Posted by Rupert E. Henry
at 06:27 PM on April 21, 2008
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Although I am concerned about the behaviour of our youths and their involvement with gangs, I am afraid that any effort to solve the problem will fail unless we also look at the behaviour of us adults. A gang could be described as a group of individuals, juvenile and or adult, who associate on a continuous basis, form an allegiance for a common purpose, and are usually involved in delinquent or criminal activity. The gang may range in size from a small group of individuals who hang around together and commit crimes together, to a large formal organization with a leader or ruling council, gang colours, gang identifiers, and a gang name.
While we focus our attention on the small groups we ignore the actions of the larger ones but the young peoples behaviour is just a reflection of our adult behaviour. The two largest adult gangs in Antigua are the Antigua Labour Party and the United Progressive Party, and it is the war between these two gangs that is preventing us from been able to find ways to mobilize effective forces for corrective changes in order to rebuild our families and communities.
Rupert E. Henry