Gang member undergrads: What are gang members doing in our colleges and universities?

Submitted to Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences conference proceedings (March 2012)

Abstract: With the growing presence of criminal street gang members in the United States, communities everywhere are experiencing the damaging impact of their criminal behavior. A 2011 report by the National Gang Intelligence Center reported the number of gang members in the United States was conservatively estimated at 1.4 million. As these gang members evolve, are they using our nation’s colleges and universities to educate themselves? How will that affect our communities? This paper reports results of a survey of college students and campus police regarding their perception of the presence of gang members on their campus. Less than one in four students agreed there was a gang problem in the community around their campus, while two of three of the police respondents agreed with the statement.  Students and police agreed in similar percentages that there was a gang problem within the campus community.  At least half of both students and police thought gang members were responsible for less than 10% of crime on campus. About two of three students and police reported less than 10% of the students were active gang members. The Bloods, Crips, and Gangster Disciples were the top three gangs in the campus community for both groups. Drugs crimes, Assaults, assorted Weapons crimes, Robberies and Sexual Assaults were reported as gang-related crimes.

                                                                                                                                         

Keywords: gang activity in college, street gangs in university, percent of students having gang association, gangs in college, gangs in universities, college gangs.

A 2011 report by the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) reported an overall increase in gang membership, and the expansion of criminal street gangs’ control of street-level drug sales and collaboration with rival gangs and other criminal organizations. The NGIC (2011) reported the number of gang members in the United States was estimated at 1.4 million.  That figure represented an increase of 400,000 over the conservatively estimated 1,000,000 as of September 2008.  The 2009 NGIC estimate represented 212,000 more gang members (26% higher) than the 2007 report.  The estimate was 215,000 (28%) higher than the number of gang members reported by the National Youth Gang Center in 2006 (Egley & O’Donnell, 2008).  The estimate was also 200,000 (25%) higher than the 800,000 gang members reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Deputy Director Pistole (2008) in March of 2008.

A connection between gang membership and college education has been identified in a variety of disciplines.  It was deemed noteworthy that three of the organizations responding to the 2011 NGIC survey were University Police Departments.  Economist Levitt and Sociologist Venkatesh (2000) examined the profits of a Chicago-based drug gang relative to legitimate labor market activities.  

Cadwaller (2010) examined potential correlations and relationships between membership in fraternities and gangs. The study posed questions regarding club and fraternity participation, tattoos, musical preference, academic standing, demographics, and acquaintance with gang members from before college (Cadwaller, 2010). 

Cureton and Bellamy (2007) interviewed a college junior, known as Sweet T, a member of the Rigsby Court Gangster Bloods street gang from San Antonio, TX.  Sweet T joined the gang at age 14 and was well known as a fighter.  He was raised in a two-parent home, and his father was a minister.  

Community members perceive gang presence differently, apparently depending on their role in the community. Less than one in four student respondents (22%) agreed or strongly agreed that there was a gang problem in the community around their campus.  A much larger percentage (66%) of the police respondents agreed with the statement.  Students and police agreed in similar percentages (20% and 28%, respectively) there was a gang problem within the campus community.  Most (88%) police thought gang members were responsible for less than 10% of crime on campus, while only half (50%) of the student respondents thought gang members were responsible for over 10% of crime on campus.

References

Cadwallader, T. W. (2010). Gangs go to college: A preliminary report. Journal of Gang Research, 17(4), 13-20.

Cureton, S. and Bellamy, R. (2007). Gangster 'Blood' Over College Aspirations: The Implications of Gang Membership for One Black Male College Student. Journal of Gang Research, 14(2) 31-49.

Egley, A. Jr. & O’Donnell, C. E. (2008). Highlights of the 2006 National Youth Gang Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs.

Etter, G. W. & Swymeler, W. G. (2008). Examining the demographics of street gangs in Wichita, Kansas. Journal of Gang Research, 16(1), 1-12.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement. (2007). 2007 Statewide gang survey results. Retrieved from http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-789KGG/$file/2007

GangSurvey.pdf

Katz C. M. & Webb, V. J. (2006). Policing gangs in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Klein, M. W. (1995). The American street gang: Its nature, prevalence, and control. New York: Oxford University Press.

Klein, M. W. (2005). The value of comparisons in street gang research. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(2), 135-152. doi:10.1177/1043986204272911

Klein, M. W. & Maxson, C. L. (2006). Street gang patterns and policies. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Levitt, S. D. & Dubner, S. J. (2006). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. New York, NY: Harper Collins

Levitt, S. D. & Venkatesh, S. A. (2000). An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang’s finances. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 755-789. doi: 10.1162/003355300554908

National Gang Intelligence Center [NGIC]. (2009). National gang threat assessment - 2009. Washington, DC: National Gang Intelligence Center.

National Gang Intelligence Center [NGIC]. (2011). National gang threat assessment - 2011. Washington, DC: National Gang Intelligence Center.

National Youth Gang Center (2009). National youth gang survey analysis. Retrieved from http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis

New Jersey State Police (2007) Gangs in New Jersey: Municipal law enforcement response to the 2007 NJSP gang survey. New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety Division of the New Jersey State Police Intelligence Section. Retrieved from http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/info/pdf/njgangsurvey-2007.pdf

Pistole, J. S. (2008, March 3). Speech for 2nd Los Angeles IACP summit on transnational gangs, Los Angeles, California. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/speeches/pistole 030308.htm

Seals, A. (2009). Are gangs a substitute for legitimate employment? Investigating the impact of labor market effects on gang affiliation. KYKLOS, 62(3), 407-425 doi:10.1111/j.1467-6435.2009.00443.x

Sullivan, J. P., and Bunker, R. J. (2007). Third generation gang studies: An introduction. Journal of Gang Research, 14(4), 1-10. Chicago, IL: National Gang Crime Research Center.

Wilson, G.I. & Sullivan, J.P. (2007). On gangs, crime and terrorism. Special to Defense and the National Interest. Retrieved from http://d-n-i.net/fcs/pdf/ wilson_sullivan_gangs_terrorism.pdf

http://apsu.academia.edu/CarterSmith/Papers/1519995/Gang_member_undergrads_What_are_gang_members_doing_in_our_colleges_and_universities

Security Administration in the classroom: More challenging when it’s not as sexy as policing.

Submitted to Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences conference proceedings (March 2012)

Abstract: Gabbidon examined perceptions of criminal justice students in a security administration class, asking reasons for taking the course, knowledge regarding the security field, their career objective, and whether they considered working in the security field. He later asked whether their interest in working in the security field had decreased, increased, or remained the same, whether their respect for the field decreased, increased, or remained the same, and how they would rate the course in comparison to other criminal justice courses they had taken. This research was replicated to determine differences in perceptions of security administration by current criminal justice students.

Keywords: private security, security administration, homeland security education, criminal justice courses, teaching security

This research was inspired by Gabbidon (2002) responding to Swart (2000) who believed he knew why college-level security courses don't fly.  Gabbidon (2002) noted that when criminal justice emerged as a discipline in the 1960s, security was left out because it was viewed more under the purview of the business world.  Consequently, he said, the lack of interest was a direct result of this historical oversight.  Swart suggested that students have negative perceptions of the security field and, thus, lack interest in the profession. Swart also suggested that business programs in higher education don't see security courses as a fit and therefore ignore them (2000, p. 38). Further, Swart believed that student perceptions of the field serve as a barrier to enrolling in security courses. To rectify these problems, Swart proposed that criminal justice should be restructured as justice studies to be more inclusive of security courses (2000, p. 39).

The findings show how these students initially felt about the security profession and how taking the course transformed their perspective. Gabbidon (2002) suggested that the key to getting students interested in the security profession was getting them into the classroom.  To accomplish this, a change in thought process may be required.  Criminal justice faculty and administrators must be educated to the vastness of the profession, as well as the opportunities for students (Gabbidon, 2002). With billions annually being spent on private security, criminal justice programs should be spotlighting these courses (Gabbidon, 2002).  The current state of the economy and relatively high unemployment rate, including those seeking public sector jobs like those in the criminal justice profession may increase the motivation of criminal justice students to consider private security as an alternative profession.

References

Gabbidon, S.L. (2002). Teaching Security Administration in Criminal Justice Programs:

            Getting them in the Classroom is the Key. Journal of Security Administration, 25(1):17-21.

Swart, S. L. (2000). Security between two worlds: Why college-level security courses don’t fly. Journal of Security Administration, 23(1): 37-48.

http://apsu.academia.edu/CarterSmith/Papers/1521445/Security_Administration_in_the_classroom_More_challenging_when_its_not_as_sexy_as_policing