Summary
"Research has shown that youth who join gangs are more likely to be involved in delinquency and crime, particularly serious and violent offences, compared to non-gang youth and non-gang delinquent youth. Opportunities provision is a commonly used gang prevention strategy based on anomie and strain theories and the belief that giving youth educational and employment opportunities, such as tutoring or job training and placement, will reduce gang involvement. This systematic review found no randomised controlled trials or quasi-randomised controlled trials of the effectiveness of opportunities provision for gang prevention. There is an urgent need for rigorous primary evaluations of gang prevention and intervention programmes to justify current programme funding and guide future interventions."--Page 3.