Moving beyond the gang–drug–violence connection

Abstract

The aim of this article is to reflect on the conceptual and methodological developments of our gang research over the past 20 years. We have conducted a large number of consecutive qualitative studies on youth gangs, drugs and alcohol in one urban locale for over two decades and have amassed a data set of over 2000 qualitative interviews. We have kept pace with the social changes in San Francisco as they have impacted and shaped youth gangs and their members’ lives. However, these changes have not only occurred in the social context of gang members’ lives, but have also occurred in our own thinking about how to conceptualize research on gangs. We have broadened our analysis of gang members’ lives and incorporated new theoretical developments from research outside of the gang field. In addition to this shift in emphasis, our overall aim has been to redirect the research focus on youth gangs from a social problem and criminological perspective to a more sociological approach in which these youth are situated within an everyday perspective. With these overall issues in mind, we see this discussion as taking stock of the nature of gang research in the past, present and future.