Survey: 7 of 10 adults believe economic downturn leads to more gang violence

Survey: Economic downturn leads to gang violence

SEATTLE — Most people believe the economic downturn has led to more gang violence, according to a new national survey released Thursday.

Of adults interviewed at the end of June by Harris Interactive, 71 percent said gang violence among youth is increasing as a result of the current economic climate.

The telephone survey also focused on the root causes of gang violence.

Forty-one percent of people surveyed said the No. 1 cause is a lack of adult supervision of America’s youth. The next most popular answers were poverty, 15 percent, and lack of education, 13 percent.

The poll also found that 73 percent of U.S. adults believe prevention and outreach is more effective in combating gang violence than law enforcement.

Dana Markow, vice president of Harris Interactive’s youth center, said she found it interesting that the public was speaking so clearly on gang issues. Markow said most surveys on social issues are less decisive.

Recent polls of children and teens have also found an increase in concerns about school safety and bullying, Markow said.

Markow emphasized the gang poll, which was paid for by World Vision, a Federal Way, Wash., nonprofit that is combating youth violence around the world, surveyed all adults about what they thought about youth violence, not just parents.

“It’s of concern very broadly and that’s a powerful message from this survey,” she said.

World Vision commissioned the survey to support its lobbying work on behalf of the Youth Promise Act, a bill being considered by Congress that would give money to communities for violence prevention programs.

Harris Interactive interviewed 1,022 adults ages 18 and above between June 26 and June 29. The results were weighted for age, sex, geographic region and race where necessary to align them with the actual population proportions. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The Atlanta-based Boys and Girls Clubs of America, another national organization concerned about youth violence, says its experience with kids and gangs mirror the results of the World Vision survey.

“Kids don’t have a lot of alternatives today, especially in low-income communities,” said Joe Mollner, senior director of the Boys and Girls Clubs delinquency and gang initiatives.

Mollner, a retired officer from the St. Paul, Minn., Police Department, said recreational opportunities for kids and inexpensive places for them to go after school and during the summer are disappearing because of the economic downturn.

Nonprofits that run the programs are running out of money because donations are down and government grants are not making up for the shortfall, Mollner said.

He doesn’t blame parents for lack of adult supervision. The problem is that society is not providing good solutions for working parents, Mollner said.

“We cannot arrest ourselves away from this problem,” he said. “Prevention does work.”