IS THE PATTERN OF ASIAN GANG AFFILIATION DIFFERENT? A MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Abstract

ABSTRACT There have been some arguments as to whether the pattern of Asian gang affiliation is different from those of other ethnic gangs. This study attempted to explore factors that influence gang affiliation among Asian-American high school students. The social developmental model, a newly integrated approach, was adopted because it has been used to test white, African-American and Hispanic gang groups. The data were derived from the first National Survey of Asian American High School Students sponsored by the National Gang Crime Research Center in 1992. The subjects were 358 Asian-American high school students from twenty cities in five regions of the country. The results of the multiple regression analysis strongly suggest that factors influencing Asian gang affiliation are much similar to those for other ethnic gang groups. Specifically, the directional social bond, personality, cognitive skills, and social environmental factors are the adequate indicators for gang affiliation among Asian-American h...