School personnel perceptions of youth gangs presence and activity at elementary schools in Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in perceptions of selected school personnel (principals, assistant principals, counselors, and teachers) about gang presence in elementary schools in a large urban school district in Texas. The study focused on determining the following: the perceptions related to gang presence and activity within elementary schools; the differences in the perceptions among selected personnel about observable: gang graffiti behavior, gang dress/physical identifiers/tattoos, gang communication, and turf behavior; the extent that school personnel perceived campus disruptions in the elementary schools as gang related; the differences when school characteristics and the variables of gender, ethnicity, and number of years of experience in current position were considered; the relationship between the size of the school and the presence of gang activity and between the socio-economic level of the students in a school and the perceived presence of gang activity. An evaluation and agreement on whether a problem exists is a first step in finding solutions on how to deal with gang activity in elementary schools.