| December 12, 2001 - While U.S. troops are waging war overseas,
Long Islanders of every socioeconomic group are fighting their
own battles as their youth are being pulled into local and
national gangs. It's a trend that Professor Paul J. Ciborowski
of the C.W. Post and Brentwood Campuses of Long Island University
is actively trying to stop through his Suffolk County Youth
Gang Prevention Project. Supported by a $125,000 grant from
Suffolk County, his study of the effects of gangs on youth
violence is now complete, and he is using the results to develop
a program to keep young people out of gangs.
"The explosive growth of gangs can be attributed to
the breakdown of the traditional family structure and lack
of proper parenting, leaving an opening for gangs to prosper,"
says Ciborowski, a Shoreham (checking) resident who
teaches counseling and development at the Brentwood and C.W.
Post (Brookville) campuses of Long Island University. "The
gang problem has grown exponentially over the past twenty
years, and about a dozen nationally affiliated gangs are active
on Long Island. This showed a great need to develop prevention
model programs that assist local communities, youth agencies
and police in combating gang-related activities."
By working with Suffolk County police, schools, parents,
neighborhood groups and community-based agencies, Ciborowski
identified three high-risk communities - Brookhaven, Huntington
and Islip. He then was able to study the risk factors that
lead teens to gravitate toward gangs, which include a family
history of gang involvement, early anti-social behavior, drug
and/or alcohol use, aggressiveness, and low self-esteem, among
others. The study also identified the stages of gang involvement,
from as early as fifth grade. The first stage - called "Experimental
Stage" - includes truancy, poor grades, and unstable
home life; the next stage - or "Primary Stage" -
has children identifying with gangs and acting out gang behaviors;
the Secondary Stage, or pre-gang involvement, sees children
in contact with law enforcement officials and having a large
percentage of friends in gangs; the Final Stage sees the teens
incarcerated, dependent on chemicals, and committed to violence.
The study also spoke to numerous teens in an effort to assess
their level of involvement in gangs, rating them from Level
I (exemplifying a beginning interest in gangs) to Level V
(complete gangs involvement).
According to Ciborowski, the prevention model includes three
major components to help keep kids out of gangs. It uses:
- Parental education: experts help parents improve communication
among family members and teach them productive disciplining
techniques; parents or surrogates can develop the necessary
skills to work with their chidlren so they can minimize
gang attractiveness;
- Schools: the School Model helps youngsters set goals and
improve their decision-making skills so that gang become
less attractive;
- Community: this aspect of the program establishes local
youth agencies and provides leadership and training so that
programs can be effectively managed - activities include:
recreation, peer counseling, employment information, parent
education and case management services.
Coordinated through the Long Island University-Brentwood
Multicultural Center, the Suffolk County Youth Bureau, the
County Juvenile Crime Prevention Commission and the Criminal
Intelligence Bureau of the Suffolk County Police Department,
this important study was not intended to help kids get out
of gangs. Insttead, said Ciborowski, "Our main focus
was to keep kids from ever joining gangs in the first place.
We've identified the activities, community service and recreation
programs that will keep young people away from gangs."
For a copy of the study or for additional information, call
the C.W. Post Public Relations Office at (516) 299-2333, or
email cwpostpr@liu.edu
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