While the phenomenon of gangs is not
new to Canada, the increasing concern about gangs and how to respond
to gangs, particularly when youth are involved, is relatively new.
In-depth, Canadian research on the topic of gangs is still in its
infancy. In our review of over fifty articles on the topic of street
or prison gangs, approximately 20 per cent of the studies were found
to be based on Canadian data. As a consequence, community
understanding of gangs is largely limited to media accounts of gang
activities, and the popularitization of “gangsta” imagery in movies,
television and music. These portrayals are based mainly on what’s
happening in large cities in the United States, and have little
bearing on the situation in Canada. As a result, Canadian communities
are both fascinated by and terrified of gang activities, and are at a
loss as to how to respond to the behaviour.
Schools
are struggling to find a way to respond to young people who may be
involved with gangs or imitate gang behaviour. These are the students
who are engaging in violent and intimidating behaviour, including
carrying weapons to school. Families struggle to protect their children
from associating with gangs and to give them the guidance and support
they need to avoid gang involvement. Communities struggle to find ways
to create a sense of safety in their neighbourhoods. Police struggle
to find a way to deal with young people involved in criminal
activities associated with gangs. Organizations serving young people
and families struggle to meet the complex needs of young people and
families. Governments struggle to develop policy frameworks to guide
the development of strategies and services to prevent youth
involvement in gangs. Young people themselves struggle to find a way
to obtain the support they need from families, schools and communities
to grow and develop the competencies and skills they need to avoid
gang involvement.
Compounding
this lack of understanding of the problem is the question of who is
responsible for articulating solutions and taking action to address the
problem. Who frames the issue and how is the issue framed? Is the
gang phenomenon an issue of suppression with a focus on organized
crime lead by the police and justice system? Is it an issue of
intervention with a focus on gang-involved youth lead by corrections
and government agencies? Is it an issue of prevention with a focus on
at-risk young people lead by community members and community groups?
These questions underscore the complexity of the problem and the
resulting solutions. The issues are socially and technically
complicated and involve multiple stakeholders. Moreover, the dynamics
surrounding gangs are constantly shifting. It is not an issue that
lends itself to quick fixes, nor is it an issue that can be adequately
addressed by a single organization. Gangs and gang activity have
complex social, political, educational, justice and economic layers.
Resolving issues with respect to gang activity must involve changes in
attitudes, societal norms, relationships, organizational cultures,
policies, civic action and laws. As such, the processes and practices
involved in developing a comprehensive community approach to the issue
of gangs are broad in scope and move beyond the patchwork provision
of programs and services. The community approach seeks systemic change
that creates linkages between systems, and redefines ways of working
together to develop a collaborative, integrated approach to gangs. It
is a way to create joined-up solutions to joined-up problems.
As
logical as this approach may seem, our systems, organizations, and
services are not designed to work together. We work within specialized
systems that are informed by different paradigms and are expected to be
self-contained. The space on the margins and the space between
systems is often neglected or ignored. Work is typically defined in
terms of specialties in which we distinguish ourselves by our
differences rather than our commonalities. Plans and services are
largely developed in isolation from others, and in some instances,
from a place of secrecy. Scarce resources often pit agencies against
one another in the competition for funds, rather than fostering
possible collaboration. Personal power and responsibility for action
tends to be hierarchical and focused on the transactions necessary to
deliver specific services and achieve outcomes in keeping with
specific mandates. Problems and solutions are seen to be
self-contained.
The intent
here is not to make judgments about the supremacy of one view over
the other, but to highlight the dynamics surrounding comprehensive
community initiatives. There is a place for, and indeed, even a need
for organizations to work as independent units where efforts can be
focused on specific and clearly defined issues and problems. Not every
community issue or problem requires a comprehensive, collaborative
approach. However, it is warranted when the issue is extremely complex,
as was stated by a leading expert in public leadership, who has
written that when “the problems are interconnected, crossing
jurisdictional, organizational and functional boundaries and are
intertwined with other problems, a comprehensive community initiative
is required”.
issues and
problems. Not every community issue or problem requires a
comprehensive, collaborative approach. However, it is warranted when the
issue is extremely complex, as was stated by a leading expert in
public leadership, who has written that when “the problems are
interconnected, crossing jurisdictional, organizational and functional
boundaries and are intertwined with other problems, a comprehensive
community initiative is required”.
