An Evaluation of Gang Intervention Strategies
A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2025 | Viewed by 183
Special Issue Editor
Interests: gang membership; juvenile & adult psychopathy; moral disengagement; mental health courts; racial disparities throughout criminal justice; prosecutorial discretion; police; understanding Neurological correlates of psychopathy & crime
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Overall gang research concentrates on examining delinquency trends, the etiology/correlates of gang membership, the experiences of gang members, and general gang culture and meaning. However, research is lacking in the area of gang member mental health and an analysis of effective intervention approaches for antisocial behavior during gang membership. In general, research has ignored the evaluation of preventative approaches for gang membership. Work in this area is needed, considering that most approaches for dealing with gang members are draconian and rooted in deterrence approaches, which have not been shown to be effective and instead cause more long-term harm. Further, this Special Issue acknowledges that the criminal justice system has been extremely punitive toward gangs and suspected members and is not currently constructed to approach gangs from a restorative perspective (Hagedorn, 2022). Therefore, the purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight studies that empirically evaluate the effectiveness of gang interventions designed to promote desistance, reduce incidents of gang-associated antisocial behavior, and gang prevention strategies. This Special Issue invites contributions from studies on gang intervention and prevention approaches outside of the United States. This issue is open to intervention/prevention approaches that are embedded in the criminal justice system (e.g., the wrap-around method) or novel approaches outside of the justice system that have been evaluated, while acknowledging the pitfalls of the system as it relates to handling gang members and perceived gang members throughout the system.
Dr. Justin J. Joseph
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- gang membership
- gang interventions
- criminal justice
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