Gang Organization and Gang Identity: An Investigation of Enduring Gang Membership

Abstract

Motivated by recent advances in the study of disengagement from street gangs, this research develops a theoretical framework of enduring gang membership based on gang organization and gang identity. Using multivariate data, this research tests the theoretical framework against a competing theory derived from the general theory of crime where gang organization and gang identity are non-existent or unimportant in producing enduring gang membership. Eight waves of panel data on high-risk youth from the Denver Youth Survey and discrete-time event-history models are used to investigate enduring gang membership. The length of time an individual spends in a gang is associated with the perceived organization of the gang and an individual’s gang identity. In a hazard model, accounting for right censoring, low self-control, and contextual time-varying gang related variables, increases in gang identity were associated with (on average) a 26% lower rate of reporting no longer being a gang member. Increases in perceived gang organization were associated with (on average) a 12% lower rate of reporting no longer being a gang member. Surprisingly however, no association was found between gang organization and gang identity. This research finds support for using a theoretical framework based on gang organization and gang identity to understand enduring gang membership. Both gang identity and gang organization exert independent effects on the length of time an individual spends in a gang.