Street-oriented definition
Street-oriented means spending a lot of group time outside home, work and school – often on streets, in malls, in parks, in cars, and so on. “Youth” refers to average ages in adolescence or early twenties or so. “Illegal activity” generally means delinquent or criminal behavior, not just bothersome activity. “Identity” refers to the group, not individual self-image; at minimum it includes acceptance of participation in illegal activities by group members. In addition to drawing from research available through the Eurogang Program, the researcher(s) are encouraged to talk with youth workers, police and other community members to help identify one or several gangs for study. Some of these individuals (though most likely not the police) may also be useful for gaining entrée. Because ethnographic data can only be gathered when researchers are able to get close to gang participants, gain rapport and ▇▇▇▇▇▇ trust, cooperation from gang members is not simply a given. Given the unpredictable nature of the fieldwork enterprise, time is of the essence. Thus ethnographers are strongly encouraged to begin fieldwork at the inception of a given project, rather than postponing until other data are collected. Ethnographers also are strongly encouraged to work in tandem with other researchers in the Eurogang Program (or, if this is not possible in your community, to incorporate other facets of the Eurogang multi-method approach— professional surveys/interviews; city/neighborhood level; archival research) in order to ensure that the ethnographic project is embedded in other data collection.