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Abstract: 

James C. Howell spent 21 years as Director of Research and Program Development at the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and 14 years as Senior Research Associate with the National Gang Center. In this wide-ranging interview, Howell discusses the true extent of gang activity among youth (nationally, about one-third of cities, towns, and rural areas are experienceing gang activty), its costs (gangs account for 25% of homicides each year in the U.S), common myths about gangs, and what strategies work with kids drawn to gangs. Howell reviews a wide range of important research findings and concludes optimistically that very few kids who join gangs are depraved and unredeemable and that, if participants in schools, social services, and the courts understand how gangs really function and why, there are very effective ways to reduce their influence and destructive force.

Keywords: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); National Gang Center; public policy; risk factors; embeddedness; Comprehensive Gang Model; prevention; intervention; suppression; transnational gangs

Affiliations:  1: author/editorof Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for At-Risk Youth.