Filling the GAP: Taking a Closer Look at Edmonton Youth Gangs

The Youth Gang Alternatives Project (YouthGAP), guided by the Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC), has released its report examining the nature and scope of the youth gang phenomenon in Edmonton. The objective of YouthGAP is to detail the current trends of Edmonton gangs and to use that information to support appropriate and effective programs, services and policies.

A great deal of information exists about the general phenomenon of youth gangs – how they are formed, their activities, and the reasons youths join. As of 2003, there were reported to be 484 youth gangs in Canada with an estimated 6760 members (Wortley & Tanner, 2007). Any youth can be susceptible to youth gang involvement - members are recruited fairly young on average, with an estimated 48% of members under the age of 16. Approximately 25% of youth gang members in Canada are African American and 22% are First Nations, with the remaining 53% composed of various other ethnic groups, including an estimated 18% or more Caucasian members (Mellor et al., 2005).

Unfortunately, less specific information is available about the existence and demographics of youth gangs in Edmonton.  The first comprehensive survey on youth gang populations in Canada was not conducted until 2002; according to this,   Alberta’s gang activity lags far behind other western provinces(National Crime Prevention Center, 2007, Youth Gangs in Canada).  As a result, energies have not been focused on investigating this phenomenon as thoroughly as in other major cities, despite the fact that it remains a major problem in Edmonton.  

This study draws on existing resources about youth gangs in Canada as well as interviews with representatives of Edmonton service providers working actively with at-risk and gang affiliated youth. There is currently a great deal of work being done by this city's stakeholder groups to understand the youth gang issue and to react to it with appropriate and effective programs, services, and policies.  

Our work on this issue has led to several important conclusions.  These include:

• effective programs for targeting youth gang involvement should minimize risk factors while maximizing protective factors

• risk factors or predisposition to youth gang involvement begin very early

• positive role models are an important protective factor for at-risk youth

• programs to prevent youth gang involvement should not be primarily suppressive; intervention and prevention are equally, if not more, important

• program funding should be long term in order to best target at-risk or gang-involved youth 

YouthGAP hopes that, as a stakeholder on the youth gang issue, you find the information we have gathered informative and useful.

The full report is available free of charge.  Download the PDF here.

We welcome your feedback - if you have an inquiry, comment, or request regarding this publication, please get in touch:

The Youth Gang Alternatives Project (YouthGAP),
c/o Edmonton Social Planning Council
9912-106 Street NW
Edmonton AB T5K 1C5
780.423.2031
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library[at]edmontonsocialplanning.ca
www.edmontonsocialplanning.ca