Cultural Explanations for Vietnamese Youth Involvement in Street Gangs Public211 Safety: Gangs and Delinquency Research Project 95-JD-FX-0014

摘要

The goal of this project was to provide recommendations toward the development of211u001eeffective community-based programs to prevent gang membership and related 211u001edelinquency. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between gang 211u001einvolvement and delinquency in communities which have a large number of 211u001eVietnamese refugee families in Southern California. Intra-ethnic group 211u001ecomparisons of delinquency using 1,032 official records showed that Asian gang 211u001edelinquency represents up to 48% of all Asian delinquency. Hypotheses concerning 211u001eboth cultural and non-cultural aspects of the etiology of youth gang involvement 211u001ewere developed in a series of focus groups with experts in Vietnamese culture and 211u001eexperts in gang behavior. Interviews with 270 pairs of Vietnamese parents and 211u001eyouths were conducted in a community agency setting by trained Vietnamese 211u001einterviewers. Gang involvement was measured using both a traditional method, and 211u001ean innovative method which quantified the centrality of gang members in the 211u001esocial life of the youth.