Juvenile Justice Bulletin Banner 2004
   J. Robert Flores, Administrator
 March 2004  
Youth Gangs in Indian Country

Aline K. Major, Arlen Egley, Jr., James C. Howell, Barbara Mendenhall, and Troy Armstrong

Introduction

Survey Sample and Response

Findings

Implications for Program and Policy Responses

A Comprehensive Approach

Summary

References

Endnotes

NCJ 202714
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

This Bulletin was prepared under cooperative agreement number 95–JD–MU–K001 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.


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A Message From OJJDP

Since 1995, the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) has surveyed law enforcement agencies across the nation about youth gang activity. Because tribal police departments were not included in earlier surveys, however, youth gang activities in Indian country have been largely absent from survey findings.

This Bulletin describes the nature and makeup of youth gangs in Indian country. The findings presented are the result of a 2001 NYGC survey—tailored specifically for Indian communities—that asked federally recognized Indian communities to describe their experiences with youth gang activity. Researchers found that youth gangs in Indian country did not differ greatly from youth gangs in comparably sized communities. Indian country youth gangs, however, were noticeably different from youth gangs as depicted through national statistics. The study also included comparisons with findings from a previous study of youth gang activity in the Navajo Nation.

Drawing on these research findings, the Bulletin proposes prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. These proposals are derived from effective programs in non-Indian country settings. Although such programs may require modification to better serve tribal communities, they provide Indian country leaders with proven methods to address emerging youth gang issues.

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Acknowledgments

Aline K. Major and Arlen Egley, Jr., Ph.D., are Research Associates with the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC), which is operated for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research in Tallahassee, Florida. James C. Howell, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Researcher with NYGC. Barbara Mendenhall is the Assistant Director and Troy Armstrong, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for Delinquency and Crime Policy Studies at California State University, Sacramento.

The authors would like to thank the members of the Indian Country Survey Advisory Group for their invaluable direction and input, including Chief Allan, Legislative Associate, National Congress of American Indians; Laura Ansera, Tribal Youth Program Manager, OJJDP; Todd Araujo, Deputy Director, Office of Tribal Justice, U.S. Department of Justice; Frank Canizales, Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Roman Duran, First Vice President, National American Indian Court Judges Association; Norena Henry, Director, American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice; Velma Mason, Ph.D., Director, Office for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior; Peter Maybee, Executive Officer, Office of Law Enforcement Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior; Ada Pecos Melton, President, American Indian Development Associates; Dave Nicholas, Office of Law Enforcement Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior; Arlene Wise, Office for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior; and Emily Wright, Office of Public and Indian Housing, Office of Native American Programs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The authors are grateful to NYGC Director John Moore, other NYGC staff, and Norena Henry for their valuable review of earlier versions of this Bulletin. The authors also would like to thank Phelan Wyrick, Ph.D., Gang Program Coordinator, OJJDP, for making substantive contributions to this publication, and Jonathan Witte of the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse for his skillful editing of the manuscript. In addition, the authors gratefully acknowledge staff from MGT of America for their assistance in data collection and data entry and Charlene White, Institute for Intergovernmental Research, and Randrick “Kimo” Souza, Mesa Gang Intervention Project (Arizona), for their assistance in contacting survey recipients. Finally, the authors would like to thank the tribal and law enforcement representatives who responded to the survey.
  


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