How do we stop people getting into gangs?

Prevention programs target youth at risk of gang involvement and help reduce the number of youth who join gangs. Intervention programs and strategies provide sanctions and services for younger youth who are actively involved in gangs to push them away from gangs. read more

A gang rewards toughness, personal loyalty, and rejection of traditional values. A member of a gang becomes as strong and as fierce as the gang itself, because an attack on any individual member is viewed as an insult to the entire gang, and brings retaliation by the entire gang. read more

People who work in the fields of public health and public safety know that efforts to address the problem after kids have already joined gangs are not enough. To realize a significant and lasting reduction in youth gang activity, we must prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place. read more

There is no easy way to stop gangs, because the underlying conditions that lead to gangs are complex. Police crackdowns can temporarily lower gang influence in a specific area. However, when poverty and despair remain, gangs will inevitably recruit new gang members to replace those who go to prison . read more