Missionaries of the Sacred

As of September, 2008, “Approximately 1 mil­lion gang members belonging to more than 20,000 gangs were criminally active within all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”¹ While it is not easy to clearly define a gang (i.e. various states have different definitions, and some ex­planations describe only those related to street gangs), it is clear that in the different definitions, some common elements are present. A gang is a definitive group of young persons that nor­mally engages in antisocial behavior and mem­bers of a gang usually engage in unlawful activity. These activities include burglary, drug traffick­ing, rape, vandalism, graffiti, violence, destruc­tion of property, stabbings, drive-by shootings and homicide. Indeed  80% of criminal activities in many neighborhoods are attributed to gangs²
and some gangs can be linked to organized crime.and some gangs can be linked to organized crime.

The solution to gang violence seems to hinge on “prevention.” According to the Office of Juve­nile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, preven­tion takes on three efforts: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary: Primary prevention focuses on the entire population at risk and the identification of those conditions (personal, social, environ­mental) that promote criminal behavior. Sec­ondary prevention targets those individuals who have been identified as being at greater risk of becoming delinquent. Tertiary prevention tar­gets those individuals who are already involved in criminal activity or who are gang members.³

Many Church groups, community leaders and those concerned are involved with all three of these prevention tactics. School based programs work on primary prevention. Education is a key factor in gang prevention. It seems that not only do our youth need such education, but adults need to be very much aware of learning about our nation’s gang crisis. Programs in gang pre­vention must teach non-violent means to resolve conflicts, character formation and how people of different races, ethic origin, religion and so­cial status can live in harmony with one another.