The Practicalities of Targeted Gang Interventions

Civil Gang Injunctions

“…Hennigan and Sloane, as well as the two policy essays (Melde, 2013;Papachristos, 2013), shed some light on this question.…”

“…This article provides a nice supplement to Maxson, Hennigan, and Sloane's article published in this journal in 2005; one can see the progression of knowledge about CGIs as an intervention tool. The two policy essays by Melde (, this issue) and Papachristos (, this issue) highlight the fact that although progress has been made, there is still much to be learned. These three publications acknowledge that not only is it important to assess the extent to which various policies and interventions achieve their desired effects, but also it is equally important to assess how or why these strategies do or do not achieve their desired goals.…”

“…How can the same intervention produce diametrically opposing results? Hennigan and Sloane, as well as the two policy essays (Melde, ; Papachristos, ), shed some light on this question.…”

“…It may be overly simplistic to say that the answer to the preceding question lies in the dual realities that (a) gangs are complex social groups and should not be treated as a monolithic phenomenon and (b) program implementation may vary across time and place. Papachristos () addresses the first issue in his essay, whereas Melde () tackles the second issue. In his essay, Papachristos notes that the Fremont Hustlers studied by Fleisher () are substantively and significantly different from the Black Kings studied by Venkatesh ().…”

“…Turning now to program implementation issues, Melde's () essay offers several insightful observations about the realities of program practice and implementation. Drawing on the public health example of washing hands to reduce contagion (40% or more of physicians fail to comply with such guidelines), he draws attention to the fact that just because someone knows that a particular approach is more beneficial than another does not guarantee that knowledge will equate to action.…”