The Growth of Youth Gang Problems in the United States: Populations, Cities, Counties, Drugs, Immigration, Trends, Government Policies

The last quarter of the 20th century was marked by significant growth in youth gang problems across the United States. In the 1970's, less than half the States reported youth gang problems, but by the late 1990's, every State and the District of Columbia reported youth gang activity. In the same period, the number of cities reporting youth gang problems mushroomed nearly tenfold—from fewer than 300 in the 1970's to more than 2,500 in 1998, and the number of counties citing youth gang problems grew even more precipitously, from about 100 in the 1970's to nearly 1,200 in 1998 — an increase of more than 1,000 percent.

Foreword * Preface * Acknowledgments * Executive Summary * Introduction * An Explosion of Youth Gang Problems in the United States * Scope of the Report * Terms and Definitions * Groups Not Counted as Youth Gangs * Data Collection and Analysis: Problems and Limitations * Definition Problems and Accuracy of Information * More Gangs or More Information? * Possible Explanations for Growth Trends * Data Sources * Topics * Gang Localities in the United States: A Quarter-Century Summary * Numbers and Populations of Gang Localities * Gang Locality Totals * Changes in Numbers and Populations of Gang Localities * Changes in Numbers of Gang Counties and Cities * Changes in Numbers of Gang Cities * Changes in Populations of Gang Cities * Changes in Populations of Gang Counties * Locality Increases Compared * Cities That Reported Gang Problems in the 1970's But Not in the 1990's * Gang Cities * Number of Gang Cities: 1970's Through 1995 * Trends in Number of Gang Cities: 1970's Through 1995 * Gang Counties * Number of Gang Counties: 1970's Through 1995 * Trends in Number of Gang Counties: 1970's Through 1995 * Concentrations of Gang Counties * Regional Trends in Gang Cities * Gang Cities by Region: 1995 Standings * Gang Cities by Region: Trends, 1970's Through 1995 * Gang Cities, by Division * Trends in Size of Gang Cities * Gang Cities, by Population Category * Population Categories: Gang Cities Compared With All U.S. Cities * Summary and Explanations * Major Findings * Explanations * Drugs * Immigration * Gang Names and Alliances * Migration * Government Policies * Female-Headed Households * Gang Subculture and the Media * Research on Explanations and Causes * Gang Locality Trends and Program Impact * Trend Prospects for Gang Localities * Predicted Growth Rate of Gang Cities * Method Used for Predicting Growth * Analysis of Prediction Data * Conclusions * 1998 Update of Selected Data * Objectives of the 1998 Update * Relationship Between Findings in the Earlier Chapters and the 1998 Update * Gang Locality Totals * Gang Cities * Gang City Rankings * Decade Trends: Cities * Gang Counties * Gang County Rankings * Decade Trends: Counties * Gang Cities, by Region * Trends in Size of Gang Cities * Major Findings * Data-Collection Methods and the Growth of Gang Problems * Yearly Rate of Printed Reports Listing Identified Gang Localities * Discovering Gang Cities Not Reported in the 1970's and 1980's * Sharp Increases in the Number of Gang Cities in Individual States * Summary * Endnotes * References * Appendixes * Appendix A: Data Sources * Youth Gang Survey Reports * Media Reports * Databases * Interviews * Conferences * Routine Police Reports * Appendix B: Using the Decade as a Time Unit * Appendix C: The Growth of Youth Gang Problems in the United States: 1970—98 Report and the National Youth Gang Center Surveys * Appendix D: U.S. Cities and Towns Reporting Youth Gang Problems at Any Time Between 1970 and 1998 * Appendix E: U.S. Counties Reporting Youth Gang Problems at Any Time