5-Year Kwantlen Research Project

New Approach Seeks to Explain Gang Membership

An innovative new approach to understanding gangs, and preventing gang violence, is underway at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where A-DES met recently with Dr. Gira Bhatt and core project faculty members Dr. Roger Tweed and Stephen Dooley
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Called the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA), the five-year project, funded by the federal government's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), hopes to identify positive factors that keep youth from falling into a gang lifestyle.

“Instead of looking at what’s wrong with society, our research will examine what it is society does right with those youth who reject the gang lifestyle,” said Dr. Bhatt, the Kwantlen project leader. “We will come up with recommendations for those who are at risk.”

Kwantlen won a $1 million grant for CURA from among 79 applicants, joining such prestigious winners as the Université de Montréal, University of Toronto, Queens University, and the University of Ottawa. Kwantlen was the only Canadian recipient west of Thunder Bay
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The project will track 900 youth (including 300 deemed “at risk”) over five years and also involve interviews and focus groups with youth, parents, teachers, ex-gang members, and other community stakeholders. The knowledge generated will be made public through a media campaign, interactive theatre, training workshops, and through the project’s online resources (www.actingtogether.ca).

Kwantlen’s successful proposal had its seeds in two public forums the school organized in 2006 to spark local dialogue about gang violence. Community response was overwhelming, with more than 50 representatives from 23 community groups attending the meetings to identify issues and possible solutions to violent youth gangs.

“Participants conveyed to us that they need systematic, culturally relevant and local research on factors preventing youth involvement in gang-related violence,” according to Dr. Bhatt, “and they are weary of the negative media portrayals of their community and their youth.”

Dr. Bhatt said the community made three other points clear in the forums:
 
1) They recommended that positive assets and strengths be highlighted and utilized instead of focusing on deficits and criticism;

2) They need evidence-based programs preventing gang-related youth violence; and

3) They need help advocating for laws and policies that protect their youth.

“In short, there is a definite need for evidence-based, multi-layered, community-focused research and coordinated action planning,” Dr. Bhatt said.

Since 1990, more than 115 young adults have lost their lives to gang violence in BC. In particular, Surrey (Canada’s fastest-growing municipality) has become a focal point for concern and national media attention, with a spate of gang-style murders involving youth and innocent bystanders.

The community will benefit directly from the project with 35 per cent of the $1 million grant going to community training and education, and 31 per cent supporting youth and university students engaged in a number of project activities.

The project’s 12 community partners include the City of Surrey, school districts, RCMP, and community organizations such as the Sikh Alliance Against Youth Violence and the South Asian Community Coalition Against Youth Violence.

Alcohol-Drug Education Service Board Chair Jean Fraser and Communications Director Jay Niver visited Kwantlen Polytechnic’s Surrey campus earlier this summer to learn about the CURA and discuss ways that A-DES might support the initiative.

“When you’re talking about gangs, there is no ignoring the drug component,” said Dr. Fraser. “Drugs and gangs go hand-in-hand, so we feel like we’ve got a significant, common concern with what CURA is all about.”

Dr. Fraser said there is more common ground.

“When you want to keep kids out of gangs, that’s prevention. We (A-DES) want to keep kids off drugs, and that’s also prevention,” she said. “We’re working toward very similar goals fighting two very similar, threatening forces: drugs and gangs.”

To keep abreast of the CURA project, go to their website (www.actingtogether.ca) or follow updates as they are posted on the A-DES webpage.