In September of 1994, fellow gang members in Chicago executed Robert Sandifer, Jr. At the time, police were looking for Sandifer in connection with the shooting death of a fourteen-year-old girl. At the time of his death, Robert Sandifer was eleven years old. (Sadler 16) These stories fuel the public perception that gang violence is increasing. Recent scientific studies show that this is indeed true. Department of Justice statistics for the period between 1985 and 1994 report an increase of 150 percent for juveniles arrested for murder; 103 percent for gun violations; 97 percent for aggravated assault; and 57 percent for robbery. Although the majority of gang members arrested were male, female delinquency is also on the rise. (Sadler, 1997) Still, other voices question the perception of increased juvenile violence and also the statistics. In Images and Reality: Juvenile Crime, Youth Violence, and Public Policy, the authors contend that arrest statistics represent the number of juveniles arrested for violent crime "not the number of violent crimes committed by young people.'(Sadler, 1997) However, recent scientific studies such as the Rochester study support the contention that gang violence is on the rise. .
There is no standard definition of a gang.' Local governmental agencies tend to develop their own. However, a standard criteria has been developed for research purposes. Gangs'' tend to have the following characteristics: .
1. Formal organization structure.
2. Identifiable leadership.
3. Identifiable territory.
4. Recurrent interaction.
5. Engage in criminal and violent behavior (URL: Howell) .
Juvenile crime, unlike adult crime, is usually committed in groups. The ages of gang members may range anywhere from 12 to 25 years of age. The average age being around 17. While some cities such as Chicago report that around 75% of gang members are adults, 90% of gang members are estimated to be juveniles.
