Getting kids out of gangs

The Main Street centre, sponsored by Youth for Christ, an evangelical organization, got caught up in a spiral of controversy. Some debaters seemed to be worried about evangelicals. I like them because I think all Christians should be evangelicals, even though some of us are not as keen about outreach as we used to be. Aboriginals were concerned about non-community organizations affecting their children. That's understandable. One of the last times churches took government money for aboriginal projects, we ended up with an ugly move to assimilation.

But now that city hall has agreed to help fund the $11.7-million project its organizers can focus on the big question facing anyone dealing with inner-city youth: Why do young people leave gangs and how can we encourage that?

Not a lot of work has been done on leaving gangs (or desistance, as the sociologists call it), says Melanie Nimmo, assistant professor in the criminal justice department of the University of Winnipeg.

But she discussed what social researchers do know in a paper last month in Hawaii at a conference of the Western Society of Criminology, which is mostly made up of experts from North America and Asia.

First, she described Winnipeg's situation. "Many gang members are aboriginal; have grown up suffering extensive abuse and live in high-crime areas of an impoverished inner city. Additionally, female aboriginals who enter gang life are very vulnerable to exploitation and the sex trade, and we have seen an increase in the number of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) gang members."

Why do young people join gangs? The reasons, Nimmo says, include neglectful parents; individuals with no goals or hope for the future; low involvement in conventional activities (bored with "idle hands") and little belief in moral and legal order (the police are "racist").

Aboriginal youth are particularly susceptible to gangs. In the Prairies, estimates suggest there are 800 to 1,000 active aboriginal gang members. Their peak age of offending is between 15 and 19 years old. Says Nimmo: "There is a long dismal history of the mistreatment of aboriginals in Canada. The colonization of these peoples stripped away their traditional cultures, practices, dress and language."

Why do people join gangs? "Without question," says Nimmo, "the gang provides social necessities such as empathy, emotional support and a sense of identity -- having an identity and respect is critical for humans, particularly during the difficult developmental phase of adolescence."

Finally, what can be done to encourage people to leave gangs?

Stronger communities: "Individuals might decide they need to quit the gang, but the neighbourhood that they live in or the family that they come from may not allow for that possibility... Until communities empower themselves, if a gang member wants to leave the gang, often they must leave the community."

The Red Road: Involvement with the traditional culture helps some aboriginals give up gangs. It gives them a "sense of identity, a feeling of belonging and purpose."

A "good," steady job: Satisfying and stable employment "provides money; it takes up time and involves a commitment."

Marriage and family: This can be a positive factor because when an "individual becomes happily married in a conventional marriage, they are less likely to associate with their previous delinquent peers."

Simply getting pregnant rarely has the same effect. Many female gang members "bless" their children into a gang. Some gangs have families going back three generations.

Other factors involved in leaving gangs include improving social ties among young people and reminding gang members about the negative aspects of gang life. Most gangs don't make much money. Aboriginal street gangs are the lowest on the criminal scale.

Women have the most trouble leaving gangs. "Females put other females 'on the street.' They succumb to 'pimp sticks' often hung up in gang houses to beat women who 'get out of line.' Yet we have still failed to recognize the need to help these women leave the gang life."

"We have not come far at all," Nimmo concludes.

Tom Ford is managing editor of The Issues Network.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 8, 2010 A11