Keiron McConnell and Dianne Symonds with Marion Crook

Youth gang members are not all ghettoized, victims of poverty and neighbourhood pressure.Some are privileged children who played hockey, do well academically and see gang membership as a fast track to wealth and a celebrity life-style.This book explores the nature and activities of gangs, the reason why boys and girls join gangs and why girls create their own gangs, what efforts are being made to disrupt gangs and how government policies influence the formation and maintenance of gangs. It sets out the underlying dynamics that contribute to gangs and the practical policies that help defuse them.The researchers investigated youth gangs in major cities in Canada, the US and England. It gives advice to parents, teachers and all who are concerned about the seduction of gang membership.

Keiron McConnell, (London Metropolitan University) Doctorate in Policing, Public Safety and Security from London Metropolitan University, criminologist, contributes the point of view of a 28-year plus policing career with the last 15 exclusively in gang policing. McConnell teaches at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in the criminology department. Dianne Symonds, PhD (Simon Fraser University) teaches at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, BC, in the nursing department. She adds the expertise of a family therapist, data analysist and community health organizer. Symonds worked in community health and organized a community group in her city to examine the motivations of youth who joined gangs. Marion Crook, PhD (UBC) Crook, formerly taught at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in the nursing department. She has worked in the community as a public health nurse and was part of the organization of an integrated community group set up to study youth gangs. She is a researcher and writer of many books on social issues.

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