© Copyright 2009 Institute for Intergovernmental Research® All Rights Reserved

Ofβice of Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention

May 2009

A Guide to Assessing Your 

Community’s Youth Gang Problem

OJJDP 

Comprehensive

Gang Model
This document was prepared under Cooperative Agreement Number 2007-JV-FX-0008 from 

the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. 

Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed 

in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position 

or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Acknowledgements 

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) wishes to thank the 

National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) for its help and guidance in revising and updating this 

document. In particular, OJJDP would like to thank Michelle Arciaga, Van Dougherty, John 

Moore, Kimberly Hale, Steve Ray, and James Howell, who prepared the document. 

This guide relies heavily on the research and experiences of a number of practitioners and 

professionals in the field of youth gangs. Many people contributed directly and indirectly to 

this document. OJJDP is grateful for the work of Dr. Irving Spergel, University of Chicago, 

and his associates who, in the early 1990s, collected and analyzed the practices of agencies 

involved in combating gangs. From this research, Spergel developed a model comprehensive 

program to reduce gang violence. In 1993, Spergel began to implement the Model in the 

Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. The Spergel Model has been tested, evaluated, and 

found to have positive results. 

With some adaptation, this design gave rise to the OJJDP Comprehensive Community-Wide 

Approach to Gangs. The initial demonstration sites (Bloomington, Illinois; 

San Antonio, Texas; Riverside, California; and Mesa and Tucson, Arizona) began 

implementation of the Model in 1995. In 1998, OJJDP launched the Rural Gang Initiative in 

four sites (Glenn County, California; Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Elk City, Oklahoma; and 

Cowlitz County, Washington). In 2000, OJJDP began the Gang-Free Communities and 

Schools Program. Four sites participated in the Gang-Free Communities Program 

(East Los Angeles, California; Broward County, Florida; Lakewood, Washington; and 

San Francisco, California). Four sites also participated in the Gang-Free Schools Program 

(Houston, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; East Cleveland, Ohio; and Miami-Dade County, 

Florida). In 2003, the Gang Reduction Program was started. This program was a further 

adaptation of the Model in that it added prevention and reentry to the Model’s concept. The 

program was initiated in Richmond, Virginia; Los Angeles, California; North Miami Beach, 

Florida; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

OJJDP thanks the project directors, the staff, and the many individuals at these sites who 

have contributed so materially to this program and, in the process, helped identify the best 

practices and lessons learned contained in this assessment guide. 

In addition, OJJDP would like to thank Finn-Aage Esbensen, Ph.D., University of Missouri 

at St. Louis; Karl Hill, Ph.D., Director, Seattle Social Development Project; and Jack Pollard, 

Ph.D., and Scott Bates, Ph.D. (formerly with Developmental Research and Programs, 

Seattle, Washington) for their insightful comments and assistance regarding risk factors and 

development of the student survey used in the assessment. 
Table of Contents 

 Page 

1. Introduction 1 

 The OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model 2 

 Assessing the Gang Problem 4 

2. Getting Started 7

 The Steering Committee 7 

 The Assessment Work Group 9 

 The Research Partner 10 

 The Project Director 11 

 Exhibit 2.1—Pittsburgh Youth Intervention Project 13 

Exhibit 2.2—Sample Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) 17 

for Agencies Participating in the Assessment 

 Exhibit 2.3—Gang Definitions 18 

 Exhibit 2.4—Project Director Sample Job Description 24 

3. Collecting the Data 26

4. Community Demographic Data 31

 Exhibit 4.1—Sample Community Description 35 

 Exhibit 4.2—Data Collection Worksheet 37 

5. Law Enforcement Data 38

 Exhibit 5.1—Gang Descriptive Data 41 

 Exhibit 5.2—Sample Police Incident Report Data Collection Sheet 44 

6. Student and School Data 49 

 Student Characteristics and Disciplinary Incidents 51 

 Student Survey 53 

 Conducting the Survey 55 

 School Staff Perceptions 56 

 Exhibit 6.1—Sample Passive/Active Consent Letters 58 

 Exhibit 6.2—Student Survey 60 

 Exhibit 6.3—Consent and Confidentiality 69 

 Exhibit 6.4—School Staff Perceptions Interview 71 

 Appendix A—Risk and Protective Factors 72 

 Appendix B—Item-Construct Dictionary and Associated Scales 78 

 for the Student Survey 

7. Community Perceptions Data 95 

 Gang-Involved Youth 97 

 Exhibit 7.1—Community Leader Interview Form 100 

 Exhibit 7.2—Community Resident Survey 101 

 Exhibit 7.3—Parent Focus Group Questions 103 

 Exhibit 7.4—Youth-Serving Agency Survey 104 

 Exhibit 7.5—Gang Member Interview Form 105 

 Exhibit 7.6—Consent Form and Receipt for Gang Member Interview 112 
Table of Contents 

 Page 

8. Community Resources Data 114 

 Exhibit 8.1—Community Resource Inventory 117 

9. Data-Collection Tools 118

 Self-Administered Surveys 118 

 Personal Interviews 118 

 Focus Groups 119 

 Exhibit 9.1—Guidelines for Conducting a Focus Group 121 

10. Using the Data 123 

 Exhibit 10.1—Key Findings 125 

11. References 132
1. Introduction 1

1. Introduction

In 1987, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) began supporting a research 

and development project to design a comprehensive approach to reduce and prevent youth gang violence. 

The initial phase of this project was directed by Dr. Irving Spergel at the University of Chicago. The 

project concluded in the early 1990s and resulted in the development of the Spergel Model of Gang 

Intervention and Suppression, later renamed the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model. The OJJDP 

Comprehensive Gang Model (Model) calls for five core strategies to be delivered through an integrated 

approach from a team of community agencies and organizations. The five strategies are (1) community 

mobilization; (2) social intervention, including street outreach; (3) provision of opportunities; 

(4) suppression; and (5) organizational change. 

In 1993, Dr. Spergel began implementing the initial version of the Model in the Little Village 

neighborhood of Chicago. The goal of the project was to reduce the high level of violence of gang 

members in two specific gangs. Called the Gang Violence Reduction Program, the project lasted five 

years. An evaluation of the project has been conducted with several positive results, including reduction 

of serious violent and property crimes, reduction of active gang involvement of older gang members, 

improved educational and employment status, and fewer total violent crime and drug arrests (Spergel, 

2007). 

In 1995, OJJDP began to test the Model in five selected sites—Bloomington, Illinois; Mesa and Tucson, 

Arizona; Riverside, California; and San Antonio, Texas. These sites, part of OJJDP’s Comprehensive 

Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Program, participated in 

a demonstration of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model in urban and suburban areas. In the process of 

establishing these sites, it became clear that to successfully implement the Model, the lead agency and its 

partner agencies must fully understand the Model, the implementation process, and perhaps most 

important, the nature and scope of the community’s gang problems. Experience with these sites 

reinforced the principle that a thorough assessment of the community’s gang problem was a prerequisite 

to implementation. The evaluations of each site, as well as the evaluation of the Little Village 

project, can be accessed through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 

http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Search/SearchResults.aspx?txtKeywordSearch=Spergel&fromSearch=1. 

The nation’s youth gang problem, as tracked by the National Youth Gang Surveys (NYGS), continues to 

affect a large number of jurisdictions both large and small. Since the early 2000s, not only has every 

large city (population over 100,000) in the United States experienced gang problems in some form or 

another, but so have a majority of suburban counties and a sizeable number of smaller cities and rural 

counties. In fact, it is estimated that more than 3,550 jurisdictions experienced gang problems in 2007, a 

25 percent increase over the 2002 estimate. Moreover, during this same period, the number of reported 

gangs and gang members increased 25 percent and 8 percent, respectively, reaching an estimated 

nationwide total of more than 27,000 gangs and 788,000 gang members in 2007. 

Of course, it is the activities of gang members that are of central concern, particularly the gang members’ 

degree of involvement in serious and/or violent offenses within the community. NYGS data reveals a 

substantially varying pattern of gang crime across the country. In terms of lethal gang violence, NYGS 

data shows that, with few exceptions, nearly all gang-related homicides recorded annually by law 

enforcement occur in the largest cities and metropolitan counties. However, the less-populated areas are 

not without gang crime problems as well. In these communities, gangs are frequently reported to be 

involved in property and drug offenses. Of further concern, NYGS data reveals recent increases in two 
1. Introduction 2

serious gang-related offenses, aggravated assault and drug sales, among a majority of gang-problem 

jurisdictions nationwide. Data from these survey findings indicate that gangs continue to remain a 

significant and ongoing problem across the United States. 

Responding to the continuing problems of youth gangs and youth gang violence, over the past 10 years 

OJJDP launched three initiatives based on the lessons learned from the original urban sites’ demonstration 

of the Model. 

In 1998, citing recent evidence that youth gangs were emerging in rural areas, OJJDP developed the Rural 

Gang Initiative (RGI), based on the experiences of the urban sites, with a focus on conducting a 

comprehensive gang problem assessment and development of an implementation plan. 

In 2000, OJJDP began the Gang Free Schools and Communities Initiative. In this initiative, the Gang 

Free Schools Program seeks to develop a school component to the Comprehensive Gang Model that 

involves development of projects within the school setting and linking of the school component to 

community-based gang prevention, intervention, and suppression activities. Sites in the Gang Free 

Communities Program were to demonstrate the Model but were to leverage local resources more 

extensively. 

In 2003, OJJDP launched the Gang Reduction Program. This program is designed to reduce gang 

activity in targeted neighborhoods. The program’s goals seek to integrate prevention, intervention, 

suppression, and reentry activities and use existing community resources to sustain the program. 

The next section provides a brief description of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model. For more 

information on the research and development of the Model, as well as information about demonstration 

sites, refer to Best Practices To Address Community Gang Problems, pp. 1–4 and Appendix A. This 

document is available at http://www.ojjdp.gov/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=253257. It is also 

recommended that project staff also review The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach by Dr. 

Irving Spergel for a more in-depth discussion of Dr. Spergel’s theory (Spergel, 1995) and Reducing Gang 

Crime: The Little Village Project (Spergel, 2007, and Spergel et al., 2006). 

The OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model 

The terms “youth gang” and “street gang” are commonly used interchangeably and refer to neighborhood 

or street-based youth groups that are made up substantially of individuals under the age of 24. While 

youth in this age group are most likely to be engaged in or at risk of committing serious or violent gang 

crimes, the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model focuses primarily on youth gang members under 22 years 

of age, based on OJJDP’s authorizing legislation. Motorcycle gangs, prison gangs, ideological gangs, and 

hate groups comprising primarily adults are excluded from the definition. 

The OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model holds that “neither social disorganization, underclass, nor 

poverty theory alone explains the scope and nature of delinquent of criminal gang association and gang 

crime. Social disorganization or lack of integration of essential elements of a local community system 

provides the basic stimulus for the formation of youth gangs. Lack of legitimate opportunity and the 

presence of alternative criminal opportunities are more likely to explain the character and scope of gang 

behavior” (Spergel, 1995). 

Drawing principally on social disorganization theory to frame the development of the Model, Dr. Irving 

Spergel and a research team from the University of Chicago expected that there were core strategies to 

address gang youth, their families, and the community institutions that would promote youths’ transition 

from adolescence to productive members of society. With this in mind, law enforcement and other 
1. Introduction 3

agency personnel in 65 cities reporting problems with gangs were surveyed. Analysis of that information, 

in conjunction with site visits and focus groups, led to a mix of five strategies (described below) that 

address key concerns raised by the theory on which the Model is based. 

Five Strategies of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model 

Community mobilization: Involvement of local citizens, including former gang youth, community groups 

and agencies, and the coordination of programs and staff functions within and across agencies.

Opportunities provision: The development of a variety of specific education, training, and employment 

programs targeted at gang-involved youth. 

Social intervention: Youth-serving agencies, schools, grassroots groups, faith-based organizations, police 

agencies, and other criminal justice organizations reaching out and acting as links to gang-involved youth, 

their families, and the conventional world and needed services. 

Suppression: Formal and informal social control procedures, including close supervision or monitoring of 

gang youth by agencies of the criminal justice system and by community-based agencies, schools, and 

grassroots groups. 

Organizational change and development: Development and implementation of policies and procedures 

that result in the most effective use of available and potential resources, within and across agencies, to 

better address the gang problem. 

The OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model requires that these strategies be delivered in a focused manner, 

based on a thorough assessment of the current gang problem in a community, its potential causes, and 

contributing factors. Although early implementation of the Model specifically and principally involved 

intervention and suppression, more recent demonstration sites have included prevention as a key 

component of their projects. The inclusion of prevention activities is based on the premise that focused 

gang prevention efforts must work in tandem with the other strategies. It is this combination of strategies 

that ensures both short- and long-term reduction in gang crime and violence, and that the most costeffective approach, prevention, can have an effect on those most at risk of gang involvement (Wyrick, 

2006). 

To facilitate implementation of the strategies, the community and its leaders must be willing to 

acknowledge the gang problem. If denial is present, it must be confronted. Once the gang problem is 

acknowledged, a thorough understanding of the nature, scope, and dynamics of the problem is required. 

The problem must be regarded as systemic in the sense that activities of youth in gangs and the 

community response to the gang problem are interactive. The behavior of youth and community 

organizations in relation to each other is expected to change in the course of implementation of the 

Model. 

In summary, the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model espouses an approach that includes several essential 

elements: 

1. The gang project is overseen by a steering committee of policy or decision makers from 

agencies and organizations that have an interest in or responsibility for addressing the 

community’s gang problem. These representatives should not only set policy and oversee the 

overall direction of the gang project, but they should take responsibility for spearheading 

efforts in their own organizations to remove barriers to services, and to social and economic 

opportunities; develop effective criminal justice, school, and social agency procedures; and 

promote policies that will further the goals of the gang strategy. The steering committee will 
1. Introduction 4

also provide general direction to the agencies collaborating in conducting a gang problem 

assessment. 

2. Initial and continuous problem assessment using qualitative and quantitative data. Those 

with responsibility for addressing the problem—representatives of police agencies, schools, 

probation, youth agencies, grassroots organizations, government, and others—participate in 

identifying the gang problem’s nature and causes. The assessment results in an understanding 

of who is involved in gang crime and where in the community it is concentrated. This, in 

conjunction with other data and information, enables targeting of a community/neighborhood 

where gang crime most often occurs and the target populations. 

3. Once the problem is described, an implementation plan is developed for coordinating efforts 

of and sharing appropriate information among those who work with gang youth on a daily 

basis. Goals and objectives based on the assessment findings should be developed for each of 

the five core strategies. Rationales for services, tactics, and policies and procedures that 

involve each of the key agencies should be articulated and then implemented for each of the 

five strategies. These activities must be closely coordinated and integrated to ensure that the 

work of collaborating agencies is complementary. 

4. An intervention team is a primary component of the Model. The goal of the intervention 

team is to share information that presents opportunities for all members of the team to engage 

gang youth and work together to determine appropriate services for the youth. Agencies 

represented on the team should include police, juvenile and adult probation, street outreach 

staff, school personnel, social service agency staff, job/employment development 

representatives, and others who may provide intervention services to youth. 

5. Community capacity building for sustainability should be considered and built into the 

implementation plan at the start of the project. Capacity-building for both short- and longterm issues should be considered, including support from the business community and federal 

and state funds to develop anti-gang strategies. 

6. Ongoing data collection and analysis to inform the process and evaluate its impact. Data 

about the progress of the project also helps leverage funds and resources and identifies 

needed changes in the implementation plan. 

Assessing the Gang Problem 

America is a nation of problem solvers. We see something that is not working and put our energy into 

making it right. Often, however, our first idea of what might work does not. This is particularly true if 

time is not taken to understand the problem in as much detail as possible. Such is the case with gang 

crime. Too often, because gangs represent a serious threat to the safety of our communities, it is assumed 

that more police, increased suppression efforts, or tougher legislation alone will counter gangs when 

research and experience both suggest that a comprehensive approach will be more successful. In many 

communities, gang crimes are only the tip of an iceberg that includes an array of symptoms, risk factors, 

and bad outcomes. What makes the problem more complicated is its diversity: white, black, Hispanic, 

and Pacific-Asian gangs differ, even in the same city. Gangs, even when they have the same names, are 

different across cities and towns and use a mix of gang cultures and symbols (Starbuck et al., 2001). 

Up-front assessment and planning of the gang problem can save both time and resources. It also can 

prevent other pitfalls such as overstating the scope of the problem, alarming community residents 

unnecessarily, and wrongly labeling youth as gang members and possibly violating their civil rights. 
1. Introduction 5

Why Focus on Gangs and Not Juvenile Delinquency? 

For years, youth-related gang crime has been growing, but the extent and nature of crimes committed by 

gang members are only now beginning to emerge. Are gangs really responsible for increases in crime, or 

are youth who are similarly at risk but do not join gangs committing just as many crimes? From the 

earliest to the most recent studies, criminologists have consistently found that, when compared with both 

delinquent and nondelinquent youth who do not belong to gangs, gang members are far more involved in 

delinquency, especially serious and violent delinquency (Esbensen, 2000; Battin-Pearson et al., 1998). 

Few estimates exist of the proportion of all delinquent acts for which gang members are responsible; that 

is, although it is known that gang members have a higher rate of offending than nonmembers, the 

proportion of the total amount of crime that can be attributed to them is unknown. This is an important 

issue because, if gang members are responsible for a large proportion of all offenses, efforts to reduce the 

overall amount of crime in society will not be successful unless those efforts include effective gang 

prevention, intervention, and suppression programs (Thornberry and Burch, 1997). 

OJJDP-supported longitudinal studies in Denver, Seattle, and Rochester have shown that gang members 

are responsible for a large proportion of both violent and nonviolent delinquent acts, as self-reported in 

each study’s sample. Gang members commit serious and violent offenses at a rate several times higher 

than nongang youth. In Denver, gang members committed approximately three times as many serious 

and violent offenses as nongang youth. In Rochester, the differences were even greater—gang members 

committed seven times as many violent acts, and in Seattle, five times as many. These same studies found 

that youth gang members reported committing a disproportionate share of nonviolent offenses such as 

minor assaults, felony thefts, minor thefts, drug trafficking, property offenses, and serious delinquencies 

(Howell, 1998). 

In the Seattle sample, gang members self-reported committing 58 percent of general delinquent acts, 51 

percent of minor assaults, 54 percent of felony thefts, 53 percent of minor thefts, 62 percent of drug 

trafficking offenses, and more than 59 percent of property offenses (Battin-Pearson et al., 1998). In the 

Denver sample, gang members self-reported committing 43 percent of drug sales and 55 percent of all 

street offenses (Esbensen et al., 1993). In the Rochester sample, gang members reported committing 70 

percent of drug sales, 68 percent of all property offenses, and 86 percent of all serious delinquencies 

(Thornberry, 1998). 

Purpose of the Assessment 

Research has consistently shown that gang problems differ among and within communities (Howell, 

1998). Unless communities explore and clearly understand the nature and scope of their gang problems 

based on multiple sources of information, they cannot begin to respond effectively or efficiently. A 

properly conducted assessment of the gang problem will: 

 Identify the most serious and prevalent gang-related problems. 

 Determine potential factors contributing to gang problems. 

 Identify target group(s) for prevention, intervention, and suppression efforts. 

 Shape community mobilization efforts and identify community members who should be 

involved. 

 Identify various organizational or systems issues that must be addressed to have a longterm effect on the problem. 

 Identify current efforts to address gangs and gang-involved youth. 
1. Introduction 6

A comprehensive assessment of the gang problem incorporates the data, the experience of service 

providers, and the views of parents, youth, and community residents. The problem of youth gang 

violence must in fact exist, be perceived, and be communicated as a problem or a threat to the 

community. An assessment is the most important step in the design and implementation of the 

community’s plan to address the youth gang problem. Guided by data, the assessment reliably measures 

the scope and depth of the gang problem to provide the basic information needed to develop strategic 

plans. 

Sites that conducted a comprehensive assessment found that they were better equipped during the 

planning and implementation process to design appropriate responses. The assessment process helped 

sites determine types and levels of gang activity, gang crime patterns, community perceptions, and service 

gaps. They also were able to better target appropriate populations, understand and explain why those 

populations merited attention, and make the best use of available resources. 

The assessment process consists of three general steps: 

 Laying the groundwork: Assembling those individuals who will oversee the entire 

process and providing direction for data collection efforts 

 Collecting and interpreting the data: Collecting and interpreting data on a range of 

indicators in multiple domains 

 Preparing an assessment report: Preparing findings and the final report 

This guide describes the data variables and data-collection instruments, as well as sources of data. It also 

provides suggestions on how to organize and analyze the data and guidelines for preparing an assessment 

report. Other portions of this guide deal with definitions of gang and gang crime, issues of confidentiality 

and consent, and other information relevant to conducting the assessment. 

Information from the assessment is vital if the community is to spend time and money where it will do the 

most good. Three compelling reasons for conducting this assessment are that (1) each community is 

unique and needs customized programs and activities; (2) data bring an objective research-based 

perspective and help move the discussion from ―what we think‖ to ―what we know‖; and (3) the data 

create a baseline against which progress can be measured and documented. 

Findings from the assessment will provide local policymakers and practitioners with an unbiased source 

of information and set the stage for the creation of goals, objectives, and activities. The guide has been 

developed to assist these stakeholders in assessing and understanding their youth gang problems and 

developing an integrated plan to reduce gang crime in their communities. It is meant specifically to assist 

those individuals who will conduct the assessment, as well as those who will oversee the assessment 

effort and planning process. It draws on the experience of communities that have developed and 

implemented an anti-gang project but is flexible enough to accommodate community differences. The 

methodology described here draws from the best of tested techniques, including those described in the 

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) publication, Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical 

Guide (1998) and an earlier version of this manual published in 2002. It includes lessons learned from 

five years of implementing and evaluating the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model in five urban sites and 

best practices and lessons learned from replication of the Model in 16 additional sites. 

This manual is intended to be a precursor to A Guide to Implementing the Comprehensive Gang Model,

which, drawing on the information provided by the assessment, will provide a process for developing a 

comprehensive plan to implement the Model’s five core strategies.
2. Getting Started 7 

2. Getting Started

Committed leadership must be available at the outset to oversee the assessment process, provide direction 

for the data-collection phase, and guide the community in using the data to plan further action. Sites that 

have conducted comprehensive gang assessments have found the following administrative structure to be 

effective. 

First, policymakers in key agencies must be engaged to commit to fully participate in the assessment, 

allow access to data from their agencies, and allow staff members to work on collecting and analyzing 

data. This group of policymakers will be referred to as the Steering Committee. 

Because it is unlikely that agency heads and community leaders will have the necessary time to handle the 

details and day-to-day activities of conducting the assessment, a smaller work group should be convened 

by the Steering Committee. This Assessment Work Group will represent the key agencies in the work 

of the assessment process, including gathering, analyzing, and compiling the data in a usable form. These 

individuals may serve in a dual capacity on both the Steering Committee and the Assessment Work 

Group, if they desire, or may be appointed by the key agencies to work on the assessment. 

In general, the analysis required for the assessment is not complex, but a partner with experience in 

manipulating and analyzing data may be helpful for some pieces of the assessment. This 

individual/agency will be referred to as the Research Partner. 

Because the relationships between interacting agencies can be quite complex, and because the collection, 

analysis, dissemination, and action-planning from this assessment require a great deal of work, it is 

essential that an individual coordinate this effort. This individual will be referred to as the Project 

Director. 

All of these designated groups/individuals will be discussed in greater depth in this chapter. 

The Steering Committee 

Assessments are of little use if the results or recommendations are not accepted by those who have the 

authority to implement the approaches proposed to respond to the gang problem. Since these individuals 

must ultimately agree to a plan for addressing and solving gang problems, it is vital that they be involved 

in the effort from the beginning. 

Steering Committee membership should be diverse and composed of key policymakers and administrative 

leaders of agencies and community organizations concerned with the community’s gang problem, as well 

as other, more informal community leaders. The members should have decision-making responsibilities, 

be able to make agency policy changes, and be influential with community groups and/or neighborhood 

groups. 

A critical aspect of conducting a comprehensive assessment is commitment to support the project by the 

primary law enforcement agency and the office of the mayor or county executive. The Steering 

Committee should also include representatives of: 

 Probation (juvenile and adult) 

 Parole (juvenile and adult) 
2. Getting Started 8 

 Prosecution 

 Courts (juvenile and adult) 

 Schools (mainstream and alternative) 

 Youth and family agencies 

 Business community 

 Faith community 

 Manpower and job-training agencies 

 Grassroots organizations 

 Public housing 

 Local neighborhood associations 

 Federal and state agencies, if appropriate 

It is suggested that a well-respected and active member of the community assume the duties of Steering 

Committee chair. Chairs in communities that have conducted these types of assessments have included 

directors of community-based agencies, police chiefs, mayors, school district administrators, and other 

types of agency heads. The main qualifications of a chair include: 

1. Strong interpersonal and leadership skills. 

2. Perceived as calm, objective, and resistant to political manipulation. 

3. Receiving no financial benefit from the assessment. 

4. Serving in a professional role where he or she is a peer of other policymakers. 

The chair may be appointed by a key agency or may be elected by the Steering Committee membership 

using bylaws created by the group. For an example of the bylaws used in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 

please refer to Exhibit 2.1 on page 13. The Steering Committee chair should ensure that each committee 

member is committed to seeing the assessment through to completion. The chair is also expected to 

conduct each Steering Committee meeting. 

The prestige and influence of Steering Committee members give the effort legitimacy. Gaining the buyin of key agencies for the assessment, asking key agencies to provide a written commitment to participate 

in the assessment, and providing access to data are pivotal factors in succeeding in this work. For a 

sample letter of commitment and a memorandum of understanding, please refer to Exhibit 2.2 on 

page 17. 

The committee’s job during the assessment phase is to provide overall leadership to the entire effort, 

create or appoint the membership of the Assessment Work Group, determine what data will be collected 

and how, provide some of the personnel needed to complete the technical work, facilitate access to data 

and other resources, and determine how the data will be used and/or disseminated. This initial 

commitment guarantees assistance from organizations that are directly represented on the committee 

throughout the assessment process. 

An important initial role for the committee is to develop a consensus on gang-related definitions that will 

be used for collecting gang crime and other data. This consensus on definitions must be achieved 
2. Getting Started 9 

prior to collecting data. The Steering Committee should refer to Exhibit 2.3 on page 18 to guide the 

discussion of the following terms: 

1. What is a gang? 

2. Who is a gang member? 

3. What is a gang incident? 

It may be helpful for a member of the Steering Committee to have a legal background. This individual 

can brief the committee on existing laws or statutes relating to these topics and assist with the creation of 

bylaws. This subject will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 3, Collecting the Data. 

Throughout the assessment process, the Steering Committee should meet periodically (monthly or 

bimonthly seems to work best) to discuss the progress of the assessment. The assessment should be 

conducted in an orderly fashion because some data will lead to collecting additional data. The 

Assessment Work Group should provide periodic briefings to the committee on early findings from the 

data-collection effort, and committee members should use this time to begin to familiarize themselves 

with the data collected at each stage. 

During multiple stages of the assessment process, Steering Committee members may be called upon 

collectively or individually to clear barriers, create policies and/or protocols for data collection, and 

determine data collection plans. Memoranda of understanding or other written documents should reflect 

this ongoing and important role. 

The Assessment Work Group 

The Assessment Work Group is responsible for collecting and analyzing data and preparing it in a useful 

form for the Steering Committee. A few hard-working individuals can share these responsibilities. In 

fact, it is preferable to assign responsibility for this work to a core group of four to six persons 

representing the key agencies. At least one law enforcement officer will need to be assigned to this group 

to collect the law enforcement data. Limiting the group to this size enhances communication among the 

team members, improves the quality of the work they do, and shortens the time needed to conduct the 

assessment by reducing the need for meetings, memos, and progress reports. Other workers will likely be 

needed to distribute and collect survey forms, conduct interviews, or participate in other data-collection 

activities, and these workers may be drawn from the key agencies, local community organizations, or a 

local college/university partner. 

The Assessment Work Group should ask the Steering Committee to review all major decisions about the 

data-collection methods to be used. Although it is the Assessment Work Group’s job to handle the 

details, the Steering Committee must know about and have an opportunity to comment on the populations 

to be surveyed, the format of surveys and other instruments, and the types of data to be collected and 

analyzed. It is a good idea to hold a meeting early in the assessment process so the Steering Committee 

can brief the Assessment Work Group members on their plan and roles. The Assessment Work Group 

also must keep the Steering Committee informed of barriers to the data-collection process. If barriers are 

encountered in collecting data from agencies, Steering Committee members should be willing and able to 

troubleshoot on behalf of the Assessment Work Group to obtain the relevant data. 

The Assessment Work Group should apprise Steering Committee members of progress at all stages of the 

assessment and provide periodic briefings on early findings from the data. For example, when the 

community resident survey has been completed, the Assessment Work Group could provide early 
2. Getting Started 10

findings from preliminary examination of that data. Or, as gang crime data are analyzed, a briefing could 

be provided on the most prevalent crimes gang members are committing and when they are committing 

them. Even though the data are not fully analyzed at this point, this gives the Steering Committee an 

incremental look, by type, at data that will be important to other aspects of the assessment. Steering 

committees in most communities have found that the vast amount of data from the assessment was 

somewhat overwhelming when presented to them all at once. These periodic briefings also will have the 

added benefit of keeping Steering Committee members engaged in the project. 

After the data have been collected and analyzed, the team should provide a report to the Steering 

Committee, answering any questions that arise from the data. This report will be discussed in more detail 

in Chapter 10. 

The Research Partner 

The Assessment Work Group may want to include a Research Partner to assist in data collection and 

analysis and in writing the final Assessment Report. The Research Partner should have demonstrated 

experience and skills in traditional data-collection methods and analysis practices and the ability to 

display and explain data in oral and written formats. It is recommended that someone from a local 

planning or analysis unit work with the group on some aspects of the data collection. For other types of 

data, a local college, university, or other research-capable organization could provide this assistance. 

Most of the data analysis that will be performed for the assessment (community demographic data, law 

enforcement data, school demographics data) is relatively simple and can be performed by someone with 

a strong background in Excel or a similar data analysis program. However, collecting and analyzing the 

perceptions data (community, community leader, youth/student, and gang member), which requires 

dealing with human subjects, can be a more complex task. For these work products, a partner at the 

college or university level is recommended to help create protocols to protect the confidentiality of 

participants, and in some cases (particularly with youth/students and gang members) to conduct 

interviews or focus groups. This partner can also be very helpful in conducting the more complex 

analysis these types of data may require. The Research Partner should be a true partner with the 

Assessment Work Group and Steering Committee, providing support to both groups in explaining 

analysis processes and how the data can be interpreted. 

Ideally, the relationship that is developed with the Research Partner can continue as the Steering 

Committee moves forward to implement plans addressing the problems that are identified by the 

assessment; this Research Partner can transition into serving as an evaluation partner. In this role, the 

partner can help to develop plans and protocols for ongoing data collection, gather and store that data, and 

provide regular reports to the Steering Committee. The partner can also assist the Steering Committee in 

identifying ways of measuring its efforts and creating self-evaluation processes that can ensure long-term 

sustainability of the project. 

Confidentiality and Human Subjects Protection 

You will collect a great deal of information in conducting an assessment of your local gang problem, 

some of which will be identifiable to individuals. Care must be taken to maintain the confidentiality of 

this information and to protect the rights of those who have participated in the study. The 

U.S. Department of Justice has adopted specific regulations for ensuring confidentiality and protection of 

research participants. These regulations include: 

1. Privacy certificate as required by 28 CFR Part 22. Privacy certificates document the 

procedures that will be used to secure data. 
2. Getting Started 11

2. Protection of human subjects as required by 28 CFR Part 46 and the role of institutional 

review boards (IRBs) in complying with this regulation. 28 CFR Part 46 describes the role of 

IRBs in ensuring that assessment activities that involve human subjects do not violate their 

rights. Most universities maintain IRBs, and the Research Partner at each site should be able 

to provide considerable guidance on complying with these regulations. 

Project Directors and Research Partners at each site should become very familiar with these regulations 

and should ensure that appropriate measures are taken to comply. 

The Project Director 

Most communities have found that a full-time director is required to ensure the completion of this 

process. In a few communities, the Project Director has assumed responsibility for coordinating the 

activities of the assessment as a portion of his or her existing job, but this poses difficulties. Having a 

full-time Project Director helps ensure that the work of the Steering Committee and the Assessment Work 

Group is proceeding in a timely manner. The Project Director can also work with directors of community 

agencies and organizations to negotiate possible turf issues and should serve as the primary contact for all 

involved in the project. In short, the Project Director is the glue that holds the efforts of the Steering 

Committee, Assessment Work Group, and Research Partner together during this process. Ideally, this 

individual should also have the skills and background necessary to transition into the role of directing and 

executing whatever plans are undertaken by the Steering Committee as a result of the assessment. This 

continuity has been found to be valuable in areas where comprehensive assessments have been 

undertaken. 

The Project Director may also be invited to make presentations about the assessment and the Steering 

Committee’s efforts to community organizations, service clubs, schools, churches, and others. A sample 

job description is provided as Exhibit 2.4 on page 24.

In summary, it is important that the Steering Committee, the Assessment Work Group, the Research 

Partner, and the Project Director clearly understand their separate functions and how they work together 

during the assessment and planning year. As mentioned previously, the Steering Committee provides 

overall leadership for the entire effort, including appointing the Assessment Work Group and overseeing 

their work, developing an implementation plan, and publicizing the effort. The Assessment Work 

Group’s primary responsibilities are to conduct the assessment and prepare the complete analyzed data 

that clearly describes the community’s gang problem, its impact on all levels of the community, possible 

underlying conditions that are contributing to the gang problem, and potential areas where action is 

required. The Steering Committee and the Assessment Work Group must work closely together during 

the assessment and planning phases. 

The Steering Committee will: 

1. Provide overall leadership for the entire effort. 

2. Create the Assessment Work Group and oversee its work. 

3. Develop gang-related definitions. 

4. Develop an assessment plan. 

5. Publicize the effort. 
2. Getting Started 12

The Assessment Work Group will: 

1. Design a data-collection plan. 

2. Conduct the assessment.

3. Provide periodic briefings to the Steering Committee on preliminary findings from the 

data. 

4. Prepare a final report for the Steering Committee. 

The Research Partner, as part of the Assessment Work Group, will: 

1. Assist the Assessment Work Group in all phases of data collection. 

2. Assist the Assessment Work Group in analysis and interpretation of data. 

3. Assist the Assessment Work Group in preparation of the data as a final report. 

During the assessment, the Project Director will: 

1. Manage the day-to-day administration of the project. 

2. Maintain appropriate records. 

3. Arrange Steering Committee meetings; prepare appropriate minutes for each meeting and 

other required/requested reports. 

4. Coordinate and monitor all data collection by the Assessment Work Group. 

5. Serve as liaison among the Steering Committee, Assessment Work Group, and Research 

Partner, updating personnel on progress and challenges and arranging joint meetings as 

necessary. 
2. Getting Started 13

Exhibit 2.1

Pittsburgh Youth Intervention Project 

Steering Committee Bylaws

ARTICLE I – Name 

The name of the Steering Committee shall be the Gang Free Schools and Community Initiative, also 

known as the Pittsburgh Youth Intervention Project, a project of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Safe 

Schools Office. 

ARTICLE II – Purpose 

Based on a data driven assessment ending in 2001, this project is established to reduce gang related 

violence affecting the learning environment of schools as well as the youth attending those schools and 

residing in communities in the South Park of Pittsburgh. 

ARTICLE III – Goals and Objectives 

The overriding goal of the Pittsburgh Youth Intervention Project is to participate in the Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Gang Prevention, Intervention and Suppression Program 

to implement and test a comprehensive program model design for gang prevention, intervention and 

suppression that will mobilize the multidisciplinary leadership of the community and reduce the incidence 

of gang related crime and gang membership in and around the Pittsburgh Public Schools. 

ARTICLE IV – Project Director 

A. Role of the Project Director: The Project Director shall oversee the fiscal and 

contractual obligations for the project, ensuring the fulfillment of all OJJDP and the 

School District of Pittsburgh requirements. The Project Director is the individual 

who is responsible for the administration of the grant under which this project 

functions. 

B. Committees: The Project Director shall serve as the School District of Pittsburgh 

liaison to the Steering Committee, permanent committees and other ad-hoc 

committees. The Project Director is required to attend all regular Steering 

Committee meetings, standing committee meetings and ad-hoc committee meetings. 

The Project Director will not be a voting member of the Steering Committee. The 

Project Director will ensure the meeting minutes are recorded and distributed to 

committee members. 

C. Accountability: The Project Director will report to the Steering Committee 

concerning the status of the project and other relevant issues. 

D. Selection: The Project Director will be an employee of the School District of 

Pittsburgh, and will be selected by the personnel committee of the Steering 

Committee. In cases of vacancies the Personnel Committee shall meet within 5 days 

to develop a plan for replacement selection. 
2. Getting Started 14

ARTICLE V – Members 

Members: The Steering Committee shall consist of members of the community at large interested in gang 

prevention, intervention and suppression. 

ARTICLE VI – Governance 

A. Governing Body: The Steering Committee shall be comprised of representatives from: 

1. Schools 

2. Youth Employment Agencies 

3. Grassroots Organizations and Community Mobilization Groups 

4. Community-Based Youth Agencies 

5. Law Enforcement 

6. Prosecution 

7. Judiciary 

8. Probation 

9. Corrections/Parole 

10. Public Housing 

11. Mental Health 

12. Drug and Alcohol 

13. Evaluation and Research 

14. Government 

15. Religious 

16. Medical Community 

17. Business Community 

18. Youth 

B. Appointment: The members of the Steering Committee shall be selected by the 

agency/organization which they are representing. 

C. Vacancies: Should a member of the Steering Committee that represents an appointed 

organization vacate the position, the organization which they are representing has thirty 

days to appoint another member to the Steering Committee. If the appointing 

organization fails to do so within thirty days, the Chair of the Steering Committee will 

contact the head of the organization to obtain the name of a new appointee. 

D. Voting: Quorum shall consist of 1/4 of the Steering Committee. No action shall be taken 

unless the action has been approved by a majority of the members of the Steering 

Committee. At no time shall a vote be binding if less then 12 voting members are 

present. Should an appointed member not be able to attend a Steering Committee 

meeting, another representative from the appointing organization may attend in their 

absence, but the substitute may not vote on any issues that should arise in the Steering 

Committee meeting. Substitutions shall be limited to no more than two substitutions per 

calendar year. 

 

E. Parliamentary Authority: The rules contained in the most recently revised edition of 

Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the Steering Committee. The Chair of the Steering 

Committee shall make all necessary rulings. 

F. Meetings: The Steering Committee shall have no fewer than 4 meetings within a 

calendar year. The Steering Committee shall invite the public no less than once a year to 
2. Getting Started 15

discuss the status of the project. Notice of meetings involving votes shall be sent to the 

Steering Committee Members by the Project Director at a minimum of 7 days in advance. 

Public notice shall be in the form of an advertisement in a newspaper of general 

circulation. 

G. Meeting Attendance: After a member has missed three consecutive meetings, the 

Steering Committee Chair shall send written notification of the continued obligation as a 

voting member of the steering committee and if that member/organization deems it 

necessary to appoint another member to the committee, such member shall be named 

within 5 days. If no appointment is made, the Steering Committee shall vote upon the 

removal of such member and/or organization. 

ARTICLE VII – Officers 

A. Chair: There shall be one Chair of the Steering Committee. The Chair shall preside over 

meetings. Vice Chair: There shall be one Vice Chair of the Steering Committee. The 

Vice Chair shall preside in the absence of the Chair. 

B. Term: No officers shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same 

office. 

C. Election: The Chair and Vice Chair shall be elected by members of the Steering 

Committee to serve for one year, unless a successor is elected due to resignation or 

removal. Their term of office shall begin immediately upon election. Election of officers 

shall take place at the April (or spring) regular meeting of the Steering Committee. 

E. Vacancy: In the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of the Chair, a special election 

to replace the Chair shall be held at the regular meeting following the Chair’s resignation.

ARTICLE VIII – Committees 

A. Creation: The Steering Committee can establish and abolish ad-hoc committees by a 

majority vote. Ad-hoc committees shall consist of at least one Steering Committee 

member serving as the chair or co-chair and may consist of members of the community 

interested in assisting in the fulfillment of the goals and objectives as outlined by this 

project. 

B. Members: All standing committees shall include but are not limited to at least one 

member from the Steering Committee. 

C. Standing Committees: It shall be the duty of the Steering Committee to established the 

following permanent committees, and appoint its members: 

1. Interagency Team 

2. Bylaws 

3. Personnel 

 Meetings: Standing committee meetings may be held as necessary as deemed by a 

majority of committee members. 
2. Getting Started 16

ARTICLE IX – Amendments 

A. Amendment of Bylaws: All proposed amendments to these Bylaws shall be submitted in 

writing to the Bylaws Committee and reviewed by same. The Bylaws Committee shall 

take one of the following actions: 

1. Recommend approval or disapproval of the amendment to the Steering 

Committee. 

2. Discuss and approve revisions to the proposed amendment(s) before 

forwarding the amendment to the Steering Committee for approval or 

disapproval. In submitting a revised amendment, reasons for the changes 

shall be provided to the Steering Committee in writing. 

B. Approval/Disapproval: All action concerning amendments to the Bylaws shall be voted 

upon during a regular meeting of the Steering Committee, following the procedures 

described in Article VI. 

Adopted: October 18, 2004 Modified: March 22, 2005 
2. Getting Started 17

Exhibit 2.2 

Sample Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) 

for Agencies Participating in the Assessment 

Sample Law Enforcement MOU 

As part of our participation in this assessment, the South City Police Department will do the following: 

1. Modify the police incident report used by our agency to include an identifier for gang 

crime. 

2. Modify our computer system to collect the gang identifier. 

3. Train our officers on the new data collection system and identifying gang incidents. 

4. Provide personnel to review past and current incident/arrest reports to identify 

incidents/arrests that are gang-related. 

5. Provide aggregate information from these incident reports to the Assessment Team and 

the Steering Committee. 

6. Collaborate with other law enforcement agencies in the sharing of gang data as 

appropriate. 

Deputy Chief Samuel Young will serve as the South City Police Department’s representative on the 

Steering Committee and will attend meetings on a regular basis. 

Sample Probation MOU 

This memorandum will outline the participation of the South County Probation Department in the South 

City’s Community Gang Assessment. South County Probation Department will do the following: 

1. Probation Administrator Kelly Atkinson will serve on the Steering Committee and attend 

regularly scheduled meetings. 

2. Probation officer Mary Klein will be detailed to participate in the Assessment Team and 

can provide up to 30 hours of data collection assistance to this initiative. 

3. South County Juvenile Court personnel will collect and provide information on the 

criminal histories of 50 gang-involved probationers in an aggregate form to the 

Assessment Team. 

4. South County Probation staff will participate in the community perceptions gang survey. 
2. Getting Started 18

Exhibit 2.3

Gang Definitions 

Many gang researchers believe that the success or failure of communitywide attempts to address gang 

problems is likely to rest, in part, on how well problems are understood, defined, and diagnosed. Before 

the assessment can begin, one of the first tasks of the Steering Committee is to discuss and define key 

gang-related terms—―gang,‖ ―gang member,‖ and ―gang incident.‖ This is not an easy task. In fact, 

multiple meetings will probably be necessary to develop these definitions. 

Diverse perceptions and definitions of gangs present particular challenges to communities as they attempt 

to deal with gang problems in their neighborhoods (Decker and Kempf-Leonard, 1995). The term ―gang‖

carries with it many meanings and evokes a number of images for people. Citizens often mistakenly 

attribute general delinquent and juvenile criminal behavior to gangs. For some, a gang is a small group of 

four or five adolescents who loiter on a street corner. For others, the term may identify graffiti writers or 

taggers, drug users, skinheads, or a group of highly organized youth whose purpose is to make money 

from drug dealing. 

Each community is different, as are its gang problems. What the Steering Committee should strive for is 

agreement on definitions for use within its community. Do not worry if total consensus is not achieved. 

What is most important is that those who are being asked for information know how words are being 

defined. In some sites, this work may appear to have been done already because many law enforcement 

agencies have established definitions (some by state statute or local ordinance). Nevertheless, existing 

law enforcement definitions should not be used in the assessment unless they have been validated by state 

statute or local ordinance and/or accepted by other agencies that will be involved in the project, and by 

residents of the community. Law enforcement representatives should be encouraged to be flexible and 

open to considering alternative views of gangs. It is recommended that the committee start with how law 

enforcement defines a gang and then invite others to share their definitions or perspectives. 

Over the years, many attempts have been made to develop standardized and uniform definitions for these 

terms. Much of this work is summarized below. 

What Is a Gang? 

The media, the public, and the community often use the term ―gang‖ more loosely than do law 

enforcement agencies. Through sensationalized media accounts, some citizens equate gangs with highly 

organized drug distribution networks (Howell, 2007). While drug use and selling have been features of 

gang life for many years, the perception has arisen that all gangs are highly organized and heavily 

involved in the drug trade (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996; Klein, 1995). The public’s definition of a 

gang often describes a group of individuals—mostly, but not exclusively, inner-city youth—who are 

highly organized and heavily involved in the drug trade, serious property crimes, and violence. 

Law enforcement officials tend to rely on departmental or statutory definitions to describe a gang. In fact, 

most formal definitions of street gangs come from various law enforcement agencies or state statutes. 

From the law enforcement point of view, criminal behavior involving a group of individuals is a key 

component of the definition. However, statutes and law enforcement definitions normally do not 

distinguish among youth gangs, drug gangs, and adult criminal gangs (which sometimes have features 

characteristic of traditional organized crime groups). 

The National Crime Information Center (NCIC), operated by the FBI, contains a ―pointer‖ system or 

database called the Violent Gang and Terrorist Organizations File (VGTOF). The NCIC definition of a 

gang is: 
2. Getting Started 19

An ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons that have a 

common interest and/or activity characterized by the commission of or involvement in a 

pattern of criminal or delinquent conduct. 

These acts of criminal/delinquent conduct are defined as: 

 Narcotics distribution 

 Firearms or explosives violations 

 Murder 

 Extortion 

 Obstruction of justice, including witness intimidation and/or tampering 

And any other violent crimes such as: 

 Assault 

 Threats 

 Burglary 

 Carjacking 

NCIC’s definition of a gang also has been adopted by the FBI in conjunction with collection of gang 

crime data through the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the follow-on to the Uniform 

Crime Reporting (UCR) System. 

The National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations has developed a recommended definition of the 

term ―gang‖: 

A group or association of three or more persons who may have a common identifying 

sign, symbol, or name, and who individually or collectively engage in, or have engaged 

in, criminal activity which creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Criminal 

activity includes juvenile acts that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department defines a gang as:

A group of three or more persons who have a common identifying sign, symbol, or name, 

and whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern 

of criminal activity, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation within the 

community. 

Increasingly, state statutes and penal codes contain gang-related definitions. A selection of these state 

laws and definitions as well as gang-related municipal codes can be found at the National Youth Gang 

Center Web site: http://www.iir.com/nygc. 

In some states, definitions have been developed to enhance penalties for certain types of crimes if 

committed by a gang member. An example is California’s Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention 

Act (STEP) of 1988 (California Penal Code, sec.186.20 et seq.), which, with some modifications, has 

been adopted by a number of other states. 
2. Getting Started 20

The STEP Act defines a criminal street gang as: 

“Any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, 

a) having as one of its primary activities one or more criminal acts [including 28 specific offenses 

defined under the law] 

b) which has a common name or common identifying symbol; 

c) whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal 

activity.”

Since California adopted this definition in 1988, numerous other states have also codified gang definitions 

into their state statutes. These include, among others: 

Arizona: “Criminal Street Gang” means an ongoing formal or informal association of persons whose 

members or associates individually or collectively engage in the commission, attempted commission, 

facilitation, or solicitation of any felony act and that has at least one individual who is a criminal gang 

member.

Connecticut: “Gang” means a group of juveniles or youths who, acting in concert with each other, or 

with adults, engage in criminal activities.

Kentucky: “Criminal gang” means any alliance, network, or conspiracy, in law or in fact, of five (5) or 

more persons with an established hierarchy that, through its membership, or through the action of any 

member, engages in a continuing pattern of criminal activity. “Criminal gang” shall not include 

fraternal organizations, unions, corporations, associations, or similar entities, unless organized for the 

primary purpose of engaging in criminal activity. 

Illinois: “Streetgang” or “gang” or “organized gang” or “criminal street gang”: means any 

combination, confederation, alliance, network, conspiracy, understanding, or other similar conjoining, in 

law or in fact, of 3 or more persons, with an established hierarchy that, through its membership or 

through the agency of any member engages in a course or pattern of criminal behavior. 

Nevada: “Criminal gang” means any combination of persons, organized formally or informally, so 

constructed that the organization will continue its operation even if individual members enter or leave the 

organization, which: 

a) Has a common name or identifying symbol; 

b) Has particular conduct, status, or customs indicative of it; and 

c) Has as one of its common activities engaging in criminal activity punishable as a felony, other 

than the conduct which constitutes the primary offense. 

Researchers who study gangs also have great difficulty in reaching consensus on what constitutes a gang. 

To appreciate the variety of definitions that have emerged from gang research, the following examples are 

offered: 

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 invariable with a group name); and (c) have been involved in a 
2. Getting Started 21

sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from 

neighborhood residents and/or law enforcement agencies (Klein, 1971). 

A self-formed association of peers, bound together by mutual interests, with identifiable 

leadership, well-developed lines of authority, and other organizational features, who act 

in concert to achieve a specific purpose or purposes, which generally include the conduct 

of illegal activity and control over a particular territory, facility, or type of enterprise 

(Miller, 1980). 

Groups containing law-violating juveniles and adults that are complexly organized, 

although sometimes diffuse, and sometimes cohesive, with established leadership and 

membership rules. The gang also engages in a range of crime (but with significantly 

more violence) within a framework of norms and values in respect to mutual support, 

conflict relations with other gangs, and a tradition of turf, colors, signs, and symbols. 

Subgroups of the gang may be deferentially committed to various delinquent or criminal 

patterns, such as drug trafficking, gang fighting, or burglary (Curry and Spergel, 1988). 

Who Is a Gang Member? 

Gang membership involves very different levels of commitment and participation on the part of the 

individual. Establishing criteria for membership in a gang is critical to measuring the nature and scope of 

a community’s gang problem and must precede initiation of the assessment.

Once again, law enforcement agencies have attained greater agreement on membership criteria than have 

researchers. Some agencies have developed gang intelligence systems; and federal guidelines, state laws, 

departmental policy, or concern about infringement of civil liberties have caused departments to establish 

criteria for adding gang members to these databases. Documented evidence of gang membership also is 

required if enhanced penalties are sought under statutes such as the STEP Act. 

Increasingly, a law enforcement definition of a gang member begins with a reasonable suspicion that the 

individual is involved in the criminal activity of a gang. Once that criterion is satisfied, there are usually 

other criteria to be met before the individual is classified as a member. For example, the Los Angeles 

County Sheriff’s Department requires that at least one of the following criteria be met before classifying 

an individual as a gang member: 

 When an individual admits membership in a gang 

 When a reliable informant identifies an individual as a gang member 

 When an informant of previously untested reliability identifies an individual as a gang 

member and identity is corroborated by independent information 

 When an individual resides in or frequents a particular gang’s area; or affects their style 

of dress, use of hand signs, symbols, or tattoos; or maintains ongoing relationships with 

known gang members; and where the law enforcement officer documents reasonable 

suspicion that the individual is involved in gang-related activity or enterprise 

 When an individual has been arrested in the company of identified gang members for 

offenses that are consistent with usual gang activity 

The NCIC definition of a gang member is very close to that of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s 

Department, as is the definition recently adopted by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators 

Associations. 
2. Getting Started 22

Many law enforcement agencies have also developed criteria for individuals on the periphery of the gang. 

It is important that such individuals also be identified, for they may represent better targets for diversion 

and often can be valuable sources of information. NCIC defines a street gang affiliate as ―an individual 

who does not meet the criteria for a street gang member, but is known to affiliate with active gang 

members, and law enforcement personnel have established a reasonable suspicion that the individual is 

involved in criminal activity or enterprise, or promotes the criminal activity of a gang.‖

What Is a Gang Incident? 

Two general definitions of gang incidents are frequently used: member-based and motive-based. A 

motive-based incident is generally thought to be one that furthers the ends of the gang; a member-based 

incident is one that involves a gang member, regardless of what prompted the commission of the crime. 

Thus, if a member-based definition is used, the assault of a father by his gang-member son in a domestic 

dispute is considered a gang incident simply because the youth is a gang member. But if a motive-based 

definition is used for the same incident, it is not considered a gang incident. Each definition has its 

advocates, and the community must decide how to define a gang incident. Whichever definition is 

adopted, its consistent use is what is most important when collecting data on gang incidents. 

Gang Diversity 

As Steering Committee members work through developing gang-related definitions, they must recognize 

the wide diversity that exists among gangs. It is important to characterize individual gangs accurately. 

Not all gangs are the same, and not all gangs are involved in the same types of activities. The Steering 

Committee must clearly understand the nature of local gangs and the particular problems associated with 

them prior to developing strategies to address gang activity in the community. 

To understand the issue of gang diversity, which in turn affects how a gang is defined, it is helpful to 

discuss how gangs differ in terms of organization, ethnicity, and specialization. Media accounts of gang 

activities and gang life have led many people to believe that gang membership always involves drive-by 

shootings and sophisticated drug-trafficking networks. As noted previously, this is generally not the case. 

There are gangs and gang members for whom violence is a way of life, and a number of gangs are 

involved in drug trafficking, which presents a host of problems for some communities. However, other 

types of gangs are not heavily involved in violence or drug trafficking but may still be of concern. 

The popular image of youth gangs is that they are becoming more formally organized and more 

threatening to society and, therefore, should be feared. Large ―supergangs‖ with thousands of members 

have existed since the 1960s and, like other gangs, grow in times of conflict or crisis and decrease in size 

at other times. In recent years, youth gangs have been influenced by several trends. In the 1970s and 

1980s, many gangs became more dangerous because of increased mobility and access to more lethal 

weapons. Gangs of the 1980s and 1990s seemed to have extended their reach to both younger and older 

youth in terms of membership. They also had more members with prison records or ties to prison inmates 

and used weapons of greater lethality. They were less concerned with territorial affiliations, used alcohol 

and drugs more extensively, and were more involved in drug trafficking. Some youth gangs appear to 

have been transformed into entrepreneurial organizations by the crack cocaine epidemic that began in the 

mid-1980s. But the extent to which they have become drug-trafficking organizations is unclear. Some 

groups of youth are not seriously involved in illegal activities and provide mainly social opportunities for 

their membership. Some gangs seldom use drugs and alcohol, and some have close community ties 

(Howell, 1998). 

The average age of youth gang members has increased over the past 20 years. Survey respondents to the 

2004 National Youth Gang Survey (Egley and Ritz, 2006) placed youth gang members in the following 

age groups: 
2. Getting Started 23

 Under 15 years old—14.5 percent 

 15 to 17 years old—27 percent 

 18 to 24 years old—37 percent 

 Over 24 years old—21.5 percent 

There is often community concern that racial and ethnic minorities are overidentified as gang members. 

National surveys of police departments provide strong evidence that racial and ethnic minorities, 

especially African Americans and Latinos, are the primary members of gangs (Howell, et al., 2001). 

Although police data are corroborated by the results of field studies and surveys, the data are subject to 

the charge that they are biased and overrepresent the participation of minorities (Curry and Decker, 2003).

According to the 2006 National Youth Gang Survey of law enforcement agencies, the ethnicity of gang 

members is approximately as follows: 

 Black or African American—35.1 percent 

 Hispanic or Latino—49.6 percent 

 White—8.9 percent 

 Other—6.4 percent 

(National Youth Gang Center, unpublished data, 2008.) 

In contrast, however, in a self-report survey of 8th grade students, 31 percent of the students who said 

they were gang members were African American, 25 percent were Hispanic, 25 percent were white, 

5 percent were Asian, and 15 percent were of other racial and ethnic groups (Esbensen and Osgood, 

1997). 

Despite the disproportionate representation of minority group members in gangs, young people of color 

have no special predisposition to gang membership. Rather, they are more likely to live in poor, socially 

disorganized communities with many risk factors predictive of gang involvement. 

There is also recent evidence that gangs are becoming more interracial. The 1998 National Youth Gang 

Survey noted that 36 percent of gangs are estimated to be racially ―mixed‖; i.e., they are a significant 

mixture of two or more racial/ethnic groups (Moore and Cook, 1999). Curry and Decker (1998) note that 

gangs tend to draw their members from their neighborhoods and, to the extent that neighborhoods 

comprise diverse residents, gang membership will represent that diversity. 

Numerous ways of classifying gangs have been devised, although gangs’ complexity, variations, and 

changing structure practically defy static categories. One way of viewing gangs is along a continuum of 

degree of organization, from groups that hang out in shopping malls; to small clusters of friends who 

band together to commit crimes; to street gangs composed of groups of adolescents and young adults who 

form a semistructured operation and engage in delinquent and criminal behavior; to adult criminal 

organizations that engage in criminal activity for economic reasons. 
2. Getting Started 24

Exhibit 2.4

Project Director 

Sample Job Description 

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED: 

Receives direction from the Steering Committee; exercises direct supervision over professional and 

technical/clerical staff. 

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES: Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following: 

 Coordinates meetings and activities of the Steering Committee and the Assessment Work 

Group and prepares appropriate materials for meetings. 

 Coordinates, monitors, and assists with all data collection by the Assessment Work 

Group and assists with compiling of information required for Assessment Report. 

 Coordinates and/or performs the completion and submission of quarterly and annual 

reports. 

 Works as a liaison between the Research Partner, Steering Committee, and Assessment 

Work Group, updating personnel on progress and challenges and arranging joint meetings 

as necessary. 

 Confers with participating agencies, including schools, juvenile courts, law enforcement 

officials, probation officers, government agencies, local elected officials, grassroots 

groups, and others. 

 Develops public awareness documents and publicity materials. Provides training on the 

assessment process. 

QUALIFICATIONS: 

Desired Knowledge: 

 Familiarity with local agencies (schools, social services, law enforcement, 

courts/corrections), local units of government, and grassroots organizations. 

 Knowledge of principles and practices of budget preparation. 

 Knowledge of principles and practices of strategic planning. 

 Knowledge of principles of supervision, training, and performance evaluation. 

 Basic understanding of gang intervention, suppression, and prevention strategies. 

 Basic knowledge of youth gang involvement and gang-related activities. 

 Basic understanding of statistical principles and data analysis. 
2. Getting Started 25

Ability to: 

 Network effectively with a variety of types of organizations, including government 

agencies, law enforcement agencies, schools, social service agencies, 

courts/probation/corrections, and grassroots organizations. 

 Demonstrate organization, administration, and personnel management skills. 

 Work effectively with key community leaders and residents, diverse population groups, 

and youth. 

 Work with high-risk, gang-involved populations. 

 Identify community resources to assist in implementation of the project. 

 Interpret and apply federal, state, and local policies, procedures, laws, and regulations. 

 Analyze problems, identify alternate solutions, project consequences of proposed actions, 

and implement recommendations in support of goals of the project. 

 Gain cooperation and collaboration through discussion and persuasion. 

 Exercise judgment regarding appropriate information sharing, confidentiality 

requirements, and human relations. 

 Assist in selection of project staff and train, supervise, and evaluate those staff. 

 Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. 

 Provide training on the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model. 

 Establish and maintain cooperative relationships with those contacted in the course of 

work. 

 Set priorities and work independently in the absence of supervision.

 Demonstrate knowledge of word processing and spreadsheet software. 
3. Collecting the Data 26

3. Collecting the Data 

An assessment of the community’s gang problem should be based on data, not anecdote. To develop 

effective gang strategies, the assessment should focus on the level and extent of gang involvement in 

serious and violent crimes and factors in the community that may be contributing to local youth joining 

gangs. Ideally, the comprehensive assessment of a community’s gang problem will examine five data 

domains: 

Community Demographic Data: General community descriptive and demographic data to 

provide a context for the assessment as a whole (Chapter 4) 

Law Enforcement Data: The nature and extent of gang crime and characteristics of local gangs 

(Chapter 5)

School Data: Descriptive data on the climate of local schools, characteristics of school students 

who are involved in and/or at risk of involvement in gangs, and perceptions of school staff 

members (Chapter 6)

Community Perceptions Data: Data that describes how key segments of the community are 

experiencing the gang problem, including community members, parents, community leaders, 

youth, and gang members themselves (Chapter 7)

Community Resources Data: Current and historical responses to the gang problem, including 

gaps in and barriers to services (Chapter 8)

Collecting data across several domains allows for a fuller understanding of local gang problems and the 

development of possible solutions. Specifically, to implement effective strategies to address gangs, 

communities need to know: 

 What are the community’s demographics, racially, culturally, educationally, and economically? 

 How has the community changed over time? 

 What implications will community demographics have on the community’s response to gangs?

 What risk factors are affecting local youth, families, schools, and neighborhoods? 

 What crimes are gangs committing? 

 Who is committing these crimes? 

 Who are the victims of these crimes? 

 What is the demographic composition of local gangs? 

 What gang issues are affecting local schools? 

 What do school staff members and agency personnel say about the local gang problem? 

 What do students say about the local gang problem? 

 How do community members describe the local gang problem? 

 How do local community leaders describe the gang problem? 

 How do gang members describe the gang problem? 

Data Guidelines 

A thorough assessment of a community’s gang problem will include data from official sources and 

information provided by individuals who have particular knowledge of one or more facets of gang 

activity in the community—police, probation, service providers, parents, school personnel, community 

members, and youth themselves. Most commonly, gang crime tends to be concentrated in some 
3. Collecting the Data 27

geographic areas more than others. Therefore, identification of target areas/target populations and 

identification of the gangs most involved in violent crime are two intended outcomes of the assessment. 

In general, data collected should be the most recent available in a form that permits analysis below the 

metropolitan area. While some data will be available through routine reports and recent studies, this may 

not be sufficient. Certain data, such as gang and nongang crime data, will need to be collected or crosstabulated in a manner that allows for the observation of patterns such as offense locations, time of day, 

and demographics of suspects and victims. Where this level of detail is necessary, some archival data 

collection and/or analysis should be anticipated. 

Because of the importance of crime data, especially gang incident data, the law enforcement agency with 

primary jurisdiction in the area affected by the gang problem must already be collecting youth gang 

incident data in some form or have the capacity and willingness to do so. In most areas, it has been 

necessary to adapt an existing data-collection system or introduce a new system to collect meaningful 

crime data. 

Chapters 4 through 8 of this guide provide the information necessary to conduct the assessment. Each 

chapter provides questions that the assessment is designed to answer, to be discussed in a final assessment 

report. In some cases, recommended formats for data presentation and examples are included in the 

chapters. 

A Step-by-Step Process 

The assessment process should be conducted in an orderly fashion because, ideally, preliminary data sets 

will drive the collection of later data sets. For this reason, the following step-by-step process is 

recommended: 

Step 1: Identify the Target Community for the Assessment

In small towns and rural counties, it may be desirable to conduct a thorough assessment for the entire 

town or county. In large cities and suburban counties, however, the sheer volume of data precludes 

collecting and analyzing data citywide or countywide. 

Therefore, it is recommended that larger communities scan several broad indicators of gang activity to 

help identify certain areas as possible targets for more in-depth assessments. These data should have the 

ability to be easily captured in a short period of time for the entire city. Because the primary threat posed 

by serious gang activity is violence, the initial scan should consider Part I crimes (as defined by the FBI). 

If several areas of the city appear to have high levels of violent crime, other factors should be used to 

further identify a gang-affected ―community‖ in which to conduct the assessment. Other indicators to 

consider are: 

 Information on high-gang-crime neighborhoods/areas from intelligence databases. 

 Geocoded maps of gang activity across the city. 

 Locations or neighborhoods where gang members live and/or congregate. 

Throughout this guide, the term ―community‖ is used as a synonym for city, town, village, or even 

neighborhood. This targeted community will not be a new entity. Most likely, it will have existed for 

many years, although the population characteristics, businesses, and economic status may have changed 

over time. The community will probably have geographic boundaries that are commonly understood by 

residents and others in the city at large but may be poorly delineated; e.g., South Beach, Northeast, or 

Downtown. In other cases, sections of a city may have neighborhood names but defy easy demarcation. 

Examples are Nob Hill, North Beach, and The Flats. In addition to sharing geography, residents of a 
3. Collecting the Data 28

community will likely have mutual, but not necessarily common interests. These may be thematic (e.g., 

clean streets, low crime rate). The population does not have to be homogenous. 

The scan of the city should identify one or several communities that should be targeted for more in-depth 

assessment. Once an area is selected, the comprehensive assessment process can begin. 

Step 2: Engage the Community

Once the target community has been identified, the membership of the Steering Committee should be 

scrutinized and potentially revised or broadened to ensure that key members of the target community are 

included in the assessment process. Members of the Steering Committee should ensure that any new 

members are brought up to speed on the purpose of the assessment prior to attending meetings. The 

Steering Committee should also anticipate that members of the target community may have conflicting 

feelings about some of the key agencies and that historical issues may need to be addressed before 

moving forward with the assessment. One way that this can be expedited is through defining terms to be 

used and allowing participants to voice their opinions during this discussion. 

Step 3: Define Terms 

The terms ―gang,‖ ―gang member,‖ and ―gang incident‖ are emotionally charged, and there is no national 

consensus or consistency on how these terms are used. For the purposes of the assessment, the Steering 

Committee will determine what these terms mean and the implications for data collection. 

While state or local laws should not be the primary determination on how these terms are defined by the 

Steering Committee, it should be recognized that these laws will affect key agencies and may impose 

limitations on the data. These laws should be examined and clearly understood by all members prior to 

determining definitions. Because many state laws are used to define whether incidents are gang-related or

were created for the purposes of enhanced prosecution, they may create a legal standard that is not 

required for collecting aggregate data for the purposes of assessment. The distinction between these two 

uses has caused confusion in some communities. 

The goal is to determine how much crime is being committed by gangs in the local community, not to 

identify individuals for enhanced scrutiny and prosecution. Thus, these terms should be defined to be 

both inclusive of the uniqueness of the community and community perspectives and workable for the 

purposes of measuring the problem. It may be a relatively simple process to define these terms, or it may 

take several meetings for Steering Committee members to come to agreement on the ways these terms 

will be used. However, this is an important step in the assessment process and it should not be shortchanged, even if it is challenging. More information on this issue can be found in Exhibit 2.3 on 

page 18.

Step 4: Create a Data Collection Plan and Appoint the Assessment Work Group Members 

The Steering Committee should determine the types of data to be collected, including crime categories for 

police incident reports, and designate Assessment Work Group membership. The data will be collected in 

two separate steps so that the initial data can drive the appropriate collection of later data. 

Step 5: Data Collection, Part 1 

The Assessment Work Group should begin collecting the data, as follows: 

 Community demographic data. This process can often be done primarily online, using 

U.S. Census Bureau data (10–12 hours). 
3. Collecting the Data 29

 Law enforcement data. This work can be done simultaneously with collecting 

community data but will take longer. The law enforcement data should be analyzed to 

ascertain the demographics of identified gang members and the aggregate demographic 

profiles of suspects/victims in gang incidents. This work will need to be performed by a 

law enforcement partner (1–4 months, depending on the level and extent of data to be 

collected). 

 School disciplinary and demographic data. Demographic and disciplinary data should 

be collected from target area schools, and the Assessment Work Group should determine 

what protocols may be required to conduct the student survey in these schools. This also 

can be done concurrently with Steps 2 and 3 (1–2 weeks to collect and analyze student 

demographic data; collection of disciplinary data may take longer). 

 Step 6: Plan to Collect the Remaining Data. Utilizing the data gathered to this point, 

the Steering Committee should create a plan to collect the remaining data. At this point, 

the Steering Committee should: 

 Determine where and how community perceptions data will be collected, as well as any 

possible barriers to collecting this data. 

 Guide collection of additional relevant community demographic data from key agencies on 

areas of interest, such as substance abuse rates, domestic violence, etc. 

 Create a demographic profile of the types of gang members to be interviewed (using suspect 

demographics from the law enforcement data) and a plan for conducting these interviews. 

 Create a plan to collect youth (student) and school staff perceptions about gangs. This plan 

should include a determination of school district policies on student surveys, consent 

methodology (active or passive), and plans to collect staff perceptions through focus groups, 

surveys, or interviews. 

 Create a plan for collecting data on current community resources and activities that may serve 

gang-involved youth and families. 

 Engage a partner to assist with collecting gang member interviews, youth (student) survey 

data, and school staff perceptions data. 

 Engage partners, as needed, to provide volunteers to collect community perceptions data 

interviews and/or surveys. 

Step 7: Data Collection, Part 2

The Assessment Work Group members should collect the data described above, reporting to the Steering 

Committee as required and providing updates and requesting assistance as needed. The Research Partner 

should collect and analyze gang member interviews, school staff perceptions, and youth (student) surveys. 

Community perceptions surveys/interviews should be collected. If issues arise that may disrupt data 

collection, the Steering Committee will work to either clear barriers to data collection or design 

alternative plans (2–6 months).
3. Collecting the Data 30

Step 8: Using the Data 

The Assessment Work Group will organize and analyze all of the collected data, being mindful to note 

areas in which data domains intersect, conflict, and/or correlate. This data, in a user-friendly final 

product, should be presented to the Steering Committee (1–3 months). 

Once the Steering Committee has achieved consensus around the data provided in the Assessment Report, 

this data can be used for planning purposes and shaping an individualized response to the community’s 

specific gang problems and contributing factors. A discussion of a planning process that can be used for 

these purposes is found in a separate manual, ―Implementing the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model.‖ 

The remainder of this guide provides a step-by-step process for conducting a comprehensive assessment.
4. Community Demographic Data 31

4. Community Demographic Data 

To better understand the community, basic demographic information should be collected. Most of the 

necessary information will be available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census or other government 

agencies. Collecting and comparing data for the last several years will enable the community to see shortterm trends in the age and ethnic distribution of the community’s population, as well as its social and 

economic structures. It is also important that those working on the assessment have an up-to-date profile 

of their community. Often, changes in the population composition and economic status of neighborhoods 

occur very gradually, over time. Current data will preclude judgments being made based on outdated 

perceptions. These data also should be compared with city-level information. 

Table 1 identifies the questions to be answered about the community, the information that will be needed 

to answer those questions, and the sources of that information. 

Table 1—Community Demographic Data

Questions to Be Answered Information Needed to 

Answer

Sources of 

Information

How to Obtain

1. What are the community’s 

characteristics?

Age, race, gender, mobility, 

income, and education levels for 

the most current year.

U.S. Census Bureau Online search

2. Has the population of the 

community changed?

Age, race, mobility, income, and 

education levels as percentage

of the total population over the 

last 10 years (compare 

community and city/county).

U.S. Census Bureau Online search

3. Have the community’s service 

needs changed?

Unemployment, public 

assistance, teen parent rates, 

demand for drug/alcohol 

services over 10-year period.

U.S. Census 

Bureau, various 

state, county, and 

local agencies

Online search, 

phone contact with 

various 

organizations

Answers to the following questions should be fully addressed: 

1. What are the community’s racial, economical, cultural, and historical characteristics? 

2. How has the population of the community changed? 

3. Have the service needs of our community’s residents changed? In what ways?

4. What social or demographic factors (including changes or shifts) may be adding to the 

gang problem? 

Descriptive information should be collected in geographic areas or sectors of the jurisdiction, utilizing the 

unit of analysis the community uses when conducting planning studies (e.g., for new schools, parks, 

services). The unit of analysis needs to be small enough to distinguish differences within the community. 

The following data should be collected: 

 Population 

 Age/gender 
4. Community Demographic Data 32

 Race 

 Mobility/transience 

 Educational attainment 

 Median household income 

 Female-headed households 

 Unemployment rates 

 Families receiving public assistance 

 Other general risk factor data that may be locally available from community and 

governmental agencies, such as substance abuse levels (and specific areas of concern), 

domestic violence rate, teen birth rates, etc. 

 Other critical variables as determined locally 

A sample table for collecting this data is found in Exhibit 4.2 on page 37. 

Where are these data found? 

Census data are collected only every 10 years, and the last full census was conducted in 2000. However, 

the Census Bureau releases annual estimates and projections by demographic characteristics (age, sex, 

race, and ethnic origin) for the nation, states, and counties. Annual intercensal estimates of income and 

poverty are also available online for counties and school districts. Additional census data can be searched 

by ZIP code to investigate a particular section of the community more closely. These updates are 

published every year on July 1. An annual statistical abstract provided by the U.S. Census updates most 

of the demographic information and is available at public libraries or online. Other data will be available 

directly from various state and local agencies or from public or university libraries. Much of the data 

needed for this portion of the assessment can be found online. Although collecting these data for the 

community as a whole is useful, collecting census data for the smallest geographic area—preferably the 

census tract, where available—is more useful for making area comparisons within the community. 

For more specific data to address local community concerns, such as substance abuse addiction rates, 

domestic violence rates, teen births, etc., community partners should be enlisted who are familiar with 

accessing these types of data. This data may be collected at the county or city level by governmental 

agencies tasked with addressing these issues. Other possible sources of information include: 

 Local hospitals (injury reports, including those using firearms) 

 Community-based agencies (current service levels) 

 Community health agencies 

How should this data be analyzed?

In general, it is helpful to look at data for the overall community and compare it with data for the target 

community. How does the area compare with the overall metropolis, city, or county economically, 

racially/ethnically, educationally, and in age/gender breakdowns? What specific problems and/or issues 

should be known about this community in advance? How has this changed in the past 10 or 20 years? 

For example, in Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5, some community demographics are reported in a format that shows 

distinctive differences between the target community and the larger community. 
4. Community Demographic Data 33

Sample Community Demographic Tables 

Table 4—Educational Attainment

South Park Metropolis

Population 25 years and over 45,182 1,201,154

Less than 9th grade 40.94% 14.80%

9th to 12th grade, no diploma 23.24% 14.79%

High school graduate (or equivalent) 18.83% 20.42%

Some college, no degree 9.87% 19.06%

Associate degree 1.50% 3.95%

Bachelor's degree 3.63% 17.30%

Graduate or professional degree 1.98% 9.68%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000

Table 2—Poverty Rates

South Park Metropolis

Families 15,138 457,549

Families below poverty 26.16% 15.98%

 With related children under 18 years 31.93% 21.78%

 With related children under 5 years 34.39% 25.51%

Female-headed families 3,129 109,723

Female-headed families below poverty 44.28% 30.34%

 With related children under 18 years 54.02% 36.84%

 With related children under 5 years 60.66% 44.81%

Families below 150 percent of poverty level 43.85% 27.31%

Families below 185 percent of poverty level 54.73% 34.67%

 With related children under 18 years 64.20% 46.24%

 With related children under 5 years 70.20% 53.18%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000

Table 3—Employment Status

South Park Metropolis

Population 16 years and over 59,824 1,472,506

Population in labor force 30,964 931,236

Percent unemployed 12.35% 7.57%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000
4. Community Demographic Data 34

A narrative description of the community, as found in Exhibit 4.1 on page 35, can also be provided.

Table 5—Citizenship and Mobility

South Park Metropolis

Native 56.18% 73.60%

Foreign-born 43.82% 26.40%

Entered 1990 to March 2000 20.79% 13.78%

Naturalized citizen 10.21% 6.98%

Not a citizen 33.61% 19.42%

Source: U. S. Census Bureau, 2000
4. Community Demographic Data 35

Exhibit 4.1 

Sample Community Description 

How is the community described?

South Park is a predominantly Hispanic, working-class community of nearly 85,000 residents. The 

population of the community is more male, younger, and more heavily Hispanic than the population of 

Metropolis. (See Table 5, previous page.) 

More than 80 percent of Hispanic residents in South Park are of Mexican nationality, compared with 

72 percent of Metropolis’s Hispanic population. No other nationality has a sizeable percentage of South 

Park’s overall Hispanic population. Though Salvadorans comprise less than 3 percent of these 

populations, their percentages are over 5 percent in Riverside and Smithton, and their numbers reach to 

just over 10 percent in the census tract that includes the Straightham Golf Course. 

While the overall statistics 

for South Park demonstrate 

that the population is 

substantially more likely 

to be foreign-born than 

the overall Metropolis 

population, these statistics do 

not demonstrate the disparity 

found across different census 

tracts in this area. In fact, 

the percentage of the 

population that is nativeborn ranges from a high of 

66.6 percent in a portion of 

East Hills to 37.7 percent in 

an apartment community in southern Elm Park. One in five residents entered the country in the last ten 

years; one in three is not a citizen. 

Compared with other Metropolis communities, the neighborhoods of South Park are among Metropolis’s 

least educated. Barely one-third (35.82 percent) of the population over age 25 has a high school diploma, 

compared with 70 percent of Metropolis’s population. And while 27 percent of the city’s population has 

at least a bachelor’s degree, this is the case for less than 6 percent of South Park’s population. In a 

ranking of Metropolis’s neighborhoods, each South Park community falls in the lowest quartile for 

educational attainment, with the Meridian Heights, East Hills, and Elm Park areas having the lowest rates 

in Metropolis. 

South Park is also among Metropolis’s poorest communities. Nearly half of all households (48 percent) 

earned less than $25,000 in 1999, and nearly 80 percent earn less than $50,000. By comparison, only a 

third of Metropolis households earn less than $25,000, and only 64 percent earn less than $75,000. While 

this area is not Metropolis’s poorest, most of the neighborhoods of South Park are among the poorest 

25 percent in Metropolis. 

Poverty statistics demonstrate how poor South Park families are. One in four families lives below the 

poverty index. More than half of the area’s female-headed households with children under age 18 live 

below poverty. There has been virtually no change in poverty rates in South Park. Based on 1990 Census 

data, 30 percent of families were living in poverty, as were 58 percent of female-headed households with 
4. Community Demographic Data 36

children under the age of 18. However, South Park’s unemployment rate in 1990 was only 7 percent, 

though it is now as high as 16 percent in the East Hills. 

Employment statistics by industry demonstrate that workers in South Park are more likely to be employed 

in construction and manufacturing jobs than the overall Metropolis workforce. In fact, nearly 20 percent 

of South Park workers are in construction industries. 

South Park’s population is less English-speaking than the rest of Metropolis. Of the more than 75,000 

residents over the age of five, only 19 percent speak English only; 81 percent speak a language other than 

English. The overwhelming majority of the non-English speakers speak Spanish (98 percent). Of the 

Spanish speakers, 58 percent (more than 35,000 residents) report speaking English ―less than very well.‖
4. Community Demographic Data 37

Exhibit 4.2 

Data Collection Worksheet 

General Descriptive Data

Category Year

Community City

Total Population

% Males

% Females

% African American/black

% Hispanic/Latino

% Caucasian/white

% Asian

% Native American/Indian

% Other

% Under 10 Years

% 10–14 Years

% 15–19 Years

% 20–24 Years

% 25–34 Years

% 35–64 Years

% Over 64 Years

Median Household Income

Average Household Income

Poverty Threshold (family of 4)

% Families Below Poverty

% Female Households Below Poverty 

(with children under 18 years)

% Unemployment

% High School Graduates (25 years or older)

% Single-Parent Households

Teen Birth Rate (per 1,000)

High School Drop-Out Rate

Child Abuse and Neglect Confirmed Reports

Number of Persons on Food Stamps

Sources:
5. Law Enforcement Data 38

5. Law Enforcement Data 

This section will cover two sources of data that can be collected to assess local gang involvement in crime 

and to get detailed information about the demographics, culture, and climate of local gangs: 

1. Gang intelligence databases/files 

2. Police incident reports 

Table 1 identifies the questions to be answered about gang characteristics and gang crime in the 

community, the information that will be needed to answer those questions, and the sources of that 

information. 

Table 1—Law Enforcement Data

Questions to Be Answered Information Needed to 

Answer

Sources of 

Information

How to Obtain

1. What gangs are active? How 

many members are in each gang? 

What are their ages, races, and 

genders?

Name of gang, number of 

members, demographic makeup

Gang intelligence 

files, law 

enforcement 

records

Law enforcement 

partners must 

access this data

from gang 

intelligence files.

2. What crimes are gangs/gang 

members committing? How has 

this changed over time?

Police incident report analysis 

by crime, broken out by 

gang/nongang

Police incident 

reports

Law enforcement 

partners must 

collect this data 

from existing hardcopy reports or 

automated 

systems.

3. Where/when are gang crimes 

being committed?

Police incident report analysis of 

location, date and time

4. Who is committing gang 

crimes? Who are the victims of 

gang crimes?

Age, race, gender

Gang Intelligence

Gang information is collected by law enforcement officers through observation, informants, field 

interviews, or questioning of suspects or other persons. This information is used to identify active gangs 

and gang members in the community and is used primarily to enhance law enforcement effectiveness in 

suppression and investigation strategies. This information is protected, confidential information about 

individuals and groups. For this reason, it can be collected and analyzed only by law enforcement 

personnel. 

In many cases, local and statewide intelligence information on gangs is stored in databases. Databases 

and intelligence systems for the purposes of tracking gang members have been in existence in many cities 

since the mid-1980s. Systems range from localized databases maintained by individual or metro law 

enforcement agencies, to statewide systems (such as CalGang), to national databases maintained by the 

Regional Information Sharing Systems® (RISS) Intelligence Centers. Additionally, a field on the 

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database can identify individuals as ―violent gang members.‖ 
5. Law Enforcement Data 39

Some state and local gang databases feed information on individual gang members to NCIC, thus making 

this intelligence accessible nationwide. 

Many statewide systems (CalGang and Florida GangNet) are based on the GangNet program developed 

by SRA International, Inc. This program allows for collection of a wide variety of information on 

individuals, including name, vital information, photographs (facial and tattoos), vehicle information, 

nicknames/monikers, and known associates. The program can be accessed at participating agencies 

through intranets or nodes. Participating agencies may also be able to enter data into the system along 

with accessing it. Other systems, particularly local ones, allow for less detailed data collection on 

individuals. Most statewide systems (e.g., CalGang, Florida GangNet, Utah Law Enforcement 

Information Network [ULEIN]) were created or developed, or are presently maintained, with 

U.S. Department of Justice funds. 

Local systems may be as comprehensive as these state systems or may rely on relatively simple software 

that can be purchased at a computer or office supply store. Some systems were specifically developed by 

software designers to integrate with existing law enforcement agency incident reporting software. 

Definitions of ―gang,‖ ―gang member,‖ and ―gang associate,‖ and the criteria used to index groups and 

individuals, may vary greatly within states from one local agency to another, and from state to state. 

For example, the Houston Police Department in Houston, Texas, maintains the Suspect Imaging Database 

System (SIDS) through its Criminal Intelligence Division (CID). Entries into this database are regulated 

by state statute. Data from the SIDS is also forwarded to a statewide gang intelligence system maintained 

by the Texas Department of Public Safety. 

Similarly, the Salt Lake Area Gang Project in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Salt Lake Metro Gang Unit, 

utilizes the Gang Reporting Evaluation and Tracking (GREAT) system (a system developed and used in 

California prior to adoption of CalGang) to collect data on known or suspected gang members. This 

information is forwarded to ULEIN and to NCIC. 

The California Department of Justice maintains the CalGang system, but participating agencies can enter 

information on suspected/known gang members and also access information from around the state. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) maintains the GangNet database. Many local 

agencies choose to participate, but others elect to use their own local databases. Data entered into 

Florida’s GangNet system must meet the criteria established in Florida State Code 874, which defines the 

criteria for indexing a gang member or gang associate. 

An analysis of existing gang intelligence can be used to answer questions such as: 

 Which gangs are active? 

 How many members are in each gang? 

 Who is involved in gangs (by age, race, and gender)? 

These data are useful to determine the size and threat level of the local gang problem, to identify target 

populations (by demographic patterns) for intervention and prevention services, and to focus suppression 

activities. They are also useful as a basis of comparison with demographics of perpetrators gathered from 

the police incident reports. These data are accessible only to law enforcement personnel and should be 

provided only to those outside law enforcement in the aggregate analyzed form, without using individual 

names or references. 
5. Law Enforcement Data 40

Analyzing Gang Characteristics: 

For each gang identified in the target community, provide the information for the most current year. The 

following data variables are helpful to describe each gang and can be illustrated as shown in Table 2. 

 Name of gang 

 Number of members 

 Gender (number of males, number of females) 

 Racial composition (percentage) 

 Age (percentage) 

Table 2—Age and Ethnicity, Most Active South Park Gangs

Age Ethnicity

Gang Name <10 10–14 15–17 18–21 21–24 >24 Hispanic Anglo Black Other

Brown Town 0 0 3 27 21 16 64 1 2 0

Central Park 0 0 6 21 24 16 58 10 0 0

The Mob 0 0 2 7 4 1 11 3 0 0

Puro Locos 0 0 0 6 1 0 5 2 0 0

Puro Varrio 0 0 3 15 8 2 25 1 2 0

Puro Vatos 0 0 6 35 4 7 35 18 0 0

South East Block* 0 0 15 20 5 0 40 0 0 0

South East Crips 0 0 0 15 10 5 28 7 0 0

South East Gangstas 0 0 8 25 27 13 55 17 1 0

Hoova Crips 0 0 3 8 0 0 6 5 0 0

After these data from the intelligence file are organized, the Assessment Work Group should report to the 

Steering Committee on the aggregate gang data and should address the answers to the following 

questions: 

1. How many gangs are active in the community? 

2. Which gangs are most active? 

3. What kinds of activities are these gangs engaged in? (The police incident data can be helpful 

in answering this question.) 

4. How many members are in each gang? 

5. What is each gang’s makeup by age, race, and gender? 

6. Have any of these demographics changed over time? In what ways? 

A sample narrative that describes the answers to some of these questions is shown in Exhibit 5.1. 
5. Law Enforcement Data 41

Exhibit 5.1

Gang Descriptive Data 

A case-by-case review of violent, gang-related crimes committed in South Park indicates that more than 

60 gangs were involved in criminal activity in the community between 1999 and 2001, committing at 

least one crime in the area. Of these 60 gangs, 10 were responsible for 65 percent of the community’s 

violent, gang-related crime. 

The membership of these ten gangs is largely youth and young adults, with 73 percent of the documented 

membership between the ages of 15 and 24. The membership of the gangs is heavily Hispanic and almost 

exclusively male. 

While these statistics reflect the number of gang members documented in the gang intelligence database, 

street-level outreach workers provide important context about the history and activity of the gangs in the 

area. 

 Brown Town—One of the oldest gangs in East Hills, BT has been around since the late 

’70s and inspired the formation of other gangs in the area. The gang recruited juveniles 

heavily during the mid-’90s to sell drugs and commit burglaries and robberies. Many 

juveniles incarcerated during the ’90s are now adult prison gang members who will soon 

be paroled. The gang is also known for auto thefts, drug trafficking, and terroristic 

threats. 

 Central Park—South Park’s most active and violent gang, Central Park is responsible

for several gang-related murders and increasing numbers of robberies, and it is known to 

sell large amounts of drugs for prison gangs. 

 The Mob—Formed in the early ’90s for protection from Crip sets in East Hills and 

Central Park, MOB developed an intense rivalry with Central Park that led to weekly 

drive-by shootings in the early ’90s. The gang is rumored to have connections to prison 

gangs and is known to engage in auto theft, major drug sales, assaults, and home 

invasions. 

 Puro Locos—Formed in the mid-’90s, PL has many members who are undocumented 

immigrants. The gang is known to sell drugs and commit auto thefts, aggravated 

assaults, assaults, burglaries, and minor offenses. 

 Puro Varrio—Known for auto theft, major drug selling, assaults, and home invasions, 

PV members are largely juveniles who attend schools in the assessment area. The gang 

has been linked to prison gangs. 

 South East Block—This gang was started around the mid- to late ’90s and was very 

active at the time. 

 South East Crips—Known for auto thefts, drug sales, assaults, home invasions, and 

murders, SECC has continued to grow by recruiting members from Smith Middle School 

and LeGrando Park. The gang is rumored to have connections to prison gangs. 

 Hoova Crips—The first Crip set in southeast Metropolis, HC has had a lasting influence. 

HC members engage in auto thefts, drug sales, assaults, and home invasions. 
5. Law Enforcement Data 42

Police Incident Data 

Law enforcement agencies are the best sources of information about gang crime in the community. The 

goals of using information from police incident reports are to determine the level and types of crimes 

committed by local gangs; to determine who is committing the majority of gang crimes, demographically 

and by gang affiliation; and to establish parameters for further data-collection activities. 

Automated Systems 

Some agencies already use an automated system to segregate gang crimes from nongang crimes in their 

incident-reporting systems. Most of the agencies use one of two major definitions for this purpose, 

member-based or motive-based. These definitions were discussed in greater detail in Exhibit 2.3 in 

Chapter 2. 

Some police agencies already segregate gang crimes from nongang crimes in their incident-reporting 

systems. This method, usually seen as a field or checkbox on the initial and/or follow-up report forms, 

makes the process of determining the level and extent of gang crime in a community substantially easier. 

However, even this system is prone to error. Police incident reports are often submitted by patrol officers, 

who receive little or no gang training and may prefer to err on the side of caution if they are unsure of the 

status of the incident or the parties involved. This may result in underreporting of actual crimes in which 

gang members are involved. 

Even if crimes are already segregated as gang or nongang, it is recommended that law enforcement 

agency personnel audit at least three months’ worth of incident reports within key offense categories. At 

a minimum, it is recommended that law enforcement agencies examine: 

 Homicide 

 Aggravated assault 

 Robbery 

 Weapons offenses 

 Drive-by shootings (if a separate category from aggravated assault) 

 Other crime categories of importance to the community 

 

The auditing process involves reading the available report details and determining whether an incident is 

likely to have been a gang incident. The focus for the purposes of this assessment is on violent crimes 

that tend to have more detail in suspect/witness/victim statements and the investigating officer's 

description of the incident. These descriptions and statements contain the majority of information 

connecting this incident to gangs. The reports should be examined with an eye for details that might 

connect the incident to gangs, including: 

 Common identifiers of known gangs (colors, bandanas, beads, etc.) 

 Verbal expressions of gang affiliation (shoutouts, etc.) 

 Groups of similarly dressed victims or witnesses 

 Incidents occurring in known gang areas or at known addresses 

 Patterns fitting an existing trend in gang activity 

Officers found that they could review approximately 20 incidents per hour, per person. This process was 

made significantly less expensive by having light-duty officers, interns, or analysts review the reports 

initially; segregating instances that appeared to have gang involvement; and setting aside a reduced 

number of reports for a second review by experienced gang officers. 
5. Law Enforcement Data 43

It may also be possible to search for incidents involving known gang members as suspects, victims, or 

witnesses. However, the Assessment Work Group should be aware that this data may be skewed by any 

existing gaps in the gang intelligence data. 

Ultimately, the number of crimes identified through the audit process and the number identified by the 

system’s automated process should be compared to establish reliability. If there is a large discrepancy 

between the number of suspected gang crimes and the number identified by the automated system, this 

discrepancy should be addressed by a more thorough review of the reports. In some communities with 

automated systems to segregate gang incidents from overall crimes, audits found that at least 80 percent 

of gang incidents were being missed by this system. 

Paper Incident Reports 

If the system is not automated, a manual review of incident reports within specific crime categories, for a 

period determined by key policymakers participating in the assessment, should be conducted as described 

above. Experience shows that at least six months to a year of records should be reviewed. This manual 

review will create a much clearer picture of the extent and level of gang crime in the community. In most 

communities, conducting manual reviews and/or audits of police incident reports was found to be timeconsuming but worthwhile. 

Collecting Necessary Data 

A sample gang data collection sheet may assist in ensuring that all of the important data is collected from 

the incident reports. The form is found in Exhibit 5.2 on page 44.
5. Law Enforcement Data 44

Exhibit 5.2 

Sample Police Incident Report Data Collection Sheet 

Gang Incident Data Collection Sheet

Incident 

Report #:

Date of Incident: Time of 

Day:

Day of Week: Month: Type of 

Crime:

Crime Code: Location where incident occurred:

Suspect 1:

Gang 

Affiliation:

Yes

No

Unk

Gang:

Gender Estimated Age Race/Ethnicity:

Male

Female

<10

10–14

15–17

18–21

22–24

>24

African American/black 

Hispanic/Latino

Caucasian/white

Asian

Native American/American Indian

Other (specify):

Suspect 2:

Gang 

Affiliation:

Yes

No

Unk

Gang:

Gender Estimated Age Race/Ethnicity:

Male

Female

<10

10–14

15–17

18–21

22–24

>24

African American/black 

Hispanic/Latino

Caucasian/white

Asian

Native American/American Indian

Other (specify):

Suspect 3:

Gang 

Affiliation:

Yes

No

Unk

Gang:

Gender Estimated Age Race/Ethnicity:

Male

Female

<10

10–14

15–17

18–21

22–24

>24

African American/black 

Hispanic/Latino

Caucasian/white

Asian

Native American/American Indian

Other (specify):

Victim 1:

Gang 

Affiliation:

Yes

No

Unk

Gang:

Gender Estimated Age Race/Ethnicity:

Male

Female

Relationship to 

suspect:

Acquaintance

Stranger

<10

10–14

15–17

18–21

22–24

>24

African American/black 

Hispanic/Latino

Caucasian/white

Asian

Native American/American Indian

Other (specify):

Victim 2:

Gang 

Affiliation:

Yes

No

Unk

Gang:

Gender Estimated Age Race/Ethnicity:

Male

Female

Relationship to 

suspect:

Acquaintance

Stranger

<10

10–14

15–17

18–21

22–24

>24

African American/black 

Hispanic/Latino

Caucasian/white

Asian

Native American/American Indian

Other (specify):

Other relevant information (list):
5. Law Enforcement Data 45

Analyzing Police Incident Data 

To determine the proportion of gang crime to overall crime in the community, gang crime must be 

compared with nongang crime. For purposes of a gang assessment, the number of overall offenses in the 

community by type, as well as the number and percentage of offenses committed by gangs, should be 

collected and reported. 

Using the data from police incident reports, answers to the following questions should also be considered: 

1. How much of the overall crime problem is attributed to gangs? 

2. What crimes are gang members committing?

3. Has this changed over time? In what ways? 

A sample analysis of crime data is shown in Table 3. 

Table 3—Sample Analysis of Crime Data

Crime category 2004 2005 2006

All Gang % All Gang % All Gang %

Homicide 10 3 30% 19 7 37% 13 6 46%

Aggravated assault 399 40 10% 322 54 17% 295 49 17%

Robbery 281 30 11% 239 44 18% 292 57 20%

Time of Day 

Analyzing Suspect Characteristics 

The purpose of these data is to identify the demographics and gang affiliation of gang members who are 

most predisposed to commit gang crimes so that effective prevention, intervention, and suppression 

responses can be designed. 

Answers to the following questions should be considered: 

1. Who is committing gang crimes by age, race, and gender? 

2. Which gangs commit the most serious (violent) crimes? 

3. Which gangs are most involved in drug-related crimes? 

4. How has the offender profile changed over time (older/younger offenders, race, 

and gender)?
5. Law Enforcement Data 46

Table 4 contains a sample analysis of gang suspects.

Table 4—Sample Analysis of Demographics

Gang Crime Suspect Profile

Average suspects per crime 2.60

Hispanic 89.45%

African American 8.41%

Caucasian 1.88%

Male 96.19%

Female 3.81%

Under 10 years old .08%

10–14 years old 5.59%

15–17 years old 21.39%

18–21 years old 40.30%

22–24 years old 14.53%

Over 24 years old 18.12%

Known gang member 75.24%

Suspected gang member 18.85%

Hoova Crips 12

Brown Town 13

Central Park 74

The Mob 37

Puro Locos 9

Puro Vatos 36

South East Block 41

South East Crips 44

Southeast Gangstas 44

Source: Tabulation of crime review performed by 

Metropolis Police Department.
5. Law Enforcement Data 47

Analyzing Victim Characteristics

If available, information about the victims of gang crime should also be collected. The purpose of these 

data is to determine whether victims are affiliated with gangs, innocent bystanders, age, race, gender, etc. 

Answers to the following questions should be considered: 

1. Who are the victims of these crimes (age, race, gender)? 

2. How often are the victims other gang members? 

3. What are the patterns of offender and victim gang affiliation over time?

After these data are organized, they should be reported to the Steering Committee, using aggregate 

information from the data. These data can be illustrated by using appropriate tables, charts, or other 

graphics as shown in Table 5.

Table 5—Gang Crime Victim Profile

Average victims per crime 1.34

Hispanic 92.49%

Male 76.26%

Female 23.74%

Under 10 years old .85%

10–14 years old 5.81%

15–17 years old 11.38%

18–21 years old 19.25%

22–24 years old 10.29%

Over 24 years old 52.42%

Known/suspected gang member 2.40%

Relation to suspect:

Stranger 49.12%

Acquaintance 43.82%

Rival gang member 3.89%

Bystander 3.18%

When and Where Gang Crimes Are Committed 

The crime data also provides information about when and where gang offenses occur in the community. 

This information should be broken down by month. From that point, the data can be used for shaping 

police responses by considering the time of day and day of week that these incidents are committed. 

When these data are collected on a timely basis, police enforcement patterns can be shifted rapidly to deal 

with gang crime trends. 
5. Law Enforcement Data 48

Answers to the following questions should be considered: 

1. When are gang crimes being committed (month, day of week, time of day)? 

2. Where are gang crimes being committed? 

3. Are gang crimes more concentrated in particular areas of the community? 

4. Are the patterns similar for Part 1 and other gang crimes? Where are the differences? 

Using the data on when and where gang crimes are committed, the Assessment Work Group should report 

to the Steering Committee on trends and indicators. It is helpful to display aggregated data using tables, 

charts, or other graphics, such as those shown in Tables 6 and 7. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Jan-99

Mar-99

May-99

Jul-99

Sep-99

Nov-99

Jan-00

Mar-00

May-00

Jul-00

Sep-00

Nov-00

Jan-01

Mar-01

May-01

Jul-01

Sep-01

Nov-01

Number of Crimes Committed

Table 6—Gang-Related Crime Time Series by Month

Table 7—Gang-Related Crimes

by Time of Day

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

mid - 3

am

3 - 6

am

6 - 9

am

9 -

noon

noon -

3 pm

3 -

6pm

6 - 9

pm

9 - mid

Number of Crimes
6. Student and School Data 49

6. Student and School Data 

Data collected from and about students, including school-level data, are an important part of the 

assessment. These data are useful in the identification of the proportion of youth in the community who 

claim gang membership or who are at high risk for gang membership. School-level data and information 

from school staff are vital to rounding out the picture of gang activity in the community. This chapter 

provides guidance on collecting data on the following: 

 Student characteristics and disciplinary actions 

 School-aged youths’ perceptions of gangs and gang activity (student survey)

 School staff perspectives on gang activity on campus 

Prevalence of Gangs in Schools 

In the mid-1990s, 28 percent of the national sample of students reported that gangs were present in their 

schools (Chandler, Chapman, Rand, and Taylor, 1998). This number dropped to 17 percent in 1999 and 

then increased to 24 percent in 2005, almost the level reported a decade earlier (Dinkes, Cataldi, Kena et 

al., 2006). Thus respondents to the national survey of students reported a decrease in gang activity in the 

late 1990s and an increase in the opening years of this century. 

Impact of Gangs in Schools 

Where they have a substantial community presence, youth gangs are linked with serious delinquency 

problems in elementary and secondary schools across the United States (Chandler, Chapman, Rand, and 

Taylor, 1998). This study of data gathered in the School Crime Supplement to the 1995 National Crime 

Victim Survey documented several examples. First, there is a strong correlation between gang presence in 

schools and between both guns and availability of drugs in school. Second, higher percentages of students 

report knowing a student who brought a gun to school when students report gang presence (25 percent) 

than when gangs are not present (8 percent). In addition, gang presence at a student's school is related to 

seeing a student with a gun at school: 12 percent report having seen a student with a gun in school when 

gangs are present versus 3 percent when gangs are not present. Third, students who report that any drugs 

(marijuana, cocaine, crack, or uppers/downers) are readily available at school are much more likely to 

report gangs at their schools (35 percent) than those who say that no drugs are available (14 percent). 

Fourth, the presence of gangs more than doubles the likelihood of violent victimization at school (nearly 

8 percent versus 3 percent). The presence of street gangs at school also can be very disruptive to the 

school environment because gangs may not only create fear among students but also increase the level of 

violence in school. Gang presence is also an important contributor to overall levels of student 

victimization at school (Howell and Lynch, 2000). 

In the School Crime Supplement to the 2003 National Crime Victimization Survey, students aged 12–18 

were asked whether street gangs were present at their schools during the previous six months. In 2003, 

21 percent of students reported that there were gangs at their schools (National Center for Education 

Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005, p. 46). However, no difference was detected between 

2001 and 2003 in percentages of students who reported the presence of street gangs, regardless of school 

location. Of all the students surveyed, students in urban schools were the most likely to report the 

presence of street gangs at their schools (31 percent), followed by suburban students and rural students, 

who were the least likely to do so (18 percent and 12 percent, respectively). 
6. Student and School Data 50

Greater security measures have been taken by school administrations in response to the gang problem, but 

the effectiveness of these approaches is subject to debate (Howell and Lynch, 2000). ―The presence of 

security officers, metal detectors, and security cameras may deter some students from committing acts of 

violence, but this presence also serves to heighten fear among students and teachers, while increasing the 

power of some gangs and the perceived need some students have for joining gangs‖ (Thompkins, 2000, p. 

54). It is also important to be aware that school-related gang crime extends beyond the boundaries of 

school buildings themselves to contexts in which youths congregate before and after school hours; in fact, 

gang crime begins to escalate very early on school days (Wiebe, Meeker, and Vila, 1999). 

School-based risk factors such as poor school performance and poor school attachment are primary 

factors for eventual gang involvement (Howell and Egley 2005; Kosterman et al., 2005). Recent 

research also indicates that data gathered from school-aged youth about their perceptions of gangs and 

gang participation may vary substantially from police data about gangs (Esbensen, 2000). This research 

data does not negate the truthfulness of police data but simply indicates that different groups within the 

same community may have different perceptions about gangs and that gangs affect different community 

members in different ways. 

Gathering data about gang activity in schools has historically been difficult, but it is a vital facet of the 

Assessment Work Group’s efforts. The threat of gang crime and violence posed by gang-involved youth 

is not limited to the streets but also exists in many schools. 

Table 1 identifies the questions to be answered about students, student involvement in gang activities, 

risk and protective factors, school staff perceptions, the information that will be needed to answer the 

questions, and the sources of that information. 

Table 1—Student and School-Level Data

Questions to Be Answered Information Needed to Answer Sources of 

Information

How to Obtain

1. What are the overall 

characteristics of each school?

Attendance trends; disciplinary 

statistics; free/reduced lunch 

rates; demographics

School or district 

records and reports 

to state department 

of education

Retrieve from 

existing hard copy 

or from online

2. What delinquent behaviors are 

students involved in?

Data on expulsions/suspensions 

by category and type, school 

disciplinary records, police 

reports, data from student survey

School records, 

staff, 

administrators, 

school resource 

officers, juvenile 

court statistics, 

students

School district 

records, police 

department 

records, school 

district police 

department 

records, student 

survey

3. What are the characteristics of 

students involved in gangs?

Perceptions of school staff, 

student survey

School staff in 

targeted schools, 

student survey

Focus groups or 

personal 

interviews with 

staff, student 

survey
6. Student and School Data 51

4. What issues seem to be 

contributing to student gang 

involvement or risk for gang 

involvement?

Perceptions of school staff, 

administrators, and school 

resource officers

School staff in 

targeted schools

Focus groups or 

personal 

interviews with 

staff members

5. What risk and protective factors 

are affecting local youth? What are 

in-school youths’ perceptions about 

gangs?

Student perceptions and 

experiences

Youth in local 

schools

Student survey

Student Characteristics and Disciplinary Incidents 

Data on student characteristics and disciplinary incidents should be collected at selected schools and 

grade levels for the past three to five years. The number of schools and grades included in this data 

should be determined by the Steering Committee. Alternative schools, if applicable, should also be 

included. 

Student Characteristics 

Student/school data to be collected include the following: 

 Enrollment of school 

 Racial composition of school 

 Gender composition of school 

 Number of students who receive free/reduced-price lunch 

 Other critical variables as determined locally 

The majority of this information will be collected from the school or school district. In most cases, this 

data will be accessible on the Internet or on local school district Web sites. 

Disciplinary Incidents 

Agencies outside the school system, including the juvenile court or police department, may keep 

information on school-based disciplinary incidents. Many large school districts maintain their own police 

departments that may keep statistics relating to crime and gang-related incidents in schools. School 

personnel may believe they are legally forbidden to share certain information about students and schoolrelated incidents. However, certain staff or offices, i.e., law enforcement units affiliated with the school, 

are permitted to share data that can prove instrumental in completing the picture of a community’s gang 

problem. It should be noted that most schools do not index these disciplinary reports by gang 

involvement. 

Data should be collected on disciplinary incidents by school, and, if possible, the resulting action, such as 

suspension or expulsion, taken by school staff. These data should be collected on a yearly basis for the 

same length of time that school characteristics are collected. Disciplinary incident data to collect include 

the following: 

 Type of incident (see list below)
6. Student and School Data 52

 Gang-related or not gang-related (if available) 

 Disciplinary action taken (suspension, expulsion, etc.) 

Disciplinary Incident List

Fighting

Hitting/kicking

Disobeying school officials

Truancy

Alcohol/drugs

Threats

Weapons

Harassment

Theft

Smoking

Pornography

Disruption of school/class

Cursing

Throwing objects

Extortion

Vandalism/graffiti

Other (specify):

After data on student characteristics and disciplinary data are organized, the data should be reported to the 

Steering Committee, and, if possible, enhanced by using appropriate charts or other formats, such as 

shown in Table 2. 

Table 2—Sample School Demographic Report

South Park High School

1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02

School performance score acceptable low performing acceptable acceptable acceptable recognized exemplary

% passing all standardized tests 26.3% 24.4% 51.7% 68.6% 86.2% 90.5% 95.2%

Total population 3,108 2,916 2,760 2,419 2,395 2,215 2,083

Hispanic 2,954 2,761 2,620 2,311 2,301 2,109 1,989

African American 86 81 91 75 67 73 63

White 48 44 29 22 19 24 20

Other 20 30 20 11 8 9 11

Economically disadvantaged 1,186 1,371 2,201 1,866 1,926 1,821 1,807

Limited English proficiency 845 806 781 434 571 451 403

Special education 239 279 292 301 283 274 278

Career and technology education 1,705 1,261 1,191 1,046 1,104 972 865

Bilingual/ESL education 612 501 529 225 230 194 287

Gifted and talented 0 0 0 93 118 153 87

9th 1,364 1,364 1,032 898 1,228 1,160 1,093

10th 685 538 769 581 235 281 257

11th 550 549 535 573 506 426 477

12th 509 465 424 397 426 348 256

Number of graduates 409 354 473 387 425 366 339

Answers to the following questions should be considered: 

1. What are the overall demographics of each school? 
6. Student and School Data 53

2. Have any trends emerged (enrollment, racial composition, percentage of students 

receiving free/reduced-price lunch, others)? 

3. What are the trends regarding disciplinary incidents—gang activity, weapons, fighting, or 

other violent incidents, as well as incidents of a nonviolent nature such as those involving 

drugs? 

Student Survey 

The perceptions of students can add a great deal of depth to any assessment. The survey included at the 

end of this chapter was designed to be used by students between grades 6 and 12. The survey measures 

their perceptions about gangs and gang participation and gives an overview of specific risk factors that 

may be affecting the community’s youth. 

This survey can be used in a variety of ways. It can be conducted universally with all students in several 

grades. It can also be conducted using a smaller sample of in-school youth—including students in 

alternative schools. If a local community is unable to overcome the challenges to collecting this 

information in schools, the survey can be administered in other settings: churches, youth groups, youthserving agencies, recreation centers, and with youth in placement and/or on probation. 

The student survey offers communities two distinct benefits. First, it affords the opportunity to take 

advantage of prevention science. Delinquency prevention science incorporates the risk- and protectivefocused prevention model pioneered in public health research in the prevention of cardiovascular 

diseases. Risk and protective factors predict increased or decreased probability of developing problem 

behaviors, such as gang involvement. Risk factors are conditions in the individual or environment that 

predict an increased likelihood of developing a problem. Protective factors, on the other hand, are 

conditions in the individual or environment that buffer or moderate the effects of risk factors or increase 

resistance to them, thus inhibiting the development of problems even in the face of risk exposure. ―It is 

possible now to move to outcome focused prevention, that is, to design systems for risk reduction and 

protective factor enhancement to achieve specified [delinquency] prevention outcomes‖ (Hawkins, 1999). 

For example, a comprehensive Seattle program for children aged 6 to 12 prevented violence, heavy 

alcohol use, sexual activity, and teen pregnancy by age 18, by reducing shared risks and enhancing 

protection in the family and school environments (Hawkins et al., 1999). A brief discussion of risk and 

protective factors can be found in Appendix A on page 72. 

The second benefit of the student survey is that it produces valuable information that helps determine the 

seriousness of gang problems and what level of intervention is needed to reduce involvement of active 

gang members, and helps control the influence and delinquent and criminal activities of gangs. In addition 

to providing information on the characteristics of gangs in the community, the student survey measures 

the degree of bonding to gangs—among students who indicate gang membership. In an 11-city student 

survey that identified nearly a thousand gang members, each level of gang bonding was associated with 

progressively more frequent involvement in serious and violent delinquency, drug use, and drug 

trafficking (Esbensen et al., 2001). The survey items measured five levels of gang bonding: 

 Level one—Ever involved in a gang 

 Level two—Currently a gang member 

 Level three—Currently a member of a delinquent gang

 Level four—Currently a member of a delinquent gang that is organized

 Level five—Currently a core member of a delinquent gang that is organized
6. Student and School Data 54

The student survey can make a significant contribution to each community’s assessment of its specific 

gang problem. Analysis of survey information will make it easier to identify areas or populations that are 

experiencing high levels of multiple risk factors or low levels of protective factors associated with gang 

involvement (Pollard et al., 1997). This information will ultimately guide prevention planning and 

strategy development in the community. 

Key factors in administering this survey include: 

 Obtaining consent from parents/guardians 

 Ensuring that the survey is administered in a consistent fashion 

 Protecting the confidentiality of survey data 

Obtaining Consent 

In many cases, school districts are now required to use active consent to survey youth perceptions and 

activities. Active consent requires parents and/or guardians to proactively agree to their children’s 

participation in the survey, whereas passive consent requires parents/guardians to proactively opt out of 

the survey or consent is implied. Obviously, the requirement of active consent for the administration of 

this survey will result in far fewer students being surveyed. 

Survey Administration 

Assessment partners and/or volunteers from the Steering Committee can be utilized to administer the 

survey to students and/or other youths. It is important that the survey be administered in a similar fashion 

across all sites, classrooms, and locations, and training these staff and/or volunteers is a crucial aspect of 

effectively administering the survey. 

Confidentiality Issues 

Because this survey assesses sensitive data such as parent/child relationships, substance use, and gang 

activities that the youths have observed, it is important that the survey be administered in such a way as to 

protect the identities of all participants. Furthermore, the survey data should be analyzed only by a 

partner who has experience in protecting the confidentiality of survey participants. 

What the Student Survey Does 

This survey is designed to measure the following: 

 Identify differences between students who self-report gang membership and those who 

do not. 

 Identify risk factors that may make it more likely that a youth will develop a problem 

behavior, including joining a gang. 

 Identify protective factors that may moderate the effects of risk factors for gang 

membership or increase resistance to them. 

 Identify students’ perceptions about gang activity and gang crime. 
6. Student and School Data 55

Conducting the Survey 

Surveying all youth in the target grades may be too costly and/or time prohibitive. It is suggested that at 

least a sample of youth from each school and in each target grade be surveyed. For example, 100 students 

in each school could be sampled. A consistent sampling strategy is recommended across schools/grade 

levels at each site. 

The student survey can be completed within the normal one-period classroom setting, using a selfadministered anonymous questionnaire. Sample consent letters for active and passive consent can be 

found in EXHIBIT 6.1 on page 58. The student survey can be found in EXHIBIT 6.2 on page 60. 

Information on consent and confidentiality can be found in EXHIBIT 6.3 on page 69.

Analyzing the Survey 

Some of the data that is collected through the student survey is quite straightforward and can be easily 

analyzed and reported by a proficient analyst. However, some sections of the survey are weighted and 

cross-tabulated using an item construct dictionary (see Appendix B on page 78). The analysis required 

for the weighting of risk factor data is complex enough to warrant the assistance of a Research Partner at 

the university or college level. 

The data from the survey should be reported to include the following information from the student survey. 

Comparison of gang versus nongang students

 Age, race, and gender of total surveyed at each school 

 Prevalence/frequency of delinquent behavior by age, race, and gender 

 Good/bad things about gangs by age, race, and gender 

 Risk/protective factors by age, race, and gender 

Students who admit gang membership

 Why they joined a gang by age, race, and gender 

 Participation in gang activities by age, race, and gender 

 Benefits of gang membership by age, race, and gender

 Disadvantages of gang membership by age, race, and gender 

Tables 3 and 4 below provide examples of ways in which these data sets can be reported. 

Table 3—Percent of School Population 

Reporting Gang Involvement

Yes No Total

Male 30% (46) 70% (109) 100% (155)

Female 17% (48) 83% (187) 100% (235)

All 24% (94) 76% (296) 100% (390)

11–14 22% (47) 78% (171) 100% (218)

15–17 31% (41) 69% (93) 100% (134)

18 + 15% (6) 85% (33) 100% (39)

All 24% (94) 76% (297) 100% (391)
6. Student and School Data 56

Table 4—Antisocial Behaviors Committed at Least Once in the Last 12 Months, as 

Self-Reported by Gang and Nongang-Involved Respondents 

Behavior

Gang-Involved

(N = 95)

Nongang-Involved

(N = 298)

Total

(N = 393)

Been drunk or high at school 52% (49) 10% (29) 18% (78)

Attacked someone intending to seriously hurt them 49% (47) 12% (37) 21% (84)

Carried a handgun 40% (38) 4% (13) 13% (51)

Sold illegal drugs 38% (36) 3% (9) 11% (45)

Been suspended 36% (34) 14% (41) 19% (75)

Been arrested 26% (25) 5% (14) 10% (39)

Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle 21% (20) 3% (9) 7% (29)

Taken a handgun to school 15% (14) 1% (3) 4% (17)

After data from the student survey are organized, answers to the following questions should be addressed:

1. Who admits to involvement in gang activity? 

2. How do students who self-report gang membership differ from those who say they are 

not in a gang? 

3. How do school-aged youth perceive gang activity in the school? 

4. What specific risk factors are present in students’ environments that may lead to gang 

membership or involvement? 

5. What specific protective factors are present? 

6. What high-risk behaviors do gang youth engage in? How do they compare with those 

who do not report gang involvement? 

School Staff Perceptions 

The experiences and perceptions of school staff can supplement a community’s understanding of its local 

gang problem, since school staff and administrators have contact with a wide variety of students daily. 

It is recommended that school personnel be interviewed to provide insight into the nature and prevalence 

of gang activity in and around the school. Those interviewed should include not only teachers and 

administrators but others who have different types of contact with students: school resource officers, 

school health services personnel, counselors/mental health specialists, prevention/intervention project 

staff, secretaries, custodians, and bus drivers. 

It should be understood that more than any other agency’s staff, school personnel may feel uncomfortable 

discussing their institution’s gang problem. They may feel that they are being disloyal to other staff or 

school administrators, or that any problems are a sign of personal or institutional failure. Therefore, steps 

should be taken to promote a comfortable environment and ensure that school staff members can speak 

candidly. One way to ensure this privacy is through a confidential interview using the interview 

instrument provided in Exhibit 6.4 on page 71. 

After data from the interviews are organized, data should be displayed in the Assessment Report using 

appropriate tables, charts, or other formats. 

Answers to the following questions should be addressed: 
6. Student and School Data 57

1. Do school personnel believe there is a gang problem in their school? Does this vary according to 

type of school personnel? 

2. What types of problems do gang members present on the school campus? 

3. What issues are contributing to gang activity in the school? 
6. Student and School Data 58

Exhibit 6.1

Sample PASSIVE CONSENT Letter 

(Student Survey) 

Dear (Parent/Guardian):

(Community) is conducting an assessment of gang activity in the community. As part of this assessment, 

we are surveying school-aged youth in grades ( ). This survey will gather the opinions of (name of 

school) youth about their neighborhood and community, including friends, family, and school. We also 

are surveying different groups in the community such as social service agencies, community leaders, law 

enforcement agencies, parents, and others about their views on gang activity. 

We would like your permission to survey your child, along with his or her classmates. The information 

your child provides will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone. Because neither 

your name nor your child’s name will appear on the survey, your child’s response to any question cannot 

be attributed to him/her. 

Your child’s participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Only those children and parents who 

wish to participate will do so, and any child may stop taking part in the survey at any time. 

If you have any questions, please contact (name) at (phone number). If you do not want your child to 

participate in this survey, please sign the enclosed form and mail it back to ________________. 

Thank you very much for helping us. 

Enclosure 
6. Student and School Data 59

Exhibit 6.1 (continued)

Sample ACTIVE CONSENT Letter 

(Student Survey) 

Dear (Parent/Guardian):

(Community) is conducting an assessment of gang activity in the community. As part of this assessment, 

we are surveying school-aged youth in grades ( ). This information will gather opinions of (name of 

school) youth about their neighborhood and community, including friends, family, and school. We also 

are surveying different groups in the community such as social service agencies, community leaders, law 

enforcement agencies, parents, and others about their views on gang activity. 

We would like your permission to survey your child, along with his or her classmates. The information 

your child provides will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone. As neither your 

name nor your child’s name will appear on the survey, your child’s response to any question cannot be 

attributed to him/her. 

Your child’s participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Only those children and parents who 

wish to participate will do so, and any child may stop taking part in the survey at any time. 

If you have any questions, please contact (name) at (phone number). Thank you very much for helping 

us. 

Parent or guardian, please check your decision below. Sign and return this form within _____ days. 

_____ I give permission for my child to participate in this survey. 

_____ I do not give permission for my child to participate in this survey. 

_____________________________ __________________ 

Parent/Guardian Date 
6. Student and School Data 60

Exhibit 6.2

Student Survey 

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this survey. The survey asks 

your opinion about a number of things in your life, including your friends, 

your family, your neighborhood, your community, and your activities. 

Your answers to these questions will be CONFIDENTIAL. This means 

your answers will stay secret. Your name will never be asked. Please DO 

NOT write your name on this survey. 

This survey is completely voluntary. You can skip any question 

that you do not wish to answer. 

Other students have said that this survey is very interesting and they enjoy 

filling it out. We hope you will also. Be sure to read the instructions below 

before you begin to answer. 

1. This is not a test, so there are no right or wrong answers. 

2. Answer by marking in the answer space and use the closest answer to 

the truth. If you are not sure what a question means, leave it blank. 

3. Please follow these instructions carefully. 

 It is best to use a pencil. 

 Make heavy marks inside the circles. 

 Erase cleanly any answer you wish to change. 

 Make no other marking or comments on the answer pages. 

4. Some of the questions have the following format. 

 Please mark the circle next to the word that best describes how you feel 

about that sentence. 

 Example: Pepperoni pizza is one of my favorite foods. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

Mark ―NO!‖ if you think the statement is definitely not true for you. 

Mark ―no‖ if you think the statement is mostly not true for you. 

Mark ―yes‖ if you think the statement is mostly true for you. 

Mark ―YES!‖ if you think the statement is definitely true for you. 

In the example above, the student marked ―yes‖ because he or she thinks the statement is mostly true. (Please mark 

only one answer.) 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 61

Time to 

Begin 

These questions ask for some general 

information about the people 

completing the survey. Please mark 

the response that best describes you. 

1) How old are you? Please circle the correct answer. 

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 or older 

2) What grade are you in? Please circle the correct 

answer.

6

th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

3) Are you: 

Female Male 

4) Are you Spanish/Hispanic/Latino? 

 No

 Yes, Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano

 Yes, other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino

 Yes, Puerto Rican

 Yes, Cuban

 Other Spanish __________________________

5) If you are not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino, 

please mark what race you are.

 White 

 Black or African American

 American Indian or Alaska Native 

 Chinese  Japanese

 Filipino  Asian Indian

 Native Hawaiian  Samoan

 Korean  Guamanian or Chamorro

 Vietnamese

 Other Asian ____________________________

 Other Pacific Islander _____________________

 Some other race _________________________

6) Think of where you live most of the time. 

Which of the following people live there with you? 

(Choose all that apply.) 

Mother Grandfather 

Stepmother Uncle 

Foster mother Other adults 

Grandmother Brother(s) 

Aunt Stepbrother(s) 

Father Sister(s) 

Stepfather Stepsister(s) 

Foster father Other children 

7) How many brothers and sisters, including 

stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have who are 

older than you? Please circle the correct answer.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 

8) How many brothers or sisters, including 

stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have who are 

younger than you? Please circle the correct answer.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 

9) What is the language you use most often at home? 

English  Spanish Another language 

 (______________) 

10) What is the highest level of schooling your father 

completed? 

Completed grade school or less 

Some high school 

Completed high school 

Some college 

Completed college 

Graduate or professional school after college 

Don’t know 

Does not apply 

11) What is the highest level of schooling your mother 

completed? 

Completed grade school or less 

Some high school 

Completed high school 

Some college 

Completed college 

Graduate or professional school after college 

Don’t know 

Does not apply 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 62

12) Where are you living now? 

On a farm 

In the country, not on a farm 

In a city, town, or suburb 

This section asks about your 

experiences in school. 

13) Putting them all together, what were your grades 

like last year? 

Mostly As Mostly Bs Mostly Cs 

Mostly Ds Mostly Fs 

14) In my school, students have lots of chances to help 

decide things like class activities and rules. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

15) Teachers ask me to work on special classroom 

projects. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

16) My teacher(s) notices when I am doing a good job 

and lets me know about it. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

17) There are lots of chances for students in my school 

to talk with a teacher one-on-one. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

18) I feel safe at my school. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

19) The school lets my parents know when I have done 

something well. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

20) My teacher(s) praise me when I work hard in 

school. 

NO! no yes  YES!

21) Are your school grades better than the grades of 

most students in your class? 

NO! no yes  YES!

22) How often do you feel that the school work you are 

assigned is meaningful and important? 

Almost always Often Sometimes 

Seldom   Never 

23) How interesting are most of your courses to you? 

Very interesting Quite interesting

Fairly interesting  Slightly dull 

Very dull 

24) How important do you think the things you are 

learning in school are going to be for your later life? 

Very important  Quite important 

Fairly important  Slightly important 

Not at all important 

Now, thinking back over the past year in school, how 

often did you... 

25) Enjoy being in school? 

Never Seldom Sometimes 

Often Almost always 

26) Hate being in school? 

Never Seldom Sometimes 

Often Almost always 

27) Try to do your best work in school? 

Never Seldom Sometimes 

Often Almost always 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 63

These questions ask about your 

feelings and experiences in other parts 

of your life. 

Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel 

closest to.) In the past year (12 months), how many of 

your best friends have: 

28) Been suspended from school? 

None 1 2 3 4 

29) Carried a handgun? 

None 1 2 3 4 

30) Sold illegal drugs? 

None 1 2 3 4 

31) Stolen or tried to steal a car or motorcycle? 

None 1 2 3 4 

32) Been arrested? 

None 1 2 3 4 

33) Dropped out of school? 

None 1 2 3 4 

34) Been members of a gang? 

None 1 2 3 4 

How old were you when you first: 

35) Smoked marijuana? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

36) Smoked a cigarette, even just a puff? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

37) Had more than a sip or two of beer, wine, or hard 

liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin?) 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

38) Began drinking alcoholic beverages regularly, that 

is, at least once or twice a month? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

39) Got suspended from school? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

40) Got arrested? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

41) Carried a handgun? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

42) Attacked someone with the idea of seriously 

hurting them? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

43) Belonged to a gang? 

Never have 10 or younger 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 or older 

How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to: 

44) Take a handgun to school? 

Very wrong   Wrong 

A little bit wrong  Not wrong at all 

45) Steal anything worth more than $5? 

Very wrong   Wrong 

A little bit wrong  Not wrong at all 

46) Pick a fight with someone? 

Very wrong   Wrong 

A little bit wrong  Not wrong at all 

47) Attack someone with the idea of seriously hurting 

them? 

Very wrong   Wrong 

A little bit wrong  Not wrong at all 

48) Stay away from school all day when their parents 

think they are at school? 

Very wrong   Wrong 

A little bit wrong  Not wrong at all 

49) It is all right to beat up people if they start the 

fight. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

50) It is important to be honest with your parents, even 

if they become upset or you get punished. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

51) I think it is okay to take something without asking 

if you can get away with it. 

NO! no yes  YES! 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 64

How many times have you done the following things? 

52) Done what feels good no matter what. 

Never I’ve done it, but not in the past year 

Less than once a month About once a month 

2 to 3 times a month Once a week or more 

53) Done something dangerous because someone dared 

you to do it. 

Never I’ve done it, but not in the past year

Less than once a month About once a month 

2 to 3 times a month Once a week or more 

54) Done crazy things even if they are a little 

dangerous. 

Never I’ve done it, but not in the past year

Less than once a month About once a month 

2 to 3 times a month Once a week or more 

How many times in the past year (12 months) have 

you: 

55) Been suspended from school? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

56) Carried a handgun? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

57) Sold illegal drugs? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

58) Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a 

car or motorcycle? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

59) Been arrested? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

60) Attacked someone with the idea of seriously 

hurting them? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

61) Been drunk or high at school? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

62) Taken a handgun to school? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 to 5 times 

6 to 9 times 10 to 19 times20 to 29 times 

30 to 39 times 40+ times 

63) I like to test myself every now and then by doing 

something a little risky. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

64) Sometimes I will take a risk just for the fun of it. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

65) I sometimes find it exciting to do things for which I 

might get in trouble. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

66) Excitement and adventure are more important to 

me than security. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

67) I think sometimes it’s okay to cheat at school.

NO! no yes  YES! 

68) Are there any gangs at your school? 

No Yes Don’t know 

69) Do any of the students at your school belong to a 

gang? 

No Yes Don’t know 

70) What about gangs that don’t have members 

attending your school...have any of those gangs come 

around your school in the past six months? 

No Yes Don’t know 

If you answered YES to any of the three previous 

questions, please answer these questions, 

otherwise continue on to the next section. 

71) How often have gangs been involved in fights, 

attacks, or violence at your school in the past six 

months? 

Never     Almost every day 

Once or twice a month  Don’t know

Once or twice a week 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 65

72) Have gangs been involved in the sale of drugs at 

your school in the past six months? 

No Yes  Don’t know 

73) Have any gang members brought guns to your 

school in the past six months? 

No Yes  Don’t know 

Do the gangs around your school do the following 

things? 

 No Yes

74) Help out in the community  

75) Get in fights with other gangs  

76) Provide protection for each other  

77) Steal things  

78) Rob other people  

79) Steal cars  

80) Sell marijuana  

81) Sell other illegal drugs  

82) Damage or destroy property  

The next section asks about your 

experiences with gangs. (A “crew” or 

a “posse” is considered a gang.) If 

you have NEVER been in a gang, 

please skip to the next section. 

83) Have you ever belonged to a gang? 

No Yes

84) If you have ever belonged to a gang, did that gang 

have a name? 

No Yes

85) Are you a gang member now? 

No Yes

86) How many members are there in your gang? 

Not in a gang 11 to 20

1 to 5  21 to 30

6 to 10 More than 30 

87) How many boys belong to your gang? 

No boys 11 to 20

1 to 5  21 to 30

6 to 10 More than 30 

88) How many girls belong to your gang? 

No girls 11 to 20

1 to 5  21 to 30

6 to 10 More than 30 

89) If you belong to a gang, suppose the circle below 

represents your gang. How far from the center of the 

gang are you? (circle the number that best describes 

your place in the gang) 

If you are in a gang, do the following describe your 

gang? 

No Yes

90) You can join before age 13.  

91) There are initiation rites.  

92) The gang has established leaders.  

93) The gang has regular meetings.  

94) The gang has specific rules or codes.  

95) Gang members have specific roles.  

96) There are roles for each age group.  

97) The gang has symbols or colors.  

98) There are specific roles for girls.  

99) Why did you join the gang? Mark all that apply.

For fun 

 For protection 

A friend was in the gang 

A brother or sister was in the gang 

I was forced to join 

To get respect 

For money 

To fit in better 

Other (specify)______________________________ 

Not in a gang 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 66

If you are in a gang, does your gang do the following 

things? 

No Yes

100) Help out in the community  

101) Get in fights with other gangs  

102) Provide protection for each other  

103) Steal things  

104) Rob other people  

105) Steal cars  

106) Sell marijuana  

107) Sell other illegal drugs  

108) Damage or destroy property  

The next questions ask about the 

neighborhood and community where 

you live. 

109) If you wanted to get some beer, wine, or hard 

liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin), how easy 

would it be for you to get some? 

Very hard  Sort of hard 

Sort of easy  Very easy 

110) If you wanted to get some cigarettes, how easy 

would it be for you to get some? 

Very hard  Sort of hard 

Sort of easy  Very easy 

111) If you wanted to get a drug like cocaine, LSD, or 

amphetamines, how easy would it be for you to get 

some? 

Very hard  Sort of hard 

Sort of easy  Very easy 

112) If you wanted to get a handgun, how easy would it 

be for you to get one? 

Very hard  Sort of hard 

Sort of easy  Very easy 

113) If you wanted to get some marijuana, how easy 

would it be for you to get some? 

Very hard  Sort of hard 

Sort of easy  Very easy 

114) If a kid smoked marijuana in your neighborhood, 

would he or she be caught by the police? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

115) If a kid drank some beer, wine, or hard liquor 

(for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) in your 

neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the 

police? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

116) If a kid carried a handgun in your neighborhood, 

would he or she be caught by the police? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

How wrong would most adults in your neighborhood 

think it was for kids your age to: 

117) Use marijuana 

Very wrong  Wrong 

A little wrong Not wrong at all

118) Drink alcohol 

Very wrong  Wrong 

A little wrong Not wrong at all

119) Smoke cigarettes 

Very wrong  Wrong 

A little wrong Not wrong at all

About how many adults (over 21) have you known 

personally who in the past year have: 

120) Used marijuana, crack, cocaine, or other drugs? 

None   1 adult  2 adults 

3 or 4 adults  5 or more adults 

121) Sold or dealt drugs? 

None   1 adult  2 adults 

3 or 4 adults  5 or more adults 

122) Done other things that could get them in trouble 

with the police like stealing, selling stolen goods, 

mugging, or assaulting others, etc. 

None   1 adult  2 adults 

3 or 4 adults  5 or more adults 

123) Gotten drunk or high? 

None   1 adult  2 adults 

3 or 4 adults  5 or more adults 

124) People move in and out of my neighborhood a lot 

NO! no yes  YES! 

125) If I had to move, I would miss the neighborhood 

where I now live. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

126) My neighbors notice when I am doing a good job 

and let me know. 

NO! no yes  YES! 
Continue to the next page 

6. Student and School Data 67

127) I like my neighborhood. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

128) There are lots of adults in my neighborhood I 

could talk to about something important. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

How much do each of the following statements 

describe your neighborhood. 

129) Crime and/or drug selling 

NO! no yes  YES! 

130) Fights 

NO! no yes  YES! 

131) Lots of empty or abandoned buildings 

NO! no yes  YES! 

132) Lots of graffiti 

NO! no yes  YES! 

133) How many times have you changed homes since 

kindergarten? 

Never 1 or 2 times  3 or 4 times 

5 or 6 times 7 or more times 

134) There are people in my neighborhood who are 

proud of me when I do something well. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

Which of the following activities for people your age 

are available in your community? 

135) Sports teams No Yes 

136) Scouting No Yes 

137) Boys & girls clubs No Yes 

138) 4-H clubs No Yes 

139) Service clubs No Yes 

140) Have you changed schools (including changing 

from elementary to middle and middle to high school) 

in the past year? 

No Yes 

141) How many times have you changed schools 

(including changing from elementary to middle and 

middle to high school) since kindergarten? 

Never  1 or 2 times 3 or 4 times 

5 or 6 times 7 or more times 

142) Have you changed homes in the past year (the last 

12 months)? 

No Yes 

143) I feel safe in my neighborhood. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

144) I’d like to get out of my neighborhood. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

145) There are people in my neighborhood who 

encourage me to do my best. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

The next few questions ask about your 

family. 

How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to: 

146) Steal anything worth more than $5? 

Very wrong  Wrong 

A little wrong Not wrong at all

147) Draw graffiti, or write things or draw pictures on 

buildings or other property (without the owner’s 

permission?) 

Very wrong  Wrong 

A little wrong Not wrong at all

148) Pick a fight with someone? 

Very wrong  Wrong 

A little wrong Not wrong at all

Have any of your brothers or sisters ever: 

149) Drunk beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, 

vodka, whiskey or gin?) 

No Yes 

I don’t have any brothers or sisters

150) Smoked marijuana? 

No Yes 

I don’t have any brothers or sisters

151) Smoked cigarettes? 

No Yes 

I don’t have any brothers or sisters

152) Taken a handgun to school? 

No Yes 

I don’t have any brothers or sisters

153) Been suspended or expelled from school? 

No Yes 

I don’t have any brothers or sisters
6. Student and School Data 68

154) The rules in my family are clear. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

155) Has anyone in your family ever had a severe 

alcohol or drug problem? 

No Yes

156) People in my family often insult or yell at each 

other. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

157) When I am not at home, one of my parents knows 

where I am and who I am with. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

158) We argue about the same things in my family 

over and over. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

159) If you drank some beer, wine, or liquor (for 

example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) without your 

parents’ permission, would you be caught by your 

parents? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

160) My family has clear rules about alcohol and drug 

use. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

161) If you carried a handgun without your parents’ 

permission, would you be caught by your parents? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

162) If you skipped school, would you be caught by 

your parents? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

163) My parents notice when I am doing a good job 

and let me know about it. 

Never or almost never 

Sometimes 

Often 

 All the time 

164) Do you feel very close to your mother? 

NO! no yes  YES!

165) Do you share your thoughts and feelings with 

your mother? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

166) My parents ask me what I think before most 

family decisions affecting me are made. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

167) How often do your parents tell you they’re proud 

of you for something you’ve done?

Never or almost never 

Sometimes 

Often 

 All the time 

168) Do you share your thoughts and feelings with 

your father? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

169) Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

170) Do you enjoy spending time with your father? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

171) If I had a personal problem, I could ask my mom 

or dad for help. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

172) Do you feel very close to your father? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

173) My parents give me lots of chances to do fun 

things with them. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

174) My parents ask if I’ve gotten my homework done. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

175) People in my family have serious arguments. 

NO! no yes  YES! 

176) Would your parents know if you did not come 

home on time? 

NO! no yes  YES! 

End of Survey 
6. Student and School Data 69

Exhibit 6.3

Consent and Confidentiality 

When the student surveys are conducted, either active or passive consent of the parent or guardian should 

be sought. As difficult as it may be to get parents to return consent forms, the effort must be made. 

Schools or districts may have different policies and preferences. Passive consent generally yields 90 to 

100 percent participation rates. Active consent yields about 40 to 50 percent, and about 10 percent simply 

never return the form. Check state, local, and school regulations to determine whether active consent is 

required or whether it is permissible to use passive consent. Please refer to Exhibit 6.1 on page 58 for 

sample active and passive consent letters. 

If seeking active consent, parents or guardians should receive a letter explaining the survey and asking 

permission for students to fill out the questionnaire. A parent/guardian must return the signed letter 

indicating that permission to participate is granted before his or her student may complete the survey. 

For passive consent, parents or guardians should receive a letter explaining the survey and asking 

permission for their students to fill out the questionnaire. Each parent/guardian should be given the 

option to return the signed letter indicating refusal to participate; otherwise, permission is to be 

considered granted for the child to participate in the survey. 

The consent form should be written to be understandable to the person who signs it. Use commonly 

understood words, not jargon. Consider that languages other than English may be spoken in the home, 

and that consent forms may have to be translated into languages other than English. Participation cannot 

be coerced and the consent form must state that participation is voluntary and may cease at any time. 

Before the student survey is conducted, school personnel, including teachers and administrators, should 

be consulted well in advance. School districts and individual schools may have varying policies 

regarding nonschool-related surveys, such as the time of day they can be administered or the location. 

School personnel also may have to provide alternative arrangements for students who are not participating 

in the survey. 

Some of the questions on the student survey may be of a sensitive nature (e.g., drug use, weapons 

possession, gang activities, family life), which argues that the protection of participants’ identities is a key 

concern. 

Two approaches satisfy this requirement—anonymity and confidentiality—although the two often are 

confused. A respondent may be considered anonymous when the interviewer or researcher cannot 

identify a given response with a given respondent. The student survey should be considered anonymous; 

i.e., individual students cannot and will not be identified. In a confidential survey, the interviewer or 

researcher is able to identify a given person’s responses but essentially promises not to do so. To

guarantee confidentiality or anonymity, all names, addresses, or other personal identification should be 

removed from survey or interview forms. 

The student survey will provide aggregate data from each school—individual students cannot be 

identified. However, the Assessment Work Group will likely face the confidentiality issue. The 

disclosure of certain education information regarding youth under the age of 18 is safeguarded by the 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Educators typically approach participation in 

student surveys with caution because they have legitimate concerns about the privacy of their students 

and the disclosure of certain kinds of information. 
6. Student and School Data 70

Exhibit 6.3 (continued) 

FERPA protects the privacy interests of students and parents only with respect to education records

and does not apply to student surveys that do not contain personally identifiable information (Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1997). Please refer to ―Sharing Information: A Guide to the 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Participation in Juvenile Justice Programs.‖ 

FERPA allows an exemption, however, to provide student information from the school’s law

enforcement unit records. Under FERPA, schools may disclose information from ―law enforcement unit 

records‖ to anyone—federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities, social service agencies, or even 

the media—without the consent of the parent or eligible student. A ―law enforcement unit‖ is an 

individual, office, department, division, or other component of a school or school district—such as a unit 

of commissioned police officers or noncommissioned security guards—that is officially authorized or 

designated by the school district to (1) enforce federal, state, or local law, or 

(2) maintain the physical security and safety of schools in the district. The Family Policy Compliance 

Office, which administers FERPA, is available at (202) 260-3887 to answer further questions regarding 

FERPA. 
6. Student and School Data 71

Exhibit 6.4 

School Staff Perceptions Interview 

1. Do you believe gangs are a problem in your 

school? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If so, what signs do you see that lead you to believe that 

gang members are present in the school? 

 

2. When were you first aware of gang problems in 

your school? 

 

3. What types of problems do gang members present 

in or around the school? 

 

4. When and where are the gang activities occurring 

most frequently in and around the school (time of day, 

classroom, outside classroom, etc.)? 

 

 

 

5. What issues do you think contribute to gang 

activity? 

 

6. Do you believe gang activity is increasing, 

decreasing, or staying about the same level in your 

school as in previous years? Why? 

 Increasing 

 Decreasing 

 Staying the same 

 
6. Student and School Data 72

Appendix A 

Risk and Protective Factors 

Risk Factors

For many years, researchers have been studying the factors that seem to put young people at higher 

risk to join gangs. Some factors—whether they are preexisting personality traits, family 

characteristics/behaviors, or community conditions—weaken young people’s resistance to gangs. In 

essence, if one thinks of a gang as a disease, these factors tend to weaken an individual’s ―immune 

system,‖ making it less likely that the individual will successfully transition from childhood to adulthood 

without engaging in antisocial behaviors. 

These risk factors are negative barriers, keeping youth from succeeding in more positive realms, holding 

them back from the other kinds of opportunities that other youth enjoy, or pushing youth beyond the 

mainstream culture and marginalizing them. These risk factors are broken pieces of a youth’s life that 

he/she will seek to repair or replace elsewhere, if they cannot be offset through normal methods. The risk 

factors also represent outside influences (home, school, peer, community) that may normalize gang 

culture in the mind of the youth. 

Drs. James Howell and Arlen Egley, Jr., noted that: 

―Children who are on a trajectory of worsening antisocial behavior are more likely to join 

gangs during adolescence and they tend to have more problems than non-gang members. 

Gang entry might be thought of as the next developmental step in escalating delinquent 

behavior. Future gang members not only evidence a large number of risk factors, they are 

likely to show risk factors in multiple developmental domains, including community or 

neighborhood, family problems, school problems, delinquent peer influence, and 

individual characteristics‖ (―Moving Risk Factors Into Developmental Theories of Gang 

Membership,‖ 2005).

These factors are divided into domains that affect youth, including individual characteristics, family 

characteristics, characteristics of the school the individual attends and/or the individual’s relationship with 

the school and education, characteristics of the community in which the individual resides, and 

characteristics of that individual’s peer group.

Predominant risk factors for gang involvement (i.e., factors validated in more than one study site) are: 

 Family management 

 School problems 

 Association with delinquent peers 

 General delinquency involvement 

 Alcohol or drug use 

 Association with delinquent peers 

These factors do not mean that an individual who experiences these conditions will automatically join a 

gang or act out in antisocial ways, but they help to predict the likelihood of gang joining. The following 

risk-factor discussion is drawn from ―Moving Risk Factors Into Developmental Theories of Gang 

Membership‖ (Howell and Egley, 2005).
6. Student and School Data 73

Individual Risk Factors

Individual risk factors are personality traits and behaviors that predict the likelihood that a youth will join 

a gang. Howell and Egley note that individual risk factors are significant: 

―Studies have identified more individual risk factors for gang membership than in any 

other domain. Early involvement in delinquency and violent behavior in the Seattle study 

and delinquency involvement in early adolescence in the Rochester study predicted gang 

membership. Both of these studies also show that the risk of gang involvement is 

elevated for youngsters who use alcohol/drugs and are involved in other forms of 

delinquency and who hold antisocial/delinquent beliefs. Experiencing life stressors is 

another important individual risk factor at the early adolescence stage.‖

Several studies have noted a few consistent individual risk factors specific to joining a gang: 

 General delinquency involvement 

 Violence involvement 

 Antisocial or delinquent beliefs 

 Alcohol or drug use 

 Life stressors 

Family Risk Factors

Family issues and the degree of socialization that young people receive in their families play a significant 

role in determining risk to join a gang. Attitudes and behaviors of parents are extremely influential in 

their children’s decisions about gangs, as are the strength of the bond and relationship between parent and 

child. These factors can be either internal or external and are frequently interconnected. For instance, 

family poverty is a risk factor that is correlated to gang joining, as is a home where divorce or separation 

has occurred. Because families with divorced single parents are more likely than other family types to 

live in poverty, a child who has one of these risk factors also may be exposed to other risk factors. 

Families who are in poverty are also more likely to live in low-income, high-crime sections of the 

community. Such families also may experience internal stressors, such as family conflict, as a result of 

these other factors. 

The internal values of the family are also a consideration. Children living in homes with siblings or close 

relatives who are involved in gangs are much more likely to join a gang. The parents’ attitudes and 

performance of parental roles also play an important part. In families where parents express positive 

attitudes towards violence and negative attitudes towards educational success, and where there is a low 

level of parental supervision and monitoring, youth are more predisposed to joining a gang. 

Howell and Egley (2005) distinguish between structural and process risk factors in families: 

―Family-level factors can be divided into two groups—structural variables and social 

process variables. Nonintact family (not living with both biological parents) is a key 

structural variable, and family management problems typically characterize family 

process variables. However, structural variables are often mediated by family process 

variables and, thus, are typically only indirectly associated with gang membership. For 

example, structural adversity affects such factors as parenting deficits and the 

development of strong family bonds.‖
6. Student and School Data 74

School Risk Factors

School risk factors relate to the individual’s behavior and performance in school, along with the school’s 

effectiveness in engaging young people, addressing students’ educational needs, and providing students 

with role models. Students who have low levels of school achievement and are classified as having 

learning disabilities are at higher risk for gang affiliation than are other students. Low academic 

aspirations on the part of the student and parent, low commitment to school, and general academic failure 

(starting as early as elementary school) are also important factors in predicting gang affiliation. These 

sorts of risk factors also tend to cluster within the same settings. Thus, students with learning disabilities 

or low academic aspirations are likely to be negatively labeled by teachers and poorly attached to the 

school. In other instances, students may attend low-performing schools in areas of the community where 

poverty is the norm and crime is high. Further, in these areas, students may experience or fear 

victimization at school, another risk factor for gang involvement. 

Schools, regardless of the area in which they are located, can take measures to ensure that students are 

more likely to succeed and to counter possible risk factors to which students may be exposed. 

Community Risk Factors

Unsurprisingly, gangs tend to be more prevalent in high-crime areas of the community, where poverty 

and social disorganization are widespread, opportunities are fewer, and antisocial acts (such as drug use 

and sale) are common. These sorts of community conditions can cause feelings of vulnerability among 

youth (such as fear of victimization or perceptions of being unsafe). Antisocial attitudinal norms within 

the community—while being favorable to gangs, crime, violence, and drugs—also tend to influence local 

youth to view gangs more positively. In combination, these factors lead to the creation and long-term 

viability of gangs. Howell and Egley (2005) note: 

―Community or neighborhood risk factors that have been shown to predict gang 

membership in early adolescence include availability/perceived access to drugs, 

neighborhood youth in trouble, feeling unsafe in the neighborhood, and low 

neighborhood attachment. Other important neighborhood risk factors consist of high 

community arrest rates, high drug use, and neighborhood disorganization. Availability of 

firearms may also be an important community variable.‖

Peer Risk Factors

During the adolescent years, a youth’s relationship to his peers becomes extremely important and is 

linked to self-identity. Youth who associate with gang-involved or antisocial/delinquent peers are much 

more likely to join a gang. Youth who feel ostracized because of their race or ethnicity, or who are 

struggling with personal identity, also may ―try on‖ different peer groups to find one that fits, including 

gangs. 

―Associates‖ of gang members are also part and parcel of a community’s gang problem 

because of their active involvement in delinquency (Curry, Decker, and Egley, 2002). 

Researchers have found that the vast majority of youth who join gangs stay in the gang less than one year. 

Those who remain in the gang longer may share common personality and behavior traits, including 

aggressiveness, oppositional behavior, inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and maintaining relationships with 

antisocial peers. 
6. Student and School Data 75

Key Risk Factor Findings

Recent youth gang research has produced three seminal findings with respect to the effect of risk factors 

on the likelihood of gang membership. First, risk factors for gang membership span all five of the risk 

factor domains (family, peer group, school, individual characteristics, and community conditions). 

Second, risk factors have a cumulative effect. The greater the number of risk factors experienced by the 

youth, the greater the likelihood of gang involvement. For example, youth in Seattle possessing seven or 

more risk factors were 13 times more likely to join a gang than were children with no risk factor 

indicators or only one risk factor indicator. Third, the presence of risk factors in multiple developmental 

domains appears to further enhance the likelihood of gang membership. For youth in the Rochester study 

(Thornberry et al., 2003), a majority (61 percent) of the boys and 40 percent of the girls who exhibited 

elevated risk in all domains self-reported gang membership. In contrast, only one-third of the boys and 

one-fourth of the girls who experienced risk in a simple majority of the domains joined a gang. 

Children who are on a trajectory of worsening antisocial behavior are more likely to join gangs during 

adolescence, and they tend to have more risk factors than ordinary delinquents (Howell and Egley, 2005). 

Gang entry might be thought of as the next developmental step in escalating delinquent behavior. Future 

gang members not only evidence a large number of risk factors, they are likely to show risk factors in 

multiple developmental domains, including community or neighborhood, family problems, school 

problems, delinquent peer influence, and individual characteristics. 

The table below breaks out risk factors by domain: community, family, school, peer group, and 

individual. 

Risk Factors for Gang Membership

Individual

 General delinquency involvement

 Antisocial/delinquent beliefs

 Early onset of aggression/violence

 Hyperactive (impulsive, 

attention problems) 

 Authority conflict (troublesome/dishonest/daring/

stubborn/disruptive/conduct disorders)

 Early initiation of violent behavior

 Poor refusal skills

 Substance use (especially marijuana and alcohol)

 Physical violence or aggression

 Violent victimization±

 Mental health problem, or conduct disorders 

(disruptive, antisocial) †

 Illegal gun ownership/carrying

 Early dating/sexual activity/fatherhood

 Antisocial or delinquent beliefs

 Alcohol/drug use

 Life stressors‡

 Makes excuses for delinquent behavior 

(neutralization)

Family

 Broken home/changes in caretaker 

 Poverty /low family socioeconomic status

 Family history of problem behavior/criminal 

involvement

 Delinquent/gang-related siblings

 Having a young mother

 Low attachment to child

 Low parent education 

 Child maltreatment (abuse or neglect)

 Family transitions (change in parent figures)

 Sibling antisocial behavior

 Poor parental supervision (control, monitoring, 

and child management)

 Family poverty

 Parent proviolent attitudes
6. Student and School Data 76

School

 Low achievement in elementary school

 Frequent truancy/absences/suspensions/expelled 

from school 

 Identified as learning disabled

 Low school 

attachment/bonding/motivation/commitment to 

school 

 Poor school attitude/motivation/

performance/school failure

 Poorly organized and functioning 

schools/inadequate school climate/negative 

labeling by teachers

 Low academic aspirations

 Low attachment to teachers

 Low parental college expectations for child

 Low math achievement test score (males) 

Community

 Residence in a disadvantaged or disorganized 

neighborhood

 Availability or perceived ready access to drugs

 Feeling unsafe in the neighborhood

 Low neighborhood attachment

 High-crime neighborhood

 Availability of firearms

 Neighborhood youth in trouble

Peer

 Association with antisocial/aggressive/delinquent 

peers/high peer delinquency 

 Gang-involved peers/relatives

†Conduct disorder symptoms included bullying, fighting, lying, cruelty toward animals, attacking people, 

running away from home, fire setting, theft, truancy, and vandalism. 

‡These consist of failing a course at school, being suspended or expelled from school, breaking up with a 

boyfriend/girlfriend, having a big fight or problem with a friend, or the death of someone close. 

±Need for protection is a major reason gang members give when asked why they join. 
6. Student and School Data 77

Protective Factors

Other research supports that, along with risk factors, protective factors, or certain conditions in the 

individual or environment, can reduce the effects of risk factors (Pollard et al., 1997; Howell and 

Hawkins, 1998). Delinquency prevention science incorporates the risk- and protective-focused 

prevention model pioneered in public health research, in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. 

Risk factors are conditions in the individual or environment that predict an increased likelihood of 

developing a problem. Protective factors, on the other hand, are conditions in the individual or 

environment that buffer or moderate the effects of risk factors or increase resistance to them, and thus 

inhibit the development of problems even in the face of risk exposure. 

―It is possible now to move to outcome focused prevention, that is, to design systems for risk reduction 

and protective factor enhancement to achieve specified [delinquency] prevention outcomes‖ (Hawkins, 

1999). For example, a comprehensive Seattle program for children aged 6 to 12 prevented violence, heavy 

alcohol use, sexual activity, and teen pregnancy by age 18, by reducing shared risks and enhancing 

protection in the family and school environments (Hawkins et al., 1999). 
6. Student and School Data 78

Appendix B 

Item-Construct Dictionary and Associated Scales 

for the Student Survey 
6. Student and School Data 79

SECTION 1: DEMOGRAPHICS 

How old are you? 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 or older 

What grade are you in? 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 

Are you: Female Male 

What do you consider yourself to be? (Choose one best answer.) 

White, not of Hispanic Origin 

Black or African American 

American Indian/Native American, Eskimo or Aleut 

Spanish/Hispanic/Latino 

Mexican American Chicano 

Mexican Puerto Rican 

Cuban Central or South American 

Other Spanish 

Asian or Pacific Islander 

Chinese Japanese 

Filipino Asian Indian 

Hawaiian Samoan 

Korean Guamanian 

Vietnamese Cambodian 

Other Asian or Pacific Islander 

Other (Please specify ______________________) 

Think of where you live most of the time. Which of the following people live there with you? (Choose all that apply.) 

Mother Grandfather 

Stepmother Uncle 

Foster Mother Other adults 

Grandmother Brother(s) 

Aunt Stepbrother(s) 

Father Sister(s) 

Stepfather Stepsister(s) 

Foster Father Other children 
6. Student and School Data 80

How many brothers and sisters, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have that are older than you? 

 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 

How many brothers or sisters, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have that are younger than you? 

 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 

What is the language you use most often at home? English Spanish Another Language 

What is the highest level of schooling your father completed? 

Completed grade school or less 

Some high school 

Completed high school 

Some college 

Completed college 

Graduate or professional school after college 

Don't know 

Does not apply 

What is the highest level of schooling your mother completed? 

Completed grade school or less 

Some high school 

Completed high school 

Some college 

Completed college 

Graduate or professional school after college 

Don't know 

Does not apply 

Where are you living now? 

On a farm 

In the country, not on a farm 

In a city, town, or suburb 
6. Student and School Data 81

SECTION 2 – RISK/PROTECTIVE FACTOR DATA 

COMMUNITY: Low Neighborhood Attachment (Risk Factor)

Q-144 I'd like to get out of my neighborhood. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-127 I like my neighborhood. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-125 If I had to move, I would miss the neighborhood I now live in. NO! no yes YES! 

COMMUNITY: Community Disorganization (Risk Factor)

How much do each of the following statements describe your neighborhood: 

Q-129 Crime and/or drug selling. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-130 Fights. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-131 Lots of empty or abandoned buildings. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-132 Lots of graffiti. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-143 I feel safe in my neighborhood. NO! no yes YES! 

COMMUNITY: Personal Transitions and Mobility (Risk Factor)

Q-142 Have you changed homes in the past year (the last 12 months)? NO YES 

Q-133 How many times have you changed homes since kindergarten? Never 1 or 2 times 3 or 4 times 5 or 6 times 7 or more times 

Q-140 Have you changed schools in the past year? NO YES 

Q-141 How many times have you changed schools since kindergarten? Never 1 or 2 times 3 or 4 times 5 or 6 times 7 or more times 

COMMUNITY: Community Transitions and Mobility (Risk Factor) 

Q-124 People move in and out of my neighborhood a lot. NO! no yes YES! 
6. Student and School Data 82

COMMUNITY: Laws and Norms Favorable to Drug Use, Firearms, and Crime – (Risk Factor)

How wrong would most adults in your neighborhood think it was for kids your age: 

Q-117 To use marijuana. Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-118 To drink alcohol. Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-119 To smoke cigarettes. Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-115 If a kid drank some beer, wine or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) 

in your neighborhood would he or she be caught by the police? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-114 If a kid smoked marijuana in your neighborhood would he or she be caught by the police? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-116 If a kid carried a handgun in your neighborhood would he or she be caught by the police? NO! no yes YES! 

About how many adults have you known personally who in the past year have:

Q-120 Used marijuana, crack, cocaine, or other drugs? None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults 

Q-121 Sold or dealt drugs? None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults 

Q-122 Done other things that could get them in trouble with the police like stealing, 

selling stolen goods, mugging or assaulting others, etc. None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults 

Q-123 Gotten drunk or high? None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults 

COMMUNITY: Perceived Availability of Drugs & Handguns (Risk Factor)

Q-109 If you wanted to get some beer, wine or hard liquor (for example, vodka, 

whiskey, or gin), how easy would it be for you to get some? Very Hard Sort of Hard Sort of Easy Very Easy 

Q-110 If you wanted to get some cigarettes, how easy would it be for you to get some? Very Hard Sort of Hard Sort of Easy Very Easy 

Q-113 If you wanted to get some marijuana, how easy would it be for you to get some? Very Hard Sort of Hard Sort of Easy Very Easy 

Q-111 If you wanted to get a drug like cocaine, LSD, or amphetamines, 

how easy would it be for you to get some? Very Hard Sort of Hard Sort of Easy Very Easy 

Q-112 If you wanted to get a handgun, how easy would it be for you to get one? Very Hard Sort of Hard Sort of Easy Very Easy 

COMMUNITY: Opportunities for Prosocial Involvement (Protective Factor) 

Q-128 There are lots of adults in my neighborhood I could talk to about something important. NO! no yes YES! 
6. Student and School Data 83

Which of the following activities for people your age are available in your community? 

 Q-135 Sports teams. Yes No

 Q-136 Scouting. Yes No

 Q-137 Boys & Girls Clubs Yes No

 Q-138 4-H clubs Yes No

 Q-139 Service clubs Yes No

COMMUNITY: Rewards for Prosocial Involvement (Protective Factor) 

Q-125 My neighbors notice when I am doing a good job and let me know. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-145 There are people in my neighborhood who encourage me to do my best. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-134 There are people in my neighborhood who are proud of me when I do something well. NO! no yes YES! 

FAMILY: Poor Family Supervision (Risk Factor)

Q-174 My parents ask if I've gotten my homework done. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-176 Would your parents know if you did not come home on time? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-157 When I am not at home, one of my parents knows where I am and who I am with. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-154 The rules in my family are clear. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-160 My family has clear rules about alcohol and drug use. 

FAMILY: Poor Family Discipline (Risk Factor) 

Q-159 If you drank some beer or wine or liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) 

without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-162 If you skipped school would you be caught by your parents? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-161 If you carried a handgun without your parents' permission, 

would you be caught by your parents? NO! no yes YES! 
6. Student and School Data 84

FAMILY: Family Conflict (Risk Factor) 

Q-156 People in my family often insult or yell at each other. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-175 People in my family have serious arguments. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-158 We argue about the same things in my family over and over. NO! no yes YES! 

FAMILY: Family History of Antisocial Behavior (Risk Factor) 

Q-155 Has anyone in your family ever had a severe alcohol or drug problem? No Yes

Have any of your brothers or sisters ever:

Q-149 Drunk beer, wine or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey or gin)? No Yes I Don't Have Any Brothers or Sisters 

Q-150 Smoked marijuana? No Yes I Don't Have Any Brothers or Sisters 

Q-151 Smoked cigarettes? No Yes I Don't Have Any Brothers or Sisters 

Q-152 Taken a handgun to school? No Yes I Don't Have Any Brothers or Sisters 

Q-153 Been suspended or expelled from school? No Yes I Don't Have Any Brothers or Sisters 

FAMILY: Parental Attitudes Favorable to Antisocial Behavior (Risk Factor) 

How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to: 

Q-146 Steal anything worth more than $5? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-147 Draw graffiti, or write things or draw pictures on buildings or other property 

(without the owner's permission)? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-148 Pick a fight with someone? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

FAMILY – Family Opportunities for Positive Involvement (Protective Factor) 

Q-166 My parents ask me what I think before most family decisions affecting me are made. Never or almost Never Sometimes Often All the Time 

Q-173 My parents give me lots of chances to do fun things with them. NO! no yes YES! 

FAMILY – Family Rewards for Positive Involvement (Protective Factor) 

Q-163 My parents notice when I am doing a good job and let me know about it. Never Almost Never Sometimes Often All the time 

Q-167 How often do your parents tell you they’re proud of you for something you’ve done? Never or Almost never Sometimes Often All the Time 
6. Student and School Data 85

FAMILY – Family Attachment (Protective Factor) 

Q-164 Do you feel very close to your mother? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-165 Do you share your thoughts and feelings with your mother? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-168 Do you share your thoughts and feelings with your father? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-169 Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-170 Do you enjoy spending time with your father? NO! no yes YES! 

Q-171 If I had a personal problem, I could ask my mom or dad for help. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-172 Do you feel very close to your father? NO! no yes YES! 

SCHOOL: Academic Failure (Risk Factor)

Q-13 Putting them all together, what were your grades like last year? Mostly A's Mostly B's Mostly C's Mostly D's Mostly F's 

Q-21 Are your school grades better than the grades of most students in your class? NO! no yes YES! 

SCHOOL: Little Commitment to School (Risk Factor) 

Q-22 How often do you feel that the school work you are assigned Almost 

is meaningful and important? Always Often Sometimes Seldom Never 

Q-23 How interesting are most of your courses to you? Very Quite Fairly Slightly Very

Interesting Interesting Interesting Dull Dull 

Q-24 How important do you think the things you are learning in school Very Quite Fairly Slightly Not at all 

are going to be for your later life? Important Important Important Important Important 

Now, thinking back over the past year in school, how often did you... 

 Almost 

Q-25 Enjoy being in school? Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always 

 Almost 

Q-26 Hate being in school? Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always 

 Almost 

Q-27 Try to do your best work in school? Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always 

SCHOOL: School Opportunities for Prosocial Involvement (Protective Factor) 

Q-14 In my school, students have lots of chances to help decide things like class activities and rules. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-15 Teachers ask me to work on special classroom projects. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-17 There are lots of chances for students in my school to talk with a teacher one-on-one NO! no yes YES! 
6. Student and School Data 86

Q-18 I feel safe in my school. NO! no yes YES! 

SCHOOL: School Rewards for Prosocial Involvement (Protective Factor) 

Q-16 My teacher(s) notices when I am doing a good job and lets me know about it. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-19 The school lets my parents know when I have done something well. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-20 My teacher praises me when I work hard in school. NO! no yes YES! 

PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Early Initiation of Problem Behavior (Risk Factor) 

How old were you when you first: 

Q-35 Smoked marijuana? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-36 Smoked a cigarette, even just a puff? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-37 Had more than a sip or two of beer, wine or hard liquor 

(for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin)? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-38 Began drinking alcoholic beverages regularly, that is, at 

least once or twice a month? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-39 Got suspended from school? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-40 Got arrested? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-41 Carried a handgun? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-42 Attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Impulsiveness (Risk Factor) 

Q-63 I like to test myself every now and then by doing something a little risky. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-64 Sometimes I will take a risk just for the fun of it. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-65 I sometimes find it exciting to do things for which I might get in trouble. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-66 Excitement and adventure are more important to me than security. NO! no yes YES! 

Q-67 I think sometimes it’s okay to cheat at school. NO! no yes YES! 
6. Student and School Data 87

PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Favorable Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior (Risk Factor) 

How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to: 

Q-44 Take a handgun to school? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-45 Steal anything worth more than $5? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-46 Pick a fight with someone? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-47 Attack someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All 

Q-48 Stay away from school all day when their parents think they are at school? Very Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong At All 

Q-49 It is all right to beat up people if they start the fight NO! no yes YES! 

Q-50 It is important to be honest with your parents, even if they become upset 

or you get punished NO! no yes YES! 

Q-51 I think it is okay to take something without asking if you can get away with it. NO! no yes YES! 

PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Interaction with Antisocial Peers (Risk Factor) 

Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 months), how many of your best friends have: 

Q-28 Been suspended from school? None 1 2 3 4 

Q-29 Carried a handgun? None 1 2 3 4 

Q-30 Sold illegal drugs? None 1 2 3 4 

Q-31 Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or motorcycle? None 1 2 3 4 

Q-32 Been arrested? None 1 2 3 4 

Q-33 Dropped out of school? None 1 2 3 4 

Q-34 Been members of a gang? None 1 2 3 4 

PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Sensation Seeking (Risk Factor)

How many times have you done the following things? 

Q-52 Done what feels good no matter what. 

Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month About once a month 2 or 3 times a month Once a week or more 
6. Student and School Data 88

Q-53 Done something dangerous because someone dared you to do it. 

Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month About once a month 2 or 3 times a month Once a week or more 

Q-54 Done crazy things even if they are a little dangerous. 

Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month About once a month 2 or 3 times a month Once a week or more 

SECTION 3: SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY

Q-55 Been suspended from school? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

Q-56 Carried a handgun? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times

Q-57 Sold illegal drugs? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

Q-58 Stolen or tried to steal a motor 

vehicle such as a car or motorcycle? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

Q-59 Been arrested? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

Q-60 Attacked someone with the idea 

of seriously hurting them? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

Q-61Been drunk or high at school? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

Q-62 Taken a handgun to school? Never 1 or 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 

SECTION 4: GANG SPECIFIC QUESTIONS 

GANGS AT SCHOOL: 

Q-68 Are there any gangs at your school? No Yes Don’t know 

Q-69 Do any of the students at your school belong to a gang? No Yes Don’t know

Q-70 What about gangs that don’t have members attending your school...have any

Of those gangs come around your school in the past six months? No Yes Don’t know

Q-71 How often have gangs been involved in fights, attacks, or violence at your schoolin the past six months? 

 Never Once or twice a month Once or twice a week Almost Every Day Don’t know

Q-72 Have gangs been involved in the sale of drugs at your school in the past six months? No Yes Don’t know

Q-73 Have any gang members brought guns to your school in the past six months? No Yes Don’t know
6. Student and School Data 89

Do the gangs around your school do the following things? 

Q-74 Help out in the community Yes No

Q-75 Get in fights with other gangs Yes No

Q-76 Provide protection for each other Yes No

Q-77 Steal things Yes No

Q-78 Rob other people Yes No

Q-79 Steal cars Yes No

Q-80 Sell marijuana Yes No

Q-81 Sell other illegal drugs Yes No

Q-82 Damage and destroy property Yes No

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH GANGS: 

Q-83 Have you ever belonged to a gang? No Yes

Q-84 If you have ever belonged to a gang, did that gang have a name? No Yes I Have Never Belonged to a Gang 

Q-85 Are you a gang member now? No Yes

Q-43 How old were you when you first belonged to a gang? Never Have 10 or Younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or Older 

Q-86 How many members are there in your gang? Not in a gang 1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 More than 30 

Q-87 How many boys belong to your gang? No boys 1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 More than 30 

Q-88 How many girls belong to your gang? No girls 1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 More than 30 

Q-89 If you belong to a gang, suppose the circle below represents 

your gang. How far from the center of the gang are you (circle the number that 

Best describes your place in the gangs) 1 2 3 4 5 
6. Student and School Data 90

If you are in a gang, do any of the following describe your gang? 

Q-90 You can join before age No Yes

Q-91 There are initiation rites No Yes

Q-92 The gang has established leaders No Yes

Q-93 The gang ha regular meetings No Yes

Q-94 The gang has specific rules and codes No Yes

Q-95 Gang members have specific roles No Yes

Q-96 There are roles for each age group No Yes

Q-97The gang has symbols and colors No Yes

Q-98 There are specific roles for girls No Yes

Q-99 Why did you join the gang? (Check all that apply) 

For fun 

For protection 

A friend was in the gang 

A brother or sister was in the gang 

I was forced to join 

To get respect 

For money 

To fit in better 

Other: ____________ 

Not in a gang 
6. Student and School Data 91

If you are in a gang, does your gang do the following things? 

Q-100 Help out in the community? No Yes

Q-101 Get in fights with other gangs? No Yes

Q-102 Provide protection for each other No Yes

Q-103 Steal things No Yes

Q-104 Rob other people No Yes

Q-105 Steal cars No Yes

Q-106 Sell marijuana No Yes

Q-107 Sell other illegal drugs No Yes

Q-108 Damage or destroy property No Yes

 
6. Student and School Data 92

Section 1

Demographics Demographics Age, Grade, Gender, Ethnicity, Family 

Members, Older Siblings, Younger 

Siblings, Language at Home, Zip Code, 

Father’s Education, Mother’s Education, 

Urbanicity

12 *

Section 2

COMMUNITY DOMAIN

Community 

Domain

Risk Factors

Risk Factor

Low Neighborhood Attachment 

and Community Disorganization

Transitions and Mobility

Laws and Norms Favorable to 

Drug Use, Firearms, and Crime

Perceived Availability of Drugs 

and Firearms

Associated Scales

Low Neighborhood Attachment 

Community Disorganization 

Personal Transitions and Mobility

Community Transitions and Mobility

Laws and Norms

Perceived Availability

28

3

5

4

1

10

5

*

*

*

*

*

*

Community 

Domain

Protective 

Factors

Protective Factor

Community Opportunities for 

Prosocial Involvement

Community Rewards for Prosocial

Involvement

Associated Scales

Community Opportunities for Prosocial 

Involvement 

Community Rewards for Prosocial 

Involvement 

9

6

3

*

*

Items with a “*” are those that current research suggests are strongly related to gang involvement. 
6. Student and School Data 93

FAMILY DOMAIN

Family 

Domain

Risk Factors

Risk Factor

Family Management Problems

Family Conflict

Family Involvement in the Problem 

Behavior

Favorable Parental Attitudes 

Towards the Problem Behavior

Associated Scales

Poor Family Supervision 

Poor Family Discipline 

Family Conflict 

Family History of Antisocial

 Behavior 

Parental Attitudes Favorable to Antisocial 

 Behavior 

20

5

3

3

6

3

*

*

*

*

*

Family 

Domain

Protective 

Factors

Protective Factor

Family Attachment

Family Opportunities for Positive

Involvement

Family Rewards for Positive 

Involvement

Associated Scales

Family Attachment 

Family Opportunities for Positive 

 Involvement 

Family Rewards for Positive 

 Involvement 

11

7

2

2

SCHOOL DOMAIN

School 

Domain

Risk Factors

Risk Factor

Academic Failure Beginning in Late 

Elementary School

Lack of Commitment to School

Early and Persistent Antisocial 

Behavior

Associated Scales

Academic Failure 

Low School Commitment 

Listed In Peer-Individual Domain

8

2

6

*

*

School 

Domain

Protective 

Factors

Protective Factor

School Opportunities for Prosocial 

Involvement

School Rewards for Prosocial 

Involvement

Associated Scales

School Opportunities for Prosocial 

Involvement 

School Rewards for Prosocial Involvement 

7

4

3
6. Student and School Data 94

INDIVIDUAL-PEER DOMAIN

IndividualPeer 

Risk Factors

Risk Factor

Friends Who Engage in Problem 

Behaviors

Favorable Attitudes Toward 

Problem Behaviors

Early Initiation of Problem 

Behaviors

Constitutional Factors

Associated Scales

Interaction With Antisocial Peers 

Favorable Attitudes Towards Antisocial

 Behavior 

Early Initiation of ATOD Use and 

Delinquency 

Impulsiveness 

Sensation Seeking )

28

6

5

8

5

4

*

*

*

*

*

IndividualPeer 

Protective 

Factors

Protective Factor

Religiosity

Social Skills

Belief in the Moral Order

Associated Scales

Religiosity

Social Skills 

Belief in the Moral Order 

9

1

4

4

Section 3

Self-Reported 

Delinquency

Delinquency School Suspension, Carried a Handgun, 

Sold Drugs, Stole Vehicle, Arrested, 

Attacked to Hurt, Drunk/High at School, 

Taken Handgun to School

8 *

Section 4

GangSpecific 

Questions

Gangs at School Gangs at School, Gangs Around the School, 

Gang Fights at School, Drug Sales at 

School, Guns at School

15

Personal Experiences With Gangs Ever Belonged, Gang Name, Current Gang 

Member, Age at Joining, Number of 

Members by Total and Gender, 

characteristics of the Gang, Reasons for 

Joining, Activities of the Gang

27
7. Community Perceptions Data 95

7.Community Perceptions Data 

No picture of a community’s gang crime problem would be complete without the views of community 

leaders, community residents, parents, and gang-involved youth. This information can be collected using 

surveys, personal interviews, and/or focus groups. The extent of this data collection should be determined 

by the time and funds available. It also is useful to conduct focus groups with social service workers, 

detention center staff, and other professionals who spend significant amounts of time with gang-involved 

youths. 

At a minimum, information from the following groups should be collected: 

 Community leaders, both formal and informal 

 Community residents 

 Parents (including parents of gang members, if possible) 

 Agency staff members (social services, detention centers, probation, community-based 

agencies) 

 Gang members 

The primary reason for gathering this type of information is to determine how community members view 

gang activity and how they think gangs affect the community. Some of the questions developed for this 

type of information gathering are open-ended, and interviewers should encourage respondents to freely 

elaborate. These questions give respondents an opportunity to relate their own experience or beliefs about 

gangs and gang activity in their community. Care should be taken to ensure that respondents represent 

the community being assessed in terms of demographics. 

Table 1 identifies the questions to be answered about the community’s perceptions of gang crime, the 

information needed to answer the questions, and the sources of that information. 

Table 1—Community Perceptions of Gangs

Questions to Be Answered Information Needed to 

Answer

Sources of 

Information

How to Obtain

1. Do community leaders perceive 

a gang problem? If so, what is the 

problem? Are they prepared to 

respond?

Feedback from community 

leaders about the gang crime 

problem

Police chief, sheriff, 

mayor, county 

prosecutor, 

probation, judges, 

youth agency 

director, county 

commissioners, all 

Steering Committee 

members, faithbased leaders, other 

community leaders

Community leader 

interviews by 

phone or mail

2. Do parents perceive their 

children to be involved in or at risk 

of involved in gangs? Why? What 

should be done?

Input from sample group of 

parents

Parents, parents of 

gang members

Parent focus 

groups
7. Community Perceptions Data 96

3. How do community residents 

perceive the gang problem? What 

do community residents believe 

should be done?

Input from community residents Community 

residents

Community 

resident survey

4. How do youth workers and 

youth-serving agencies perceive the 

problem? What issues are 

contributing to the area’s gang 

problems? What solutions might 

be available?

Input from youth-serving 

agencies

Youth-serving 

agencies

Agency survey

5. Who is involved in gangs? Demographic information Gang members Gang member 

interviews

6. What crimes are gang youth 

committing?

Involvement in criminal activity

7. Why did youth join a gang? 

Why would they leave?

Reasons for joining a gang, 

potential reasons for leaving

8. What factors are contributing to 

the gang problem?

Causes of gang problem

Information from the interviews, surveys, and focus groups should be compared across the different 

groups, when possible. Use appropriate charts, tables, and other graphics to display the data can be 

helpful, such as the chart in Table 2. Answers to the following questions should be addressed: 

1. Do community leaders, parents, and community residents believe a gang problem exists 

in the community? If so, what is that problem? 

2. Are there significant differences across the groups? What are those differences? 

3. Do parents believe their children to be involved in gangs or at risk for gang involvement? 

4. What do the respondent groups think should be done about the gang problem? 

5. In what ways are the respondent groups willing to respond to the gang problem? 

Table 2—Sample Community Perceptions Data

Residents’ Concerns

Concern Percent of 

Respondents

Gang activity 45.1%

Burglary and robbery 40.8%

Drug dealing 34.1%

Low police activity 32.9%

Unemployment 27.5%

Loud music 25.5%

Unkempt property 24.7%

Insufficient street lighting 20.4%

Vandalism 13.3%
7. Community Perceptions Data 97

Graffiti 12.2%

Homicide 10.2%

Domestic violence 9.8%

Truancy 3.1%

Source: South Park Community Resident Survey, 2008

Gang-Involved Youth 

Gang members face problems beyond those posed by the gang itself. Most lack job skills, and many 

cannot read and write very well. Few have the self-control needed to hold down a steady job, even if they 

qualify for one. 

As part of the assessment process, an effort should be made to interview at least 25 to 50 gang 

members—more, if possible—to determine their demographic profiles, criminal involvement, and history 

with gangs. Interviews with gang members can provide a variety of information, including: 

 When local youth joined gangs, on average 

 What crimes gang youth are committing 

 Youths’ perceptions of the gang problem

 Involvement in high-risk behaviors 

 Their views on why youth join gangs 

 Their relationships with parents, peers, teachers, police, and other community members 

 What can be done to prevent or reduce gang problems in their community 

Gang members are often involved with the justice system and can usually be identified through that 

system. However, gang-involved youth may be difficult to locate: they may be out of school; they may 

work; they may be homeless or unemployed. Although some gang youth under age 16 will still be 

attending mainstream schools, others can be found in alternative schools, GED programs, job-training 

programs, or community-based programs. Some can be located in juvenile detention centers and 

residential treatment centers, while others can be located through juvenile and adult probation. It may be 

possible to locate gang members through a ―snowball‖ sampling technique; that is, each gang member 

interviewed is asked to suggest a gang friend or member of his/her gang to be interviewed. Outreach 

agencies may also be able to play a role in facilitating these interviews. The gang members interviewed 

should reflect the racial/gender/age mix of gangs in the community. It may help to provide a small 

incentive, such as a $10 or $20 gift certificate to a local store or restaurant, to interest gang members in 

participating in the interview. 

When planning the interview process, make sure that personal interviews with gang members are 

conducted by a neutral party and in a neutral setting, and that all information obtained is kept completely 

confidential. Under no circumstances should a gang member be interviewed by law enforcement or 

others associated with the justice system. Gang-member interviews should be held in a private 

location. 

The gang member interview form (EXHIBIT 7.5) is designed to be conducted in a personal, face-to-face 

format. Sample consent forms for the respondent and for parents/guardians of gang members who are 

minors are included in EXHIBIT 7.6. 
7. Community Perceptions Data 98

Table 1 on page 95 identifies the questions to be answered about gang-involved youth in the community, 

the information that will be needed to answer those questions, and the sources of that information. The 

data collected from these interviews should be analyzed in aggregate form before being reported to the 

Steering Committee. No identifying personal details should be included. Report the data using the 

following variables where appropriate: 

Gender: Male/Female 

Race: Use categories as defined on page 37. 

Age: Use categories as defined on page 37. 

Use appropriate graphs, charts, and tables to present the information in a user-friendly format, such as 

those shown in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3—Percentage of Gang Members Reporting Criminal Activity in the Last Year

Crime % of Males (n) % of Females 

(n) % of Total (n)

Beat up or battered someone without using a dangerous 

weapon

76.8% (73) 75.0% (6) 76.7% (79)

Threatened to attack a person without using a gun, knife, or 

other dangerous weapon

69.5% (66) 75.0% (6) 69.9% (72)

Wrote gang graffiti on schools, houses, stores, etc. 55.2% (53) 50.0% (4) 54.8% (57)

Stole a car, truck, or motorcycle 42.1% (40) 50.0% (4) 42.7% (44)

Robbed someone by force or by threat of force using a 

weapon

29.5% (28) 37.5% (3) 35.9% (37)

Beat up or battered someone using a dangerous weapon 36.8% (35) 25.0% (2) 35.9% (37)

Participated in a drive-by shooting 28.4% (27) 50.0% (4) 30.1% (31)

Participated in a murder 6.3% (6) 12.5% (1) 6.8% (7)

Sold drugs 49.5% (47) 25.0% (2) 47.6% (49)

Source: Tabulation of data collected from interviews with gang members

Table 4—Reason for Joining a Gang

Reason for Joining a Gang (gang member identified reason as 

important or very important)

% of Male 

Respondents (n)

% of Female 

Respondents (n) % of Total

Protection 41.9% (39) 50% (4) 42.5%

Respect 29.3% (27) 50% (4) 30.6%

Money 31.2% (29) 37.5% (3) 31.7%

Friends in the gang 29% (27) 37.5% (3) 29.7%

To fit in 23.9% (22) 37.5% (3) 25.0%

Fun 23.9% (22) 25.0% (2) 23.7%

Brother/sister in the gang 15.1% (14) 25.0% (2) 15.8%

Forced to 2.2% (2) 12.5% (1) 3.0%

Source: Tabulation of data collected from interviews with gang members (n=101)
7. Community Perceptions Data 99

Table 5—Benefits of Gang Membership

Gang Benefit

% Who 

Agreed or 

Strongly 

Agreed (n)

My gang provides loyalty 72% (72)

I enjoy being a member of my gang 56% (56)

My gang is like a family to me 54% (54)

My gang makes me feel respected 51% (51)

My gang makes me feel like I really belong 

somewhere

38% (38)

Being in a gang is a good way to make money 38% (38)

My gang makes me feel important 29% (29)

My gang makes me feel like I have a purpose 24% (24)

Source: Tabulation of data collected from interviews with gang members 

(n=100)

Answers to the following questions should be considered: 

1. Who is involved in gangs (age, gender, race)? 

2. Why and when (age) did they join a gang? 

3. What is their school/education status? 

4. What is their family status? 

5. What is their employment status? 

6. What crimes do gang youth report committing? 

7. What are gang youths’ perceptions about the gang problem? 

8. Why would youth leave a gang? 

When these data are presented, include any additional information from the gang member interviews that 

may shed light on the nature of gang activity in the community. 

Data collection instruments provided in this chapter include: 

Exhibit 7.1 Interview form for community leaders (page 100) 

Exhibit 7.2 Survey form for community residents (pages 101) 

Exhibit 7.3 Focus group questions for parents and parents of gang members (page 103) 

Exhibit 7.4 Survey for youth-serving agencies (page 104) 

Exhibit 7.5 Interview form for gang members (page 105) 

Exhibit 7.6 Sample consent forms for gang-member interviews (page 112) 
7. Community Perceptions Data 100

Exhibit 7.1 

Community Leader Interview Form 

1. Do you believe gangs are a problem in your 

community? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know 

If so, what kinds of problems do gangs present in your 

community? Please choose your top three problems. 

___ Increase in property crimes 

___ Increase in vandalism/graffiti 

___ Increased fear in community 

___ School disruption 

___ Increase in drug crimes 

___ Public nuisance 

___ Family disruption 

___ Increase in violent crime against persons 

___ Increase in weapon crimes 

___ Increased fear for safety 

___ Other, please specify 

2. Why do you believe there is gang activity in your 

community? Please choose your top three 

reasons.

___ Poverty 

___ School problems 

___ Police labeling 

___ Gang members move to community from other 

places 

___ Boredom 

___ Family problems 

___ Power 

___ Protection 

___ Lack of activities 

___ Prejudice 

___ Family/friends in gangs 

___ To feel loved/sense of belonging 

___ Other, please specify 

3. What is the general community response to gangs 

by (law enforcement, parents, educators, other 

community leaders, etc.)?

 

4. What should be done to reduce the gang problem 

in the community? Please check your top three 

choices. 

___ Jobs and job training 

___ Tutoring 

___ Mentoring 

___ Recreation programs 

___ School programs 

___ More police presence 

___ More parental involvement 

___ New laws/ordinances 

___ Other, please specify 

5. Are you satisfied with the current response to 

gangs by law enforcement, social service agencies, 

schools, etc.? 

 

6. Have you had any personal experiences with a 

gang member? Please specify. 

 

7. How can you help to improve the community’s 

response to gangs? 

 
Continue to the next page 

7. Community Perceptions Data 101

Exhibit 7.2 

Community Resident Survey 

1. Are you: 

 Female  Male

2. What race/ethnicity do you consider yourself to be? 

 White/Caucasian 

 Black/African American 

 American Indian 

 Hispanic/Spanish 

 Asian 

 Native American/American Indian 

 Other: 

3. What is your current marital status?

 Never married 

 Married 

 Widowed 

 Separated 

 Divorced 

4. What is the intersection (cross streets) nearest 

your place of residence? 

 

5. Do you feel safer in your community than you did 

two years ago? 

 No  Yes

Please Explain: 

 

6. Please pick the top three concerns that you have 

about your community, if any. 

 Unemployment  Graffiti

 Homicide  Truancy

 Gang Activity  Vandalism

 Loud music  Domestic violence

 Unkempt property  Insufficient street lighting

 Drug dealing  Low police activity

 Burglary or robbery

 Other: 

7. Do you think there are gangs in your community? 

 No  Yes

8. Do you think your child(ren) is in a gang or at risk 

of being in a gang? 

 No  Yes

9. In the past year, has gang activity in your 

community: 

 Increased 

 Decreased 

 Remained about the same

10. Please pick the top three problems, if any, that 

 gangs present in the community: 

 Gangs are not a problem here  Fighting 

 Increase in violent crime  School disruption 

 Increase in drug crimes  Public nuisance 

 Increase in weapon crimes  Family disruption 

 Increased fear for safety 

 Other: 

11. Please pick the top three reasons you believe gang 

activity exists in your community: 

 Gangs are not a problem here  Boredom 

 School problems  Poverty 

 Lack of activities  Power 

 Family/friends in gangs  Protection 

 Police labeling  Family problems 

 Gang members move from other areas 

 To feel love/sense of belonging 

 Other: 

12. Please pick the top three things you believe should be 

done about gangs and gang activity in your 

community:

 Gangs are not a problem here  Programs/recreation 

 More police protection  Mentoring 

 Jobs provision and job training  Tutoring 

 Other: 

13. Please rank the following organizations from most 

responsible (1) for dealing with gangs and gang 

activity to least responsible (12) for dealing with 

gangs and gang activity: 

____ Police 

____ Church 

____ Court/criminal justice system 

____ Family 

____ Service providers 

____ Neighborhood association 

____ School 

____ Housing authority 

____ Office of juvenile affairs 

____ Treatment providers 

____ Community residents 

____ Office of Youth & Family Services 
7. Community Perceptions Data 102

Exhibit 7.2 (continued) 

14. How has your community responded to gang 

activity? 

 

15. How satisfied are you with the current response to 

gang activity? 

 

16. What are you willing to do, if anything, to help 

deal with gangs and gang activity in your 

community? Please check all that apply:

 Nothing 

 Neighborhood outreach 

 Become a youth group leader 

 Tutor 

 Form sports leagues/teams 

 Mentor 

 Teach skills (auto mechanics, crafts, music, computer 

skills, electronics, etc.) 

 Other: 

17. What is the highest level of schooling you have 

completed? 

 Completed grade school or less 

 Some high school 

 Completed high school 

 Some college 

 Completed college 

 Graduate or professional school after college 

 Vocational or technical training 

Thank you for your participation. 

Your opinions and comments are appreciated. 

If you would like to leave any additional comments for 

us, please use this area or attach another sheet of paper. 
7. Community Perceptions Data 103

Exhibit 7.3 

Parent Focus Group Questions 

1. Do you believe gangs are a problem in your 

community? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know 

If so, what kinds of problems do gangs present in your 

community? (Use list below as prompts if necessary.) 

___ Increase in property crimes 

___ Increase in vandalism/graffiti 

___ Increased fear in community 

___ School disruption 

___ Increase in drug crimes 

___ Public nuisance 

___ Family disruption 

___ Increase in violent crime against persons 

___ Increase in weapon crimes 

___ Increased fear for safety 

___ Other, please specify 

2. Why do you believe there is gang activity in your 

community? (Use list below as prompts if 

necessary.)

___ Poverty 

___ School problems 

___ Police labeling 

___ Gang members move to community from other places 

___ Boredom 

___ Family problems 

___ Power 

___ Protection 

___ Lack of activities 

___ Prejudice 

___ Family/friends in gangs 

___ To feel loved/sense of belonging 

___ Other, please specify 

3. What should be done to reduce the gang problem in 

the community? (Use list below as prompts if 

necessary.) 

___ Jobs and job training 

___ Tutoring 

___ Mentoring 

___ Recreation programs 

___ School programs 

___ More police presence 

___ More parental involvement 

___ Other, please specify 

4. In reference to question 3, who is responsible for 

taking action in the reduction of the gang problem? 

 

 

5. Do you think that your child(ren) are at risk of 

gang membership? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, please explain 

 

 

Include the following questions for 

parents of gang members: 

6. Why do you think your child joined a gang? 

 

 

7. What concerns or problems has your child faced 

since joining a gang? 

 

 

8. What effect has your child’s gang membership had 

on your family? 

 

 
7. Community Perceptions Data 104

Exhibit 7.4 

Youth-Serving Agency Survey 

1. Do you believe that gang activity is 

increasing, decreasing, or staying about 

the same level among the youth that you 

serve?

o Increasing 

o Decreasing 

o Staying the same 

Why? 

 

 

2. What issues do you think contribute to 

gang activity on the part of youth served 

by your project? 

 

3. Do you believe gang activity exists in 

your community? If so, why? 

 

4. What things should be done about gang 

activity in your community? 

 
7. Community Perceptions Data 105

Exhibit 7.5 

Gang Member Interview Form 

SAMPLE 

Introduction to Gang Member Interview 

To be read by interviewer: 

I would like to ask you some questions that will help us learn ore about gangs in (your 

community). We are interested in learning something about your life and experiences, as well as 

your involvement in a gang. 

One section of the interview asks about criminal activity. Give us only the information that we 

ask for. Do not give us any additional information, including names or dates, connected to any 

crimes. 

The information you provide will be kept strictly confidential. That is, it will not be shared with 

anyone. The answers you give us will be added to the information we receive from others we are 

interviewing and then analyzed together. 

You may refuse to answer any question in this interview, and you may end your participation in 

the interview at any time. 

We are asking your permission (and that of your parent or guardian, if you are under the legal 

age of adult) to conduct this interview. Again, this information will be kept strictly private and 

confidential. 

Are you willing to proceed?
7. Community Perceptions Data 106

Exhibit 7.5 (continued) 

Gang Member Interview 

Demographics 

1. What is your date of birth?______________ 

2. Are you: 

 Female  Male____ 

3. What race/ethnicity do you consider yourself to be? 

(choose one best answer) 

 White/Caucasian 

 Black/African American 

 Asian 

 Hispanic/Latino 

 Native American/American Indian 

 Other (Please Specify)___________________ 

4. What is the language you use most often at home? 

______________________________________________ 

5. What is the intersection (which streets cross) 

nearest your place of residence? 

______________________________________________ 

6. What is your current marital status? 

 Never married 

 Married 

 Divorced 

 Widowed 

 Separated 

 Do not know 

7. Do you have any children? 

 No  Yes, If yes, how many? 

8. Has any family member ever been in a gang? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, specify number of family members and relationship 

______________________________________________ 

9. Are you currently employed? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, do you have a full-time job? 

If yes, do you have a part-time job? 

What type of work do you do? 

School 

10. Are you currently in school? 

 Yes  No 

 Do not know  No response 

11. If you are currently in school, what grade are you in? 

______________________________________________ 

12. If you are not in school, what is the highest grade 

you have completed? 

 Grade  Do not know

 No response 

13. Generally, what are/were your grades like? 

 Mostly As  Mostly Bs 

 Mostly Cs  Mostly Ds 

 Mostly Fs 

14. For your current/most recent school, how much do 

you agree/disagree with the following statements? 

Use a 5-point scale: 1) Strongly disagree 

2) Disagree 

3) Neither disagree nor agree 

4) Agree 

5) Strongly agree 

____ If I have/had a problem, there is/was a teacher or staff 

member I could talk to. 

____ I often feel/felt that no one at school cares/cared about 

me. 

____ Even though there are lots of students around, I often 

feel/felt lonely. 

____ I do not/did not feel that I am/was part of this school. 

____ I often feel/felt like my teachers respect/respected me. 

____ In school, I often feel/felt put down by other students. 

____ Most of my teachers really listen/listened to what I 

have/had to say. 

____ Most of my teachers are/were fair in supervising me if 

I step/stepped out of line. 

15. Have you ever dropped out of school? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, what were the most recent reasons for dropping out? 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 
7. Community Perceptions Data 107

Exhibit 7.5 (continued) 

16. Have you ever been suspended from school? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, what were the most recent reasons for suspension? 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 

17. Have you ever been expelled from school? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, what were the most recent reasons for expulsion? 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 

18. In the past year, how often have you witnessed any 

of the following gang activities at your school or on 

school grounds? 

Use a 7-point scale: 1) Never/no times 

2) 1 to 3 times 

3) 4 to 10 times 

4) 11 to 26 times 

5) More than 26 times 

6) Do not know 

7) No response 

____ Gang members selling drugs 

____ Fights between members of different gangs 

____ Fights between members of your own gang 

____ A drive-by shooting 

____ Gang intimidation 

____ Gang recruiting 

____ Not in school 

Community 

19. Are there areas right now in your community 

where you are afraid to walk alone? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, is it because of gang-related concerns? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Please explain: 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 

20. In the last year, how often have you witnessed any 

of the following gang activities in your community? 

Use a 7-point scale: 1) Never/no times 

2) 1 to 3 times 

3) 4 to 10 times 

4) 11 to 26 times 

5) More than 26 times 

6) Do not know 

7) No response 

____ Gang members selling drugs 

____ Fights between members of different gangs 

____ Fights between members of your own gang 

____ A drive-by shooting 

____ Gang intimidation 

____ Gang recruiting 

21. In the last year, for each crime, please rate how 

serious a crime problem you think this is in your 

community? 

Use a 7-point scale: 1) No problem 

2) A small problem 

3) A moderate problem 

4) A serious problem 

5) A very serious problem

6) Do not know 

7) No response 

____ Vandalism/graffiti 

____ Burglary 

____ Car theft 

____ Robbery 

____ Threats/intimidation 

____ Gang to gang confrontations 

____ Drug dealing 

____ Alcohol use

____ Drive-by shooting 

____ Possession of knife 

____ Possession of gun

____ Firearms use

____ Firearms dealing 

____ Arson 

____ Assault/battery 

____ Homicide/murder 

____ School disruption 

____ Other, please specify__________________________ 
Continue to the next page 

7. Community Perceptions Data 108

Exhibit 7.5 (continued) 

22. Do you think there is a gang problem in your 

community? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If so, what do you think are the top three causes of the gang 

problem in your community? 

____ Poverty 

____ School problems 

____ Police labeling 

____ Gang members move to community from other places 

____ Boredom 

____ Family problems 

____ Power 

____ Lack of activities 

____ Prejudice 

____ Family/friends in gangs 

____ To feel loved/sense of belonging 

____ Other, please specify:___________________ 

23. What do you think should be done about the gang 

problem in your community? 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 

______________________________________________ 

24. About how many adults have you known personally 

who in the past year have: 

____ Used marijuana, crack, cocaine, or other drugs? 

____ Sold or dealt drugs? 

____ Done other things that could get them into trouble 

with police such as stealing, selling stolen goods, 

mugging, or assaulting others? 

____ Gotten drunk? 

25. Are any of your friends gang members? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

26. If you wanted to get a handgun, how easy would it 

be for you to get one? 

 Very hard  Somewhat hard 

 Somewhat easy  Very easy 

 Do not know  No response 

27. If you wanted to get drugs like cocaine, LSD, 

amphetamines, crack, etc., how easy would it be for 

you to get some? 

 Very hard  Somewhat hard 

 Somewhat easy  Very easy 

 Do not know  No response 

28. Are there adults in your neighborhood you can talk 

to about something important? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Gang-Related Activities 

29. Are you currently a gang member?

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

30. In the last 6 months, have you been an active gang 

member? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

31. What is your most recent position or rank in the 

gang? 

 Leader 

 Core member/influential (with gang all of the time) 

 Regular member (involved most of the time) 

 Peripheral member (minimally hangs out) 

 Wannabe 

 Veteran/heavy/old gangster/senior gang member 

 Do not know 

 No response 

32. Why did you join or associate with a gang? Please 

rank your answers from 1 – most important to 

9 – least important.

_____ For fun 

_____ For protection 

_____ A friend was in the gang 

_____ A brother or sister was in the gang 

_____ I was forced to join 

_____ To get respect 

_____ For money 

_____ To fit in better 

_____ Other, please specify ________________________ 

33. How old were you when you first belonged to a 

gang? 

About____ years old. 
Continue to the next page 

7. Community Perceptions Data 109

Exhibit 7.5 (continued) 

34. How much do you agree or disagree with the 

following statements? 

Use a 7-point scale: 1) Strongly disagree 

2) Disagree 

3) Neither disagree nor agree 

4) Agree 

5) Strongly agree 

6) Do not know 

7) No response 

_____ Being in my gang makes me feel important. 

_____ My gang members provide a good deal of support 

and loyalty for one another. 

_____ Being a member of a gang makes me feel 

respected. 

_____ Being a member of a gang makes me feel like I am 

a useful person to have around. 

_____ Being a member of a gang makes me feel like I 

really belong somewhere. 

_____ I enjoy being a member of my gang. 

_____ My gang is like a family to me. 

_____ Being in a gang is a good way to make money. 

The next few questions ask about your 

activities involving crime, drugs, and 

alcohol. 

35. In the past year, have you:

Written gang graffiti on school property, neighborhood 

houses, stores, etc.? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Thrown rocks or bottles at persons, vehicles, or property? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Destroyed property worth less than $300? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Destroyed property worth $300 or more? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Set fire to building or property? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Stolen bicycle or bike parts? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Stolen a motor vehicle? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Stolen parts or property from a vehicle (hubcaps, stereo, 

cell phone, etc.)? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Fenced or sold stolen goods (other than weapons)? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Shoplifted? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Entered a house, store, or building to commit a theft? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Broken into a house, store, or building to commit a theft? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Fenced or sold weapons or firearms? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Threatened to attack a person without using a gun, knife, or 

other dangerous weapon? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Threatened to attack a person using a gun, knife, or other 

dangerous weapon? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Robbed someone by force or by threat of force without

using a weapon? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Robbed someone by force or by threat of force using a 

weapon? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Beaten up or battered someone without using a dangerous 

weapon? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 
Continue to the next page 

7. Community Perceptions Data 110

Exhibit 7.5 (continued) 

Beaten up or battered someone using a dangerous weapon? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Forced someone to have sex with you (rape)? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Participated in a drive-by shooting? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Participated in a homicide? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Participated in other crimes (specify__________________). 

36. In the past year, have you used or tried any drugs?

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, about how many days per month do you use any 

drugs? 

___ Days ___ Do not know ___ No response 

37. In the past year, have you sold any drugs? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, did the money go to: 

 Benefit the gang  Personal use 

 Do not know  No response 

38. In the past year, have you used any kind of alcohol? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, have you drunk: 

 Wine 

 Beer 

 Hard liquor 

39. In the past year, have you had any arrests or police 

contacts? This may include being stopped, 

searched, questioned, or being brought to the police 

station at any time.

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

If yes, how many times? 

If yes, please describe the incident(s). 

 

 

40. For the incident(s) described above, please indicate 

if you were:

 Treated fairly by the police MOST of the time. 

 Treated fairly by the police SOME of the time. 

 NOT treated fairly by the police SOME of the time. 

 NOT treated fairly by the police MOST of the time. 

 Do not know 

 No response 

41. Do you think you will ever leave the gang? 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

42. If you would leave the gang, which of the following 

are reasons likely to get you out of a gang? Identify 

all that would apply. 

Advice/pressure from a family member/relative 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Advice/pressure from someone else (specify who_______) 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Move out of neighborhood 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Because of a steady girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Get married 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Become a parent 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 
7. Community Perceptions Data 111

Exhibit 7.5 (continued) 

Family responsibilities (specify what_________________) 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Obtain a job 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Get into school/education program 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Recreation/sports program 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Go to jail/prison 

 Yes  No

 Do not know  No response 

Other, please specify:______________________________ 

End of Survey 
7. Community Perceptions Data 112

Exhibit 7.6 

SAMPLE 

Consent Form and Receipt for Gang Member Interview 

Respondent’s Copy

I am participating in a community assessment to learn more about gang problems in (name of 

community). My participation in this interview will provide information for this assessment and is part of 

a communitywide data-collection effort. 

I understand that the purpose of this interview is to provide information about gang activities in my 

community, including my life and experiences, and my involvement in a gang. 

I understand that providing this information is voluntary and that I may withdraw at any time or refuse to 

answer any question. 

I will not discuss any of the following activities as part of this interview because I understand that the 

interviewer will be required by law to disclose such information. (Note: The Research Partner should 

research which activities fall under this state requirement—each state may be different. Each activity 

must be listed on this consent form.)

This form acknowledges that I have been informed about the purpose of this interview and agree to 

participate. I have received a copy of this consent form. 

_________________________ _______________ 

Respondent Signature Date 

_________________________ _______________ 

Interviewer Signature Date 
7. Community Perceptions Data 113

Exhibit 7.6 (continued) 

SAMPLE 

Consent Form and Receipt for Gang Member Interview 

Parent/Guardian Copy 

My son or daughter is being interviewed as part of an assessment to learn more about gang problems in 

(name of community). 

I understand that interviewing my son/daughter will provide information that will assist this assessment 

and is part of a communitywide data-collection effort. 

I understand that participation in this interview is voluntary and that my son/daughter may withdraw at 

any time or refuse to answer any question. 

I also understand that he/she will not discuss any of the following activities as part of this interview 

because I understand that the interviewer will be required by law to disclose such information. (Note: The 

Research Partner should research which activities fall under this state requirement—each state may be 

different. Each activity must be listed on this consent form.) 

This form acknowledges that I have been informed about the purpose of this interview and agree to let my 

son/daughter participate. 

_________________________ _______________ 

Parent/Guardian Signature Date 

_________________________ _______________ 

Interviewer Signature Date 
8. Community Resources Data 114

8. Community Resources Data 

One goal of this assessment is to identify those organizations that provide (or could provide) services to 

gang members or youth at high risk of gang involvement. Many of these services are formal and 

delivered through established organizations. Others are informal or offered through community or 

grassroots groups to neighborhood residents. There also may be opportunities to identify additional 

organizations while conducting interviews with community leaders or hosting focus groups. Interviews 

should be conducted with the agency or organization director or other key personnel in each identified 

agency with knowledge about the agency’s gang-related programs, as well as the agency’s governance 

and funding structure. Once organizations are identified, information can be gathered through phone or 

personal interviews. The assessment should also examine historic responses to gangs, including programs 

and/or strategies that have been implemented to deal with gangs, and the results of these programs. 

Table 1 identifies the questions to be answered about the community’s resources to assist gang-involved 

youth, their families, and high-risk youth; the information needed to answer the questions; and the sources 

of that information. 

Table 1—Current Activities and Resources

Questions to Be Answered Information Needed to 

Answer

Sources of 

Information

How to Obtain

1. How has the community 

historically responded to gang 

activity?

Previous studies and reports Law enforcement, 

university, and task 

force reports

Review of reports, 

key informant 

interviews

2. What services are being 

provided (or could be provided) to 

gang members?

Organization profile—purpose, 

target population, service area, 

funding source, anti-gang focus

Organizations, 

neighborhood 

groups, faith-based 

groups

Community 

resource inventory,

key informant 

interviews

3. What law enforcement strategies 

are in place to prevent, intervene, 

and suppress gang activity?

Program and strategy profiles, 

focus (prevention, intervention, 

suppression), resources, 

collaborative efforts

Law enforcement 

agencies, probation, 

corrections, and 

prosecution 

personnel

Key informant 

interviews

4. Do courts, detention centers, and 

correction departments conduct risk 

assessments that include gang 

membership?

Program profiles, resources, 

policy and procedures

Court, detention 

center, corrections 

personnel

Key informant 

interviews
8. Community Resources Data 115

Answers to the following questions should also be addressed: 

1. What services are being provided to gang members? 

2. Are these services sufficient to meet the needs of this population? If not, what services would be 

needed to meet the needs identified through this assessment? 

3. What services are in place that could be extended to gang members? What, if anything, would be 

needed to do so? 

Historic Responses to Gangs 

A good starting point for a discussion of community resources is to describe the community’s historic 

responses to gangs and the outcomes/results of these responses. These responses should be categorized 

by whether they focused on prevention, intervention, suppression, community mobilization, or other 

strategies. Discussion of this topic should include a listing of the agencies that participated in these 

strategies and whether these strategies are ongoing or have been curtailed. If these responses were 

stopped, the Assessment Work Group should document the reasons for this change in approach. 

This information can be summarized from prior reports and surveys on gangs and related problems that 

may be available from schools, police, and local and state governmental agencies, or it may be collected 

through personal interviews with key informants in the community. 

Community Resource Inventory 

The inventory of local resources should: 

 Document programs, services, and community organizations that can be incorporated into

your efforts to address identified gang-related risk factors and behaviors. 

 Identify types of resources and services that are missing in the community to address 

gang-related risk factors and behaviors. 

 Identify gaps in the number of youth programs can serve or are currently serving. 

 Consider the level of training and experience in serving gang members in existing 

programs. 

 Identify potential community partners that can provide financial, human, and 

infrastructure to your efforts. 

Data collected about community resources will assist in analyzing and identifying gaps in services 

available to gang members or youth at risk of gang membership. The analysis of the data should compare 

available resources to risk factors in the community, as identified in the student survey and community 

demographic data, and related service needs of gang members collected during the assessment process. 

The analysis can provide information to use in developing new or expanding/improving existing 

programs. 

 

At a minimum, any public or private organization that provides the following services should be 

surveyed: 

 Counseling 

 Drug treatment 

 Job training 

 Education and vocational training 

 Mentoring 

 Recreation 

 Youth development 
8. Community Resources Data 116

Additional community resources should be inventoried that could support efforts to provide services to 

gang members and youth at risk of gang membership. Because these resources are often nontraditional or 

do not provide direct services, they are often overlooked. They include those organizations or businesses 

that may provide mentors, financial assistance to the project, material donations, or public and private 

infrastructure (such as meeting or office space in targeted areas of the community), or that meet medical 

needs and assistance with food or housing. Examples of organizations to inventory include: 

 Private businesses 

 Faith-based organizations 

 Community-service organizations 

 Neighborhood associations 

After these data are organized, a summary of programs should be provided in the Assessment Report. 

Exhibit 8.1 is provided for collecting information on existing resources from community agencies and 

organizations. 

A Web-based Community Resource Inventory database is available on the OJJDP Strategic Planning 

Tool at www.iir.com/nygc/tool. Once surveys (Exhibit 8.1) have been completed, communities can enter 

these data into this online database. This inventory allows the user to record information about 

community organizations, programs, services, and activities that could be incorporated into a 

comprehensive approach to gangs. Templates are provided to guide the collection and manual recording 

of this information. The information can subsequently be entered into a searchable database. Once the 

database is populated, the user can produce a matrix that answers the questions, ―What does our 

community have in place?‖ and ―What do we need that is missing?‖ 

Justice System Programs 

In the course of gathering information about gang-related programs or services, information should be 

collected about any special justice system programs and strategies—particularly those in police, 

probation, or corrections agencies—that are currently in place to deal with gangs. Additionally, 

information regarding gaps in these services and programs that may be contributing to the gang problem 

should be addressed. 

Answers to the following questions should be discussed in the report. 

1. What law enforcement strategies are in place to prevent, intervene with, and suppress 

gang activity? 

2. What other justice system programs, services, or activities are provided to gang 

members? 

3. When were these programs started? How have these programs changed over time? What 

success have they had? 

4. Do juvenile justice agencies conduct individual risk assessments that include gang 

membership? 

5. How has the community historically responded to gang activity? Has this worked? Why 

has the problem not gone away? 
8. Community Resources Data 117

Exhibit 8.1 

Community Resource Inventory 

1. Agency Name: 

 

2. Program Name (if any): 

 

3. Program Purpose: 

 

 

4. Service(s) Provided: 

 

 

5. Dosage of Services: 

 

 

6. Target Population/Eligibility Criteria: 

 

 

7. Program Capacity: 

 

8. Is the program currently full? If so, how 

long is the wait for services? 

О Yes О No

 

 

9. Geographic Service Area: 

 

 

10. Does the program focus on gang 

members? 

О Yes О No

11. Is program staff experienced at serving 

gang members? 

О Yes О No

12. If risk assessments are conducted, do they 

include gang membership? 

О Yes О No

13. Funding Sources: 

 

 
9. Data-Collection Tools 118

9. Data-Collection Tools 

Depending on the nature of the information to be gathered, different instruments are used to conduct the 

assessment: forms for gathering data from official sources such as police or school records; 

surveys/interviews to gather information from youth, community residents, and others; and focus groups 

to elicit free-flowing perspectives. 

For purposes of the data-collection process, the following discussion provides information on the types of 

data-collection tools most commonly used. 

Self-Administered Surveys 

Self-administered surveys have special strengths and weaknesses. They are useful in describing the 

characteristics of a large population and make large samples feasible. In one sense, these surveys are 

flexible, making it possible to ask many questions on a given topic. This also provides flexibility in the 

analysis of the responses. On the other hand, standardized questionnaire items often represent the least 

common denominator in assessing people’s attitudes, orientations, circumstances, and experiences. By 

designing questions that will be appropriate for all respondents, it is possible to miss what is most 

appropriate to many of the respondents (Babbie, 1992). 

Some advantages of the self-administered survey are: 

 Low cost. Extensive training is not required to administer the survey. Processing and 

analysis are usually simpler and cheaper than for other methods. 

 Reduction in biasing error. The questionnaire reduces the bias that might result from 

personal characteristics of interviewers and/or their interviewing skills. 

 Greater anonymity. Absence of an interviewer provides greater anonymity for the 

respondent. This is especially helpful when the survey deals with sensitive issues such as 

questions about involvement in a gang, because respondents are more likely to respond to 

sensitive questions when they are not face to face with an interviewer. 

Some of the disadvantages are: 

 Requires simple questions. The questions must be straightforward enough to be 

comprehended solely on the basis of printed instructions and definitions. 

 No opportunity for probing. The answers must be accepted as final. Researchers have no 

opportunity to clarify ambiguous answers. 

Personal Interviews 

The interview is an alternative method of collecting survey data. Rather than asking respondents to fill 

out surveys, interviewers ask questions orally and record respondents’ answers. This type of survey 

generally decreases the number of ―do not know‖ and ―no answer‖ responses, compared with selfadministered surveys. Interviewers also provide a guard against confusing items. If a respondent has 

misunderstood a question, the interviewer can clarify, thereby obtaining relevant responses (Babbie, 

1992). As noted previously, personal interviews are a good way to gather information from community 

leaders, particularly those who might be unwilling or too busy to complete a written survey. 
9. Data-Collection Tools 119

Some of the advantages of the personal interview are: 

 Flexibility. Allows flexibility in the questioning process and allows the interviewer to 

clarify terms that are unclear.

 Control of the interview situation. Can ensure that the interview is conducted in private, 

and respondents do not have the opportunity to consult one another before giving their 

answers.

 High response rate. Respondents who would not normally respond to a mail 

questionnaire will often respond to a request for a personal interview.

Some of the disadvantages are: 

 Higher cost. Costs are involved in selecting, training, and supervising interviewers; 

perhaps in paying them; and in the travel and time required to conduct interviews.

 Interviewer bias. The advantage of flexibility leaves room for the interviewer’s personal 

influence and bias, making an interview subject to interviewer bias. 

 Lack of anonymity. Often the interviewer knows all or many of the respondents. 

Respondents may feel threatened or intimidated by the interviewer, especially if a 

respondent is sensitive to the topic or to some of the questions (Frankfort-Nachmias and 

Nachmias, 1996).

Focus Groups 

Another method of collecting information is the focus group. Focus groups are useful in obtaining a 

particular kind of information that would be difficult to obtain using other methodologies. A focus group 

typically can be defined as a group of people who possess certain characteristics and provide information 

of a qualitative nature in a focused discussion. 

Focus groups generally are composed of six to twelve people. Size is conditioned by two factors: the 

group must be small enough for everyone to participate, yet large enough to provide diversity. This group 

is special in terms of purpose, size, composition, and procedures. Participants are selected because they 

have certain characteristics in common that relate to the topic at hand, such as parents of gang members, 

and, generally, the participants are unfamiliar with each other. Typically, more than one focus group 

should be convened, since a group of seven to twelve people could be too atypical to offer any general 

insights on the gang problem. 

A trained moderator probes for different perceptions and points of view, without pressure to reach 

consensus. Focus groups have been found helpful in assessing needs, developing plans, testing new 

ideas, or improving existing programs (Krueger, 1988; Babbie, 1992). Exhibit 9.1 provides guidelines 

for conducting focus groups. 

Focus groups offer several advantages: 

 Flexibility allows the moderator to probe for more in-depth analysis and ask participants 

to elaborate on their responses.

 Outcomes are quickly known.

 They may cost less in terms of planning and conducting than large surveys and personal 

interviews.
9. Data-Collection Tools 120

Limitations include: 

 A skilled moderator is essential.

 Differences between groups can be troublesome to analyze because of the qualitative 

nature of the data. 

 Groups are difficult to assemble. People must take the time to come to a designated place 

at a particular time. 

 Participants may be less candid in their responses in front of peers. 
9. Data-Collection Tools 121

Exhibit 9.1

Guidelines for Conducting a Focus Group 

Focus group discussions are a popular method of obtaining information and opinions. They can provide 

insight into issues that cannot be covered through surveys or interviews. Focus groups are a good method 

to get people involved in this assessment process by having them provide input on a topic. 

The following discussion provides a general overview of the focus group process. It is recommended that 

a person with experience with focus groups (preparing the discussion guide, moderating, and preparing 

the report) be contacted to assist in the process. 

When preparing for the focus group discussions, there are several considerations: What questions will be 

asked? Who will participate? Where will the discussions be held? Who will conduct the sessions? The 

first order of business is to develop a discussion guide. 

Develop the Discussion Guide 

The discussion guide contains the questions that will be posed to participants during the focus group 

sessions. A limited number of questions should be used for each discussion. Avoid spending too much 

time on background information and concentrate on the important issues. There are two elements that 

should be considered when drafting the guide: (1) the information you wish to obtain and (2) from whom 

it will be obtained. 

When developing the questions, keep in mind that all groups should follow the same discussion format. 

Using a general format for each question allows an analyst to make comparisons among the responses of 

various groups. 

Reserve a Time and Place 

Reserving a time and place to conduct the discussion is something that should be done well in advance of 

the actual date of the discussion sessions. Finding a location quickly will allow time to contact potential 

participants with the necessary logistical information. Try to find the most convenient and accessible 

location for the participants. 

Provide an Incentive for Participation 

Individuals taking part in a focus group session should be compensated for their participation. When 

contacting potential participants, use an incentive to encourage or persuade them to take part in the 

discussion session. Various forms of compensation can be used, most commonly a cash payment, lunch, 

or dinner. Snacks and beverages also may be provided. This often eases the tension created by the focus 

group setting and makes participants more open to discussing the topic. 

Selection of Focus Group Participants 

It is necessary to identify each group that will participate in the discussion sessions; for example, parents, 

community residents, school personnel. This will provide an indication of the number of discussion 

groups that will be conducted. Time, money, and the number of potential participants available will 

determine the number of groups that are feasible for each community. 

A good size for a focus group is between six and twelve participants per session (American Statistical 

Association, 1997). Size is conditioned by two factors: the group must be small enough for everyone to 

participate and large enough to provide diversity of perceptions. Group participants should be selected 

because of common characteristics that relate to the focus group topic. For example, to gauge parents’
9. Data-Collection Tools 122

perceptions of gangs in school, a focus group might be conducted with parents who have school-aged 

children. 

Moderating the Discussion 

An experienced focus group moderator should conduct the sessions. Moderating the discussion is 

difficult, and effective leadership is essential if the group is to accomplish its purpose. The moderator 

must not only be in tune with the purpose of the group but also have the necessary skills to effectively 

guide the group process. If it is not possible to provide an experienced moderator, the following key 

points should be considered: 

 Keep the conversation flowing. The moderator needs to keep control of the discussion session. If 

participants get off track, it is the role of the moderator to pull the group back together. The 

moderator should keep the discussion as informal as possible and should encourage all 

participants to say what is on their minds. The moderator is in charge of the discussion, and it is 

his or her duty to draw information from the participants. 

 Length of discussion. Each session should last approximately 90 minutes. The amount of 

information participants have and their willingness to participate will most likely dictate the 

length of the session. 

 Be neutral. One benefit of having an outside person moderate the discussion is that the person 

can be neutral. People may disagree during the discussion, and the moderator must give equal 

time to all viewpoints. The moderator should not provide information. It is not the moderator’s 

place to offer or convince participants of any particular point of view. 

Analysis of the Results 

After each focus group, the moderator or a neutral observer should write a report describing the 

discussion for the Assessment Work Group. The written report should follow the questions contained in 

the discussion guide. The report can be broken down into the following sections: 

 Background and objectives. This section provides basic information regarding the initiative, 

purpose, and objectives of the assessment. 

 Methodology. This section should describe how, when, and where the focus groups were 

conducted. It should describe the characteristics of the focus group participants and why they 

were selected. It should inform readers that discussion results are the opinions of a small sample 

and should be viewed with that consideration in mind. 

 Summary. The summary is approximately one or two pages in length and should provide the 

reader with the important findings. It is suggested that this section be in a bulleted or numbered

format. 

 Highlights of findings. This section provides the reader with an in-depth analysis of the questions 

contained in the discussion guide. This is the section in which quotes and comments should be 

used to support the research findings. 
10. Using the Data 123

10. Using the Data 

Throughout Chapters 4–8 in this Assessment Manual, a series of questions has been provided to guide the 

assessment process. Based on the data collected through the assessment, answers to these questions will 

provide a picture of the community’s gang problem.

Once data are collected, they must be put into a format that is suitable for effective storage and retrieval. 

This will be critical for completing the analysis stage of the assessment and setting priorities among the 

needs and problems in the community. In addition, the data collected through this assessment will serve 

as the foundation for an ongoing database that includes official records and public perceptions of gang 

activity. Although forms of data that are collected may vary as a community moves from the assessment 

stage into project planning, implementation, and refinement, the basic procedures for managing data will 

remain the same. 

As has been noted previously, describing a community’s gang problem requires the capture and analysis 

of data from a variety of sources. Each will shed light on some facet of the problem—the level of gang 

crime, who is involved in gangs and criminal activity, why youth join and remain in gangs, and who is at 

risk of gang involvement. Because the gang problem is complex and different segments of the 

community perceive gangs and gang youth differently, the assessment process has been designed to 

gather information that reflects multiple perspectives. For instance, law enforcement, residents, and 

youth will be asked about their knowledge of gangs within the community and may respond with 

different answers. Conflicting responses should be viewed as an opportunity to engage in discussions, to 

educate, and to inform community leaders and residents. 

Analyzing and Interpreting the Data 

After data have been collected, entered, and cleaned of errors, the Assessment Work Group should begin 

analysis and interpretation of the data in preparation for writing a report. For the purpose of this 

assessment, simple descriptive, cross-sectional, and time-series analyses are all that will be required. 

After these analyses have been conducted, the Assessment Work Group will notice that multiple forms of 

data, collected in different ways from different sources, may all address a single common factor in the 

gang problem. These factors, supported by different types of data, should be highlighted. 

It is recommended that sites compile all of the data collected into an Assessment Report, which will be 

discussed later in this chapter. In preparation for that, each data set should be examined independently, 

and then examined across all data sets. The objective is to weigh the strength of all the data and find 

possible correlations across different types of data. Examine the quantitative data from sources such as 

community demographics, gang crime data, and school demographic and performance data. In what 

ways do these quantitative data conflict or correspond with the qualitative data from community 

members, school personnel, gang members, students, and community leaders? 

The challenge for communities is to identify data variables and combinations of variables that, when 

analyzed, reveal information useful for answering questions critical to the assessment. The Assessment 

Work Group, with help from the Research Partner, should attempt to find the best analytical methods for 

each type of data to best answer these questions. 
10. Using the Data 124

Creating an Assessment Report 

The final stages of the assessment involve formatting the results, in the form of an Assessment Report, for 

the Steering Committee. Once the data have been organized, the Assessment Work Group should use 

them to answer the questions found in Chapters 4–8, by section and data type. The answers to these 

questions provide much of the substance of the report itself. 

The report should be organized by subject matter and type (community demographics, school/student 

data, law enforcement data, etc). It should note data limitations and conflicts between different data 

sources. The Assessment Report should include graphic displays of the data and supporting analyses and 

should describe areas of intersection between different data sets (key findings). It is not the purpose of 

the Assessment Report to prioritize issues or problems, design solutions, or identify target populations 

and target areas. Developing a community response based on these data is the Steering Committee’s job. 

In areas where different types of data point to similar issues, the Assessment Work Group may identify a 

key finding. Key findings should be highlighted in the report, along with supporting data. Exhibit 10.1

includes three key findings from one community’s Assessment Report. 
10. Using the Data 125

Exhibit 10.1

Key Finding: 

Gangs are involved in a high percentage of robberies and other violent crimes in South Park, 

leading to resident fear of victimization.

In 2001, gangs were responsible for 21 percent of murders, 9 percent of rapes, 28.2 percent of robberies, 

and 14.5 percent of aggravated assaults in South Park, according to an archival review of crime incident 

reports by Metropolis Police Department officers. (See Table 1.) 

The data demonstrate a disturbing trend towards increasing rates of gang violence. While gang-related 

crime increased 30.6 percent between 2000 and 2001, gang-involved robberies increased by 65.4 percent 

during this period. 

Some South Park communities are being disproportionately affected by the gang violence. As previously 

outlined, in 2001, two of every ten gang-related crimes in Meridian Heights were gang-related, as were 

three of every ten in Elm Park. Nearly half (49.4 percent) of the robberies in Elm Park in 2001 were 

gang-related, as were three of Meridian Heights’ five murders. While this rate of gang-related violence 

has been the norm in Meridian Heights for the last three years, the gang-related violence in Elm Park 

increased 115.6 percent in 2001 over 2000. And while gang-related violence in Riverside and Smithton 

has remained constant or declined, there was a 67.6 percent increase in gang violence in East Hills in 

2001. 

Gang members readily admitted their violent tendencies. According to interviews with 104 known gang 

members, 76.7 percent reported being involved in assaulting or battering someone with a weapon in the 

past year. Similarly, 69.9 percent had threatened to attack a person without using a weapon. One-third 

(35.9 percent) had robbed someone using a weapon or without a weapon, one-third (35.9 percent) had 

assaulted someone using a dangerous weapon, and 30.1 percent had participated in a drive-by shooting. 

The high level of violence actually seems to drive gang membership in the area. When known gang 

members were surveyed about possible causes of gangs in the community, 62.5 percent said ―protection‖

and 57.7 percent said ―power.‖ When gang members were asked why they joined a gang, the need for 

protection again rated highest, with 43 percent of the gang members surveyed stating it was an important 

or very important reason for joining. Interestingly enough, only 32 percent of community leaders and 11 

percent of residents believed that youth joined gangs seeking protection. Also, only 21 percent of 

community leaders and 9 percent of residents thought that youth joined gangs seeking power/status. 

None of the focus group parents suggested that youth joined gangs seeking power or protection. 

Table 1—Violent Crimes in South Park

1999 2000 2001

All Gang-Involved All Gang-Involved All Gang-Involved

Murder 15 3 (20%) 14 1 (7%) 19 4 (21%)

Rape 59 5 (8.5%) 30 7 (23.3%) 43 4 (9%)

Robbery 424 99 (23.3%) 362 78 (21.5%) 456 129 (28.2%)

Aggravated assault 685 104 (15.2%) 644 94 (14.6%) 678 98 (14.5%)
10. Using the Data 126

Nonetheless, gang-involved youths’ expressed desire for power and protection may be indicative of a 

general fear for personal safety in a community where nearly 50 percent of gang members stated that drug 

dealing, possession of a gun, shooting guns, threats/intimidation, and gang-on-gang confrontations were a 

serious to very serious problem. 

When asked about how safe they felt in their communities, 74 percent of gang members surveyed claimed 

they did not feel safe in their communities. About 85 percent of these respondents attributed this fear 

directly to the presence of gangs in their neighborhoods. School survey data indicates that, depending on 

the school, up to 18 percent of respondents had knowledge of gang members bringing guns to school 

within the past six months. This finding is especially important because the perceived availability of guns 

(and drugs) was found to be a significant predictor of both gang involvement and antisocial behaviors. 

While nearly 60 gangs were identified as operating in the assessment area during 2001, 32 of these gangs 

committed only one crime in the assessment area during the three years reviewed. Many (such as the 

Latin Kings, Kingston Cholos, and Mara Salvatrucha) are much more active in other parts of the city. 

Nineteen gangs were documented as being involved in between two and nine violent crimes for the same 

period. Ten gangs were in fact responsible for 65 percent of the community’s violent gang-related 

crimes. These ten gangs have documented membership of nearly 400. 

South Park residents expressed concern and fear about the level of gang violence in their community. 

While key leaders most frequently identified vandalism and graffiti as the problem caused by gangs, 52 

percent of community residents saw fear for safety as a problem, followed by increased violent crime (49 

percent) and increased drug crime (48 percent). In focus groups, parents echoed the sentiments of 

community residents, stating that increased fears in the community, and specifically fear for safety, were 

the significant problems caused by gangs. 
10. Using the Data 127

Key Finding: 

Low educational attainment is pervasive in South Park, and school-related risk factors seem to be a 

contributing influence on youth gang involvement; school failure makes area youth more 

vulnerable to joining a gang, keeps them involved in gangs, feeds the area’s cycle of violence, and 

keeps gang members trapped in a cycle of poverty and unemployment/underemployment.

The Meridian Heights, East Hills, and Elm Park areas of South Park have the lowest overall educational 

attainment levels in the city. This low educational attainment is likely connected to unemployment and 

underemployment in South Park. The area’s unemployment rate is significantly higher than that for the 

entire city, and the majority of working South Park residents are significantly more likely to work in 

fields requiring lower levels of education, such as manufacturing or construction, and less likely to work 

in technology, administrative, scientific, financial, health, or other professional fields. 

The area’s low educational attainment rate is evident from 2000 Census statistics, which demonstrate that 

64.2 percent of the area’s population over the age of 25 did not receive high school diplomas or GEDs. 

There is some evidence that these low educational attainment rates are not improving. Data on the 

number of youth graduating from Washington and Lathrop High Schools suggests that far less than half 

of all students graduate. (See Table 2.) 

School problems seem to be linked to gang involvement, as 42 percent of community leaders, 41 percent 

of gang members and 24 percent of residents cited 

problems at school as a possible cause for gangs in 

the community. School problems were ranked as 

the third most likely cause for gangs in the 

community by focus group parents. Teachers and 

school staff also identified academic failure as a 

factor influencing gang involvement. Some 

teachers attributed the students’ failure to ―a lack 

of commitment to education‖ on the part of youth 

and their families. 

One teacher noted that students failed because they did not have the social skills and/or academic skills 

necessary to function in the classroom. Two high school teachers saw the size of the high school as a 

factor. In larger schools, it is difficult for some youth to know where they belong. As one teacher 

observed, gang involvement is a way to ―control relationships.‖ Middle school and high school teachers 

and administrators agreed that the 9th grade was a particularly difficult period. 

Table 2—Graduating Class Size as a 

Percentage of Freshman Class Size (Four 

Years Earlier)

Washington Lathrop

Class of 1999 28.4% 38.6%

Class of 2000 31.2% 39.7%

Class of 2001 35.5%*42.0%*

Class of 2002 37.8%*36.5%*
10. Using the Data 128

Key Finding: 

The correlation between school problems and gang involvement is supported by the school survey 

data. An examination of this data indicated that there were three significant predictors for gang 

involvement in the school domain: school grades, the perception that one’s grades were better than 

most school peers, and meaning or perceived relevance of school activities. So the lower the 

student’s grades, the weaker the perception that the student’s grades were better than those of most 

of his/her colleagues, and the less s/he perceived meaning/relevance in school activities, the more 

likely the individual was to be gang-involved. 

Additional data further evidences the connection between school problems and gang involvement. 

 One in three gang members (41.9 percent) blamed problems in school for causing youth 

to join gangs. 

 More than half of the interviewed gang members (54.4 percent) reported that they had 

dropped out of school at least once, and virtually all (94.1 percent) had been suspended at 

least once. One in three (40.1 percent) had been expelled from school at least once. 

 Gang members who have left school tend to be less well-educated. Of those youth 

interviewed who were not in school or not of school age, more than half (54 percent) had 

a 9th grade education or less. 

 Gang members who reported being out of school also reported having lower grades than 

those still attending school. 

 In at least one area high school, a large number of students are not moving from 9th grade 

into 10th grade. The data does not indicate why these students do not seem to be moving 

ahead educationally. (See Table 3 above.) 

 Almost half (49.1 percent) of the interviewed youth came from homes where either 

Spanish only (35.6 percent) or Spanish and English (13.5 percent) were the primary 

languages spoken. 

 These language barriers led to school-related problems for youth. One in every seven 

students at Washington High School (13.3 percent) or Lathrop High School (15.3 

percent) is listed as requiring bilingual or ESL educational services at the high school 

level. 

 One in three male gang members (38.5 percent) and 75 percent of female gang members 

stated that getting into an educational program would entice them to leave the gang 

lifestyle. 

Table 3—Class Sizes in 2000–2001

Lathrop High School Washington High School 

2000 2001 2000 2001

9

th Grade 833 768 1,160 1,093

10th Grade 568 510 281 257

11th Grade 593 489 426 477

12th Grade 589 538 348 256

Total Population 2,583 2,305 2,215 2,083
10. Using the Data 129

Additionally, gang members tended to report fairly high levels of participation in delinquent behaviors at 

school. A student survey conducted with youth in South Park indicated that 15 percent of Washington 

High School students and around one in every ten students at Smith, Walker, and James Middle Schools 

reported gang members bringing guns to their schools in a six-month period. Up to one-third of students 

at Greater South Park schools indicated that gang members had sold drugs at their school in a six-month 

period.
10. Using the Data 130

The Assessment Report 

It is suggested that the Assessment Report be organized as follows: 

Section 1: Executive Summary—This section should provide a brief summary of the key findings from 

the assessment. 

Section 2: Key Findings—Three to five statements of fact supported by multiple data sets, along with a 

summary of the supporting data. 

Section 3: Data Sets—Answers to the questions posed in Chapters 4–7, in order, using supportive data 

organized in a readable fashion with tables, charts, and graphs as necessary to illustrate the data. 

Section 4: Summary of Resources—This section should provide a summary of the resources in the 

community that address gangs and gang-related issues. The discussion should center on answers to the 

questions in Chapter 8 (Community Resources Data). A complete list of the agencies, organizations, and 

other sources may be provided as an appendix to the Assessment Report. 

Section 5: Methodology—A brief description of the methods used to collect each data set during the 

assessment. 

Even the most thorough and comprehensive assessment will remain incomplete. There will always be 

conflicts in the data. For example, youth may say that jobs are the biggest problem, while their parents 

and teachers are more worried about gang violence. Other vital data may be simply unavailable. 

Additionally, qualitative data that measure community members’ opinions and ideas are not as accurate a 

basis for decision-making as hard facts, and may even be self-serving, but they help to counterbalance the 

qualitative data. 

The Assessment Work Group should be up-front in describing the assessment’s limitations.

A few guidelines apply to the report itself: 

 The purpose of the report is to help the Steering Committee develop priorities in dealing 

with the gang problem. 

 Do not leave out important findings that may not specifically address gangs. The 

identification of these issues is important for the overall community assessment and 

should be reported. For instance, although a finding on high rates of youth suicides may 

not directly correlate to a community’s gang problem, it is still an important public health 

issue. 

The Assessment Work Group should not think that its work is over when the report is written. It is 

important to satisfy the committee that all the important bases have been covered, and this may mean that 

parts of the assessment must be rewritten or even that further data must be collected. The willingness of 

the Assessment Work Group to satisfy the committee’s concerns and curiosity can be an important factor 

in developing a consensus around the findings, though doing so can be frustrating. It is better to hold 

several meetings to satisfy any concerns the Steering Committee may have than to launch a major effort 

with stiff opposition. 

Once the Steering Committee has achieved consensus around the data provided in the Assessment Report, 

this data can be used for planning purposes and shaping an individualized response to the community’s 
10. Using the Data 131

specific gang problems and contributing factors. A discussion of a planning process that can be used for 

these purposes is found in ―Implementing the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model.‖
11. References 132

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