Abstract
This study addressed the relationship among youth gangs, drug use, and delinquency by focusing on: (1) the effects of prior drug use and delinquency on gang membership; (2) the effect of gang membership on drug use and delinquency; and (3) the interaction effects of prior drug use and delinquency with gang membership on drug use and delinquency. Using data from the first two waves of the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men, the present study assessed these three models. The data indicate that prior delinquency significantly affects gang membership, while prior drug use has no effect on gang membership. Gang membership has an effect on subsequent delinquency and drug use, although its effect on subsequent delinquency is fairly modest. Finally, there are interaction effects between gang membership and prior delinquency/drug use on subsequent delinquency/drug use. The nature of these interaction effects indicate that gang membership has a stronger effect on youths who have not committed delinquency and facilitates drug use only for those who have not used.
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