SENTINEL WATCH May 19, 2008 Issue

GANG VIOLENCE—A HEALING READY TO HAPPEN

PAUL D. WHITE

MEDIA REPORTS OF TEEN GANGS and their deadly activities continue to increase. A recent study in Los Angeles—a city many consider the epicenter of this problem—showed that after spending $100 million over the last ten years for gang prevention, the city's number of gang members and related crimes actually increased ("LA anti-gang project lacks proof of progress"; Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2007).

This scourge is not limited to urban minority youth but is spreading across all racial and socio-economic lines around the world. Parents, schools, law enforcement, politicians, religious communities all wonder what can be done and how to help.

As with many seemingly insurmountable and perplexing problems, failure to see the situation correctly may be why so many proposals fail. The focus is often solely on juvenile offenders, but a lasting solution to the gang issue cannot begin until there's a willingness to confront it with the desire to love and help all those entrapped in it. It's also vital to address how we as individual citizens can take a fearless stand against unlawful behavior.