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The Importance Of A Community Selected For This Resource Analysis Is Utica, New York

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Scope of the Issue
A community is a combination of social units and systems that perform the major social functions relevant to meeting the needs of all individuals. The community selected for this resource analysis is Utica, New York. Utica is a moderately-sized city with a population estimated to be roughly 62,000 people. The specific area that is going to be focused on is a smaller neighborhood of the City of Utica that is known as Cornhill. Cornhill is what has been continuously considered as Utica’s most treacherous area to reside in. Cornhill is composed of the area between Eagle Street to the Memorial Parkway and from Oneida Street to Mohawk Street. Geographically speaking, it is a rather large area that takes up a …show more content…

Gang violence is defined as a “criminal and non-political acts of violence committed by a group of people who regularly engage in criminal activity against innocent people. This term is also used to refer to the physical hostile interactions between two or more gangs. The term gang violence refers to two or more people organized to achieve a common objective who share a common identity. Gangs identify themselves with a common name or a sign…” (“Gang violence,”). There are a limited number of existing resources in Cornhill and the Utica, New York area for youthful gang members. There is one small non-profit organization, The Safe Haven, that was established for youth who were at-risk of joining a gang or currently active within a gang. It was created by a former Utica, New York youthful gang member who exited the gang lifestyle with guidance from a mentor (White, 2014). He is currently CASAC (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor) in the State of New York (White, 2014). His wife is a forensic psychologist who assists him in running the operation (White, 2014). Together they work with at-risk inner city kids who struggle with poverty, live in hazardous neighborhoods, and experience the increasing

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