Gang members are entangled in a web of violence that leads the gunman of today to become the victim of tomorrow

While the media often portrays a stark line between the victims of crime and offenders the reality is much more blurred. New research from David Pyrooz, Richard K. Moule, and Scott H. Decker find that this is especially the case for gang members who find that they are twice as likely to be both victims and offenders as non-gang members. They argue that gang membership is a large risk factor in this victim-offender overlap, as single acts of violence between gang members often lead to acts of retribution between gangs as a whole

The rise of drug dealing in the life of the North American street gang

Historical gang literature traditionally perceived street gangs as boisterous outfits occasionally engaged in delinquency. In recent decades however, street gang behavior has come to be seen ever more as encroaching upon criminality, primarily due to its involvement in drug supply. This article aims to provide a brief historical review as to how the practice of drug supply entered into the life of the street gang, with specific emphasis on The War on Drugs in the 1970s and the rise of the crack cocaine economy in the 1980s

Change or control? Developing dialogues between research and public protection

This paper aims to scope out some of the implications of desistance research for the community management of high risk offenders. Acknowledging the limited empirical research exploring this interface, this paper outlines the evolving evidence base and what this tells us about the process of desistance and what supports it. The evidence as to whether 'high risk offenders' desist and what we know about this process is discussed prior to outlining the landscape of current and principal practice approaches which can be located in the community/public protection model. Potential dialogues between desistance research and public protection practices are discussed to explore ensuing implications and opportunities for practice

The COVID-19 pandemic and operational challenges, impacts, and lessons learned: a multi-methods study of U.S. prison systems

Background The purpose of this study was to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic changed U.S. prison operations and influenced the daily work of prison staff. Methods In collaboration with the National Institute of Corrections, we administered a survey to 31 state correctional agencies in April 2021 and conducted five focus groups with 62 correctional staff. Results Using a framework of bounded rationality, we find that daily operations were strained, particularly in the areas of staffing, implementing public health policy efforts, and sustaining correctional programming. While prison systems and staff were under-prepared to respond to the pandemic, they attempted to address complex problems with the limited resources they had. Conclusions Results underscore a need in corrections for prioritizing further developments and reviews of collaborative policies and practices for managing crisis situations. Seeking avenues for leveraging technological innovations to improve operations and facilitate enhanced communication are especially warranted. Finally, meaningful reductions in the prison population, changes in physical infrastructure, and expansions of hiring and retention initiatives are critical for positioning prisons to manage future emergencies. &nbsp;</p

Confronting gang membership and youth violence: Intervention challenges and potential futures

Evaluation of approaches and psychological obstacles to tackling youth gang involvement

Stickin’ it to the Man: The Geographies of Protest Stickers

Stickers are a frequent sight on city streets, adorning street furniture and walls around the world. They serve a range of purposes, including advertising, graffiti, and street art. Many stickers, however, are dedicated to resistance; they promote protest marches or rallies, radical or subversive opinions, and protest groups and social movements. Small, self‐adhesive pieces of paper, vinyl, or plastic, protest stickers range from the hand drawn to the professionally printed. Cheap to produce and easy to distribute, they are a common tactic in the repertoires of activists across the Global North. Despite their ubiquity, protest stickers have been overlooked by academics from across the social sciences and humanities. Using methodologies connected to both material and visual cultures, this paper utilises analysis of an archive of more than five thousand photographs of protest stickers taken over six years in fifty three locations to argue that protest stickers should be significant tools in attempts to understand the geographies of resistance, public space, and the right to the city. This article explores what protest stickers are, the purposes they serve, how they communicate their messages, where they are located, and how they circulate. Finally, I propose a future research agenda including four key areas which should be pursued in order to better understand the relationships between protest stickers, public space, and the geographies of resistance

Any of them will do: In-group identification, out-group entitativity, and gang membership as predictors of group based retribution

Members of street gangs can engage in group-based or vicarious retribution, which occurs when a member of a group aggresses against out-group members in retaliation for a previous attack against the in-group, even if the avenging person was not victimized and the targets of revenge were not directly involved in the original attack. In non-gang populations, the degree of identification with an in-group and perceptions of out-group entitativity, the perception of an out-group as bonded or unified, are important contributors to group-based aggression. The link between these factors and group-based aggression, however, has not been examined in the context of street gangs. The current study assessed the relationship among in-group identification, perceptions of out-group entitativity, and the willingness to retaliate against members of rival groups who did not themselves attack the in-group among juvenile gang and non-gang members in London. Our results showed the predicted membership (gang/non-gang) x in-group identification x entitativity interaction. Decomposition of the three-way interaction by membership revealed a significant identification x entitativity interaction for gang, but not for non-gang members. More specifically, gang members who identify more strongly with their gang and perceived a rival group as high on entitativity were more willing to retaliate against any of them. In addition, entitativity was a significant predictor of group-based aggression after controlling for gender, in-group identification, and gang membership. Our results are consistent with socio-psychological theories of group-based aggression and support the proposal that such theories are applicable for understanding gang-related violence

Demographics, Trends, and Disparities in Colorado Felony Murder Cases: A Statistical Portrait

Between 1990 and 2021, for adult offenders, Colorado punished felony murder with a mandatory minimum sentence of life without parole. Felony murder was classified as a class 1 felony, along with other theories of first-degree murder, such as after-deliberation and extreme indifference murder, as well as first-degree kidnapping, until Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 124, effective September 15, 2021, reclassifying the offense to a class 2 felony. As a result, felony murder is now punishable by a sentence of 16-48 years. The purpose of this study is to provide a statistical portrait of people who have been convicted of felony murder between 1990 and 2021. Data were acquired through open records requests from the Colorado Department of Corrections (“CDOC”) and the State Court Administrator’s Office (“SCAO”), along with public data from the Colorado State Demography Office. This study’s primary unit of analysis is a criminal case, meaning a criminal case identifiable by a single case number in which a person was found guilty. With respect to felony murder, a felony murder case means one with one or more felony murder convictions where no other theory of first-degree murder was proven with respect to that or those homicide(s). A series of analyses enumerating felony murder cases and incarceration and comparing them to various reference groups produced the following observations: 1. Sentences were imposed in 196 felony murder cases and for 215 felony murder convictions between 2000 and 2021 (per data from SCAO, which provides aggregate judicial records from 2000 onwards). 2. Felony murder constitutes a non-trivial share of the 877 cases (22%) and 1,102 convictions (20%) for class 1 felonies found in judicial records between 2000 and 2021. 3. Matching judicial (SCAO) records with corrections (CDOC) data, there are 176 people in the current CDOC population who were sentenced for a single-theory felony murder conviction between 2000 and 2021, including 16 juveniles. 4. Over half (53%) of felony murder cases sentenced between 2000 and 2021 involved defendants who were younger than age 26 at the time of offense, compared to 42% of cases where sentences for other class 1 felonies were imposed and 46% of people presently incarcerated for other class 1 felonies. 5. There were no differences between men and women in the likelihood of felony murder conviction or incarceration, as compared to their rate of conviction and incarceration for other class 1 felonies. 6. Among the current CDOC population, Black people compose 35% of those who were sentenced for at least one single-theory FM from 2000 to 2021, followed by White (33%) and Hispanic (28%) people. 7. Among those incarcerated for Class 1 felonies, Black people were 43% more likely than White people to be convicted of and presently incarcerated for felony murder. 8. No other statistically significant racial/ethnic disparities in felony murder conviction and incarceration rates were observed. 9. There was no temporal trend in felony murder cases observed between 2000 and 2021. 10. There were some geographic differences across judicial districts in felony murder convictions and incarcerations, which were mostly explained by case characteristics, such as the race and age of the defendant. The results support a conclusion that people convicted of felony murder constitute a distinctive class of prisoners owing to the reclassification of the offense and demographic disparities which mark that group, particularly around age and race