Setting the Research Agenda for the Future: a Symposium on Gangs and Gang Violence in the Caribbean

Friday, February 17, 2012 - 8:30am - 4:00pm

This international symposium – to be held at American University – will bring together leading scholars who study the gang problem in the Caribbean. The symposium will be open to guests, including scholars, analysts, policy makers, development experts, and others with an interest in this important regional issue. Representatives from universities, government agencies, embassies and consulates, non-governmental organizations, and development banks are all welcome to attend.

Hosted by the:

Inter-University Consortium for Caribbean Gang Research

Arizona State University

American University

University of West Indies-Mona

Sam Houston State University

Participants will examine the latest findings related to gangs and responses to gangs to better understand the Caribbean region’s gang-related problems; and their potential threat to the United States and to democratic governance in the Caribbean. The symposium will cover a range of gang types, from inexperienced and disorganized neighborhood youth gangs engaged in petty property crime, to more serious and violent adult street gangs that represent a serious threat to public order in some nations. The symposium will also focus on the causes, correlates, and consequences of the gang problem, including the destabilizing effects of gangs on legitimate governance in Caribbean microstates. Given the paucity of systematic knowledge on the Caribbean gang problem, the theme for this year’s symposium is 'Setting the Research Agenda for the Future.'

When:	Friday, February 17, 2012
Where:	American University Mary Graydon Center Room 4 and 5 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW Washington, DC 20016
Suggested Parking:	Nebraska Avenue Parking Lot

DRAFT AGENDA
8:30-9:00	Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:30	Opening Remarks Professor Richard Bennett, American University (Washington, DC) Dean William LeoGrande, American University (Washington, DC) Professor Charles Katz, Arizona State University (Phoenix, AZ, USA)
9:30-10:00	Gangs and their relationship to the community Professor Anthony Harriott, University of the West Indies-Mona Campus (Jamaica)
10:00-10:30	An overview of gangs and gang violence in the Caribbean Professor Charles Katz, Arizona State University (Phoenix, AZ, USA)
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-11:15	Gang homicide in the Caribbean Sheridon Hill, Organization of American States (Trinidad and Tobago)
11:15-11:45	Neighborhood Social Structure and Gang Violence in Jamaica Professor Patrice K. Morris, East Carolina University (Jamaica)
11:45-1:00	Buffet lunch
1:00-1:30	Police Investigation of gang homicide in the Caribbean Professor William King, Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX)
1:30-2:00	USAID-funded prevention programs in the Caribbean and their implications for reducing gang violence E. Brennan Dorn, USAID (Washington DC)
2:00-2:30	Preventing gang violence in the Caribbean: Problems and prospects Professor Edward Maguire, American University (Washington, DC)
2:30-2:45	Break
2:45-3:45	Roundtable discussion: “Where do we go from here?”
3:45-4:00	Closing remarks