Peer Review

Gang Redux: A Balanced Anti-Gang Strategy

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Effectiveness:

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Overview:: Video presentation -- Department of Education Brownbag Lecture "Gang Redux: A Balanced Anti-Gang Strategy" by Professor James Diego Vigil recorded on Monday, May 17, 2010. James Diego Vigil, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of California, Irvine. Professor Vigil holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Type of Material:: Video Presentation.
Recommended Uses:: Homework and in-class discussion. This video was recorded in 2010. I would only use this to provide a historical look at gang control. It could be used as supplemental material on the subject of gangs.
Technical Requirements:: Need to be able to play YouTube.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Professor Vigil presents his anti-gang strategy in detail with a powerpoint presentation and lecture.
Target Student Population:: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal justice, Sociology of Gangs.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Basic sociological frameworks/theories from an introductory level course.

Rating:
Strengths:: The material in the video is approachable and easily understood. It provides a relatively complete method for addressing the problems associated with gangs. Provides a great deal of information with images, text, and audio.
Concerns:: The lighting is dim and the camera angle on the power-point is slanted, the slides are often difficult to read. The lecture is now 7 years old. This video would need additional contextual material for use in a class setting.

Rating:
Strengths:: Could be used to study deviance, and gang formation, the speaker is engaging and clear. The presentation contains many examples.
Concerns:: The video is dated. All learning resources are embedded in the video (e.g., powerpoints) and are not available separately to make this a more effective teaching tool. There are no explicit objectives stated. It would be up to the instructor to build an assignment around this material, as no supporting material is included.

Rating:
Strengths:: Easy to use.
Concerns:: The video and sound quality could be better. Need to listen carefully - for a long time.

Other Issues and Comments:: The lecture is part of a site that holds spotlight presentations, but there are few suggestions on how to situate the work presented in pedagogical ways. The material may be somewhat dated, but it does represent the culmination of years of work. Provided with adequate support materials, this could be effective material for teaching about gangs.
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