Legal and Ethical Problems of Street Gang Work

Abstract

As a new technique in the control of juvenile delinquency, street gang work raises a singularly knotty problem involving legal and ethical considerations. Since successful street work is based on the trust and confidence established between the worker and his gang boys, the worker often has knowledge of their of fenses. Disclosure of such information to the police impairs the relationship; nondisclosure creates the ethical problem of abet ting delinquency and the legal problem of accessory after the fact. Two proposed solutions to this dilemma are (1) accepting it as unavoidable and (2) extending the right of privileged com munication to the social work profession. However, a third solution is suggested, based on the fact that the ethical and legal dilemma encountered in street gang work stems from the worker's own ambiguity regarding observance of the law. On the assump tion that the younger, less criminally sophisticated groups are the more appropriate targets of street work, the worker's unquali fied commitment to observance of the law supports rather than impedes his work with gangs.