Dr. Matthew Valasik with Dr. Shannon E. Reid, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, recently published “Demystifying alt-right gangs: Are white power groups cut from the same cloth as conventional gangs?” in Critical and Intersectional Gang Studies edited by Dr. Jennifer M. Ortiz, Indiana University Southeast. The public resurgence of the white power movement with alt-right gangs (e.g., Proud Boys) participating in mass demonstrations and protests throughout the United States remains a growing concern, yet a general lack of knowledge about how to deal with the members of these alt-right gangs exists. This chapter critically evaluates existing gang definitions used by academics and the criminal justice system with the goal of rectifying the disconnect between the absence or under-reporting of white gang members in gang databases throughout jurisdictions across the United States. The reliance on ideological goals to dismiss white power youth from gang studies has negatively impacted how gang researchers study white power groups, how they train law enforcement about street gangs, and the policies they support and help implement. This chapter is a first step in reorienting academics, policymakers, and criminal justice actors.
In the Media
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Adam Lankford recently published a study on the 2016 Dallas and Baton Rouge cop killers, who committed two of the worst targeted attacks on American police officers in recent history — within eleven days of each other.