Preventing Kids From Gang-Joining: Collaboration Matters - Interview With Tom Simon

• NCJ Number: 236390
• Author(s): Tom Simon
• Date Published: June 2011
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Presentation; Issue Overview; Interview; Conference Material

Annotation

This video and its transcript cover an interview with Tom Simon of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the 2011 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Conference regarding collaboration among criminal justice agencies, public health agencies, and other youth-serving agencies in preventing youth from joining gangs.

Abstract

Simon advocates for early intervention in the lives of children to counter risk factors and strengthen protective factors in order to prevent them from joining youth gangs in their adolescent years. This effort can best be achieved through collaboration among the community institutions that provide programming, services, and monitoring for youth. A comprehensive effort to prevent youth from joining gangs should include not only law enforcement agencies but also public health agencies, medical and mental health associations, school boards and administrators, and child protection agencies. Cost-benefit analyses have shown that early intervention to address problem behavior and risk factors for antisocial behavior is the most effective way of preventing behavioral threats to public safety, including the joining of gangs.