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Article
The Impact of Gangs on Community Life in Trinidad
Race and Justice (2018)
  • Ericka B. Adams, San Jose State University
  • Patrice K. Morris, Georgia Gwinnett College
  • Edward R. Maguire, Arizona State University
Abstract
Trinidad and Tobago has more than 100 criminal gangs, some of which engage in high levels of homicide and violence. Recent research has shown that gang members in Trinidad and Tobago are more likely than nongang members to be arrested for violent, property, and drug crimes. As gangs continue to proliferate throughout the Caribbean, there is a pressing need to understand the nature of these gangs and their impact on the communities in which they are entrenched. Using data from interviews with community members, police officials, and gang members, as well as ethnographic observations from 10 high crime, predominantly Black communities in the Port of Spain area, this article investigates the impact of gang violence and the role of gangs in these urban communities. Our findings reveal the dominant nature of certain gangs and their formidable role in controlling turf and using violence to retaliate and intimidate.
Keywords
  • Trinidad and Tobago,
  • gangs,
  • Caribbean,
  • race/ethnicity,
  • gang violence,
  • street crime,
  • crime,
  • drug dealing,
  • drugs
Publication Date
December 26, 2018
DOI
10.1177/2153368718820577
Publisher Statement
This is the Accepted Manuscript of the following article: Ericka B. Adams, Patrice K. Morris, and Edward R. Maguire, The Impact of Gangs on Community Life in Trinidad, Race and Justice (OnlineFirst) pp. 1-24, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368718820577. Copyright © The Author(s) 2018. Reprinted here by permission of SAGE Publications.
Citation Information
Ericka B. Adams, Patrice K. Morris and Edward R. Maguire. "The Impact of Gangs on Community Life in Trinidad" Race and Justice (2018) ISSN: 2153-3687
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ericka-adams/31/