Unravelling Identities and Belonging: Criminal Gang Involvement of Youth from Immigrant Families, Prepared by Hieu Van Ngo, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, in collaboration with the members of the Collaborative Inquiry Network, 2010.

Unravelling Identities and Belonging: Criminal Gang Involvement of Youth from Immigrant Families was overseen by Hieu Van Ngo, a University of Calgary graduate student pursuing doctoral studies in the Faculty of Social work. Using data gathered through one-on-one interviews with past members of criminal gangs in Calgary between 2009 and 2010, Ngo attempted to find common factors that explain why immigrant youth in the city are joining criminal gangs. Using this data as a foundation, a group collaborative inquiry network consisting of diverse stakeholders from the Calgary community was formed to develop a practical framework for supporting youth and preventing their disintegration from society.

Around 20% of Canadians under the age of 18 are foreign born. While 27% of these Canadians are classified as low income, only 15% of children with Canadian-born parents fall into this category. Research has also shown that immigrant youth are less likely to participate in the workforce and consequently have less work experience.

Some studies have found that by the age of 13, children of immigrants whose first language is not English or French perform as well as students whose native tongue is one of those languages. However, other researchers claim that ESL dropout rates are almost double the Albertan average, suggesting that these students are not faring well in our school systems. Factors such as low income and English proficiency can cause immigrant youth to become disengaged with society, which predisposes them to become involved in gangs.

So how bad is the current situation? There is strong evidence indicating that the youth crime rate in Alberta is decreasing.  Furthermore, the provincial youth crime rate is close to the national average. What is interesting, however, is that there is a growing public perception that there is an increase in youth immigrant crime. Ngo argues that an informed public dialogue is necessary to show Albertans that youth immigrant crime rates are actually decreasing.

Based on the information Ngo gathered from interviews conducted with former immigrant youth gang members, he developed a model to explain why these youth are joining criminal gangs. In the author’s own words:
 
"The gang (they belonged to) involved participants that either directly experienced pre-migration vulnerabilities or were indirectly impacted by their parents’ pre-migration histories. Their life experience in Canada involved gradual disintegration of their interaction with their families, schools and communities. Subsequently, the participants experienced crises of identity and belonging, which propelled them towards forming friendships with other socially disconnected peers. They became involved in social cliques, and progressed towards membership in criminal gangs. Confronted with various turning points, some participants eventually chose to leave their gangs. They worked towards exit from the gang and reintegration into their families and communities."
 
 From this description, practical solutions were sought in the three areas which contributed to the disengagement of immigrant youth from society. While some of these ideas are already employed within the community, the report argues that these methods of supporting immigrant youth are necessary to realize positive results. The following table summarizes some of their suggestions.  For a full list please see Table 5.1 in the report. 
 

This report argues that in order to be effective, the community must ensure that any programs or services designed to draw immigrant youth gang members away from gangs are accessible to this group. Edmonton policy makers should therefore review the suggestions in the report to evaluate whether or not our own immigrant youth support programs and services can be improved.

Reviewed by Kevin Unrau

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.