Gangs, Recidivism and Guns
The revolving door of incarceration spins like a cyclone for street gang members. Since gangstas have a propensity for gun violence, this issue is part of solving gun violence in America. Take-aways Between 1,556 and 2,304 new street gang gun murders per year are committed by prisoners released for prior gun violence offenses, amounting to 10.5–15.5% of gun homicides Upwards of 11,520 people are shot (injured or killed) by these released gang members each year. What the academics calculated We checked in with academic libraries and were surprised at how little work has specifically addressed recidivism of gang members. After discarding studies with tiny, and thus statistically fragile samples, and setting aside one that amalgamated both street and prison gangs, we had two left to gauge how often street gang members go back to prison. Gang Members Non-Gang Members Higher Risk 3 years 35.4% 23.5% 150% 5 years 83.2% 42.8% … Continue reading →