Vietnamese Gangs in American Society

1
Vietnamese Gangs in American Society
Da Nang Gang
2
Relevant Statistics

• In Westminster, CA city law enforcement officials
  attribute 17 of all juvenile delinquency and 48
  of all Asian delinquency to gang-involved Asian
  youth.
• In Los Angeles County 40 of Vietnamese and
  Cambodian families are welfare-dependent.
• In the same county 60 of the Vietnamese minority
  Mien are welfare-dependent.
• A majority of initial Vietnamese refugees were
  uneducated and economically dependent

3
TX-View 2005 SurveyTieng Xanh is an East Coast
Non-profit that Serves Vietnamese Youth

• 72 of those surveyed have friends or family
  members who have been gang members
• 11 of Vietnamese American males described their
  grades as "mostly D's and F's." No other
  individuals (of any gender or ethnicity)
  described their grades in this way.
• Only 40 of Vietnamese American youth described
  their parents as being "very helpful," compared
  to 56 of all other youth.
• Only 14 of Vietnamese American youth described
  their teachers as helpful
• Vietnamese American youth were less likely than
  all other youth to describe themselves as "very
  comfortable" interacting with individuals of a
  different race or ethnicity (32 vs. 50)

4
Two Theories of Criminality Among Vietnamese
Americans
5
Cultural Theory

• Criminality is a result from conflicts of values
  or norms among ethnic groups in a heterogeneous
  society
• The criminal justice system is then viewed as a
  powerful tool for controlling minorities and
  reflects an unequal distribution of power in
  society

Images of Color, Images of Crime, Coramae Richey
Main, Marjories Zatz 2002
6
Criminality is a result from conflicts of values
or norms

• Youths feel alienated because of poor social
  integration
• Immigrants come from largely homogenous
  societies and
• have never experienced a heterogeneous society
  like America
• They struggle with the education system because
  of language
• and social difficulties with support lacking
  from teachers and
• family

7
Non-Cultural Theory

• Vietnamese Youth feel the benefits of joining a
  gang outweigh the ramifications
• Us vs. Them Mentality (Media utilize this
  conflict)
• Youth versus Society
• Vietnamese youth versus law enforcement
• Inability to catch up with their American peers
• Constant exposure to the criminal element

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice
Programs, Juvenile Justice Delinquency
8
Gang Identification
THREE (3) DOTS The cigarette burn marks are
often found in the shape of a triangle, formed by
three burn marks.  The meaning of the three dots
is "my crazy life" and indicates they don't care
about anything. In the Vietnamese language it
translates to "toi o can gi ca". FIVE (5)
DOTSFive cigarette burn marks are also common.
They are found in the design found on dice and
stand for "a group of close friends" (one person
protected by the group).  In Vietnamese it
translates to "tu hai giai nuynh de".
9
THE FOUR (4) T'S (TTTT)This tattoo is normally
found on hard-core gang members, who have done
prison time or youth authority time. It is
believed that this is an Asian prison type gang,
however, this has not been confirmed.The tattoo
is usually done in Gothic style script, but, has
been observed in other writing styles. It is
usually found on the back of the neck, the back
torso, the front torso and on the arms. It has
also been seen on fingers, legs and hands.
The four T's have meaning TINH - LOVETIEN -
MONEYTU -PRISONTOI -CRIME A fifth T is
sometimes included (THO), which means REVENGE.
10
Coverage by Media
11
Newspapers

• Dating back to the mid-90s credible newspapers
  like the San Francisco Chronicle have been
  covering stories on the growing Vietnamese and
  Southeast Asian gang activity in the Bay Area.

12
Early Coverage

• Much of the early coverage discusses the various
  gang wars going on between Chinatown and the
  Tenderloin gangs.
• Many articles are only about murders that were
  either committed by a gang or against another
  gang. They also discuss how many Vietnamese gang
  leaders are trying to network and connect with
  other Vietnamese gangs.

13
Early Coverage

• As much as newspapers state the facts, they
  routinely depict gang members as almost
  animalistic.
• Some common words you can find in an article are
  terrorizing, illegal, clash, shooting, dispute,
  murder.
• Gangs are placed in a negative light within the
  mass media. Instead of trying to understand why
  people join gangs, the media is quick to point
  the finger and blame them for all the crime that
  is being committed in the city.

14
Coverage Today

• Unlike the mid-90s there is less coverage on
  Vietnamese gangs.
• The Chronicle chooses to focus more on human
  interest stories concerning gangs, such as the
  victims of their activities.
• The media also seems to be trying to understand
  the identity issues of those who choose to join a
  gang.

15
The Dream Shattered

• This anecdotal book is based on the authors
  experience as a juvenile counselor in California.
  
• It discusses the contributing factors to
  Vietnamese gangs and crime in the US.
• Many of those he counsels are children of
  uneducated refugees and the cultural
  misunderstandings they have with one another.

16
The Dream Shattered

• The author, Du Phuoc Long, breaks down Vietnamese
  Criminal Activity Vietnamese criminal activity
  or VCA is in a state of accelerated networking.
  Vietnamese are working hard to develop
  relationships with other Vietnamese criminals
  across the country.
• He also discusses the Viet-Ching. The ethnic
  Chinese who were raised in Vietnam. They tend to
  claim their Chinese heritage when they want to
  work with other Chinese gangs and claim
  Vietnamese with working with the Vietnamese
  gangs.

17
The Dream Shattered

• Long also speaks about how family becomes
  involved in gang activity.
• Kids who want to be apart of the gang serve as an
  apprenticeship of sorts to someone who is like a
  Big Brother. The older generations teach the
  younger ones how to be streetwise, which means
  how to steal, commit burglary, extort money and
  obtain weapons.

18
The Dream Shattered

• They treat the younger generation as family by
  taking care of them.
• Over time the trust deepens and the kids become
  more willing to provide the older members with
  whatever they ask for.