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Youth Gangs & Guns in North/South America:
Situating the Issue
 

Table of Contents


No single, standard operational definition of “youth gang”

lack of widely-agreed upon definition within academic and research, government, practitioner and law enforcement communities 

definition varies among communities, regions and countries

youth gang terminology a catch-all phrase to describe situations such as groups of youth hanging out, to troublesome high school students, to highly organized criminal and violent groups of youth 

  • lack of a commonly-understood definition inhibits establishment of local, regional and national data sets

most cited definition (M.W. Klein, 1971) of gangs – 
any group of “youngsters” who:

  • are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others
  • self-identify as group (i.e. group name)
  • are involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents producing consistent negative response from community and/or law enforcement agencies 
Graffiti in a Toronto alley
Graffiti in a Toronto alley

Substantial discourse on the distinction/division between youth gangs and street gangs:

  • research attributes similar characteristics to both types of gangs
  • instances of law enforcement and researchers using youth gang and street gang terms interchangeably
  • research differs in the classification of specific gangs (e.g. some classify MS-13 as street gang, while for others it is a youth gang)

Further complicating the issue:

  • involvement of youth in street gangs, organized crime groups and other types of gangs 
  • varying definitions of youth

The lack of a universal definition for youth gangs impacts whether youth gangs are correctly identified and understood, and how community and law enforcement strategies are designed and implemented.