Rio Hondo College Library -

Gangs
The following guide provides Web site links, a list of selected books, and access to online periodical articles about this subject. The Web site links have been researched, evaluated, and annotated by Rio Hondo College Librarians. The Librarians have specifically selected these Web sites to meet the research needs of Rio Hondo College students

Commonly used measures of performance evaluation, as related to gang prevention/reduction programs, are provided through this Bureau of Justice Assistance site. Other highlights include an extensive bibliography of resources relating to gang program outcome measures and information about the types of gang programs.

NCJRS : In the Spotlight : Gangs
http://www.ncjrs.gov/spotlight/gangs/summary.html

The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) is a federal agency providing gang information online. The NCJRS Web page features helpful links to: statistical data, legislation, publications, anti-gang initiatives, training and assistance, and grants.

National Gang Center : Surveys and Analysis
http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/surveysanalysis.cfm

Access the 2005 and 2006 gang surveys through the National Gang Center (NGC) site. Also provided are PDFs of federal and state definitions of the term "gang" and "The United States Attorneys’ Bulletin." The NGC is the result of collaboration among the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office of Justice Programs.

Welcome to the Mayor’s Office : Gang Reduction Strategy
http://www.ci.la.ca.us/mayor/villaraigosaplan/PublicSafety/GangReductionStrategy/index.htm

Providing information about gang crime in Los Angeles, the site also offers an RFP, or request for proposals, including color maps of the areas most affected by gang activity. Users can link from this site to a PDF of Mayor Villaraigosa’s 2008 Gang Reduction Vision. Users may also link to Controller Laura Chick’s audit of Los Angeles’ gang reduction efforts in which she recommends the development of the Anti-Gang Office, to operate immediately under the provision of the mayor.

Gangs & Youth

COPS Office : Gangs Toolkit
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1309
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a division of the Department of Justice, has prepared a gang toolkit as well as guides and reports for school safety. Link to these through the above listed sites, or use the site to contact COPS. Resources available include a school safety CD-ROM, a CD-ROM addressing gang crime solutions, and a gang reference card for parents, in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Vietnamese.

Gangs and Victimization at School (Education Policy Issues : Statistical Perspectives)
http://nces.ed.gov/PUBSEARCH/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=95740

For a historical perspective, students can access statistical information regarding gangs and school violence, produced by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Educational Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the mid-nineties.

Great Ideas for Safe Schools
http://safestate.org/shop/files/GreatIdeas_SafeSchools.pdf

A 14-page PDF document containing descriptions of 27 California programs that were designed to diminish the effect of gangs in schools.

Indicators of School Crime and Safety : 2007 – Indicator 8 : Students’ Reports of Gangs at School
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/crimeindicators2007/ind_08.asp

Also produced by the NCES, this December 2007 report address students’ reports of gangs in schools and links to statistical figures that may be assistive in understanding gangs as related to the educational environment.

NYGC : Compilation of Gang-Related Legislation
http://www.iir.com/nygc/gang-legis/

The National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) site uses automated databases to provide a state-by-state breakdown of gang-related legislation. Also available through the NYGC Web site: access to the GANGINFO listserv, news article links, and selected publications (also available for order on CD-ROM at no charge). The NYGC advisory board members represent the South, Midwest, and West Coast, as well as a number of different professions, including judge, district attorney, criminology professor and dean, clergy, sergeant, and academic legal center director.

Youth Gangs : Going Beyond the Myths to Address a Critical Problem
http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/training/gangs/index.html

Produced by ED (which was developed in 1980 as an amalgamation of many federal offices), this site provides gang information condensed from numerous, diverse sources, including academic and government resources. The information is designed to be used as a guide in creating a 5-day conference for educators.

Online Databases (Rio Hondo Students only) top

CQ Researcher
Enter the search term “gangs” to access the photos, facts, and charts compiled in the piece “Do Police and Politicians Have a Solution?” This extensive consideration of gangs addresses the explosion of violent girl gangs, and provides a detailed gang chronology and bibliography.

ERIC
A search of the term “gangs” in the ERIC database provides full-text results from the National Center for Education Statistics, Afterschool Alliance, Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
The Gale Virtual Reference Library is an excellent database that includes over 200 reference titles that address the subject of gangs. A keyword search for "gangs" returns results from West's Encyclopedia of American Law, World of Forensic Science, International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family, and Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Addictive Behavior.

ProQuest
Search terms that are recommended for use in the ProQuest database include "gangs and Los Angeles California (location)," "gangs" "gangs and violence" and "gangs and law enforcement." Materials available through ProQuest include magazines, journals, newspapers, dissertations, trade publications, company records, and working papers.

SIRS
Type "gangs" to access the timelines, graphics, viewpoints, and magazine and newspaper articles that are accessible via the SIRS database. Interesting graphics include photographs of gang tattoos, historical pictures of gang members, and graphs reflecting gang activity.

Books top
The following books can be located in the Rio Hondo College Library.

Reference Books
Non-circulating:

Battleground : criminal justice
Call number: Ref HV7411.B38 2007

Encyclopedia of juvenile violence
Call number : Ref HV9104.E59 2007

Youth violence and delinquency : monsters and myths
Call number: Ref HV9104.Y6854 2007

Suggested Subject Headings
For additional titles on this topic at Rio Hondo, click on the following Library of Congress subject headings:

Gangs--United States

Juvenile delinquency--United States

Library Catalog top
Use the box below to search for additional resources in Rio Hondo College Library.

Media top
The following media can be located in the Rio Hondo College Library, to be viewed in the Library.

Street life : inside America's gangs
Call number: Video 000490
Police estimate that there are 31,000 gangs currently operating in the U.S. with more than 800,000 members, many of whom are female. ABC News correspondent Cynthia McFadden interviews female members of two Los Angeles gangs, the Drifters and Tepa 13. Correspondent John Quinones talks with King Tone, radical leader of New York City's notorious Latin Kings. Unscripted video footage shot by members of these three gangs provides a glimpse of life inside the net that is snaring young people all across the U.S.

Articles top
The Rio Hondo College Library provides online access to full-text articles through our online databases. Please note: you must be a Rio Hondo College student, faculty, staff or board member to use these services.

The sample searches and articles below are from the ProQuest database. If you are viewing this subject guide from an on-campus computer, simply click on the links below. To gain access if you are at home or off-campus, first click here: https://rioweb.riohondo.edu/library/. Input your student ID number and password [your birthdate]. You will see a list of all the online databases to which you have access. Click on ProQuest and enter the database. You may conduct your own searches at this point or come back to this subject guide and click on any of the links below:

(SUB(gangs) ) [from scholarly journals only]
(SUB(gangs) and GEO(Los Angeles) )
(SUB(gangs) and culture)
(SUB(gangs)) AND (SUB(at risk youth))

Researched and evaluated by:
M. Delatte, Librarian 5/2009
last update:

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