, more local levels (e.g., neighborhood watch, taxing districts; municipal police 

departments), but the county provides the larger context within which they occur; they cannot be 

analyzed very meaningfully in isolation from that the systemic context. Especially in rural areas, 

“community” cannot be viewed as isolated from the larger social and economic systems 

immediately surrounding it. In Wilkinson’s (1 99 1 : 48) terms, following Galpin (1 91 8), “Town 

and county are not separate rural communities. Together. . . [they] form a ‘rurban community.”’ 

Operationally we distinguish between the community as an administrative unit by which 

the lives of community residents are socially identified and institutionally organized, versus an 

ecological context within which the daily activities of community residents are carried out and 

functionally shaped. Correspondingly, for analyzing community gang problems we will use the 

area of police jurisdiction as the appropriate unit reflecting community perceptions of gangs and 

use the police agencv as the basic unit of data collection. We also use the county as the 

appropriate unit for measuring the social, economic, and ecological context within which local 

gang problems develop. Consequently, county-level variables are included as contextual 

attributes of responding agencies. 

Part 1 Page 6 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Gang: Gang researchers have long debated how gangs should be conceptualized and 

operationally defined (e.g., Bursik and Grasmick, 1993; Curry and Spergel, 1988; Klein, 1995; 

Spergel, 1995). While this is a central issue for gang researchers, it seems less problematic for 

this study than for traditional gang research. Our focus is on gangs as sociallv identified 

communitv problems that involve both obiective events by youth organizing and acting as 

informal collective units, and shared uerceutions by community agents of social control that 

gangs are present and active in the jurisdiction. This perspective is explicitly a more macrolevel, social constructionist approach to gang study that corresponds directly to the analytical 

question of gangs as an “emerging social problem” within counties. It also relates closely to 

social and political issues of gang intervention programming and policy making. 

Beyond merely categorizing nonmetropolitan counties as either having or not having gang 

problems, we acknowledge that such phenomena are more complex and dynamic than these two 

categories can express. To express this complexity better, county gang problems are 

conceptualized and operationalized in this study by a three-category classification that reflects 

both the presence of gangs and their temporal stability. Chronic gang jurisdictions are those in 

which gangs are an enduring and persistent problem. Stable non-gang. _iurisdictions consistently 

have reported no significant gang problems. Transitow gan~ jurisdictions are those in which the 

problem is temporally limited with gangs appearing or changing markedly over a short period of 

time. This third category has some analytical antecedents in Spergel’s (1 995: 180-4) discussion 

of “emerging” gang communities and to Klein’s (1 995: 99) brief description of “cities on the 

cusp”--i.e., communities in which gangs problems are quickly emerging or eminent but subject to 

considerable change. We expect transitory gang jurisdictions to be somewhere between stable 

gang and non-gang jurisdictions in their collective and ecological dynamics. We also expect, 

Part 1 Page 7 

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following Spergel’s ( 1995) suggestion, that appropriate gang intervention and prevention efforts 

in such situations might be quite different from those needed in situations with more enduring 

gang problems. 

The Data 

Data for this study were drawn horn four separate sources, one pertaining to local police 

jurisdictions and three pertaining to the counties in which the police agencies were located. They 

were then merged into a single data set using the county FIPS code as the attribute of common 

identification. These data sets include: (1) local police agency responses to three waves (1 996, 

1997, 1998) of the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) (National Youth Gang Center, 1997; 

1999a; 1999b), (2) county-level economic and demographic data from the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s USA Counties. 1998 (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999), (3) a rural-urban 

classification and county-level measures of primary economic activity from the Economic 

Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Economic Research Service, 1995), and 

(4) county-level data on access to interstate highways provided by Dr. Tom Ricketts and Randy 

Randolph from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The three waves of the NYGS 

were merged into a single data set using the FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) 

codes for state, county, city, and place. The FIPS county code also made it possible to merge 

NYGS agency-level gang data with corresponding county-level contextual data. The basic unit 

of data in the merged data file is the police agency (municipal or county). The various countylevel characteristics are included as contextual variables for each police agency. 

National Youth Gang Survey: The core gang data set was constructed by merging three 

waves of data from the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS), a survey of police agencies in the 

U.S. administered by the National Youth Gang Center. The NYGC began surveying police 

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agencies in 1995 and has re-administered the survey in each subsequent year. The 1995 survey 

was based on a non-representative random sample of agencies across the United States and the 

survey itself was only one page long. 

Surveys conducted in 1996,1997 and 1998 were substantial improvements over the 1995 

survey and were used for the present analysis. First, they used longer, more detailed sets of 

questions about gangs, gang members, and gang activities--including gang crimes, drug 

involvement, and gang migration. Second, the 1996-1 998 surveys utilized a near-census of 

urban or metropolitan police agencies and random sampling procedures to obtain representative 

samples of cities and counties in rural or non-metropolitan areas. Third, the 1996, 1997, and 

1998 surveys each used several follow-up calls to non-respondents after the initial mailing of 

surveys to achieve an impressively high return rate on the survey of 87 percent. Finally, the 

1996, 1997, and 1998 National Youth Gang Surveys utilized the same sampling list, allowing a 

one-to-one matching of agencies in the sample across the three annual surveys. 

The two most serious criticisms of the NYGS are the absence of a standardized definition 

of “gang” in the questionnaire and the reliance on police as a source of information about the 

nature and extent of gang activity. Respondents were open to defining the term for themselves, 

except that “motorcycle gangs, hate or ideology groups, prison gangs, or other exclusively adult 

gangs” were explicitly excluded. For clarification, several follow-up questions were asked about 

what kinds of groups the agency considered “youth gangs” (versus “troublesome youth groups 

that you do not consider to be youth gangs”). While we recognize the serious limitations of 

asking police to self-define gangs, the focus of this study is on official perceptions of a gang 

problem, and the unit of analysis is the agency, rather than the gang or gang member. 

While we would not claim that police are a perfect source of information about the nature 

Part 1 Page 9 

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and extent of gang activity, several characteristics of rural police make them more reasonable 

sources for this information than urban police. First, rural agencies tend to be small. The median 

size of non-metropolitan municipal agencies is three (Weisheit et al., 1999). All officers, 

including the chief are generalists who spend most of their time in the community interacting 

with citizens, increasing the likelihood they will be aware of gang activity. The small number of 

officers and the tendency for all officers to share similar duties reduces the likelihood of interofficer variations within individual departments. In smaller, non-metropolitan agencies the 

survey was usually filled out by the sheriff himself, the police chief, or a designated gang officer, 

resulting in more consistent and knowledgeable responses than in larger metropolitan agencies 

where it was more often delegated to a wide variety of persons with variable knowledge of local 

gang activities. Second, because the communities themselves are small with relatively stable 

populations, officers are better able to know their citizens and to be aware of things going on in 

the community. In small communities, outsiders are likely to stand out, including those with 

gang affiliations. Third, geography requires that most rural police live in the communities they 

police. They are thus in a position to monitor activities even when off duty. Further, their 

children and relatives are additional sources of information and give the officer a personal stake 

in being aware of goings-on in the community. Finally, other social service agencies are less 

often available in smaller communities, and police are often the only social service agency 

available on a 24-hour basis (Weisheit et al., 1999). Thus, rural police are first responders to a 

wider variety of concerns than are urban police and consequently have additional channels for 

gathering information. 

USA Counties. 1998: These data were obtained by the U.S. Department of Commerce 

(1 999) and include county-level measures of such demographic features as: population change 

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over time, minority population, unemployment rate, education level, age distribution, poverty 

level, single-parent households, renter-occupied households, vacant housing units, population 

density, divorce rate, residential stability, and percent of the population living in incorporated 

areas of 2,500 or more. 

Economic Research Service Data: Economic Research Service (ERS) data are available 

on-line (Economic Research Service, 1995) and include a 10-category rural-urban continuum 

classification (the “Beale Codes”) for each county, as well as additional indicators of the primary 

economic activity of the county (e.g., manufacturing, service, retail) and other socio-economic 

features. As discussed more fully in the section above, the ERS data were used to distinguish 

metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and to identi@ economic activities and attributes of 

counties. A more complete discussion of these data are available elsewhere (Cook and Mizer, 

1994; Salant and Waller, 1995). 

Characteristics of Rural Counties and Patterns of Local Gang Reports 

While gangs became substantially more widespread and problematic in the 1990~~ they 

were not ubiquitous. Some communities reported substantial and persistent problems with 

gangs, while others, especially in non-metropolitan locations, had not experienced gang 

problems. Attempts to understand these variations are limited by a lack of explicit general 

models of community gang development. The general theoretical models cited in gang research 

are either broad sociological accounts of juvenile delinquency in general (rather than of gang 

problems per se), or social psychological theories of who will join gangs and how gang 

membership will influence their criminal activity (micro-level events rather than macro-level 

rates of community gang problems). 

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While there may be few explicit models of rural gang development and little existing 

research empirically describing rural gang problems, it is possible to extrapolate from ideas 

raised in the urban gang research or appearing in the popular press. We draw on these to identify 

plausible frameworks for understanding the most important causes or precursors to youth gang 

development within rural communities. We suggest that four general explanatory frameworks 

characterize most discussions about when and why gangs develop in different places that should 

be useful in the study of rural gangs. These perspectives, whose empirical indicators are listed in 

Table 1, include: (1) ecological explanations; (2) economic deprivation explanations; (3) 

poDulation comDosition accounts; and (4) social diffusion models. This analysis is not intended 

as a critical test of any particular theory or as a comparative test among these four frameworks, 

since (a) the frameworks suggest somewhat overlapping predictors rather than mutually 

exclusive and competitive sets of variables; and (b) none of the frameworks has been fully 

explicated to yield a clearly testable set of predictions about where gang problems will occur. 

They tend to predict community gang development only indirectly and implicitly. That is, we 

have no fully explicated theories of community gang development to test. 

Ecological Explanations: From the earliest writings of the Chicago School of 

Criminology, ecological elements of community organization and disorganization have been 

associated with crime and the emergence of organized criminal groups, including gangs (e.g., 

Thrasher, 1927; Bursik, 1988). Reflecting a homeostatic view of social life that presumes order, 

consensus and stability, ecological explanations emphasize the disruptive causal effects that 

changes in community conditions have on the regulation of social life. In its fullest accounts, 

referred to as social disorganization theory, it involves a multi-step causal sequence in which 

changes in community conditions are the initiating cause in the chain of effects leading to gang 

Part 1 Page 12 

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Table 1: Theoretical Concepts and their Empirical Indicators 

Concept Empirical Indicator 

Ecological Factors 

Social Stability 

- Percent change in population 1990- 1997 

- Percent renter-occupied housing units 

- Percent of population living in same county, 1985-1990 

- Percent of ever-married population that is divorced 

- Change in unemployment rate 

- Change in percent of jobs in manufacturing 

- Change in percent of jobs in service 

Economic Stability 

Economic Deprivation 

- Unemployment rate in 1996 

- Median household income 

- Percent of persons living below the poverty level in 1993 

- Percent of housing units that are vacant 

Population Composition 

Demographics of the Community 

- Percent of the population that is 15-24 years old 

- Population per square mile 

- Percent of population living in urban area (incorporated area with a population 

- Percent of the population that is Black 

- Percent of the population that is Hispanic 

- Percent family households with one parent 

- Percent of population 25 yrs old or more who are high school graduates 

- Percent of persons 5 yrs old or more not speaking English in home 

of 2,500 or more) 

Human/Social Capital 

Social Diffusion 

Relative Social Isolation 

- Percent of workforce working outside the county 

- Percent of households with no telephone 

- Adjacency to a metropolitan county (for non-metropolitan counties only) 

- Access to an interstate highway 

Relative Physical Isolation 

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problems, with weakening community organization and loss of social control over young people 

as the intermediate causes. Because it counts as the first cause in the series, indicators of 

community stability are often treated as direct indicators of social disorganization, even though 

the full process is actually a bit more complex and indirect. Recently Sampson (Sampson and 

Groves, 1989; Sampson, 1991) and Bursik (1 988; Bursik and Grasmick, 1993) have revised 

social disorganization theory to give greater emphasis to these intervening events representing 

social networks and relationships. This revision shifts the theoretical focus in contemporary 

social disorganization theory fiom macro-level structural conditions to meso- or micro-level 

interactional events, with community variables serving as ecological precursors, rather than 

direct indicators of social disorganization. 

Indicators of community stability may be either measures of social stability representing 

the institutional and residential order of the community (e.g., population changes, fluctuations in 

renter-occupied housing, shifts in long-term residents, and changes in family intactness and 

divorce) or measures of economic stabilitv representing the social systems by which community 

residents earn their livelihoods (e.g., changes in household income levels, changes in the 

unemployment rate, changes in the types of jobs available to community residents such as 

manufacturing or service or retail). These indicators all focus on relative stability rather than 

absolute conditions. Instability might represent rapid population decline but it might also 

represent rapid population increases. One might expect gangs to flourish in areas of economic 

decline, and a number of urban gang researchers have commented on this (cf., Hagedorn, 1998; 

1999; Spergel, 1995; Fagan, 1996), using such terms as “deindustrialization” and 

“disinvestment.” However, gangs problems may also be observed in “flourishing” communities 

experiencing rapid growth. Although nonmetropolitan gang development has not been studied 

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directly, Freudenburg and Jones’ (1 991) meta-analysis concluded that in rapidly growing small 

communities, crime increased disproportionately faster than the population. 

Economic Deprivation: Although urban gang researchers seem to use the concepts of 

economic decline and economic deprivation interchangeably, Curry and Spergel (1 988) caution 

that these are not the same. Economic deprivation explanations provide a more structural, less 

ecological, account of why gangs develop in communities, being closer to the structural concept 

of anomie than social disorganization--a feature explicitly argued by Hagedorn (1 998). In these 

terms, gangs represent a collective and adaptive response to a lack of legitimate economic 

opportunities (e.g., Hagedorn, 1998; 1999; Jankowski, 1991 ; Fagan, 1996; Spergel, 1995; 

Williams, 1989) which generate systemic conditions of economic deprivation and social 

marginalization. These are not unique, transitory community deficiencies but rather endemic 

structural features of the larger society in which the community is located. What matters for the 

development of gangs is the state of deprivation or marginalization resulting from particular 

social and economic structures, rather than the mere fact of change itself. From this perspective, 

conditions of deprivation that are stable and enduring may be more important influences on gang 

development than instability and change. It has been argued elsewhere that rural areas have 

lower rates of many types of crime but also have more dismal economic circumstances than 

typical urban areas (Weisheit et al., 1999). Although others have argued that “poverty is more 

extensive and severe in non-metropolitan areas than in metropolitan areas (Albrecht, Albrecht, 

and Albrecht, 2000),” the economic transformations documented by Wilson (1 987) and other 

urban researchers have not been studied for their effects in non-metropolitan areas. This study 

provides an opportunity to consider whether the general economic health of a rural community, 

apart from changes in economic circumstances, is associated with reports of gangs. 

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Population Composition: This explanatory model for gang development involves a purely 

demographic account relying on aggregate measures of the “kinds of people” who live in a 

community. Gang development is predicted as a result of having large numbers of those 

categories of people who are “high risk” candidates for gang involvement. The higher the 

proportions of these at-risk people in a community, the greater the likelihood of gang problems 

occurring. This is similar to predicting changes in crime rates by noting changes in the age 

distribution of the population. “At-risk” characteristics predictive of gang involvement should 

include the age distribution (namely the proportion of young males), the relative sizes of socially 

or economically marginal groups, as well as the social capital available in that community 

represented in the aggregated attributes or attainments of its population. Such variables as 

percentage of young adults in the population, population density, the extent to which people live 

in urbanized areas and the racial heterogeneity of the population are all demographic 

characteristics that have the potential to place a community at risk for gang problems. In 

addition, a community with such social capital as one-parent households, a poorly educated 

population, and residents for whom English is not the dominant language is likely to be more 

poorly equipped to resist the incursion of gangs. Many of these same variables frequently are 

associated with a social disorganization framework (e.g., percent minority, percent urbanized; 

percent under 18 years of age), but their derivation from this perspective is rather indirect and 

confounded with indicators of both population and economic decline. 

Social Diffusion: The diffusion perspective represents a simple ecological or geographic 

model positing that: (a) the flow of culture (e.g., new customs, ideas, behaviors, values) in a 

society is from urban to rural; and (b) the greater the flow between rural and urban communities, 

due to closer, stronger, or more frequent connections, the more similar rural areas will be to 

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urban areas in their social behaviors and ideas. Fischer (1 980) has provided the most explicit 

contemporary version of this model as it applies to crime, arguing that “cultural change is 

continually generated in major urban centers, diffuses to smaller cities and then to the rural 

hinterland” (p. 4 16). Donnermeyer (1 994) has suggested that a diffusion model substantially 

explains the distribution of gangs in the rural countryside as a consequence of the migration of 

gang members from large cities to outlying communities. Maxson (1 998) evaluates this 

argument in her summary of gang migration studies, but speculates that cultural diffusion (e.g., 

through the mass popular media) would seem to be a more likely explanation. Hagedorn (1 988) 

has offered a similar sounding argument, although Hagedorn suggests that it is the gang culture 

(e.g., gang symbols, rituals, codes, and behaviors) that migrates to outlying communities rather 

than the gang itself. If this diffusion model is correct, then we would expect that rural gangs 

would be most prevalent in counties with the most direct links to urban areas outside of the 

county and in rural counties immediately adjacent to metropolitan areas. For this study, 

indicators of diffusion measure both the relative social isolation of the community (percent 

working outside the county and percent of households with no telephone), and the physical 

isolation of the community (whether it is adjacent to a large metropolitan area and it is accessible 

to outside visitors by interstate highway). If the diffusion model is accurate, it can be expected 

that non-metropolitan communities that are most isolated should least frequently report gang 

problems.2 

Nonmetropolitan Counties Reporting Gangs 

A study of factors associated with the development of gangs in nonmetropolitan 

jurisdictions must include enough cases for meaningful analysis. Table 2 shows the distribution 

of responses across police agencies in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas for each of the 

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three waves of the linked data. Although the focus in this analysis is on nonmetropolitan 

agencies, results from metropolitan police agencies are included in Table 2 for comparison. 

Table 2: Percent of Agencies Reporting Gangs by Year and Type of County 

County Type 1996 1997 1998 

Metropolitan 65.9% 64.3% 60.1 Yo 

Non-Metropolitan 36.9 35.2 29.9 

Total 55.2 53.2 48.3 

N of Agencies 2498 2643 2567 

Table 2 shows that the percent of agencies reporting gangs declined from 1996 through 

1998 in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The table also shows that although a 

smaller percentage of agencies in non-metropolitan counties reported gangs, the numbers were 

still quite substantial--29.9 percent of the sample or 300 cases in 1998. 

Linking the three years of gang survey data, we began our analysis of nonmetropolitan 

jurisdictions by distinguishing among three types, based on police reports on the persistence of 

gangs from 1996 through 1998. Among agencies in non-metropolitan counties 22.6 percent 

reported persistent gang problems, 57.0 percent reported a persistent absence of gangs, and 20.4 

percent reported transitory gang problems. Given that the data cover only a 3-year period, the 

percentage of non-metropolitan agencies with transitory gang problems was quite high. Of the 

agencies with a transitory gang problem, over half (58 percent) reported gangs in year one but not 

in year three--raising questions about the commonly held belief that after gangs have a foothold 

in a community it is rare for them to leave (cf. Klein, 1995). 

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County-Level Factors and Gangs 

Table 3 shows the association between the presence of gangs in non-metropolitan 

jurisdictions and a variety of county characteristics. The last two columns reflect the relative 

magnitudes of differences among the three types of jurisdiction. 

Ecological Factors: The county-level variables that are statistically significant and that 

have the strongest association with a jurisdiction’s gang status are all indicators of social 

stability. Population change, the presence of renter-occupied housing, residential stability, and 

the divorce rate are all associated with persistent police reports of a gang presence in nonmetropolitan areas. 

While indicators of social stability were all associated with reports of gangs, none of the 

indicators of economic stability were statistically significant, although the differences were in the 

predicted direction. In non-metropolitan counties the perceived presence of gangs was unrelated 

to changes in unemployment, changes in the percentage of jobs in manufacturing, or changes in 

the percentage of jobs in service occupations. 

Economic DeDrivation: Of the four measures of economic deprivation, unemployment, 

median income and the presence of vacant housing units were all significantly associated with a 

persistent gang presence. However, poverty, perhaps the most direct measure of economic 

deprivation, was not significantly associated with reports of gangs; and while the association 

with unemployment was statistically significant, the effects were weak. Curiously, the two 

strongest associations were in the wrong direction from what had been predicted. A persistent 

gang presence was associated with a higher median household income and with a lower 

percentage of vacant housing units. Thus, reports of a stable gang presence in non-metropolitan 

areas were more closely tied to positive economic conditions than to economic deprivation. 

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Table 3: Association between Major Concepts and Agency Reports of Gangs in NonMetropolitan Counties 

Concept Variable No Gangs Gangs Gangs ficance Eta 

Stable - Transitory Chronic SigniEcological Factors 

Social Stability 

- 'YO Pop. change 1990-1997 

- % Renter-occupied housing 

-'YO in same county, 1985-1990 

- % divorced 

- Change in unemployment rate 

- Change in %jobs in manuf. 

- Change in 'YO jobs in service 

Economic Stability 

Economic Deprivation 

- Unemployment rate 

- Median household income 

- % below poverty level 

- % vacant housing units 

Population Composition 

Demographics of the County 

- % of pop. 15-24 years old 

- Population per square mile 

- YO of pop. living in urban area 

- % Black in population 

- % Hispanic in population 

- % 1 -parent households 

- 'YO 25 yrs. + HS grads 

- % Non-English spoken at home 

HumdSocial Capital 

Social Diffusion 

Relative Social Isolation 

- % working outside county 

- % households who phone 

- Adjacent to metro. County 

Relative Physical Isolation 

5.4 9.7 10.9 .ooo .21 

25.6 27.1 29.7 .OOO .25 

80.9 78.9 77.4 .OOO -18 

8.9 9.9 10.6 .OOO .30 

-0.2 -0.6 -0.3 n.s. - 

-2.9 -3.0 -3.8 n.s. 

6.6 6.7 7.7 n.s. 

- 

- 

5.8 6.0 6.3 .002 .07 

26,748 28,045 29,291 .OOO .16* 

16.1 16.7 16.2 n.s. 

17.3 14.1 11.8 .ooo .21* 

- 

13.1 14.0 15.0 .OOO .23 

46.2 72.7 84.3 .OOO .23 

25.0 35.9 48.9 .OOO .40 

7.6 11.0 9.7 .035 .05 

3.9 4.9 6.9 .ooo .11 

15.8 18.0 18.2 .ooo .20 

68.9 69.3 71.8 .ooo .12* 

6.2 6.3 8.3 .027 .09 

28.7 28.6 23.7 .003 .12* 

8.8 9.0 8.2 n.s. - 

- Access to interstate highway - - - .ooo .21** 

N of Agencies 473 169 187 

Note: Numbers in the table are means for that variable. 

*The direction of these differences are the opposite of what was expected. 

** Because these are categorical variables, means are not presented and Cramer's V is reported rather an 

Eta coefficient. 

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One possible explanation for this pattern was suggested in interviews conducted with sheriffs and 

municipal chiefs in this sample. They suggested that in periods of economic growth, the families 

of urban gang members move into these nonmetropolitan areas seeking employment, and bring 

the youthful gang members with them. Further research is needed to verify these speculations, 

but they are consistent with the conclusions reached by Maxson (1 998) in her review of research 

and data on the issue of gang migration. 

Population Composition: As predicted, both demographic characteristics of the county 

and the social capital available in the county were associated with the reported presence of gangs. 

Among demographic variables, having a large population of 15-24 year-olds, a high population 

density, a highly urbanized population, a large Black population, and a large Hispanic population 

were all associated with persistent reports of a gang presence. The variable most strongly 

associated with reported gangs was percentage of the county population that was urban--i.e., 

percentage living within incorporated areas of 2,500 people or more, following the Census 

Bureau definition. 

All three indicators of social capital were associated with reports of gangs in nonmetropolitan counties. Single-parent households and speaking a language other than English in 

the home were both associated with an increased presence of gangs. Language spoken in the 

home was not simply a surrogate measure for percent of the population that was Hispanic. In 

non-metropolitan counties about half of the non-English households spoke a language other than 

Spanish, and the association between the presence of gangs and speaking a language other than 

English in the home was about the same whether one considered Spanish only or any nonEnglish language. Contrary to expectations, having a high percentage of high school graduates in 

the county increased the likelihood of a reported gang presence. 

Part 1 Page 21 

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Consistent with findings of urban gang researchers, the composition of the nonmetropolitan county’s population was related to its risk for developing and maintaining gangs. 

Both demographics and indicators of social capital were associated with reports of gangs, 

although it is difficult to provide a theoretical rational for the finding that a persistent gang 

presence is associated with a better educated population. 

Social Diffusion: It is often assumed that gangs emerge first in urban areas and then 

spread from urban centers into the adjoining countryside (e.g., Donnermeyer, 1994; Weisheit et 

al., 1999; Wells and Weisheit, 1998). One way to consider the issue is to determine whether 

gangs first emerged in metropolitan or in non-metropolitan areas. In the 1996 National Youth 

Gang Survey, respondents indicating that gangs were present were asked when those gangs first 

emerged. In the 1997 and 1998 surveys respondents were asked if youth gangs were active in 

their community in the previous year. That information was combined with their responses in 

earlier surveys to determine in which year gangs were first noticed as problems in the 

community. The data show that gangs did emerge earlier in metropolitan areas. Only about 11 

percent of gangs in non-metropolitan areas emerged before 1990, compared with 33 percent of 

metropolitan areas. And, 27 percent of non-metropolitan gangs first emerged in 1997-98, 

compared with only 14 percent of metropolitan gangs. This pattern is consistent with general 

diffusion predictions. The merged data set allows us to further examine the gang diffusion 

hypothesis, considering both measures of social isolation and measures of physical isolation. 

Among the indicators of social isolation, the percent of households without a telephone 

was not related to the presence of gangs. And, while the percent of the labor force working 

outside the county was associated with the presence of gangs, the direction of the association was 

counter to expectations. Counties with the lowest percentage of workers traveling outside the 

Part 1 Page 22 

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county for work were most likely to report the presence of gangs. The reasons for this finding 

are unclear but it is consistent with the argument that rural communities in which jobs are 

available locally may be more likely to report gang problems. 

Regarding measures of phvsical isolation--adjacency to a metropolitan county and access 

to an interstate highway--it is possible to consider two dimensions of the diffusion hypothesis 

using the merged data sets from this study: whether adjacency to a metropolitan area matters, 

and whether access to an interstate highway is related to the reported presence of nonmetropolitan gangs. 

While differences between adjacent and non-adjacent counties were in the predicted 

direction, the differences were too small to be statistically significant. Thus, the data did not 

support the argument that non-metropolitan jurisdictions closer to metropolitan areas were at 

higher risk for developing gangs. 

Another way to address the effect of adjacency is to examine when gangs first emerged. 

It is possible that by the late 1990s gangs already had dispersed to most vulnerable areas and that 

proximity was no longer an issue. However, if proximity does influence initial diffusion, then 

non-metropolitan jurisdictions close to metropolitan areas would have seen gangs emerge before 

non-metropolitan jurisdictions that were more distant. Contrary to this expectation, the data show 

that adjacency to a metropolitan area was not significantly related to when gangs emerged. These 

data disconfirm the simple premise that gangs spread from urban to rural areas through a process 

of diffusion driven primarily by propinquity. 

A second indicator of physical proximity is the presence of a major highway. It has been 

argued that crime is more frequent in those rural areas through which major highways pass 

(Martin, 1995). Certainly this is a popular element of conventional wisdom about gang problems 

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among police officials in rural areas. Highways may provide a mechanism for the spread of gang 

activity into rural areas in three ways. First, gangs may commit crimes in transit as they travel 

from one major city to another - what might be called pass-through crimes. Second, highways 

may efffectively channel travel from major urban areas into particular areas in the countryside for 

temporary vacations and business, as well as for permanent migration. Third, highways may 

facilitate economic development and population growth, which may lead to a gang presence. 

Earlier research has provided anecdotal evidence to support the first two arguments 

(Donnenneyer, 1994; Weisheit et al., 1999), and the third is consistent with research showing an 

association between population growth and crime in non-metropolitan areas. Further, these three 

explanations need not be mutually exclusive. To date, these ideas about rural gang development 

have not been empirically tested. Table 4 reports cross-tabulation of reported gang problem by 

whether the county was crossed by an interstate highway. These results show that agencies in 

non-metropolitan counties with access to an interstate highway were significantly more likely to 

have both a transient and a stable gang presence than were agencies in counties without an 

interstate highway 

Table 4. Reported Gang Presence for Agencies in Non-Metropolitan 

Counties by Access to an Interstate Highway. 

Access to Interstate Highway 

Yes No 

Stable - No Gangs, 96-98 44.1% 65.2% 

Transitory Gangs, 96-98 25.3 17.3 

Chronic Gangs, 96-98 30.6 17.5 

Total 100.0% 100.0% 

N of Agencies 320 509 

Chi-square = 36.67, df=2, p=.OOO 

Part 1 Page 24 

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If highways are an important mechanism for the spread of gangs from urban to rural 

areas, as a geographic diffusion model suggests, then jurisdictions in non-metropolitan counties 

with access to an interstate highway would have developed a gang presence earlier than those 

without such access. The data show that although the differences are in the expected direction, 

they are not statistically significant. Jurisdictions in non-metropolitan counties with access to an 

interstate highway did not develop gangs earlier than those without such access. 

The data on highways present a mixed picture. A reported gang presence was 

significantly associated with access to an interstate highway, but there was no significant link 

between access to an interstate and the year in which gangs emerged. Whatever influence 

highways may exert on the spread of gangs appears to be limited. 

Overall, the data in Table 3 suggest that social and demographic characteristics of 

counties are more relevant to the jurisdiction’s gang status than are economic indicators or the 

relative isolation of the county. These findings are not consistent with arguments that gangs 

primarily emerge and survive to meet economic needs or that gangs can be defined primarily as 

economic entities, nor do they support arguments that propinquity to an urban area is enough to 

explain non-metropolitan gangs. Rather, the findings support models that link the presence of 

gangs with ecological indicators of social disorganization and with higher risk conditions and 

population characteristics. More surprising was the direction of some of these associations. The 

reported presence of gangs was associated with higher household incomes, fewer vacant housing 

units, and a more highly educated adult population is consistent with accounts given in our 

interviews with rural police suggesting that in rural areas gangs are more likely to emerge in 

communities experiencing economic growth, rather than economic decline. Where jobs become 

available, people from urban areas may be attracted to the countryside, and bring gang 

Part 1 Page 25

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the

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connections with them. 

Comparing Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Gangs 

The primary focus of this study has been on non-metropolitan gangs; however, a 

comparison of these findings against those for metropolitan counties seems essential since 

explanations for crime developed in large urbanized areas may not apply in rural areas (Weisheit 

and Wells, 1996). These data from the National Youth Gang surveys provide an opportunity to 

directly compare metropolitan and non-metropolitan jurisdictions to determine whether the same 

factors are associated with the reported presence of gangs in each setting. 

Table 5 shows that a chronic gang presence is the most frequent response from agencies 

in metropolitan counties, while a stable absence of gangs over time is the most frequent response 

from agencies in non-metropolitan counties. Table 5 also shows that gangs are not present in all 

metropolitan counties, nor are they absent from all non-metropolitan counties. It is this variation 

to which our attention now turns. 

Table 5: Type of County by Agency Reports of Gang Status 

Metropolitan Non-Metropolitan 

Stable - No Gangs, 96-98 28.4% 57.0% 

Transitory Gangs, 96-98 18.2 20.4 

Chronic Gangs. 96-98 53.4 22.6 

Total 100.0% 100.0% 

N of Agencies 1333 829 

Chi-square = 224.11, df-2, p=.OOO 

To provide an urban reference point, Table 6 presents a comparative summary of the 

patterns of association between gang status and county characteristics using the eta values from 

Table 3 and from a parallel analysis on police agencies in metropolitan counties. 

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Table 6: Strength of Association between Major Concepts and Gang Status in NonMetropolitan and Metropolitan Counties 

Strength of Association (eta) Between Gang 

Status and Key Concepts 

Concept Variable Non-Metropolitan Metropolitan 

Social Disorganization 

Social Stability 

- % pop. change 1990-1997 

- % renter-occupied housing 

- % in same county, 1985- 1990 

- % divorced 

- Change in unemployment rate 

- Change in %jobs in manufacturing 

- Change in %jobs in service 

Economic Stability 

Economic Deprivation 

- Unemployment rate 

- Median household income 

- % below poverty level 

- % vacant housing units 

.2 1 

.25 

.18 

.30 

.07 

.16* 

- 

.21* 

.ll 

.28 

.15 

.3 8 

.09 

.15* 

- 

.13 

.07 

.18 

- 

Population Composition 

Demographics of the Community 

- YO of pop. 15-24 years old .23 .11 

- % Black in population .05 - 

- Population per square mile .23 .07 

- % of Population living in urban area .40 .30 

- % Hispanic in population .11 .30 

- YO 1 -parent households .20 .15 

- YO Speaking non-English in home .09 .24 

HumdSocial Capital 

- % 25 yrs. + HS grads .12* - 

Diffusion 

Relative Social Isolation 

- % working outside county .12* .26* - % households who phone - - 

N of Cases 829 1,333 

*The direction of these differences are the opposite of what was expected. 

Note: Constructed from data presented in Table 4 and Table 11 showing the association between 

each item and the status of gangs in the county from 1996 through 1998 (stable-gangs present 

throughout, transient-gang emerged or disappeared, stable-gangs absent throughout the threeyear period). Dashed lines ( - ) indicate the association was not statistically significant. 

Part 1 Page 27 

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Table 6 reveals several interesting patterns. Regarding the influence of ecological factors, 

for non-metropolitan and metropolitan jurisdictions there was a similar pattern of association 

between the reported presence of gangs and indicators of social stability. While the presence of 

gangs and indicators of the county’s economic stability were unrelated in non-metropolitan areas, 

in metropolitan areas there was an association between the presence of gangs and changes in the 

unemployment rate and in the percentage of jobs in manufacturing. However, these two 

indicators seemed to operate in contrary directions. In metropolitan jurisdictions, increases in 

unemployment were positively associated with the reported presence of gangs, but declines in 

manufacturing jobs were associated with fewer reports of a gang presence. This latter pattern 

was opposite the pattern predicted by those advocating a deindustrialization hypothesis. 

While economic deurivation did not operate as expected in non-metropolitan counties, 

three of the four indicators were statistically significant and in the predicted direction in 

metropolitan jurisdictions. In other words, economic deprivation received some empirical 

support in accounting for metropolitan gangs, but operated quite differently in non-metropolitan 

communities. 

The relationship between the presence of gangs and indicators of population comDosition 

were similarly associated in non-metropolitan and metropolitan jurisdictions, although the 

associations were somewhat weaker in metropolitan areas. Consistent with Curry and Spergel’s 

(1 988) finding from communities in Chicago, the percent of the population that was Hispanic 

was important but the percent Black was unrelated to the presence of gangs. By comparison, 

the influence of an Hispanic population on reports of gangs appeared less in non-metropolitan 

areas. 

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Those indicators of population composition reflecting social capital did not follow 

identical patterns of association with a reported gang presence in non-metropolitan and 

metropolitan jurisdictions. Speaking a language other than English in the home was more 

strongly associated with the presence of gangs in metropolitan than in non-metropolitan areas. 

Single-parent households were less strongly associated with the presence of gangs in 

metropolitan than in non-metropolitan areas, and having more high school graduates was 

unrelated to reported gang problems in metropolitan areas but increased the likelihood of 

reporting gangs in non-metropolitan areas. 

Multivariate Analvses: The preceding analyses examined the correlation of police gang 

reports with 2 1 county-level variables, each considered singly and independently. While useful, 

such an approach can not take into account patterns of interdependency and mutual variation 

among the variables. Bivariate comparisons do not consider the likelihood of redundancy and 

spuriousness among the predictors. To consider this possibility, a multiple discriminant analysis 

was conducted.’ 

The aim of multiple discriminant analysis is to identify statistically a set of predictor 

variables that accurately predicts the agencies’ reported gang classification (Le., stable non-gang, 

transitory gang, or stable gang). Discriminant analysis takes into account colinearities among the 

independent variables, as well as their associations with the categorical dependent variable. It 

estimates the “best fitting” linear combination of independent variables that maximally 

distinguishes among the categories of the dependent variable. Analogous to multiple regression, 

the outcome of this statistical procedure is an identification of a subset of all the independent 

variables in the collection that are most useful (ie., least redundant and most accurate) in 

predicting which agencies are in each of the gang categories. It should also provide some 

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statistical indexes of how useful each of these predictor variables are in the discrimination. 

The most commonly used form of multiple discriminant analysis is stepwise estimation to 

incrementally calculate the best set of predictor variables. However, while computationally 

convenient and readily available in standard statistical packages, mechanical use of such 

procedures has been strongly criticized (e.g., Huberty, 1984, 1989; Thompson, 1995) as 

potentially yielding misleading results. Because they are based on frequently inappropriate 

assumptions about variable distributions, statistical degrees-of-freedom, and significance testing- 

-along with often maximizing the wrong statistical criteria of “best solutions”--stepwise 

procedures do not necessarily yield optimal results. According to Huberty (1 989), stepwise 

procedures may be useful as first approximations but not for final selections of variables and 

estimation of predictive relevance. Some alternative procedures described by Huberty (1 989) 

aim at minimizing the errors of classification, while considering all combinations of predictors 

simultaneously and selecting the one combination with the highest accuracy in predicting 

categories of the dependent variable. Since conventional statistical packages do not 

automatically provide for this alternative procedure, it must be done by repeated estimation of the 

data, adding or subtracting variables one-at-a-time until the percent of correct classifications or 

“hit rate” has reached its maximum value. While more labor intensive, this will always yield the 

best-predicting combination of variables from the original set of predictors. 

Following this approach our analysis of the 2 1 county-level variables began with a 

reverse-stepwise procedure--as a first-pass estimation-- that identified a small subset of variables 

most strongly correlated together with police gang reports. From this reduced list variables were 

excluded or added one-at-a-time; the discriminant analysis was rerun; and the predictive accuracy 

of the remaining variables was reassessed. Systematic repetition of this process was continued 

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until a final set of 10 variables was found with the maximum attainable accuracy for the gang 

report categories. That is, adding or dropping any variables beyond this set of ten only reduced 

predictive accuracy. These ten “best-predicting” variables produced by the discriminant analysis 

are listed in the upper part of Table 7. 

The variables identified by the multiple discriminant analysis are not very different from 

those described in the earlier bivariate comparisons. Nine of the 10 variables identified in the 

discriminant analysis were previously identified in the bivariate analysis as significant correlates 

of reported gangs. Only one variable not apparent from the bivariate analysis emerged in the 

multivariate analysis --Le., changes in the employment rate of the county--a variable which has a 

“non-linear” pattern of correlation with the gang categories. With that one exception, no new 

variables were identified in the multivariate analysis beyond those already noted in earlier 

bivariate comparisons. However, several variables noted in the earlier analysis do not appear in 

the multivariate results. These include: percent divorced (of ever-married persons); percent of 

the population between 15 and 24 years old; percent living in the same county in 1990 as in 

1985; percent of the adult population who are high school graduates; percent of the population 

classified as Hispanic; and presence of an interstate highway in the county. While these variables 

seem individually meaningful as gang predictors, they seem to have rather complex patterns of 

inter-correlation and redundancy with other independent variables in the analysis. Thus, when 

these colinearities are taken into account in a multivariate analysis, these variables drop out as 

separately useful predictors. Overall, the results of the multiple discriminant analysis confirm the 

findings and interpretations of the bivariate comparisons, but they do provide a more 

parsimonious set of predictor variables. 

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Table 7: Multiple Discriminant Analysis For Non-Metropolitan Agencies 

10 Best Predicting Variables 

1 2 ~ 

‘YO of population in urban areas 

% renter-occupied housing units 

IKulation density (per sq. mi.) 

~ 

.800 .369 

.458 .386 

I .419 I -.216 

‘YO vacant household units 

% change in population 1990-97 

Median household income 

% of workforce working outside the county 

-.402 .024 

.386 -.3 12 

.286 .078 

-.186 -.482 

I-% single-parent headed households 

% not speaking English at home 

I .357 I -.478 

.148 .353 

(Change-in unemployment rate 1990- 1996 I -.076 I .457 1 

~ 

Stable - No gangs 

Transitory - gangs 

Stable - Gangs 

I I 1 

~ 

-.443 .038 

.288 -.242 

.850 .123 

Correct Classification Rates: 

Using best 10 predictors variables: 64.3% of cases correctly classified 

Using all 21 variables in the equation: 57.9% of cases correctly classified 

“By-chance” correct classification rate: 41.7% of cases correctly classified by random guess 

Relative improvement over chance (RIOC) for best 10 predictors: 

(based on the observed distribution of cases across categories) 

38.8% improvement 

Group Centroids on Discriminant Functions* 

Function I Community Gang Category ~ 

1 I 2 

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Discriminant analysis of a three-category dependent variable (like reported gang status) 

always results in two orthogonal discriminant functions. These functions can be interpreted like 

factors in factor analysis according to how they distinguish between categories of the dependent 

variable and what predictors seem to load on (correlate with) most highly the discriminant 

function. Table 7 presents the numerical results of the discriminant analysis, displaying the 

correlations between the predictor variables and the discriminant functions (termed the structure 

coefficients) in the upper part of the table, and the association between categories of the 

dependent variable and the discriminant functions (termed the group centroids) in the lower part. 

In the upper table the correlations (structure coefficients) indicate how strongly each of the 

variables contributes to the discrimination between group categories on each of the discriminant 

functions. They provide a rough assessment of the variable’s predictive utility and potential 

causal relevance. From Table 7 county population variables seem to be the most strongly related 

predictors of gang patterns, with only one weakly related economic variable and two familyrelated variables making a smaller contribution to the prediction of gangs. Again, this pattern 

was noted earlier in the bivariate results, but it is even more strongly apparent in the multivariate 

results. 

The lower part of Table 7 shows how the three county gang status categories are 

distributed on the discriminant functions (as the average function score in each category). These 

numbers suggest a rather clear interpretation of what the functions are distinguishing in the 

county gang variable. Function 1 represents a gang vs. nongang discrimination: with stable 

nongang jurisdictions at one end (-.443), stable gang jurisdictions at the other end (+.850), and 

transitory gang jurisdictions located roughly in the middle (+.288). (Note that each function is 

scaled to range from -1 to +1 at the extremes.) Function 2, which makes a numerically smaller, 

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weaker separation between the categories, represents a stable vs. unstable distinction: with 

transitory gang jurisdictions (-.242) being separated from stable gang (+.038) and stable nongang 

jurisdictions (+. 123), and the latter two being fairly close on this dimension. These results 

confirm the theoretical validity of the 3-category classification of the community-level gang 

variable as a substantively meaningful and predictable distinction. 

Discussion 

This analysis departs from prior gang studies in two key ways. One is its focus on gang 

developments in nonmetropolitan jurisdictions. To date, there have been few empirical studies 

of gangs in more rural areas, and no research that looks for systematic gang patterns across such 

communities. The available research on crime or delinquency in rural areas demonstrates that 

models developed in metropolitan settings are not consistently applicable to non-metropolitan 

locations. It also shows that models of delinquency do not directly provide adequate 

explanations of gangs, since most instances of delinquency are not gang-related. 

Second, this analysis has a macro-level focus on county-level factors associated with 

variations in gang reports, specifically on between-county differences in gang reports. The 

orienting questions are: (a) why agencies in some nonmetropolitan counties report gangs but 

agencies in other similar-sized counties do not; and (b) what county attributes, as indicators of 

the ecological context for the police agency, might predict or explain these differences. In this 

study the county provides a substantially broader context for analysis than current gang research 

which has a distinctly micro-level focus on the personal etiology of gang involvement or the 

group dynamics of specific gangs within particular neighborhoods. Even recent “communitybased” research on gangs (e.g., Bursik and Grasmick; 1993; Monti, 1993; Spergel, 1993) reflects 

a meso-level focus on variations within neighborhoods, census blocks, precincts, or other 

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residential subareas within particular communities. These involve what Choldin (1 984) has 

termed “subcommunity” studies, aimed at understanding internal social dynamics within 

communities, especially residential divisions, rather than collective differences between 

communities. In utilizing data on the county rather than the subcommunity, the present study is 

addressing a different and broader set of analytical questions about gangs in communities. 

It is also important to note that this analysis is not aimed at providing a rigorous test of 

any specific theoretical model of community gang development, including social disorganization 

theory, which is arguably the dominant conceptual perspective on gangs. This study provides a 

systematic empirical examination of current premises (drawn from academic, practitioner, as 

well as popular sources) about how and where gangs develop. None of these sets of ideas 

constitutes a fully explicated model of community gang development; rather, they are 

conceptually organized groups of intuitive suggestions and general expectations. As noted 

earlier, they are mostly general models of delinquency and crime etiology, rather than gang 

development per se; and the implicit scope of these seems to be limited to larger metropolitan 

areas, since that is where all the related research has been done. Thus, the analysis utilized an 

inductive rather than a confirmatory strategy, aimed as establishing a solid empirical base from 

which more theoretically explicit and elaborated studies may be developed. 

In light of these qualifications, what are the significant patterns of variation revealed in 

this data analysis? 

accounts of gangs occurring in rural areas, the analysis organized twenty-one county-contextual 

variables into four conceptual groupings: (1) ecological; (2) economic 

deprivatiodmarginalization; (3) population composition ; and (4) diffusion. The relevance of 

these variables for explaining gangs was initially studied by bivariate comparisons to identify 

Drawing both on the urban models of gang delinquency and on popular 

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those indicators most strongly associated with gang reports and to examine the form of their 

associations. These bivariate results were supplemented with multivariate analyses to assess the 

redundancies among the indicators. 

The bivariate analysis suggested that the most consistent indicators of a gang presence 

in non-metropolitan jurisdictions are those reflecting social stability and the composition of the 

population. Our findings suggest that urban gang models based on economic factors may not be 

directly applicable to non-metropolitan areas. 

and measures of economic deprivation were mixed and not consistently in the predicted 

direction. To the extent that economic factors are important in rural areas, gangs appear more 

closely associated with economic growth than with economic decline. 

Economic stability was not associated with gangs 

There was only modest support for arguments that urban gangs spread into rural areas 

through diffusion. The presence of an interstate highway was associated with the presence of 

gangs, as was the percentage of the workforce working outside the county, but this latter 

difference was in an unexpected direction--i.e., counties with the most people working outside 

the county were 

indicator of social isolation but of social stability. That is, people willing to drive to another 

county to work while maintaining their current residence may be highly committed to the 

community in which they live and would rather drive than move. Or, perhaps gangs emerge in 

those rural counties in which jobs are most plentiful. 

likely to report gangs. Perhaps working outside the county is not an 

In the multivariate analysis, several variables important at the bivariate level dropped 

out of the analysis. The presence of an interstate highway was no longer important, nor was the 

divorce rate, the high school graduation rate, the percent Black, the percent Hispanic, the percent 

living in the same county from 1985-1990, or the percentage of the population ages 15-24. 

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The data suggest many similarities between models of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan gangs. Both are strongly associated with indicators of social stability and both are 

shaped by characteristics of the population. The biggest differences are in the role of economic 

factors, which appear more important in accounting for gangs in metropolitan areas. This 

difference between metropolitan and non-metropolitan models has important policy implications. 

Studying rural youth violence at the county level, Osgood and Chambers (2000) also found that 

indicators of social disorganization were important but that indicators of poverty were not. They 

concluded that poverty may not have the same influence on criminal activity in rural and urban 

areas, a conclusion consistent with that reached by others (Weisheit et al., 1999). These data 

suggest that like delinquency, gang activity may have a different relationship to poverty in 

metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. In fact, in nonmetropolitan areas gangs were more 

often associated with economic growth than with economic decline. 

In both the bivariate and the multivariate analyses the single most important predictor 

of gangs by agencies in non-metropolitan areas was the percentage of the county’s population 

living in urban areas (Le., incorporated areas with a population of 2,500 or more people). That 

the strong association remains while controlling for a substantial number of other factors 

suggests that urbanization has an influence that may be distinct from conventional measures of 

social disorganization or economic conditions. These findings are consistent with van Dij k’ s 

(1 999) analysis of the International Crime Victim Survey of 55 different countries, in which he 

concluded that “For more serious crime, the strongest factor explaining risks across different 

countries was urbanization (p. 3 I).” The data do not indicate why urbanization is important but 

the strength of the association and the importance of urbanization for predicting serious crime 

across a variety of cultures, suggest that urbanization itself needs to be more thoroughly 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
examined as a correlate of both gangs and serious crime--particularly in non-metropolitan areas. 

This study has a variety of implications for future research. First, it illustrates that 

urban models of gang development may suffer from what one author has called “urban 

ethnocentrism” (Weisheit, 1993). The current study illustrates that it cannot be assumed that 

urban models of gang development apply everywhere. Rural areas and small towns are not only 

different from cities as physical spaces, but also as social spaces. Without examining gang 

development in a variety of community sizes, existing formulations may have limited 

applicability (Weisheit and Wells, 1996). 

Second, this study emphasizes the importance of being explicit about the level of 

analysis used in gang research, and making certain that the level of analysis is consistent with the 

level of explanation. Short’s (1985) warnings about this problem are too often ignored in 

criminological research. Individuals, small groups, neighborhoods, and counties are all relevant 

to the study of gangs but the empirical indicators of each are not interchangeable. 

Third, the study provides another reminder of the distinction between theories of crime 

and theories of gangs. In gang communities not all crime is gang related and not all gang activity 

is criminal activity. By its nature gang activity involves a social group, whereas the group nature 

of non-gang crime and delinquency is quite variable. 

Fourth, this study is an important first step in the development of more explicit models 

of gangs in smaller cities and rural areas. This study suggests that models of rural gang 

development shouId place a greater stress on social and demographic factors than on economic 

issues. This is also consistent with Weisheit et al.’s (1999) study of rural policing in which they 

found that compared with urban police, for rural police social factors were much more important 

than organizational factors in shaping the nature of police work. 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Finally, the study of crime and gang activity in rural areas invites a renewed 

appreciation for an ecological approach that is multi-level, that considers variations among 

communities, and that gives explicit attention to contextual variables. It is instructive that 

economic factors have a less pronounced role in accounting for non-metropolitan gangs than they 

have in accounting for metropolitan gangs, and that in nonmetropolitan areas gangs may be 

associated with economic growth rather than economic decline. These findings confirm the view 

that in non-metropolitan areas the social context is an important factor in shaping crime, gangs, 

and the operation of the criminal justice system. 

Part 1 Page 39 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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-----1999. “Youth Gangs, Drugs, and Socioeconomic Isolation.” In D.J. Flannery and C.R. Huff 

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Jackson, P.I. 1991. “Crime, Youth Gangs, and Urban Transition: the Social Dislocations of 

Postindustrial Economic Development.” Justice Quarterly 8:379-97. 

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U.S. Department of Justice.
Klecka, W.R. 1980. Discriminant Analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage. 

Klein, M.W. 1995. The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control. New York: 

Oxford University Press. 

Martin, D.E. 1995. “Crime along Rural Interstate Highways.” Free Inquiry in Creative 

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Maxson, C.L. 1998. Gang Members on the Move. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice 

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Miller, A. 1996. “Gang Murder in the Heartland.” Rolling Stone February 22: 48-54,72. 

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Monti (eds.), Gangs: The Origins and Impact of Contemporary Youth Gangs in the United 

States. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. 

National Youth Gang Center (NYGC). 1997. The 1995 National Youth Gang Survey. 

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NCJ 164728. 

-----1999a. The I996 National Youth Gang Survey. Washington, DC: Office of Justice 

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----- 1999b. The I997 National Youth Gang Survey. Washington, DC: Office of Justice 

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Oehme, C.G. 1997. Gangs, Groups, and Crime: Perceptions and Responses of Community 

Organizations. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press. 

Osgood, D. W. and J.M. Chambers. 2000. “Social Disorganization Outside the Metropolis: an 

Analysis of Rural Youth Violence.” Criminology 38: 81-1 15 

Poe, J. 1998. “City Gang Influences Show up in Rural Areas.” Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1. 

Poplin, D. E. 1972. Communties: A Survey of Theories and Methods of Research. New York: 

Macmil’lin. 

Salant, P. and A.J. Waller.1995. Guide to Rural Data. (Revised Edition). Washington, D.C.: 

Island Press. 

Sampson, R.J. 1991. “Linking the Micro- and Macrolevel Dimensions of Community Social 

Organization.” Social Forces 70:43-64. 

Sampson, R.J. and W.B. Groves. 1989. “Community Structure and Crime: Testing SocialDisorganization Theory. American Journal of Sociology 94:774-802. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Short, J.F. 1985. “The Level of Explanation Problem in Criminology.” In R. F. Meier (ed.)., 

Theoretical Methods in Criminology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

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Thrasher, F.M. 1927. The Gang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

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van Dijk, J.M. 1999. “The Experience of Crime and Justice.” In Graeme Newman (ed.), GZobal 

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Warren, Roland L. 1978. The Community in America. (3rd ed.) Chicago: Rand-McNally. 

Weisheit, R.A. 1993. “Studying Drugs in Rural Areas: Notes from the Field.” Journal of 

Research in Crime and Delinquency 30:213-232. 

Weisheit, R.A. and L.E. Wells. 1996. “Rural Crime and Justice: Implications for Theory and 

Research.” Crime and Delinquency 42:379-97. 

Weisheit, R.A., D.N. Falcone and L.E. Wells. 1999. Crime and Policing in Rural and SmallTown America. (2nd ed.), Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. 

Wells, L.E. and R.A. Weisheit. 1998. “Rural Gangs: Are They a Problem?” Presented to the 

annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C. 

Wilkinson, Kenneth P. 1991. The Community in Rural America. New York: Greenwood Press. 

Williams, T. 1989. The Cocaine Kids. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 

Wilson, W.J. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Notes 

1. Our classification of police agencies into metropolitan and nonmetropolitan differs somewhat 

from that used by the National Youth Gang Survey. First, we utilize the ERS classification, 

rather than the UCR classification, as a more meaningful and empirically descriptive 

categorization of nonmetropolitan contexts. While highly correlated, the ERS and UCR 

classifications are not identical. Second, early analyses of the 10 ERS categories indicated that 

nominally metropolitan counties that were fringe areas within large consolidated metropolitan 

areas, that were themselves not heavily populated and that had a substantial proportion of their 

population outside of incorporated communities, were more like non-metropolitan counties in 

terms of demographic and delinquency characteristics. For this reason, these adjacent counties 

(coded as Category 1 in the ERS classification) were included within the category of nonmetropolitan in the analyses that follow. In the sample of 301 1 police agencies, this involved 

shifting 165 agencies from the category “metropolitan” to the category “non-metropolitan.” 

2. The 1997 and 1998 National Youth Gang surveys did include police agency reports about the 

percent of the local gang membership who are nonlocal migrant gang members. However, these 

numbers are subjective self-estimates by police respondents in almost all cases, and thus provide 

only indirect estimates of questionable reliability. For this reason, our analysis of diffusion 

factors is limited to physical variables reflecting the jurisdictions’ geographic proximity and 

access to larger urban areas. These variables seem to be the factors most frequently mentioned 

by rural police in describing gang migration problems, and they are objectively measurable with 

little (or no) error. 

3. We note that multiple discriminant analysis makes some assumptions about the distributions 

of variables used in the analysis, including: linearity of the discriminating variables, multivariate 

normality of their distributions, and equal covariances within the groups ( Cliff, 1987; Huberty, 

1984; Klecka, 1980). In real data samples, these assumptions are always violated to some 

degree, but the procedure is fairly robust against minor degrees of violation. In the present 

analysis, we do not expect the effects of these violations to be particularly serious for several 

reasons. (1) The interpretation of the final results is based largely on pragmatic empirical criteria 

(i.e., percent correct group classifications compared with the actual observed data) rather than 

parametric tests of significance. (2) The number of cases in each group is rather large (the 

smallest has 41 5 cases). (3) The distribution of cases across groups is fairly proportional. As 

Klecka (1 980) notes, violation of assumptions mainly become serious when analytical conditions 

are extreme in some way--e.g., extremely small group sizes, extremely small group differences 

on the predictor variables, extremely skewed variable distributions, extremely disproportionate 

distribution of cases across groups--or when the analysis relies heavily on rigorous parametric 

tests for strong inferences about the data structure. None of these conditions particularly applies 

in the present analysis. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Part 2 

The Social Construction of Gangs in Nonmetropolitan Areas 

Ralph A. Weisheit 

and 

L. Edward Wells 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
The Social Construction of Gangs in Nonmetropolitan Areas 

ABSTRACT 

The emergence of gangs in nonmetropolitan areas is a phenomenon that has neither been 

well documented nor well accounted for. This study utilizes telephone interviews with 2 16 

nonmetropolitan agencies that had previously reported gangs in their jurisdictions. The 

interviews focused on how rural agencies defined gangs and gang-related problems, and local 

strategies for responding to gangs. Rural gangs were often short-lived and the criteria used to 

determine whether gangs were present varied widely across jurisdictions. Rural gangs were 

composed mostly of local youth engaged in minor delinquency, although there were some reports 

of more serious violence. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
The Social Construction of Gangs in Nonrnetropolitan Areas 

Introduction 

Traditionally youth gangs or “street gangs” in the US. have been regarded as urban 

phenomena-- the products of large, crowded, disorganized metropolitan communities. This view 

has been amply detailed in ethnographic studies focused on a few of the largest metropolitan 

centers. However, in recent decades the problem of youth gangs has visibly grown, spreading to 

smaller cities and less metropolitan communities across most areas of the U.S. This trend has 

been widely reported in the media in frequent and sometimes sensational stories about “gangs in 

the heartland” or “gangs invading small town America” (e.g., Miller, 1996; Poe, 1998; The 

Economist, 1996; Coates and Blau, 1989). This pattern has also been reported by scholars who 

study gangs (e.g., Mason, 1998; Caldarella et al., 1996; Curry et al., 1996; Hagedorn, 3 999; 

Howell, 1998; Klein, 1995; Short, 1998), although the empirical study of this has been rather 

limited. There is some documentation for this phenomenon in empirical research from surveys 

of police agencies across the US. According to these studies, the number of police agencies 

reporting gangs increased alarmingly from about 286 in 1980 (Miller, 1980) to over 2,000 in 

1995 (National Youth Gang Center, 1997). Moreover, these studies show that beyond merely 

expanding to more cites, youth gangs have moved beyond the cities into small towns and 

outlying rural areas. The most recent surveys (e.g., National Youth Gang Center, 1999a; 1999b) 

show that gang problems are occurring in communities of all sizes and locations, although still 

most heavily concentrated in medium and large size cities. The recent surveys also suggest that 

the expansion of gangs (both in numbers and distribution) may have peaked in the mid-1990s and 

is now leveling off or even ebbing. 

While we now have more extensive information about gangs in more types of places, our 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

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knowledge about gang dynamics in different communities is still incomplete--especially in the 

smaller cities, towns, and rural communities not included in traditional gang research. Since 

there are no standard, routinely collected statistics on gangs that are comparable to the Uniform 

Crime Reports, almost all of the information about growth of gangs in U.S. communities in the 

past two decades is derived from questionnaire surveys of police agencies. They rely on police to 

identify the presence of “gang problems” in their jurisdiction and to accurately report on the 

numbers of youth gangs and members in their communities. This kind of data provides a 

systematic, quasi-official measure of the prevalence of youth gangs in different communities. 

However, it is explicitly dependent on the perceptions and reports of police officials, which 

may be different from the gang data provided by other information sources. In addition, wide 

variation exists among police agencies and officers regarding what the term “gang” refers to and 

what it means when they say their community has a “gang problem” (Decker and KempfLeonard, 1991). This seems especially problematic for analysis of delinquent youth groups in 

small towns and rural communities, since the traditional ideal-typical image of youth gangs is a 

thoroughly urban conception, defined in terms of urban conditions and dynamics. Mechanically 

applying this traditional urban interpretation to smaller, less urbanized settings may provide an 

inaccurate picture of gang processes in these settings. Even though they all may be labeled as 

gangs by rural and urban respondents, they may involve widely different kinds of group 

dynamics and social indicators. 

Analytic Definitions of Gangs 

While a part of the gang measurement problem is methodological-Le., the fact that different 

police agencies do not keep records in the same way and have differentially incomplete 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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information on youth activities in their jurisdiction - a major portion is conceptual. What 

exactly is it that distinguishes a youth gang (or street gang) from other types of troublesome 

youth groups? Gang researchers, as well as police administrators, have perennially struggled 

with the task of defining gangs as a distinct, objective phenomenon (Bursik and Grasmick, 1995; 

Decker and Kempf-Leonard, 1991). What does a gang look like in concrete, empirical terms, so 

that police can reliably count the number and type of gangs in their jurisdictions? Are there 

specific attributes that define the existence of a gang? 

Many descriptions have been offered by both researchers and practitioners, but to date there 

is no definition that both captures the essence of the concept as it is commonly used and provides 

widely agreed upon criteria for operationally defining a gang. Sociological definitions tend to be 

loose and broad, describing gang as a sensitizing concept that serves to direct research (mostly 

qualitative and interpretive) on the group dynamics of juvenile delinquency but that defies any 

precise operationalization (e.g., Fleisher, 1998; Hagedorn, 1988; Horowitz, 1990; Yablonsky, 

1962). Law enforcement-oriented definitions, as used by many current gang researchers, define 

gang as an operationalizing concept. It entails specific sets of measurable social attributes, even 

though there is considerable disagreement about which particular attributes are essential to the 

definition (e.g., Bursik and Grasmick, 1993; Goldstein, 1991 ; Howell, 1998; Klein, 1995; Miller, 

198 1 ; Shelden et al., 1997; Spergel, 1995; Spergel and Curry, 1988 ). As Ball and Curry (1 995) 

have noted, the problem of defining gang is analogous to defining obscenity. Almost everyone 

knows it when they see it or can give obvious and flagrant examples what it is, but they cannot 

define it analytically in terms that are fully agreeable to others. Consensus may be sought either 

by collecting votes (e.g., Miller, 1974, 198 1 ; Oehme, 1997) or authoritative fiat (e.g., Klein, 

1995) but widespread disagreement remains. 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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This study approaches the issue from a different perspective viewing the gang as a social 

construct, recognizing that whether a group is a gang is not completely definable by objective 

attributes or criteria. The often listed organizational features of gangs (e.g, organizational 

identify and culture, delimited membership, leadership hierarchy, temporal endurance, 

territoriality, collective action, occasional illegal behavior) can not clearly distinguish gangs, 

since they are shared with many other groups not considered to be gangs, such as college 

fraternities, some business enterprises, and many social clubs. Rather, it is the perception by 

some relevant social audiences that a group is outside the conventional social order--i.e., a 

menacing and organized gang rather than merely an ordinary group of troublesome individuals. 

This approach makes the definition of gang relative to the viewpoint of formal or informal social 

audiences that may include neighborhood residents, community leaders, police officials, school 

officials, the youths themselves, their peers, or researchers. 

While common sense accounts of gangs view them as existing as objective realities whether 

we correctly recognize and label them, most rigorous theoretical definitions of gangs are (at least 

implicitly) constructionist. They largely define a gang by social reactions to and social 

judgments about the meaning of the group’s activities. For example, Klein’s (1 97 1 : 428) oftcited formulation defines a gang as: “any denotable adolescent group of youngsters who (a) are 

generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others in their neighborhood, (b) recognize 

themselves as a denotable group (almost invariably with a group name), and (c) have been 

involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative 

response from neighborhood residents and/or law enforcement agencies.” As this explicitly 

indicates, it is the social reaction to the group (categorization and consistent negative response) 

that defines it as a gang. 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
The fundamentally subjective nature of gang definitions is aptly highlighted by Ball and 

Curry’s (1 995) observation about the parallel difficulties in defining a gang and in defining 

obscenity. Both involve observable factual conditions--for the gang an objectively observable 

group; for obscenity an explicit depiction of sexual events--about which a judgment is made that 

these particular conditions are social and morally threatening or problematic--i.e., outside the 

bound of conventional society. A group may have all the objective attributes of a gang without 

being considered a gang; materials may be sexually explicit without being considered obscene. It 

is the social judgment or reaction to these objective features by relevant social audiences that 

ultimately defines them; and such judgments may be highly variable across social audiences and 

relative to their situational contexts. 

This study is based on the presumption that the police--as the officially designated agency in 

a community for dealing with troublesome and order-threatening groups--are arguably the most 

influential source for officially defining gang problems and for shaping media images of gangs 

(McCorkle and Meithe, 1998). This research examines how police define, perceive, and identify 

gang phenomena. Utilizing descriptions and explanations generated by police respondents in 

non-metropolitan agencies that have reported gang activity in their jurisdictions, this study seeks 

to better understand what police mean by the term “gang” in community contexts outside the 

traditional large urban centers and to better understand the perceived nature of gang problems in 

non-metropolitan areas. 

Method 

This study was based on a telephone survey of municipal and county police agencies in 

nonmetropolitan counties in the United States. To be included in the original sampling frame, 

Part 2 Page 5 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
the agency had to have reported the presence of a gang in the 1997 National Youth Gang Survey. 

In addition, the county in which the agency was located had to be classified as nonmetropolitan 

by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. This meant there could be no urbanized center of 50,000 or 

more in the county plus contiguous areas having strong economic and social ties to that urban 

center. The 1997 NYGS utilized a random sample of police agencies in smaller cities and 

nonmetropolitan areas. By using agencies reporting the presence of gangs in 1997, we were able 

to maximize the likelihood of contacting rural agencies with gang problems, while also providing 

a random sample of such agencies. In the 1997 NYGS sample there were 980 agencies located 

in nonmetropolitan counties. Of these, 286 (33.1 percent) reported the presence of gangs in their 

jurisdiction. These 286 agencies were sent letters indicating they would receive a telephone call 

to ask about gangs, gang problems, and their agency’s response. The findings reported here are 

based on telephone interviews with 216 of the original 286 agencies distributed across 39 states. 

As an exploratory study, the interviews were loosely structured. That is, while there were 

several questions that could be easily coded some of the questions of greatest interest (e.g., How 

do you know you have a gang?) were open-ended, allowing the respondent to describe the 

situation in their own words. Perhaps the most difficult issue facing any gang research is the 

question of what is meant by a gang. In the interviews we did not give a precise definition, but 

followed the approach of other researchers by suggesting some boundaries. Consistent with the 

National Youth Gang Survey, we made it clear our focus was on youth gangs and not on adult 

gangs. Also consistent with the National Youth Gang Survey, we suggested a distinction 

between youth groups and youth gangs, with the latter having a higher degree of organization and 

structure. Beyond these very general distinctions, however, we allowed representatives of each 

agency to define gangs and youth groups for themselves. Our discussion first considers several 

Part 2 Page 6 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
of the coded items and will then turn to a more qualitative analysis of respondent comments, 

Findings 

When asked if there were currently problems with youth gangs in their jurisdiction, of those 

reporting a gang in 1997, only 41 percent (n=88) reported the presence of a gang in our year 2000 

follow-up interviews. This figure is substantially lower than would be expected if gangs were 

pervasive and persistent in rural areas. Further, of the nonmetropolitan agencies reporting gangs 

in 1997, the percentage also reporting them for our 2000 interview declined as the county in 

which the agency was located became more rural, as shown in Table 1. 

Table 1 : Reports of Gangs by Rurality of Jurisdiction 

Rurality of County in Number Percent 

Which Jurisdiction is Located Reporting Gangs Reporting Gangs 

Nonmetropolitan with: 

Urban population of 20,000 or more 

Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999 

Completely rural or less than 

51 of 88 agencies 

31 of 97 agencies 

58% 

32% 

2,500 urban population 4 of 28 agencies 14% 

N of Cases = 213; All agencies had reported the presence of gangs in 1997. The figures above 

reflect the numbedpercentage still reporting gangs in 2000. 

The numbers in Table 1 suggests several possible concerns. One is that gangs in rural areas 

are relatively ephemeral and transitory phenomena whose characteristics may change 

considerably over time, even in a short span of two or three years. A second concern is with the 

consistency and reliability of police reports as sources of data on gang events--Le., that these are 

problematic, reflecting either unclear police definitions of what gangs involve or inconsistent 

reporting by small rural agencies. A third concern is whether the conventional conceptualization 

of gangs in urban terms meaningfully apply in less urbanized settings. It is also possible that the 

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has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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unexpected pattern of results may reflect some combination of all three factors. 

Resolution of these concerns is hindered by a conceptual vagueness in current gang analysis 

regarding what exactly is meant by “having a gang”, as an objectively definable and measurable 

social fact, in the community. Does “having a gang” refer to the presence of a specific kind of 

persistent corporate group (i.e., organized gangs rather than loosely affiliated youth groups), to a 

certain number of special kinds of people (officially and self identified as gang members), or to 

recurring patterns of certain kinds disruptive or criminal activities (identified as “gang-banging”). 

Gang research in urban settings seems to treat these events--i.e., having pangs, having ~ang 

members, and having pang oroblems--as interchangeable and equivalent indicators of the same 

phenomenon. In urban settings they seem to be highly colinear, but in rural settings they are 

empirically and conceptually distinguishable. 

Applying these conceptualizations of gang processes to rural settings and smaller 

communities may highlight the conceptual ambiguity implicit in many urban discussions of gang 

phenomena. As an illustration of how complex the concept of gangs can be, particularly when 

applied to rural areas, several respondents indicated that although there were no pangs in their 

community there were gang members. Other respondents reported that, although they had no 

gangs or resident gang members in their communities, they did occasionally have “gang 

problems” or “gang situations” from gangs in neighboring communities dropping in, or transient 

gangs passing through the community. Specifically: 

ID#146: In the last maybe four years we have had various problems with a gang members 

from other communities. We don’t really have a text-book type definition of gangs here. I 

mean we do have gang members here but we don’t have a large number of them. Most of 

them and most of their activity and most gangs are affiliated with our neighboring 

communities both to the north and west. They come to obviously commit various offenses 

and go back to their home communities. 

ID#065: The other thing that is a headache is that some drug dealers are from out of town, 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
from [names large cities within driving distance]. We do feel strongly that these 

people have gang associations, so they are a problem. But again, they don’t have a lot of 

success at creating a gang organization in this part of the state. In that way gangs are a 

headache for us, but not organized. 

ID#024: Periodically we will discover an organized gang member from another part of the 

state operating in this area primarily in drug distribution, but they’re not actually gang 

banging here. They are up here making money, selling drugs to the kids. We have had 

several gang members . . . come up here and infiltrate the students at [local college] and 

conduct their business. But, they are not actually banging while they’re here. 

ID#212: We don’t really have any gangs that are centered here in our community, because 

we just don’t have that large of a community. But we have some that are members of gangs 

in surrounding communities and, occasionally, they come over here. 

For purposes of this study, such communities were categorized as not having gangs. However, it 

would be easy and equally plausible to argue otherwise using common urban definitions, since 

the jurisdictions do report having gang members and/or recurring gang problems. This 

distinction among gangs, gang members, and gang problems comes up frequently in smaller 

communities. If this is an issue in larger communities it has not been widely reported or 

discussed, although there are almost certainly urban neighborhoods with no permanent gang 

presence but to which gang members periodically visit or in which they periodically do business. 

This suggests that some conceptual issues commonly ignored in urban gang research (because 

they seem to involve only small differences) may be highlighted in rural gang studies where 

wider variations are readily apparent. 

Our attention now turns to four areas focused on in the course of our interviews. These 

were: (1) How did the respondent’s agency know there was a gang in their jurisdiction? (2) 

What kinds of problems did they have from gangs? (3) How did gangs emerge in their 

community? and (4) How did their agency respond to gangs? 

Part 2 Page 9 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Identifying Gangs 

Respondents generally used several things as indicators of a gang presence in these 

communities. The most frequent indicator was a juvenile’s self-identification as a gang member. 

Also frequently used was the presence of graffiti, tatoos, a youth’s affiliation with others thought 

to be gang members, and the wearing of gang colors. In a number of jurisdictions, any one of 

these indicators might, by itself, be used as evidence of the presence of a gang. Other 

jurisdictions were more selective, requiring several of these indicators. When asked, “How have 

you determined that you have organized gang in your jurisdiction? What are some of the things 

you used as indicators?” some of the agencies reported using relatively detailed and concrete indicators: 

ID#048: Well we have confiscated gang bibles, which is all their signs and all their language 

and everything else. I mean it’s obvious they don’t hide it you know the colors they wear, 

the information that we get from the schools, school activities that the gangs are going to 

fight or meet or whatever. What they’re going to be wearing things like that. 

ID#050: Number one you’ve got their admissions. Number two their hang - they are 

hanging, and they have hung with known gang members in and around the area. That’s 

where many of them picked up their wanna-be attitudes and then that developed a little 

further. We’ve identified them through tattoos, the groups all seem to have their own 

jewelry and tattoos. Then you get into some of the clothing even though that has subsided to 

some extent over the last several years. 

ID#099: You see the same members hanging together is one thing I see. You see their gang 

signs, their colors, you can tell here I’m sure it’s the same everywhere automobiles you’ll 

start seeing one particular group they’ll been four or five real expensive automobiles and 

they’ll there’s always three, four, five per automobile. They’re all hanging together. 

Anywhere one goes the other ones go and you know the graffiti shows up to on top of that. 

Then when something happens within the community as far as with another group of kids or 

what ever you’ll see that particular group go and try to take care of it. And normally through 

violence. 

ID#039: We have six criteria. . . . The officer can check as many of those as apply. 

Obviously, if they check the one about whether they fit their style of dress or tattoos, I mean 

if they check that one box and that one box only we don’t classify them as being a gang 

member solely on how they dress. 

Other jurisdictions used criteria that were more vague and impressionistic: 

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ID#186: Just by their names, with the colors they wear, the things they are doing . . . And, 

well, I don’t know. I just look at them. 

ID#129: Of course dress, tattoos, the gang signs - you know they’ll wear certain colors, or 

they used to, jewelry that they wear with six and five point stars. Just their appearance. 

ID#046: Through our school resource officers that have developed a relationship with a lot 

of the kids, and they talk to them and the kids are opening up to them and saying, yeah, I 

was approached by so and so to be a member of this gang or that gang, and that’s basically 

the way we’ve determined what gangs we have in the area. 

ID#113: Basically, it’s the color that they wear. 

ID#224: Some of the things are their clothing and their hats, they wear them all the same. 

Some of their hand signals are all the same, and they all hang around together. 

ID#043: Our local community doesn’t allow them to fly colors. We don’t allow that. We 

have an ordinance against it. So the only way we know that they are part of a gang is the 

actual corners they hang on, and everyone of them has a different area of town that they sort 

of claim as their own. 

ID#246: Obviously just the graffiti, the signs of the youths themselves, similar clothing and 

hair styles, but truthfully mostly through the investigation of crimes - from interviewing 

them. 

ID#198: Mostly it’s the fights between youth at school. 

ID#025: It would be two or more individuals who get together, have a common name, and 

one of the primary goals is to further the stature of that gang, whether it’s group assaults, 

whether it’s robbery, intimidation, etc. They may claim turf or they may be profit oriented. 

Relying on such things as colors, tatoos and signs has become more problematic in communities 

in which gangs are attempting to keep a low profile - something that many agencies thought was 

becoming more common: 

ID#038: Most of the gangs I understand are getting away from indicators, tattoos, colors or 

whatever. They still have them but they don’t display them for police, ever since the gang 

laws and everything came into effect. Basically, the people they hang out with are the 

people that they don’t find offensive. In other words, when you talk with a person and he 

hates the people in this side of town and he won’t go over there it’s an indicator that he’s 

probably affiliated with some group that hates another here. 

Part 2 Page 11 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

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A few jurisdictions used guidelines established by their states. These guidelines listed 

specific criteria and required that a certain proportion of these criteria be met before someone 

could be called a gang member (e.g., 4 of 12 criteria). For most states these criteria are quite 

demanding. As one Minnesota official described their system: 

ID#109: We have identified members through a criteria system that we follow through the 

Minnesota Gang Strike Force, which is basically a ten-point criteria system. If someone has 

been convicted of a gross misdemeanor or higher gross misdemeanor felony and also meets 

three out of these ten criteria, we can then identi@ them as a known gang member. 

Generally, however, these criteria were used to decide if an individual could be labeled as a gang 

member, and were not used as proof of the existence of a gang. This system could be 

problematic in rural jurisdictions in which there were reported to be gang members but no gangs, 

a situation noted earlier in the discussion. 

The Nature of Gang Problems 

Questions about the types of problems associated with gangs led to a wide range of 

responses. In some jurisdictions having a gang problem meant nothing more than finding 

graffiti, while in others there were reports of murders committed by gang members. Of the 

agencies reporting the presence of a gang, nearly all believed that at least some gang members 

used drugs (99 percent), most believed that gang members sold drugs (90 percent), and most 

believed the gang members engaged in violence (90 percent) -- though respondents were seldom 

able to differentiate actions engaged in by individual members from those engaged in as an 

activity orchestrated by the gang. 

When asked to describe the types of problems they experienced as a result of gangs, without 

listing specific topics or other prompting, the most frequent responses (shown in Table 2) were 

drugs, assaults, theft, and burglary. 

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Table 2: Mentions of Gang-Related Problems by Nonmetropolitan Police 

Gang-Related Problem Number of Mentions 

Drug Use/Drug Dealing 61 

Fighting/Assaults 46 

Theft 28 

Burglary 27 

Graffiti 24 

Drive-By Shootings 16 

VandalisdCriminal Damage 14 

Intimidation 12 

Homicide 11 

ShootingslWeapons 11 

Robbery 11 

Auto Theft 8 

Based on 88 agencies reporting the presence of a gang and specifying crime-related 

problems. Multiple Responses were Allowed. A variety of other problems were listed 

in very small numbers. 

Despite reports of drugs, assaults, drive-by shootings and even homicides, only 42 percent of 

those reporting gangs described the gang problems in their community as “Serious.” And, some 

of those describing the problem as serious, qualified their rating with such comments as: 

ID#052: I consider any gang activity to be serious. 

ID#179: In a small town like this our little gangs, to the people, are serious. But, to the big 

city, this would be minor. 

ID#003: In comparison to other jurisdictions our problems right now are minor. They are 

minor with the exception that every once in a while they become rather serious with the 

execution of drive-by shootings. You know, homicides with gang-related undertones, you 

know, and stuff like that. 

ID#l5 1 : Well, again, the problem is significant for us, but I suppose if you were comparing 

it to an urban environment it would be minimal. 

Although drug use and drug sales were common among gang members, and while violence was 

periodically seen, most of the observed gang crime problems were of a relatively minor nature. 

The kinds of offenses described here are the kinds of offenses that might describe juvenile 

Part 2 Page 13 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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delinquency in general: 

ID#133: Most of the problems would be graffiti, parties, and alcohol consumption. 

Occasionally we have had problems in the past with some shootings and some fights, and 

weapon violations. 

ID#O14: For the most part, our problems from a criminal standpoint involve minor property 

crime, auto burglaries, residential burglaries, and then of course we have the assaults and 

nothing, at least in our community, nothing has exceeded the point beyond maybe an 

aggravated assault. We have had I think three drive-by shootings that we’ve actually been 

able to trace back to a gang. We have had a couple of gang members involved in a homicide 

but that wasn’t a crime that was in furtherance of the gang per se. I think that was 

something outside that realm. So for the most part of I would say property crimes, graffiti, 

auto burglaries, residential burglaries that kind of stuff. 

It is clear from these interviews that “gang problems” include activities that vary greatly in 

seriousness from one community to the next. Some rural jurisdictions have problems that are 

serious by any standard, while for others the problems are rather minor. It is important to 

recognize this variability across jurisdictions when describing rural gangs and when establishing 

policies for responding to them. Asking police if they have “gang problems” in their 

jurisdictions, as some surveys have done, does not provide much specific information about the 

presence of gangs or nature of gang activities in those communities. 

The Emergence of Gangs 

Some have assumed that gangs spread from urban to rural areas through a process in which 

urban gang members themselves migrate to rural areas (Donnermeyer, 1994), while others have 

assumed that only the symbols and culture of the gang are exported to rural communities 

(Hagedorn, 1988). We asked those in jurisdictions reporting gangs about how many of the gang 

members came from outside the local area. The results were mixed. There were a few 

jurisdictions in which all gang members were reportedly from other areas, but this was not the 

most typical circumstance. And, while it is sometimes assumed that rural gang problems are 

Part 2 Page 14 

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U.S. Department of Justice.
almost entirely imported, there were a few jurisdictions in which the gang problem was 

completely home-grown: 

ID#O 19: [How many local gang members came from somewhere else?] Almost none. I 

would say that any that did probably grew up here and went off somewhere for whatever 

reason, and wound up back here with it. I mean it actually did come from somewhere else, 

but percentage wise it is almost non-existent. It all somehow started here. 

ID#247: [How many youth gang members came from somewhere else?] I’d say most of 

these came straight from here. I can’t say none, but I bet it would be close to none. 

ID#05 1 : We primarily have local kids who have for some reason got the idea that having a 

gang would be cool, would be the thing to do. Over the years we have had a few people 

actually come up from places like L.A. and Salt Lake that were gang members in those areas 

and have started groups, but they’ve been arrested and sent away and are no longer in our 

area. 

ID#079: Right now I don’t have any migrant gang members at all. All of these are local 

folks. They went off somewhere and brought it back home, but they’re our local folks. 

Further, even when outsiders moved into the area, continued gang activity depended on the 

cooperation of local youth. As one respondent noted: 

ID#246: [Gang members are] primarily local residents. We found that even if you’re from 

another city and you come up here to set up business, you have to work through local 

residents to do business. 

Estimates of the number of current gang members who came into the area from another 

jurisdiction varied from “none” to “all of them,” but most estimates ranged between 10 and 30 

percent. That is, in most rural jurisdictions reporting gang activity, the majority of gang 

members were local youth. However, in many jurisdictions the impact of these imported gang 

members was substantially greater than their numbers alone would suggest, because they became 

an important conduit for the movement of ideas and symbols into these areas. 

Focusing for the moment on gang members who moved into the community, officials gave a 

variety of reasons why these youth moved into the area, but were specifically asked about four 

Part 2 Page 15 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
reasons. These were: moving for social reasons (e.g., their family moved there), moving to 

expand drug markets, moving specifically to engage in other illegal activities, moving to avoid 

the police, and moving to get away from gang influences. These reasons include a mix of the 

sinister and the more benign. Table 3 shows the frequency of response for each reason: 

Table 3: Reasons Why Gang Members Moved into the Nonmetropolitan Community 

Reason Percent 

Moved to Avoid the Police 

Moved to Expand Drug Markets 

Moved to Get Away from Gangs 

n=80; Multiple Responses were Allowed 

Moved for Social Reasons 86% 

46 

41 

33 

30 

Moved to Engage in Other Illegal Activities 

Although urban gang members often moved into these rural areas for more than one of these 

reasons, Table 3 shows that the most gang youth move into the area for social reasons, that is, to 

accompany the family or to move in with relatives. Family moves were generally precipitated by 

changing jobs or by the availability of subsidized housing, consistent with the speculations of 

Maxson (1 998). Other reasons, although less frequently reported than social reasons, occured 

with enough frequency to suggest that a single model or explanation for the in-migration of urban 

gang members into rural areas will not suffice. 

Previous research has speculated that gangs may emerge in nonmetropolitan areas through 

several avenues (Weisheit, Falcone & Wells, 1996; 1999; Donnermeyer, 1994). These 

explanations for the rise of rural gangs include (1) displacement: when urban gang members 

move into rural areas in response to enforcement pressure from urban police, (2) branch office: 

when an urban gang sets up a drug operation in a rural area because prices are good and pressure 

Part 2 Page 16 

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of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
from local police is expected to be minimal, (3) franchise: in which small-town drug dealers seek 

to expand their business by linking up with urban drug gangs, (4) social learning: in which local 

youth learn about gangs and make gang connections while incarcerated in a state or regional 

facility, and (5), urban flight: when urban families, including gang-affiliated youth, move into 

rural areas to escape gangs and/or violence in the cities. Displacement, branch office, and urban 

flight explanations assume that rural gangs are primarily imported from urban areas. The branch 

office and social learning explanations assume that gang members are primarily local youth who 

import urban gang symbols and customs. The open-ended’comments of these officials allowed 

us to give some consideration to the relative frequency with which these explanations occur. 

Disdacement: Several agencies reported that gang members came into their area to avoid 

problems with the police in their home cities: 

ID#143: We have a lot of drug activity and I think a lot of the problem is that the gangers 

from Washington and Oregon, you know, head over this way to evade the law over there. 

ID#059: The ones that I’ve interviewed, which has been about fifty percent of them, have 

either been cooling off from the area that they’re from, or avoiding trouble with California 

laws. Three strike laws and stuff like that. 

Although nearly half agreed that some gang members moved into the area to avoid the police, 

displacement mentioned as the primary reason for the move in only a few jurisdictions. 

Branch Office: Several agencies reported that gangs came from larger cities and set up operations 

in their community because it was seen as a lucrative market where drugs sold for a higher price 

and where enforcement was likely to be weak: 

ID#09 1 : Nearly all of them have done that. Some of them have recruited the local kids from 

different high schools and communities but our problem gangs have been all based out of 

Chicago and Minneapolis. And they’ve just reached out to the rural area because there’s 

Part 2 Page 17 

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U.S. Department of Justice.
less pressure and they’re able to obviously get more money for their narcotics. . . . There’s 

more of a demand you know in the area of the state where you’re not real close to 

metropolitan cities. There is less law enforcement in those areas and a less likelihood of 

being detected by law enforcement. . . .A gang member will move in from Chicago and he’ll 

talk to his brother, or he’ll talk to his sister, or relative or friend and they’ll say come up to 

[his community], you know there is very little law enforcement and there’s a need for us to 

come up here to setup our illegaI activities. 

ID#O84: They move from place to place. They don’t really set up any permanent residence 

in this community. They operate either quick crack houses that they don’t keep in operation 

very long at that location or they move to motel rooms. They jump around on us quite a bit. 

While the establishment of a branch office did occur in some of these jurisdictions, it was not the 

most common situation reported by these agencies. Further, we would expect such branch 

offices to be relatively easily neutralized by local police. 

Social Learning: Though not a frequent response, some did indicate that local youth learned 

about gangs and gang activities from urban youth: 

ID#139: A couple ofjuveniles that came back from JDC (juvenile detention center) started 

with a basic interest in the gang and then they recruited, oh, probably thirty some members 

at the height of their glory. 

ID#04 1 : You know a lot of them go to boot camp or they go to the job corps and they bring 

that stuff back. Some have relatives who leave and they come back and they learn it from 

the relatives. 

This quote suggests that youth may leave the community and return for a variety of reasons, and 

not simply for being institutionalized, as was suggested in earlier research. 

Urban Flight: About 30 percent of respondents to our structured question reported that gang 

members or their families had migrated to their area in an attempt to get away from urban gangs. 

On our open-ended query, a number of jurisdictions reported the presence of individual gang 

Part 2 Page 18 

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U.S. Department of Justice.
members whose families had moved them from the city to get them away from gang influences. 

But, instead of leaving the gang, these youth often initiated or otherwise became involved in gang 

activity with local youth: 

ID#026: One gang has its origins from [a large city] and has gravitated here when some of 

the kids who were involved with gangs have been redistributed by families to get them out 

of that environment. But, rather than getting them out of that environment theybring to 

these rural communities that gang culture. 

ID#014: Actually we have run into quite a few who have said that their parents moved them 

to get away from gangs. We hear that a lot from the few kids from the Chicago area that live 

here that we have a pretty consistent contact with. 

ID#090: They left [the city] because of the gangs there. Every single parent says the same 

thing. We left Chicago because of the gangs, or we left Detroit because of the gangs, and 

then they end up starting their own here. 

ID#154: We find out that a lot of people that move in may have family problems where they 

come from, which could be Los Angeles, for example, and their child is involved in gang 

activity. They move to this county to get away from it. Then, what happens is those kids 

influence others to start up a gang. 

ID#246: Most of those kids [gang involved] move into our area because of their parents, 

who are trying to move their kids away fiom trouble. 

ID#093: In one case I can think of his parents brought him here. I think they had some 

family ties here and they brought him here to get him away from gang activity out there. It 

didn’t work obviously, you know, but that was and I think that is probably one of the main 

reasons. Some of them are families that move and the kid goes with them. In some cases, 

they intentionally move and to move into an area like this where there are no obvious signs 

of gang activity. They think that is where they want to be, not realizing that what they 

brought the problem with them. 

ID#050: I have yet to find a parent that didn’t say I was trying to move them and get them 

into a new environment. See our gang members are sophisticated kids fiom Tacoma, or Los 

Angeles, or Phoenix, or where ever. They weren’t a gang member but they were around it 

enough that when they came here they were able to talk the talk and walk the walk enough to 

impress the bumpkin locals who have a leaning that way. That’s kind of where our people 

have sprung up. If you were to take these people and drop them into Compton, California 

they would all disappear within a matter of five minutes. These people have no real idea of 

what a true gang-banger is. Nonetheless that’s what we have here that’s what we see here. 

Part 2 Page 19 

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U.S. Department of Justice.
ID#048: They think that we’re a smaller town and they can get away from the big city gang 

lifestyle by coming here, but then they realize that we also have it here, but it’s on a smaller 

scale. 

ID#099: A lot of times it’s the parents. The parents will move back south because they feel 

like their kids are getting to out of hand up north, and actually we’re suffering the same 

problems they do up there, we just get it later. A lot of them decide to come home just to be 

home. Most of their homes, their relatives, or their parents, whatever, were probably 

originally from here and they wanted to come back home. Usually a sick grandparent or 

something like that brings most of the parents home and that’s how they wind up working 

themselves back in. 

ID#075: [How many current gang members came from outside your jurisdiction?] In my 

personal opinion, all of them. I’d say a good percentage of them. We tried to do that years 

ago, to trace back how this got started. Our main problems stem from a kid whose mom 

moved him down here to live with his aunt from Chicago to get him out of the gangs and 

stuff up there, and guess what, he brought it with him. Now he’s a big fish in the small city 

here. 

ID#136: Yeah, to get away from bad activity on the coast. Most came from California. Our 

first gang-related shooting was a family that came from California to get their son away 

from a gang problem, and he gets here and he gets shot and killed. 

Urban flight was easily the most frequently mentioned response to our open-ended question 

about why gang members from other communities moved into their community, although it was 

not the most frequent response to our more structured questions. 

In addition to the five categories identified in earlier research, this study found another 

method by which gang influences enter rural communities. This is through migration driven by 

employment, social programs, or other factors. In some jurisdictions, migrant workers move into 

the area for a short time and bring gang-related activities with them. In other cases local military 

bases provide an influx of gang activities as the family members of military personnel move into 

an area. Other jurisdictions reported the spread of public housing into rural areas, and the 

placement of urban gang youth into rural areas through social programs: 

Part 2 Page 20 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
ID#048: We are a military town so we get a lot of our problems from other areas, problems 

that come with the people, and they bring them in so I’m going to venture to say that a third 

of our problems are imported. 

ID#212: [When asked why gang members move into the area.] I think mainly family 

reasons. They’ve been younger members that have moved here to live with grandparents, or 

aunts and uncles or, you know, with a brother or cousin or something for a while. 

ID#134: Mostly [gang members moved into the area from cities because of] the parents. 

The parents moved up here because of their jobs or to get out of the big cities. That’s the 

biggest reason. 

ID#135: According to them, they moved here to - we’ll make this multiple choice, it breaks 

down just about evenly - to get out of a gang environment, to be safe because they’ve 

moved to a smaller community, or they came here with family members who relocated for 

jobs. According to me, I would say the last one, moving here with family in order to get 

jobs, is true. The rest of it is a lie. They have no desire to stop gang life. They bring gang 

life with them, and they would be incredibly uncomfortable if they could not function in that 

lifestyle. 

ID#092: Some of the ones that I’m thinking of moved with their friends into our area, and 

the other group that I’m thinking of moved and brought their whole family. I think that was 

part of the crime-free multi-housing thing. 

ID#061: We have one government subsidized housing complex in our community. This is 

in an area of town that’s located pretty much in a good neighborhood, and in this area we 

have had some known gang members who have moved in with some single parent females, 

and they [known gang members] have had some of their associates come down from 

Chicago or Joliet and they’ve been involved in some criminal activity there and have 

actually retaliated against opposing gang members in different parts of the town, members 

who might not be as organized as they are. 

ID#063: We have a lot of prisons in this area. We have federal prisons and state prisons and 

youth boot camps, so you have a lot of migration of families into the area for a period of 

time and then they [the inmates] get transferred or released and they move out again. 

ID#102: Mainly its because of placement and foster care, or facilities such as that - foster 

homes, group homes. 

Thus, gang members may move into rural areas for reasons completely unrelated to their 

involvement in gangs, their fear of urban police, or their interest in establishing drug markets. 

Although the discussion has focused one at a time on the reasons for gang members moving 

into the area, it was common for agencies to list multiple reasons: 

Part 2 Page 21 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
ID#003: We’ve been able to identi@ several different reasons. [Our town] is located 

adjacent to two military installations. We have an Army post, which is actually a part of 

[the community], and then probably about thirty minutes down the road there’s an Air Force 

base, too. We’re seeing a lot of guys coming in as members of the military, coming down 

from the States, and the kids are involved down there and they are coming up here and 

suddenly they are the big wigs. We’re encountering we’re seeing family members that send 

their kids here in an effort to get them out of that environment. They think where can I send 

them to get away from this well we’ll send them to [this community]. We have guys that 

have come here for the purpose of expanding you know the narcotics trade and what not. 

ID#05 1 : [Reasons why gang youth move into the area.] Um, couple of reasons. One, is 

family, family that lives in the area. Another is to escape problems they were having in the 

areas they were in. You know either somebody was after them or the police wanted them, or 

whatever, but to escape from problems where they were coming from. And then for some of 

them it was flat out expansion. You know, expand their business opportunities. 

These interviews suggest that the five explanations for the emergence of gangs in rural areas 

offered in earlier research may require some modification. First, there was no support for the 

idea that rural drug dealers seek to expand their business and clout by setting up “franchises” 

with urban gangs, although we are aware of communities in which local dealers have claimed ties 

to urban gangs, those claims seem questionable: 

ID# 136: For the most part they may claim to be a faction of the “Bloods” or the “Crips” or 

the “Latin Kings,” but they’re not really closely associated. I mean they’re not taking any 

marching orders. They’re not funneling any profits to anybody in particular, so I would say 

they’re kind of autonomous groups that claim national affiliation for extra power and 

prestige. 

Further, these interviews revealed a method of gang importation speculated on in the work of 

Maxson (1 998) but otherwise not systematically studied. Social factors unrelated to gang 

activity, such as the presence of a military base, the movement of workers through an area, or the 

expansion of subsidized housing into more rural communities, were cited as having a role in the 

importation of gangs and gang ideas into these communities. 

Part 2 Page 22 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Responding to Gangs 

In general, these agencies appeared ready to deal with gangs. Most (83 percent) had at least 

some officers with gang training. Of those agencies reporting gangs, 91 percent had officers with 

gang training, 30 percent had a gang unit (many agencies were simply too small to have a 

separate unit of any kind), 63 percent maintained separate files on gangs, and 64 percent were 

part of a task force that could address gang issues, if not a task force specifically focused on 

gangs. Further, among agencies reporting gangs problems, there was reported to be a “great” 

interest in additional gang-related training (5 1 percent), in receiving technical assistance 

regarding gangs (34 percent) and in assistance in forming task forces (27 percent). It must be 

remembered, however, that these agencies represent a relatively small percentage of 

nometropolitan agencies and include only 41 percent of the agencies that had reported the 

presence of gangs in 1997. 

Several researchers have argued that rural policing involves a very different style of 

policing. In particular, research has suggested that rural police rely more on interpersonal skills 

and diplomacy, commanding respect because of who they are as a person rather than because of 

the uniform they are wearing. It was expected that if this were true, rural police might also adopt 

very different styles of responding to gangs. This expectation was not entirely born out by the 

interviews, in which the most frequent agency response to gang activity was suppression through 

strict enforcement, a style one might easily associate with urban police: 

ID#171: It is our philosophy that we don’t give warnings for tobacco, we don’t give 

warnings for alcohol, we don’t give warnings for trespass or truancy, and we have adopted a 

zero tolerance policy on possession. And then, the second prong of the strategy is that when 

we code an offense a particular way that indicates a gang or a group activity - we’ve gone 

to our judicial partners, the judicial system, and demanded maximum penalties or guilty 

verdicts. . . .And being creative in enforcement, looking at zoning, looking at a parked cars, 

looking at animal control laws, and having zero tolerance on possession at an address or on a 

group. Whenever we receive a complaint there’s an arrest made. There’s no negotiating, 

Part 2 Page 23 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
suspected gang members feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, with the expectation that they 

would then leave. In the smallest jurisdictions continuous and conspicuous monitoring of 

suspected gang members was possible at a level that would probably not be practical in most 

large jurisdictions. By most police accounts, this approach was effective. 

Many of the conceptual and operational difficulties discussed in this study - defining a gang 

and distinguishing gang behavior from the behavior of individual members - are probably similar 

in rural and urban communities. However, in rural communities, these issues stand out. Further, 

rural communities greatly outnumber large cities, thus providing a much wider range of 

economic, social, and geographic circumstances, for the study of gangs. For example, of the 

19,290 villages, towns, and cities in the United States, “Only 12 percent of the incorporated areas 

had a population of more than 10,000; 88 percent had a population of less than 10,000 (U.S. 

Bureau of the Census, 1991, cited in Hobbs, 1994).” This large number of communities allows 

researchers to consider the emergence and functioning of gangs in a wider variety of conditions 

than is possible with studies limited to urban areas. It is for this reason that the continued study 

of rural gangs is important for addressing issues surrounding the study of gangs in a variety of 

settings. 

Part 2 Page 28 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
References 

Ball, Richard A. and G. David Curry. (1995). The logic of definition in criminology: Purposes 

and methods for defining 'gangs'. Criminology, 33,225-245. 

Bursik, Robert J., Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick (1 993). Neighborhoods and Crime. New York: 

Lexington Books. 

Caldarella, Paul, Jim Sharpnack, Travis Loosli, and Kenneth W. Merrell(l996). The spread of 

youth gangs into rural areas: A survey of school counselors. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 

15: 18-27. 

Coates, James and Robert Blau (1 989). Big-city gangs fuel growing crack crisis. Chicago 

Tribune, September 13, 1,8. 

Curry, G. David and Irving A. Spergel (1 988). Gang homicide, delinquency, and community. 

Criminology, 26,3 8 1-405. 

Curry, G. David, Richard A. Ball, and Scott H. Decker (1996) Estimating the national scope of 

gang crime from law enforcement data. (pp. 21-36) In C. R. Huff, R.A. Ball, and S.H. Decker 

(eds.), Ganes in America. (2nd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

Decker, Scott and Kimberly Kempf-Leonard (1991). Constructing gangs: The social definition 

of youth activities. Criminal Justice Policv Review, 5,27 1-291. 

Donnermeyer, Joseph F. (1 994). Crime and violence in rural communities. Paper presented at 

the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Chicago, IL. 

Fleisher, Mark S. (1998). Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know. Madison: 

University of Wisconsin Press. 

Goldstein, Arnold P. 1991. Delinquent Gangs: A Psvchological Perspective. Champaign, IL: 

Research Press. 

Hagedorn, John M. (1 988). People and Folks: Gangs. Crime and the Underclass in a Rustbelt 

m. Chicago: Lakeview Press. 

Hagedorn, John M. (1 999). People and Folks: Gangs. Crime and the Underclass in a Rustbelt 

m. (2nd edition). Chicago: Lakeview Press. 

Hagedorn, John M. (1 998). Gang violence in the postindustrial era. In M. Tonry and M.H. 

Moore (eds.), Youth Violence. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

Hobbs, Daryl. (1 994). The rural context for education: Adjusting the images. Pp. 5-25 in The 

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (ed.). Persuectives on Violence and Substance 

Abuse in Rural America. Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. 

Horowitz, Ruth. 1990. Sociological perspectives on gangs: Conflicting definitions and concepts. 

In C. R. Huff (ed.), Gangs in America. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Howell, James C. (1998) Youth Gangs: An Overview. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. 

Bulletin number: NCJ 167249. 

Jankowski, Martin Sanchez (1 991). Islands in the Street: Gangs and American Urban Society. 

Berkeley: University of California Press. 

Klein, Malcolm W. (1971). Street Gangs and Street Workers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall. 

Klein, Malcolm W. (1 995) The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control. New 

York: Oxford University Press. 

Maxson. Cheryl L. (1 998). Gang Members on the Move. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. 

Bulletin Number: NCJ 171 153. 

McCorkle, Richard C. and Terance D. Meithe (1998). The political and organizational response 

to gangs: An examination of a “moral panic” in Nevada. Justice Ouarterlv, 15,41-64. 

Miller, Adam (1 996). Gang murder in the heartland. Rolling Stone, February 22,48-54, 72. 

Miller, Walter B. (1974). American youth gangs: Past and present. In A.S. Blumberg (ed.), 

Current Perspectives on Criminal Behavior: Essays on Criminology. New York: Alfred A. 

Knopf. 

Miller, Walter B. (1 980). Gangs, groups, and serious youth crime. In D. Schichor and D.H. Kelly 

(eds.), Critical Issues in Juvenile Delinquencv. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. 

Miller, Walter B. (1981). American youth gangs: Past and present. In A.S. Blumberg (ed.), 

Current Persuectives on Criminal Behavior: Essays on Criminology (2nd ed.). New York: Alfred 

A. Knopf. 

National Youth Gang Center (1997). The 1995 National Youth Gang Survev. Washington, DC: 

Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Bulletin Number: NCJ 164728. 

National Youth Gang Center (1 999a). The 1996 National Youth Gang Survev. Washington, DC: 

Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Bulletin Number: NCJ 173964. 

National Youth Gang Center (1999b). The 1997 National Youth Gang Survey. Washington, DC: 

Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Bulletin Number: NCJ 178891. 

Oehme, Chester G. (1 997). Gangs, Grouus. and Crime: Perceutions and Resuonses of 

Communitv Organizations. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press. 

Poe, Janita (1 998). City gang influences show up in rural areas. Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Shelden, Randall G., Sharon K. Tracy, and William B. Brown. (1997). Youth Gangs in American 

Society. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 

Short, James F. (1 998) The level of explanation problem revisited - The American Society of 

Criminology 1997 presidential address. Criminology, 36, 3-36. 

Spergel, Irving A. (1 995). The Youth Gang Problem: A Communi@ Approach. New York: 

Oxford University Press. 

The Economist. (1996). Gangs in the heartland. 339(79967, May 25), 29-30. 

Thrasher, Frederick M. (1 927). The Gang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

Weisheit, Ralph A., L. Edward Wells, & David N. Falcone (1 994). Community policing in small 

town and rural America. Crime & Delinquency, 40,549-567. 

Weisheit, Ralph A., David N. Falcone, & L. Edward Wells (1 996). Crime and Policing - in Rural 

and Small-Town America. Prospect Height, IL: Waveland Press. 

Weisheit, Ralph A., David N. Falcone, & L. Edward Wells, (1 999). Crime and Policing - in Rural 

and Small-Town America. (2nd Edition). Prospect Height, IL: Waveland Press. 

Wells, L. Edward and Ralph A. Weisheit (1998). Rural gangs: Are they a problem? Paper 

presented to the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C. 

Wells, L. Edward and Ralph A. Weisheit (2000). Gang problems in non-metropolitan 

communities: A longitudinal assessment. Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the 

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in New Orleans, LA. 

Yablonsky, Lewis. (1 962). The Violent Gang. New York: Macmillan. 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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IV. APPENDIX 

Advance Letter to Agencies 

0 Questions Used to Guide Telephone Interviews 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
ILLINOIS STATE 

UNIVERSITY 

Department of Criminal Justice Sciences 

Rural Crime Project I 

xxxxx, xx, 2000 

Chief 

xxxx Police Department 

Street 

City, State, Zip 

Dear Chief: 

401 Schroeder Hall 

Campus Box 5250 

Normal, IL 61 790-5250 

Telephone: (309) 438-3849 

Facsimile: (309) 438-7289 

In 1997 the National Youth Gang Survey contacted a representative sample of agencies 

throughout the country to ask about gang-related problems. We are selecting a small but 

representative sample of those agencies responding to the 1997 survey to gather more 

information about the issue of gangs and youth groups in their community. We are focusing 

particular attention on the problems facing agencies serving rural areas or small towns. 

Within the next week or two we will contact you by telephone to set up a time for a telephone 

interview. The questions will address: 

- the current situation in your community regarding gangs and youth groups 

- the nature of gang and youth group problems, if any 

- things you have found helpful in responding to gang and youth group problems 

- resources, training, or other things you would find helpful in responding to gangs and 

youth groups 

The telephone interviews should last only about 20 minutes and your participation is voluntary. 

Reports and papers generated by the study will not link your responses to you or your agency. 

The findings of the study will be shared with every agency that participates, with policy makers, 

and with those involved in police training. 

Thanks in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions please feel free to call or 

write. 

Ralph A. Weisheit 

Project Director I 

Phone: 309-438-3849 I FAX: 309-438-7289 

An equal oppo flunityfaflrmative action universiq encouraging diversity 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Interviewer Code for Result 

Rural Gang Telephone Survey - Cover Page with Call Record 

Agency ID#: 

Phone #: 

Titlemame: 

Agency: 

County: 

City: 

State: 

(When person is reached) Hello, this is and I am calling from Illinois State 

University regarding gang issues in your area. According to the 1997 National Youth Gang Survey, 

your agency reported having gang problems at that time. We are contacting you to learn more about 

those problems and the current gang situation in your area. You should have received a letter from us 

a short time ago explaining the project. (If they say they have not, then briefly explain the project.) 

Codes for Result 

NA = Not available (write in when we should try again) 

REF = Refused 

IC = Interview Completed (write in approximate length of interview) 

PC = Partially Completed (when should we call back; write in approx. length of interview) 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Page Number 1 

RURAL GANG STUDY 

TELEPHONE INTERVIEW GUIDE 

I. INTRODUCTION - THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM 

Organized Gangs and Youth Groups 

1. According to your response to the 1997 survey, gangs were present in your community. Do you 

currently have problems in your community With organized gang members or youth grows? 

1 YES----> Which do you have a problem with? (Mark all that apply) 

1 YOUTH GROUPS--------- > (Go to page 2, the Yellow Page) 

2 ORGANIZED GANGS ----> (Go to page 3, the Ivory Page) 

3 BOTH -----_-__ > (Go first to Yellow and then to Ivory Page) 

2 NO-----> Have you had problems in the past? 

1 NO 

2 YES -> Organized Gangs -> Describe the problems. 

Did they have a name? 

When did they begin? 

How long did they last? 

-> Youth Groups -> Describe the problems. 

When did they begin? 

How long did they last? 

Are you expecting problems in the future? 

1 NO->Whynot? 

2 YES 

What makes you think you will have problems in the future? 

What kinds of problems do you think are most likely? 

Are you doing anything to prepare for those future problems? 

Are there problems in nearby communities? 

1 NO 

2 YES 

What kinds of problems are they having? 

How far away are these communities? 

Do you expect those problems to come to your community? 

(WHEN FINISHED WITH THESE QUESTIONS GO TO PAGE - ) 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 2 

YELLOW PAGE 

PROBLEMS WITH YOUTH GROUPS 

2A. Would you describe the groups? 

How many youth groups are there? 

How long have they been around? YEARS MONTHS 

What kinds of kids are in these groups? 

2B Would you please describe the problems you have had with YOUTH GROUPS? 

Interviewer: Specifically note if any of these problems have involved: 

YES NO Drug Use 

YES NO Drug Sales or Distribution 

YES NO Drug Manufacturing 

YES NO Violence 

2C Are the problems with YOUTH GROUPS serious or minor? 

1 SERIOUS 

2 MINOR 

9 DON’T KNOW; NO RESPONSE 

2D In the past year, has anyone in your jurisdiction been arrested because of activities they engaged in 

while part of a YOUTH GROUP? 

1 YES _______----- > 2F How many people were arrested in the past year because of youth 

group activities? 

2G How many groups were involved? 

2 NO 

9 DON’T KNOW, NO RESPONSE 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 3 

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IVORY PAGE 

PROBLEMS WITH ORGANIZED GANGS 

3A. Your agency reported that for 1997 there was a youth gang problem in your jurisdiction. Can you 

describe the youth gang(s)? 

How many youth groups are there? 

How long have they been around? YEARS MONTHS 

What kinds of kids are in these groups? 

3B. Would you please describe the problems you have had with ORGANIZED GANGS? 

(Interviewer: Specifically note if any of these problems have involved): 

YES NO Drug Use 

YES NO Drug Sales or Distribution 

YES NO Drug Manufacturing 

YES NO Violence 

3C. Are the problems with ORGANIZED GANGS serious or minor? 

1 SERIOUS 

2 MINOR 

9 DON’T KNOW; NO RESPONSE 

3D. How have you determined that you have an ORGANIZED GANG? What have you used as 

indicators? 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 4 

3E. How can you tell if a particular person is a member of an ORGANIZED GANG? 

3F. For 1997, your agency reported 

gangs are currently operating in your area? 

youth gangs in your jurisdiction. How many organized 

3G. For 1997, your agency reported 

many gang members are there now in your jurisdiction? 

youth gangs members in your jurisdiction. How 

3H. Does your jurisdiction have any problems with adult gangs, such as motorcycle gangs or adult 

drug gangs? 

1 YES ------> 21 How many groups were involved? 

25 Are these groups made up of local residents or people fiom outside? 

2K Are these groups permanently in the community or just passing 

~ through? 

25 What were the names of these groups? 

2L How many people were arrested in the past year because of adult 

gang activities? 

2 NO 

9 DON’T KNOW, NO RESPONSE 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 5 

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3M. Of the youth gang members in your jurisdiction, about how many moved from somewhere else 

and brought their gang activities with them? 

3N. Of those who brought gang activities with them from somewhere else, do you know why they 

Came to you area? (e.g., social, set up drug markets, other illegal activities, avoid police, get away 

from gang life) 

SOCIAL (move with family, visit friends, etc.) 

DRUG MARKETS (set up drug distribution or production operations) 

OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES (burglaries) 

AVOID POLICE 

GET AWAY FROM GANG LIFE 

30. Do the(se) ORGANIZED GANG(S) in your jurisdiction have a name? 

1 NO 

2 YES -> What are the name(s)? 

3P. As far as you know, are they affiliated with or do they work with gangs from larger cities? 

1 NO 

2 YES -> Describe 

34. What kinds of things tell you they are organized? 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Page Number 6 

3R. In the past year, has anyone in your jurisdiction been arrested because of activities they engaged in 

while part of an ORGANIZED GANG? 

1 yEs ------------ > How many people were arrested in the past year because of 

ORGANIZED GANG activities? 

How many groups has this involved? 

2 NO 

9 DON’T KNOW, NO RESPONSE ’ 

-- 

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This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
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Page Number 7 

RESPONDING TO YOUTH GROUPS AND ORGANIZED GANGS 

1. Have any officers in your agency received special training to respond to gangs? 

1 NO-> 

2 YES -> la. How many officers have received such training? 

2. For 1997 your department reported ( ) having ( ) not having a gang unit. Does your 

department have a special gang unit now? 

1 NO (are there plans for such a unit; has there been one in the past) 

2 YES (how long has it existed, how many officers are involved) 

3. Does your department keep separate records or files or a data base on gang members and gang 

activity? 

1 NO (are there plans for keeping such records) 

2 YES (how long have such records been kept existed) 

4. Is your agency part of a multijurisdictional task force that can help with gang problems? 

_. 

1 NO (interest in developing such a task force) 

2 YES (how long been in it, is it useful? 

5. Are there agencies you can call on if you need direct help dealing with gangs? 

1 NO 

2 YES -> Which agencies? 

6. How much does your agency need each of the following? For each item indicate whether your 

agency has a GREAT NEED, MINOR NEED, or NO NEED: 

GREAT MINOR NONE Gang-related training for individual officers. 

GREAT MINOR NONE Technical assistance in creating or operating a gang unit. 

GREAT MINOR NONE Technical assistance in joining or forming a task force 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 8 

7. Are there other needs your agency has regarding gangs or youth groups? (Specify) 

8. Does your agency participate in gang edmation And prevention programs in the community? 

1 NO (interest in developing such a program?) 

2 YES (describe the program) 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 9 

BEST PRACTICES. z 

(FOR AGENCIES WITH A GANGNOUTH GROUP PROBLEM) 

1. How has your agency handled gang/youth group problems? Give examples of problems and how 

you handled them. 

2. In your community, what kinds of things have worked well dealing with youth gangdgroups? 

Would these things work in other communities? 

3. Are there things you have tried that have not worked out very well? What were those things and 

why do you think they did not work? ': 

I 

4. Are there people or agencies you can turn to if you want ideas for dealing with these groups? 

1 NO 

2 YES (which agencies or people?) \ 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.
Page Number 10 

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CONCLUSION 

ABOUT YOUR JURISDICTION AND AGENCY 

1. Does a major highway run through or near your jurisdiction? 

1 NO 

2 YES -> Does this highway have any impact on your gang problem? 

2. How far away in miles and in driving time is the nearest large city (large being over 100,000)? 

MILES 

HOURS OF DRIVING TIME (report hour and fraction of hour) 

3. What is the name of that city? (Give name & state) 

4. How many officers are in your department? 

FULL-TIME UNIFORMED 

PART-TIME UNIFORMED 

......................... 

Thank you for your time. Your help is very much appreciated. The study will be ongoing for several 

months, but we would be happy to send you a copy of the results when they are ready. Would you like 

a copy? \ 

1 NO 

2 YES -> (Get name and mailing address) 

PROPEHTY OF 

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) 

Sox 6000 

Qock\/il!e. MI3 20849-6000 

This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report 

has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those 

of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice.