Discussion 1 juvenile

The OJJDP developed the anti-gang initiative to reduce and eliminate the gang activities in both rural and suburb areas.  OJJDP has collaborated with community partners such as the faith-based organizations, community leaders and law enforcement to bring prevention and intervention toward gang activity (U.S Department of Justice, n.d). OJJDP ensures that these stakeholders for gang prevention and elimination receive training, technical assistance fund, and the strategies needed to carry out the activities.  The annual National Youth Gang Survey provides data based on the gang activities and in 2012, law enforcement agencies derived information from the NYGS and found that in 3,100 jurisdictions, the total number of gangs in 2012 were 30, 700 and gang members were 850, 000.  From 2011 to 2012, the number of homicides increased by 20% (U.S Department of Justice, n.d).  Following these gang crimes, the OJJDP has come up with strategies based on implementing a social intervention, mobilizing community member toward combating gang and providing the gang members with an opportunity for education.

  In the United State, gang violence started to rise in the mid of 20th century. Since this period, there have been widespread criminal behavior and violence and knowledge based on how gang forms and measures to combat gang violence was not known.  Focusing on the early history of juvenile facilities, children aged 14 years and above were held accountable for criminal behaviors and received a similar punishment to adults (U.S Department of Justice, n.d).  Children's cases were ruled under the common law until the period of the 1800s when the child-saving movement was created to save the children by establishing reforms.  In addition to the development of juvenile courts, current research has provided a well-researched information on how gangs are formed, how to assess gang problem, and the best prevention and intervention method.   In the past years, U.S early programs focused on preventing youth from becoming gang members. However, the comprehensive anti-gang by the OJJDP has brought improvement in that the gang activities are not combatted by prevention only but the prevention connected to a variety of strategies such as employment community organizations and creating-school based programs (U.S Department of Justice, n.d). These strategies are designed not only to prevent youths from engaging in gang activities but also constructive activities,  legal assistance, counseling and education for current gang members to help them reunite with the community and family members.

 

 

 

 Reference

 U.S Department of Justice (n.d).  Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative. Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved from: https://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/antigang/index.html