Chapter 25:
Social Institution Solutions
Introduction
"Programs to reduce gang
violence must involve a wide array of agencies, including schools,
community-based agencies, churches, and the justice system. Programs must be
targeted appropriately for prevention, intervention, suppression, and
rehabilitation purposes." (Pennell,
1994)
As noted
in the Orientation to
Into the Abyss, sociologists tend to take a social
institutional perspective when explaining human behavior. As the
previous chapters have shown, individual
citizens, family
members, former
gang members, and neighborhood residents all have a role to play in reducing
gang activity and youth violence. There are other social institutions that have an important
role to play.
Each of the following parts of this chapter is dedicated to a different
social institution including public sector social institutions (schools, government, the justice system, and
community-based youth-serving agencies) and private
sector social institutions (the faith and business communities, health care,
and the media). The chapter concludes with a review of how we may go about
making our efforts more effective through specialization and community-wide
involvement.
Before we proceed, I want to note a concern expressed by
some researchers in the treatment community that affects efforts by
individuals and agencies attempting to reduce delinquency by placing at-risk
youth in group treatment programs. Many years ago, social workers in Chicago
learned that organizing street youth who were delinquent in an effort to
make them less delinquent actually increased their delinquency. In a recent
research report it was again confirmed that "Grouping high-risk youths in
early adolescence may inadvertently reinforce problem behavior."
(Williams,
2003, p. 1)
Although some group treatment programs have been known to be
successful, there are others with results that are disappointing. When
working with gang youth, there is always the risk of putting them in a group
treatment setting only to find that the treatment itself brings the group
closer together, makes it better organized, helps identify leaders, and aids
them in becoming more effective as a gang rather than reducing their
delinquency. I raise this concern only to inform a decision on your part to
create or participate in a group treatment program with high-risk youth, not
to impede or obstruct it.