A#6 ADMJ 302 27948 Chapter 5 - Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders –
This assignment is due on October 1, 2010, prior to 5:00PM. Please download
this assignment from the instructor’s web site: http://web.scc.losrios.edu/footef/ .
The assignment s also posted on the Turnitin calendar date of September 25,
2010. However, Turnitin is still experiencing download problems.
You have been assigned to develop a program to address the increasing Asian
gang violence in Sacramento County. You are to identify factors (poverty,
education, immigration status, age, etc.) that are likely to contribute to gang
violence. Please see the article below on Asian gang violence for background.
You have been directed to specifically address the following demographic factors
for: all Asians, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and Asian Indians in Sacramento
County (You must use the 2006-2008 American Community Survey 3-Year
Estimates “Asian alone or in combination with one or more other races” category
for all your data):
1. Type of Asian ethnic groups and their population numbers and percents of
the counties Asian population. And the same data for all Asians in the
County.
2. Median Age
3. Number without high school graduation
4. Poverty levels
5. Median Household Income
6. Percent that speaks English less than very well
7. Percent Owner-occupied housing units
8. Marital status Now married, except separated
9. Factor of your choice #1
10. Factor of your choice #2
You must add two other factors that you think are important in addressing the
gang activity in these ethnic groups. You must explain why these factors are
important in developing your strategy.
Your program at a minimum must (a) identify, List and explain the factors that
contribute to gang involvement in Sacramento County (b) apply these factors to
the five Asian groups you have been directed to investigate to determine which
groups are at the greatest risk for gang in involvement (c) List and summarize the
types of crimes associated with Asian gangs (d) provide strategies for addressing
all of the factors you have identified.
Your statistics and citations should come from the article below, the text, and/or
the statistics you provide in this part of the assignment. If you use other sources
you must provide citations.
You must use the following table to present your findings. The information in the
example may not be accurate and should not be copied to your assignment
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without verification. In the population row you will have to calculate the
percentages. (Group #/All Asians#*100)
Factor
1.
Population
#/%
2. Median
Age
3. Percent
that have
not
completed
high
school.
4. Poverty
Level
Percent for
all families
5. Median
Household
Income
6. Percent
that speaks
English less
than very
well.
7. Percent
owner
occupied
housing
8. Marital
status – Now
married
except
separated
9. Asians in
Sacramento
City
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All
Asians
208,409/1
00%
2
Chinese
Filipinos
25,125/27
%
16,950/18
%
Asian
Indians
13,631/15
%
Vietname
se
9,497/10%
EXAMPLE:
Program to Address the Increasing Asian Gang Violence in Sacramento
County
By: Office I. M. Friendly
Background and Data sources
On September 25, 2010, I was assigned the task of developing a program to
respond to the rising levels of violent gang activity in Sacramento County
(County).
This is my response to that assignment.
This program is designed to identify the factors that contribute to the
development of Asian gangs in Sacramento County and to apply these factors to
the largest groups of Asians in the County in order to determine which groups are
at the greatest risk for gang involvement.
I have summarized my demographic data for the five largest Asian populations in
the County in Table #1. All of this data is from 2006-2008 American Community
Survey 3-Year Estimates “Asian alone or in combination with one or more other
races” category.
I have also referenced an article from Asian Nation (2007), Asian American
Youth Gangs.
Factors that Contribute to Gang Involvement
In this section I will listed the ten factors that have an impact on gang creation in
Sacramento and I explain the importance of each factor.
1 The first factor is population size. Some groups have two few members to
support gang activities. Only the larger groups in the County have a record for
gang activity.
Application of Risk Factors to Selected Asian Groups
As requested I have...
Types of Crimes Associated with Asian gangs
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The article Asian American Youth Gangs shows how some crimes are specific to
Asian youth gangs. I will list each of these gang activities and explain why these
crimes are unique to Asian youth gangs.
1. Home invasion robberies are ...
Strategies for Addressing Asian Gangs
I have looked at the key factors contributing to Asian gangs and the type of
crimes committed by these gangs and provided strategies to address these
issues.
1. My first strategy is directed at Asian youth leisure time ..
END OF EXAMPLE
The following information will help you research this data:
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Asian American Youth Gangs
Asian-Nation (20Feb07)
http://www.asian-nation.org/gangs.shtml
In recent years, the issue of Asian American youth gangs has gotten a lot
of attention from the media and law enforcement. This phenomenon shares
many similarities with other "gang problems" in the Black and Latino
communities. However, certain ethnic and cultural aspects come into play
with Asian gangs that make their situation and consequences of their
actions unique.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE . . .
The origins of Asian youth gangs are not unique. In fact, the phenomenon of
Chinatown gangs around the country (most famously in New York City) has been
the subject of much attention and academic research starting from their initial
appearance in the late 1800s and continuing through modern times. Like their
Italian, Irish, and Jewish counterparts who came to the U.S. back in the 1800s
and early 1900s, many Asians struggle to adapt to a new country and social
environment and challenges of making a living, whether they are immigrants
themselves, U.S.-born children of immigrants, or whose families have been in the
U.S. for several generations.
Many Asians feel overwhelmed, frustrated, depressed, and even angry as they
try to adjust to living in the U.S. Many times they don't have enough job skills or
English fluency to find steady and meaningful work. This can be especially
common among Vietnamese, Amerasian Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian
immigrants, who tend to have lower levels of socioeconomic attainment and
therefore are at greater risk for experiencing difficulty in adjusting to American
society.
Many younger Asian Americans may also feel alienated from their parents,
family, schools, and ethnic community. They may feel misunderstood,
underappreciated, or are asserting their new sense of American-style
individualism and personal independence. They may also feel that they are
victims of prejudice and discrimination. As a result, they may fatalistically accept
that despite their best efforts, there are too many barriers that prevent them from
achieving the "American dream" -- at least through conventional methods.
In this situation, it's many Asian youth try to find some kind of social group that
includes others in the same situation, that will give him/her mutual support and
understanding, and that contain alternative methods of earning status and
respect among one's peers. In other words, s/he may find an alternative form of
"family" where s/he feels accepted and comfortable. Unfortunately, many of
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these groups are based on the belief that the only way for them to achieve
"success" in American society is to accomplish those goals through
"unconventional" methods -- i.e., crime.
STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
Many Asian youth gangs may start out as just a social group of friends and
acquaintances. But more commonly, larger and more established gangs actively
recruit new members into the gang. Once the new member finds a sense of
belonging and acceptance, not to mention sex, drugs, and other "perks" of gang
life, it's often very hard for him/her to give it up. Some (although not all) Asian
youth gangs may also have connections to, or even be controlled by larger and
more formal Asian organized crime groups who themselves manage elaborate
prostitution, gambling, smuggling (including illegal aliens), extortion, and other
gang activities around the world (i.e., Chinese "triads" or "tongs").
In addition to these conventional gang activities, it's also common for Asian
gangs to compete with Black and Latino gangs for turf. But their specialty, for
which they've received a lot of media and law enforcement attention, is a type of
robbery called a "home invasion." Home invasions occur when the gang breaks
into family's home or small business, tie up all the family members, and terrorize
them until the family produces valuables or money. Common tactics include
beatings, torture, and the raping of female family members.
Asian youth gangs almost always target Asian families for home invasions
because these families are less likely to report such crimes to the police. This is
because many recent Asian immigrants come from countries where the police
were seen either as completely corrupt, woefully ineffective, or even working in
conjunction with gangs. Such publicity would also bring "shame" to their
community, which goes against the families' social conditioning.
The family may also fear retaliation from the gang if they report the home
invasion to the authorities. Victims who are in the U.S. illegally also worry that
they may be deported if they report crimes committed against them. In fact, a
recent study by the Department of Justice found that among all the major
racial/ethnic groups, Asian Americans are the least likely to report violent crimes
committed against themselves to the police.
Further, recent Asian immigrants are more likely to keep their valuables and
money hidden somewhere inside their house or business instead of keeping
them in a bank. Again, they may not be knowledgeable about the concept of
banking and trusting one's money to strangers or because of past experiences
with corrupt financial institutions in their home country. Either way, Asian gangs
exploit these cultural elements to victimize their own community.
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Other crimes favored by Asian youth gangs may include prostitution, laundering
counterfeit money (i.e., printing phony currency, going out to buy something, then
returning that item to get real cash in return), selling drugs, and those based on
using modern high-tech methods, such as identity theft and credit card fraud.
THE RESPONSES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
In response to these crimes, law enforcement authorities have implemented
some very effective and ineffective strategies. Many police departments in cities
that have large Asian populations have actively recruited more bilingual police
officers from the community and have stepped up their efforts to educate the
community about American law enforcement and the legal system. This greater
understanding can lead to less fear of enlisting the help of the police and makes
it easier for the police to get leads and tips from the Asian community about gang
activities.
Nonetheless, many in law enforcement are still rather ignorant about Asian youth
gangs and the Asian American community. For example, many police
stereotypically believe that "all Asians are the same" and that Asian gangs are
especially viscous and have absolutely no respect for life. While Asian gangs can
indeed be very violent, it is very easy for these extreme beliefs about Asian youth
gangs to be transferred onto the entire Asian community.
For example, for a while in the mid-1990s, many police departments in southern
California set up special "Gang Task Forces" that specifically targeted Asian
youth gangs. Their tactics included harassing any group of young Asian
Americans who they thought might be affiliated with gangs. The police also took
"mugshot" photographs of these Asian Americans, without their consent and as if
they were in a police lineup, and kept the photos on file as "possible" gang
members. The police justified these actions by claiming that it was very hard to
differentiate and distinguish between Asians -- an assertion that caused
significant outrage among the Asian American community.
Many saw these tactics as blatant racial profiling and completely dehumanizing
and humiliating for the young Asian Americans who were being harassed. Asian
activists argued that the actions of a few individuals were again being projected
onto an entire community and innocent Asian Americans were again being
judged and discriminated against just because they happened to be Asian.
These tactics led to a storm of protest, several lawsuits, and criminal
investigations for civil rights violations against these police departments. Such
methods were eventually ruled unconstitutional and were stopped.
Nonetheless, the profiling of suspected Asian gang members continues along
with severe prosecution of those charged with gang-related activity, which many
argue are unjustifiably harsh and discriminatory, even if the alleged crimes do not
involve violent felonies. In addition, many argue that this type of racial profiling
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has become even more common since the September 11 terrorist attacks. In the
name of "homeland security," many law enforcement agencies are now
aggressively pursuing, harassing, and arresting any Asian who they might
perceive as a potential criminal. Further, for many Asians who they detain but
cannot charge with a crime, they are instead deporting them if they don't have
proper documents.
THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY RESPONDS
Asian community leaders note that there needs to be a balance in regard to
dealing with Asian youth gangs. In terms of prevention, there needs to be much
more outreach to young Asian Americans who may be inclined to join a gang.
These efforts need to be culturally competent -- that is, they need to recognize
the unique ethnic and cultural issues that these Asian Americans face, not just
subject them to the usual regiment of programs that were designed for another
group entirely.
There also needs to be efforts to help Asian families interact more effectively with
their children to bridge the generation gap that can lead to feelings of
alienation. While much Asian youth gang activity has involved those from
immigrant and/or less well-off families, in recent years, many have noted that
Asian gang members can also come from second and later generation families,
from affluent backgrounds, and who may initially appear to be comfortably
assimilated into American (or Canadian) society.
Regarding intervention and law enforcement, authorities have been urged to
work with the Asian community, not against it. This involves having a better
understanding of Asian culture and history in order to gain the trust and respect
of Asian families and for the legal system to rehabilitate young offenders using
understanding and compassion, rather than punitively placing them in institutions
where their physical safety and self-esteem take a further beating and where
they learn the skills to become hardened career criminals.
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