THE CONTRIBUTION OF GANG MEMBERSHIP TO DELINQUENCY BEYOND DELINQUENT FRIENDS*

Both being involved in a gang and having friends who are delinquent have been shown to contribute to an individual's own delinquency. However, the unique contribution of gang membership to delinquency, above and beyond having delinquent peers, has not been well studied. Increased delinquency among gang members may not be due to gang membership per se, but to the members' association with delinquent peers. Using data from the Seattle Social Development Project, this research compared involvement in delinquency for gang members, nongang youths with delinquent friends, and nongang youths who did not have delinquent friends. MANOVA and follow-up ANOVA were conducted to determine differences on measures of delinquency among the three groups at ages 14 and 15. Gang members were found to have a higher rate of offending in the past year when compared with the other groups. The contribution of gang membership to delinquency above and beyond having delinquent friends was also examined using structural equation modeling. Gang membership was found to independently predict both self-reported and officially recorded delinquency beyond the effects of having delinquent friends and prior delinquency. Implications of the results for delinquency prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.     

Gang involvement and delinquency in a middle school population

The relationship between self-reported gang involvement and self-reported delinquency has been confirmed in a number of studies. However, there have been fewer studies of the relationship between self-reported gang involvement and officially recorded delinquency. This article examines variation in self-reported gang involvement, operationalized as three distinct categories—no involvement, gang involvement but not membership, and gang membership—and its relation to both self-reported and officially recorded delinquency for a population of middle school youths.     

Subculture,Gang Involvement,and Delinquency: A Study of Incarcerated Youth in China

The purpose of this study is to examine youth gang phenomena in China employing a two-step approach. The first step is to apply the delinquent subculture perspective to the explanation of variation in gang involvement; the second is to investigate the relationship between youth gang involvement and self-reported delinquency. The data for the study were collected from face-to-face interviews conducted with adjudicated youth offenders incarcerated in a province-run juvenile prison. Structural equation modeling is used to assess the direct and indirect effects of delinquent subculture exposure and gang involvement on three outcome variables of delinquency. The primary finding is that exposure to a subculture of violence is indeed a significant predictor of gang involvement. Importantly, gang involvement is significantly correlated with both violent offending and drug offending.     

PARENTHOOD AS A TURNING POINT IN THE LIFE COURSE FOR MALE AND FEMALE GANG MEMBERS: A STUDY OF WITHIN‐INDIVIDUAL CHANGES IN GANG MEMBERSHIP AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

The impact of parenthood on leaving a street gang is not well understood. This is likely because researchers in prior studies have not accounted for multiple dimensions of gang exit, possible gender differences, and potential selection bias. In this study, we use a sample of 466 male and 163 female gang members from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 to consider the within‐individual relationship between changes in parenthood and changes in claiming gang membership and offending. These data offer the opportunity to consider gender differences and birth parity (i.e., first or second child). The results from a series of fixed‐effects models reveal that motherhood is associated with enduring reductions in both the odds of claiming gang membership and the rate of offending, whereas fatherhood has a temporary beneficial impact on gang membership and offending only for those fathers who reside with their children. In most cases, the beneficial effect of having a child rests in becoming a parent for the first time. On the whole, our study findings demonstrate that parenthood serves as a turning point for a particular group of noteworthy offenders—gang members.     

Officially recorded convictions for probationers: The relationship with self‐report and supervisory observations

Objectives. For the past 20–25 years the assessment of the outcomes of probation supervision and its associated variants has relied upon officially recorded offending as the chief determinant of ‘success’ and ‘failure’. A recent assessment of the impact of accredited programmes aimed at reducing offending called for reconviction rates to be supplemented with other outcome measures to give a more accurate picture of treatment effectiveness. Methods. Self‐reports of offending are one such alternative outcome measure, and this paper responds to recent calls for developments in this field. This paper throws further light on the frequency of offending by probationers during their probation orders, the extent to which their officers knew of this offending and the relationship between self‐reported offending and subsequent convictions. Results. The data suggest that about a half of the probationers committed at least one offence during the time they were on probation and that about a third of the probationers reported that they had committed more than four offences during this same time. In the main, probation officers reports mirrored the reports gained from the probationers. Generally speaking, the relationship between self‐reported offending and officially recorded convictions was also very close. However, this varied by the offences/convictions under consideration. Conclusion. There were slightly more probationers found guilty of property offences than had admitted to such offending during their interviews. The explanation for this appeared to have been deliberate concealment on the part of the probationer, rather than recall failure.     

Understanding the relationship between violent victimization and gang membership

Purpose

Research examining factors that precipitate gang violence has contributed substantially to our understanding of gangs and gang activity with respect to offending, yet we still know relatively little about how gangs influence members’ risk of victimization. The current study examines three hypotheses: (1) gang involvement and involvement in other risky lifestyles is related to violent victimization, (2) involvement in gang crime is associated with violent victimization, and (3) the presence of rival gangs is related to violent victimization.

Methods

The present study uses data obtained from 909 recently booked juvenile arrestees who were interviewed as part of the Arizona Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program.

Results

Our findings indicated that prevalence of violent victimization was highest among gang members, followed by former gang members, gang associates, and non-gang members. After controlling for involvement in gang crime, however, gang membership per se did not significantly influence the juveniles’ risk of serious violent victimization.

Conclusions

Our results call into question the conclusion that gang membership alone increases the likelihood of violent victimization vis-à-vis lifestyle/routine activities and/or collective liability. Instead our findings support prior research on the victim-offender overlap, that offending behaviors increase the risk of victimization.     

Do perceptions of neighborhood disorganization predict crime or victimization? An examination of gang member versus non-gang member jail inmates

This study examines the effects of perceptions of social disorganization on crime perpetration and victimization among a sample of incarcerated adult gang and non-gang members. Using survey data from 2,414 jail inmates, results suggest that gang members are significantly more likely than non-gang members to be both perpetrators and victims of property and personal crimes. Results also indicate substantive similarities and differences between gang members and non-gang members with regard to crime, victimization, and perceptions of social disorganization. Inmates’ perceptions of the level of social disorganization in their neighborhoods are more strongly related to their reported offending behavior than to their reported victimization.     

What’s Sex (Composition) Got to Do with It? The Importance of Sex Composition of Gangs for Female and Male Members’ Offending and Victimization

Sex composition of groups has been theorized in organizational sociology and found in prior work to structure female and male members’ behaviors and experiences. Peer group and gang literature similarly finds that the sex gap in offending varies across groups of differing sex ratios. Drawing on this and other research linking gang membership, offending, and victimization, we examine whether sex composition of gangs is linked to sex differences in offending in this sample, further assess whether sex composition similarly structures females’ and males’ victimization experiences, and if so, why. Self-report data from gang members in a multi-site, longitudinal study of 3,820 youths are employed. Results support previous findings about variations in member delinquency by both sex and sex composition of the gang and also indicate parallel variations in members’ victimization. These results are further considered within the context of facilitating effects such as gender dynamics, gang characteristics, and normative orientation.     

Gangs and Violence: Disentangling the Impact of Gang Membership on the Level and Nature of Offending

Objectives

To determine whether membership in youth gangs provides a unique social forum for violence amplification. This study examines whether gang membership increases the odds of violent offending over and above involvement in general delinquent and criminal behavior.

Methods

Five waves of data from a multi-site (seven cities) panel study of over 3,700 youth originally nested within 31 schools are analyzed. We estimate four level repeated measures item response theory models, which include a parameter to differentiate the difference in the log of the expected event-rate for violent offense items to the log of the expected event-rate for nonviolent offense items.

Results

Depending on the comparison group (gang youth, overall sample), periods of active gang membership were associated with a 10 or 21% increase in the odds of involvement in violent incidents. When the sample is restricted to youth who report gang membership during the study, the proportionate increase in the odds of violence associated with gangs is statistically similar for males and females. After youth reported leaving the gang their propensity for violence was not significantly different than comparison group observations, although levels of general offending remain elevated.

Conclusions

While results are limited by the school-based sampling strategy, the importance of gang prevention and intervention programming for violence reduction is highlighted. Preventing youth from gang membership or shortening the length of gang careers through interventions may reduce absolute levels of violence.     

Young women and gang violence: Gender,street offending,and violent victimization in gangs

Drawing on multiple data sources in St. Louis, this article examines how gendered situational dynamics shape gang violence, including participation in violent offending and experiences of violent victimization. Combining an analysis of in-depth interviews with young women in St. Louis gangs with an examination of homicide reports from the same city, we find that young women, even regular offenders, highlight the significance of gender in shaping and limiting their involvement in serious violence. They use gender both to accomplish their criminal activities and to temper their involvement in gang crime. Consequently their risk for serious physical victimization in gangs is considerably less than young men's. St. Louis homicide data collaborate these qualitative findings. Not only are young women much less likely to be the victims of gang homicide, but the vast majority of female gang homicide victims were not the intended targets of the attack. In contrast, homicide reports suggest that the majority of male gang homicide victims were the intended targets. We suggest that gendered group processes and stratification within gangs are key factors explaining both violent offending and victimization risk in gangs.     

Adolescent Male and Female Gang Members’ Experiences with Violent Victimization, Dating Violence, and Sexual Assault

A substantial amount of scholarship has been devoted to examining the relationship between gang membership and criminal offending. This research has produced a wealth of qualitative and quantitative studies indicating that gang membership increases the likelihood of criminal offending for both males and females. Less research, however, has examined the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization. The present study adds to the literature by examining the relationship between gender, gang membership, and three types of victimization. Specifically, this paper focuses on whether self-reported gang membership is uniquely related to victimization experiences for females compared to males. Results from a statewide survey of public high school students in South Carolina indicate that gang membership is significantly related to the risk of victimization for both males and females. The implications of these findings for research and policy are discussed.     

Sociological measurement confusion,paradigmatic imperfection,and etiological nirvana: Striking a pragmatic balance in pursuing science

Extant gang research supports an enhancement effect of membership on delinquency; that is, while delinquent youths may be attracted to gangs, it is also true that gang membership increases delinquency among youths and that while delinquency levels decrease after gang membership, they do not decrease to nongang levels. In this paper, we build on this research, examining the relationship between youth gang membership and violent victimization in a general sample of adolescents. We find that gang member victimization rates are higher than nongang member rates, not only during membership, but before and after as well. Thus an enhancement model of gang membership appears to best fit both offending and victimization rates. This effect of gang affiliation on victimization goes beyond gang members' involvement in violent offending; violence and gang status equate with cumulative disadvantage in terms of violent victimization. Additionally, contrary to gang youths' perceptions, gangs appear to offer no protective value to gang members; we find no differences in violent victimization between youths who joined gangs for protection and those who joined for other reasons, either before or after joining.     

THE IMPACT OF POLICE INVESTIGATIONS ON POLICE-REPORTED RATES OF GANG AND NONGANG HOMICIDES*

This paper is concerned with the utility of police-reported rates of gang violence, particularly important in an era which stresses officially determined rates of violence. The basic question is whether police investigation procedures have a major impact on the police designations of homicides as gang related, a question of causal order answerable only by the triangulation provided by multiple forms of data analysis. With minor qualification, the results suggest that“gang” designations of homicides reject characteristics of the incident settings and participants, that intrusion of investigative processes on reported gang versus nongang homicide rates was minimal, and that gang homicide rates reported by these departments could be used as reasonable criteria for evaluating program impact.     

Youth gang membership and serious violent victimization: the importance of lifestyles and routine activities

Youth gangs have received substantial scholarly and public attention during the past two decades. Although most of the extant research on youth gang members has focused on their offending behaviors, recent studies have examined the victimization of youth gang members relative to their nongang peers. Gang members generally have been found to be at increased risk of victimization, although the reasons for this relationship have not fully been explored. The current study uses data from a multisite study of youth to explore whether the gang membership-victimization link is mediated by lifestyles and routine activities. In other words, is gang members' involvement in delinquent lifestyles and routine activities a viable explanation for their increased risk of serious violent victimization? Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research and policy are discussed.     

Delinquent Behavior, Violence, and Gang Involvement in China

Objectives

This study examines the relationship between delinquent behavior and gang involvement in China. We assess the feasibility of self-report methodology in China and whether established findings in US and European settings on the relationship between gang involvement, violence specialization, and delinquent behavior extend to the Chinese context.

Methods

Data were gathered from 2,245 members of a school-based sample in Changzhi, a city of over 3 million people in Northern China. Drawing from a detailed survey questionnaire that measures prominent theoretical constructs, multi-level item response theory modeling was used to examine the association of gang involvement with general and specific forms of delinquency, notably violence specialization.

Results

Over half of the sample engaged in some form of delinquency over the prior year. Eleven percent of the sample reported gang involvement. Large bivariate differences in overall delinquency and violence specialization between gang and non-gang youth were observed. Multivariate analyses with measures of low self-control, household strains, family and school attachment, parental monitoring, and peer delinquency reduced the bivariate effect sizes, but current and former gang members had higher log odds of overall delinquency and violence specialization.

Conclusion

In helping fill gaps of knowledge on gangs and delinquency in the world’s most populous country, this study observed self-reported rates of delinquency and gang involvement not unlike Western countries. Findings on the relationship between gangs and delinquency, particularly violence, are consistent with the current literature and support the invariance hypothesis of gang involvement.     

THE CASCADING EFFECTS OF ADOLESCENT GANG INVOLVEMENT ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE*

The short‐run deleterious effects of gang involvement during adolescence have been well researched. However, surprisingly little empirical attention has been devoted to understanding how gang involvement in adolescence influences life chances and criminal behavior in adulthood. Drawing on the life‐course perspective, this study argues that gang involvement will lead to precocious transitions that, in turn, will have adverse consequences on the fulfillment of adulthood roles and statuses in the economic and family spheres. Moreover, problems fulfilling these conventional roles are hypothesized then to lead to sustained involvement in criminal behavior in adulthood. Using data from a sample of males from the Rochester Youth Development Study, results from structural equation models support the indirect link between gang membership and noncriminal and criminal outcomes in adulthood. Specifically, gang involvement leads to an increase in the number of precocious transitions experienced that result in both economic hardship and family problems in adulthood. These failures in the economic and family realms, in turn, contribute to involvement in street crime and/or arrest in adulthood. Implications for the criminal desistance process are discussed.     

Legitimating drug use: A note on the impact of gang membership and drug sales on the use of illicit drugs

A good deal is known about gang members' involvement as sellers of drugs. We know little, however, about the extent to which gang members are involved in the drug market as users, and about the role that involvement in drug sales plays in the use of drugs. This paper presents data from an 11-city survey of arrestees that includes a substantial number of gang members, to explore the relationship between demographic characteristics such as age and race, gang membership, drug sales, and drug use. In addition, the gang members views' regarding drug use by their associates are explored. The contrast between the drug-using behavior and norms designed to control such behavior is examined in the group context of adolescent gang membership.     

The Strategic Prevention of Gun Violence Among Gang‐Involved Offenders

Problem‐oriented policing has been suggested as a promising way to understand and prevent complex gang violence problems. A number of jurisdictions have been experimenting with new problem‐oriented frameworks to understand and respond to gun violence among gang‐involved offenders. These interventions are based on the “pulling levers” deterrence strategy that focuses criminal justice and social service attention on a small number of chronically offending gang members responsible for the bulk of urban gun violence problems. As part of the US Department of Justice‐sponsored Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, an interagency task force implemented a pulling levers strategy to prevent gang‐related gun violence in Lowell, Massachusetts. Our impact evaluation suggests that the pulling levers strategy was associated with a statistically significant decrease in the monthly number of gun homicide and gun‐aggravated assault incidents. A comparative analysis of gun homicide and gun‐aggravated assault trends in Lowell relative to other major Massachusetts cities also supports a unique program effect associated with the pulling levers intervention.