Operationalizing Gang Membership

Abstract

Although an extensive amount of research in the last decade has focused on juvenile gangs and the consequences of gang involvement, there has been considerable debate in the literature concerning both the conceptualization and the operationalization of the term gang membership. This research examines the extent to which the operationalization of gang membership impacts prevalence rates of both gang membership and delinquent involvement and whether this varies by gender. The findings suggest that the type of operationalization utilized by the researcher does impact both the prevalence rates of gang membership and delinquent involvement. Further, this impact varies by gender. An unrestricted definition of gang membership compared to more restrictive definitions yields conflicting findings with regard to the impact of gender on gang membership. Whereas the unrestricted measure of gang membership yielded significant gender differences, the more restrictive measure of organized gang membership produced no significant gender differences. The findings indicate the need to further address the issue of operationalization in our empirical studies of gang membership and to be sensitive to the potential impact this may have on gender differences reported by researchers.     

当前青少年犯罪成因及对策研究——以东莞市青少年犯罪为研究模本

目前我国正处于社会转型时期,存在诸多容易诱发青少年犯罪的不良因素,青少年犯罪的形势依然严峻。作为新兴制造业城市的代表,东莞独特的经济结构和人口构成使其青少年犯罪在数量、主体、类型等方面具有明显特征。"东莞式"青少年犯罪既有着青少年自身原因,也有着家庭与学校教育缺位以及不良文化冲击的影响,更有着产业结构形成的外来人口盲目涌入而造成的城市不适应性方面的因素。     

青少年犯罪预防理论的研究视角：从犯罪原因到犯罪断念的转向

断念是行为主体(特别是青少年越轨者或犯罪人)在一段稳定的时期内对犯罪偏好明显与确定的拒绝。现阶段犯罪预防措施通过控制青少年犯罪原因遏制青少年犯罪增长趋势,绩效前景颇为黯淡。从聚焦于犯罪原因分析到致力于犯罪断念研究的战略性转向将成为当代社会犯罪预防的重要突破。作为人生状态与行为过程的犯罪断念,在静态结构与动态运行的结合中发挥青少年犯罪预防的积极效果。     

“I Wanna Make My Mom Proud of Me”: Embracing Mothers as Protective Factors Against Future Offending in Delinquent Youth

The potential protective factor of mothers is often overlooked in literature on juvenile delinquency. However, when hearing from incarcerated youth themselves, their mothers are a clear and unquestionable priority. Through embracing mothers using a strengths‐based lens, practitioners have an opportunity and responsibility to capitalize on this asset in a youth's life in an effort to aid rehabilitation and decrease recidivism. In this study, 1,008 writing samples from incarcerated youth were analyzed and writings to or about their mothers emerged prominently. Recommendations are shared on how to embrace and support mothers as protective factors against future offending among incarcerated youth.     

Crime is a Social Problem

This article seeks to place the study of crime and criminals in the social policy context. Criminal careers research is critically evaluated and modern social trends are outlined as a background to an exploration of the interaction between criminological research findings and social policies for youth in trouble. A contrast is drawn between individualised explanations of criminal behaviour and approaches which seek to place crime in its situational and social context.     

Nordic Cooperation in Criminal Policy and Crime Prevention

The Nordic crime prevention councils have tried to articulate their common ideology as the ‘Nordic model’. However, Nordic crime prevention is neither theoretically nor methodologically particularly original. Its common characteristics are best understood against the background of a long‐standing Nordic cooperation in criminal policy and criminology and on the basis of cross‐national influences between historically interrelated and culturally relatively similar countries. The present study describes how crime prevention has developed and is organized in the Nordic countries. It describes cooperation between the national crime prevention councils and their common knowledge and value base. The Nordic countries can offer examples of successful crime prevention, but the fact that these societies with low repression are safe and perceived as safe can hardly be attributed solely to the activities of Nordic crime prevention.     

传统社会与现代社会未成年人犯罪治理模式比较研究

当前未成年人犯罪问题日趋显性化和严重化.借助美国学者赫希提出的影响未成年人犯罪的“依恋”、“奉献”、“卷入”和“信念”维度与布莱克的“法律合作”和“法律个人”分析框架,通过中国传统社会与现代社会两种类型未成年人治理模式的对比分析,发现当代中国未成年人犯罪治理模式在犯罪预防、不良行为和犯罪行为矫正以及犯罪后果消除方面有不同程度的不足和缺陷,而这些问题在传统家族治理模式下却得到较好的解决.建设有中国特色的未成年人犯罪问题治理机制,既要保证现代性的社会治理模式的适用,也要兼顾传统家族治理模式中的地方性经验,关键在于建立未成年人法律合作组织、延伸未成年人矫正机构的职能、加强知行结合的未成年人道德品行教育以及补充完善未成年人法律规范等.     

School climate and delinquency – on the significance of the perceived social and learning climate in school for refraining from offending

School is regarded as a central arena for crime prevention. This study analyses the effects of student perceptions of school contextual aspects on self-reported offending, using logistic regression with control for clustering effects. The data comprise a census of pupils in year nine in comprehensive school (15 year olds) and in year two of upper secondary school (17 year olds) in the City of Stockholm in 2006, 2008 and 2010 (n = 25,850 of which 47% are boys and 53% are girls). Besides showing that several aspects of students’ perceptions of the school setting have direct protective effects on offending, the study shows that perceiving schoolwork as meaningful appears to moderate the effect of adverse home conditions on delinquency for boys. The only aspect of school investigated in this study that was not significantly related to offending was the perception of classroom order, indicating that emotional support from teachers is more important for crime preventive implications than maintaining order in the classroom. Controlling for clustering effects shows differences in offending between classes and schools that are not produced by differences between the students.     

A Culturally Informed Developmental Approach to Understanding Risk and Resiliency Among Native American Youth

Abstract

An increasing amount of resources is being allocated by governmental agencies to the study of offending and related social problems among Native Americans. While experienced scholars are well aware of the special challenges and unique opportunities of carrying out research with Native Americans, expanding resources will likely attract others with less experience in this area. This paper provides some suggestions for undertaking extensive research projects on risk and resiliency with Native Americans, including methodological issues and a call for a culturally informed developmental approach.     

Juvenile Delinquency in Switzerland Over 50 Years: Assessing Trends beyond Statistics

The general public seems to be convinced that juvenile delinquency has massively increased over the last decades. However, this assumption is much less popular among academics and some media where doubts about the reality of this trend are often expressed. In the present paper, trends are followed using conviction statistics over 50 years, police and victimization data since the 1980s, and self-report data collected since 1992. All sources consistently point to a massive increase of offending among juveniles, particularly for violent offences during the 1990s. Given that trends were similar in most European countries, explanations should be sought at the European rather than the national level. The available evidence points to possible effects of increased opportunities for property offences since 1950, and although causality remains hard to prove, effects of increased exposure to extreme media violence since 1985Swiss conviction statistics are based on registration in the national register of convictions. After 1971, minors were registered only in exceptional cases (Balvig 1988, p. 30)     

少数民族青少年犯罪预控创新模式论纲

现阶段青少年犯罪预控问题的研究几乎都是以汉族为样本进行的,把握少数民族青少年犯罪预控的民族特点与地域特点,特别是关注少数民族青少年犯罪预控的盲点和难点,并在新形式下创新少数民族青少年犯罪预控模式已经成为不容回避的问题。     

流动人群未成年人犯罪防控机制的构建

由于升学、就业、社会保障等方面存在的差别待遇,户籍在社会群体的分野中发挥重要作用。在犯罪学中将流动人群作为研究犯罪成因和防控的特定社会群体,有着现实的意义。未成年人犯罪问题日益为社会所关注,而流动人群中的未成年人受到所处环境等因素的影响,犯罪呈高发、上升态势,严重影响未成年人的身心健康和社会稳定。除了从犯罪遏制力、社区矫正等方面探讨流动人群未成年人犯罪的预防与控制外,我们还应结合流动人群未成年人的特殊性,采取必要的辅助手段。     

HALT: early prevention and repression; recent developments and research

In this article an account is given of the Halt working method in the Netherlands, which is used by 63 Halt Bureaus and is directed at combating and preventing juvenile delinquency. This working method has been successful. Recent developments and experiments directed at further extending the effects of the Halt approach and executing an even earlier reaction to criminal behaviour are considered, and the results of recent research are discussed. Finally, the pros and cons of this method of early reaction are revealed, the conclusion being that the advantages and positive effects are great, and any possible disadvantages can be further offset.     

Native American Youth Gangs

ABSTRACT

The number of Native American youth gangs has increased dramatically since the 1990s. These gangs bring increases in crime and pose unique challenges to tribal leaders and local police departments. Using an integrated theoretical perspective, this article connects cultural and historical factors to explain the emergence of gangs in Indian country, identify risk factors for gang involvement, and outline important considerations for effective prevention and intervention strategies. It is expected that an improved understanding of Native American culture and experiences combined with the implementation of culturally-appropriate prevention and intervention programs will lead to more positive outcomes.     

青少年犯罪成因心理学研究新进展

青少年犯罪问题及其成因是各国普遍关注的焦点,也是犯罪成因研究的主要领域.青少年犯罪的成因相当复杂,已经广泛涉及到了生物神经科学、心理学、社会学、经济学以及政策等层面,迄今还没有令各方一致满意的定论.作为犯罪行为产生的最直接的因素--心理层面的理论研究则是青少年犯罪成因研究中非常有特色的领域.近年来,青少年犯罪成因理论研究逐渐采取了科际整合的观点,结合各领域各个学科的研究对各类青少年犯罪进行研究.青少年危险模式包括了社区、家庭和个人等因素,提供了多元化的取向.我国的学者长期囿于传统的横断研究,鲜有对青少年犯罪进行纵贯研究者,需要进行青少年犯罪纵贯研究的尝试与探索.     

Ethical issues raised when early intervention is used to prevent crime

The European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, Vol. 5, No. 2, was focused on early intervention and prevention of juvenile delinquency. The author comments on the issue and focuses on the ethical problems involved with early intervention, such as the labelling effect, the risks of prediction, consent, and undesired effects.