OJJDP’s comprehensive communitywide approach to gangs builds on the work of Dr. Irving Spergel and his colleagues at the University of Chicago. The model emphasizes the importance of targeting both institutions and youth and the need to mobilize institutional and community resources in an integrated and interrelated way. The community’s approach must be based on problem assessment, not assumptions. Coordinated strategies include community mobilization, provision of social and economic opportunities, social intervention, gang suppression, and organizational change and development (Spergel, 1995).
Schools play a major role in the socialization of children and are critical players in the comprehensive community approach described above. The proposed research addresses the need of schools for information on promising and successful programs that can be used in and by them as part of a comprehensive approach to preventing, intervening with, and suppressing gangs.
Schools reflect the greater community that they serve. As youth gangs and crime have proliferated, the Nation’s school children have experienced the effects. In 1993, about 40 percent of high school students reported gangs in their school. Students today are aware of and worried about crime at school. In a 1995 national sample of public, private, and parochial school students, almost one-half of the students reported that they had made at least one change in daily routines because of concerns about personal safety and about crime and violence in their communities. Nearly one-third said that they worried about being victimized in a drive-by shooting (Teens, Crime, and the Community, 1996). In another study, the National Center for Juvenile Justice reported that approximately 3 in 4 students at schools with a population of 600 or more were aware of crime at school (Snyder and Sickmund, 1996).
Even with the increase of gang activity in the schools, local school boards and administrators often have been reluctant to admit that a gang problem is developing or exists in their schools. Unfortunately, failure to recognize and address the problem only exacerbates it and may contribute to increased violence in the school setting.
Some school administrators have turned to implementation of "zero tolerance" policies toward those who commit or threaten violent acts while at school (Fielder, 1996). Zero tolerance has also found expression in national legislation. The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, part of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Public Law 103-382, requires that any State receiving Federal education monies must enact or have State laws that expel students from school for at least 1 year for carrying a weapon to school. As increasing numbers of students are suspended or expelled from schools, the school community’s need for prevention and intervention strategies becomes even greater, given that academic failure and dropping out of school are strong risk factors for delinquent behavior.
Educators have adopted numerous approaches to deal with the problems of gangs and crime in schools. Dr. Spergel’s school-based model revolves around five strategies: (1) imposition of controls and supervision (school policies, codes, and enforcement efforts); (2) mobilization of outside organizations (police, youth agencies, grassroots groups, and parents); (3) learning opportunities (remedial courses, conflict resolution, academic competency programs, and vocational training); (4) social support activities (counseling and multicultural programs); and (5) organizational development and change (teacher training and problem solving) (Spergel and Alexander, 1991).
School administrators need information on the effectiveness of programs targeted at gangs and school violence. The proposed research is designed to be responsive to that need.
The objectives of this program are to:
Applicants will identify existing State or regional surveys of school-based gang prevention and intervention programs. Program designs should build upon these existing surveys and develop a survey to obtain a cross section of schools that will be sufficiently diversified geographically to contain urban, suburban, and rural schools from across the United States. The survey should identify each school’s ethnic composition, types of incidents of violence or other crimes occurring in the school, dropout information, gang-related profile questions, and prevention and intervention strategies, policies, and activities in place. The survey should also identify programs supported by local communities. The discussion should include an indepth description of successful programs, including, but not limited to, the size and location of the school, the length of time the program has been in operation, community cooperation and support for the program (if applicable), and the research model on which the program is based (if applicable).
Programs selected for an indepth assessment should have clear descriptions of how the need for the program was identified, how the program collaborates with the community and other agencies, what type of evaluation was completed (if applicable), and what long-term followup of outcomes was undertaken (if applicable).
All research products identifying successful programs should be written in a clear, concise manner so that practitioners can easily replicate them.
Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with local education agencies (LEA’s) in designing their programs.
The potential utility of the products of this study to the field must be clearly defined.
Applicants must provide evidence of the organization’s ability to conduct the project successfully. Documented organizational experience with a large-scale survey is necessary. Key staff résumés should beattached as part of the appendixes. Staff should have experience in the fields of education and juvenile delinquency.
Format
The narrative must not exceed 25 pages (excluding forms, assurances, and appendixes) and must be submitted on 8½- by 11-inch paper, double spaced on one side of the paper in a standard 12-point font.
Award Period
The project will be funded for 36 months in two 18-month budget periods. Funding after the first 18-month budget period depends on grantee performance, availability of funds, and other criteria established at time of award.
Award Amount
Up to $100,000 is available for the initial 18-month budget period. Continuation funding is anticipated at a comparable level.
Delivery Instructions
All application packages should be mailed or delivered to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, c/o Juvenile Justice Resource Center, 2277 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850; 301-519-5535. NOTE: In the lower left-hand corner of the envelope, you must clearly write "Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs."
Due Date
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that the original and five copies of the application package are received by 5 p.m. ET on August 11, 1997.
Contact
For further information, call D. Elen Grigg, Program Manager, Research and Program Development Division, 202-616-3651, or send an e-mail inquiry to [email protected].
Snyder, H., and M. Sickmund. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1996 Update on Violence. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.
Spergel, I. The Youth Gang Problem. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Spergel, I., and A. Alexander. "A School-Based Model." Draft report prepared for the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program by the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 1991. (Available from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, Rockville, MD.)
Tatem-Kelly, B. A Comprehensive Strategy To Address America’s Gang Problem. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 1994.
Teens, Crime, and the Community. Between Hope and Fear: Teens Speak Out on Crime and the Community. Washington, DC: National Crime Prevention Council, National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.