I looked at it from the perspective of, well, if gangs are the problem, let's see what it is. Instead of going to the other side of the table, I asked the young people what “gang” meant to them. Some of the things they said were that it's a family, it's to fit in and belong, and a place to go when there's no food in your kitchen, those kinds of things.
When I look at the other side of the table, at how the law or law enforcement defines gangs, it is all about criminal involvement.
When there are two different views, how can we tackle the problem? That's my conflict. Within the research there is a tremendous amount of conflict between what a gang is, what we can define, and the level of organization from gang to gang and from organized groups to organized groups.
While sitting at the back when the previous speaker was here, I overheard about putting up a list on how we can define a criminal organization. I think the speaker did make the right point: it's dynamic. The organization is dynamic and it changes from time to time. Membership is fluid with a common goal, strong leadership, great rules, and penalties when they deal with those who don't obey those rules. But the next time the person goes to prison for whatever crime, the next person moves up into the leadership and that leader is different.