Youth Gangs, Gang Involvement, and Health: A Scoping Review and Directions for Research.

Little is known about behavioral health outcomes of gang-involved youth outside urban areas. This study examines diverse early-adulthood outcomes among gang-involved youth from rural and small communities and whether these outcomes differ by degree of involvement. Data came from a panel of youth (n = 2002) from the 12 rural and small-town control communities of the Community Youth Development Study, a community-randomized trial of the Communities That Care prevention system. Repeated Measures Latent Profile Analyses, conducted within gender groups, derived classes of gang involvement during adolescence (Grades 7–12), including gang member, gang-associated, and nonaffiliated youth. Logistic regression models then compared outcomes at Age 19 between classes. Male and female rural gang members and gang-associated adolescents had significantly greater odds of multiple outcomes, including delinquency, substance use, and well-being outcomes, compared to nonaffiliated youth. Findings suggest gang-associated rural youth should be considered alongside gang members in preventive interventions.

Based on fieldwork conducted in five alternative provision schools across three large cities in England, this article explores the relationship between young people's involvement in urban street gangs and their attitudes and behaviour in school. By applying and developing a lens of social field theory, the article highlights the ways in which gang‐involved young people navigate their way between two distinct social fields, namely that of the street gang and that of the school. Although pupil gang involvement can raise significant issues for schools, particularly around violence and educational engagement, our findings challenge the prevailing orthodoxy that depicts an entirely negative portrait of the effects of gang involvement on pupils’ attitudes and behaviour. Instead, through an analysis of interview and observational data, we argue that there is nothing inevitable about the internal logic of a gang social field permeating a school's gates. Young people involved in gangs do not typically spend their entire waking hours wedded to a ‘gang member’ identity—if they are given the opportunity to transition away from the gang social field when they enter the school gates, they will often embrace it. In short, the links between pupils’ involvement in gangs, violent behaviour in school and engagement in education are more contingent and nuanced than is suggested by the literature on gangs and schools to date.

The present study documented the extent of gang involvement and gang membership in a sample of 602 homeless and runaway youth from four midwestern states. The study also compared gang members, gang-involved youth who were not members, and nongang youth on several dimensions including sociodemographic characteristics, family background, school experiences, street experiences and exposure, emotional problems, alcohol and drug use, and other delinquent and deviant behaviors. Findings indicated that a significant number of these youth were gang members (15.4% of the sample) or involved in gangs (32.2% of the sample). Youth gang members and gang-involved youth reported more family legal problems, had been suspended from school more, ran away at a younger age, used more alcohol and drugs, were exposed to more deviant peers, and attempted suicide more than did nongang youth. In addition, youth gang members reported less parental monitoring, more severe abuse, more street victimization, and more deviant subsistence strategies than did either gang-involved or noninvolved youth.

Sexual risk, substance use, mental health, and trauma experiences of gang-involved homeless youth

To examine the prevalence of gang involvement, the risk and protective factors associated with gang involvement, and the association between gang involvement and exposure to multiple risk and protective factors among school-aged youth in Trinidad and Tobago. A survey instrument was administered to 2 206 students enrolled in 22 high-risk, urban public schools, from March-June 2006. It measured 30 risk factors and 13 protective factors within four domains: community, school, family, and peer-individual, plus levels of alcohol/drug use and delinquency. About 7.7% of youth reported being a gang associate; 6.8%, a former gang member; and 6.2%, a current gang member. Gang involvement was associated with perceived availability of handguns, residential mobility, having parents who favor antisocial behavior, early initiation of antisocial behavior, intention to use drugs, having antisocial peers, and having peers who use drugs. Those with social skills, belief in moral order, and interactions with prosocial peers were significantly less likely to self-report gang membership. Additionally, the probability of gang involvement increased as the number of risk factors increased. Gang membership among public school youth is about as prevalent in Trinidad and Tobago as it is in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, but further research is needed. Although risk factors associated with gang involvement were present in all four domains, peer-individual risk factors were disproportionately likely to be associated with gang status. The most effective gang prevention strategies might be those that focus on multiple risk factors, with an emphasis on peer-individual factors and promoting a "belief in moral order."

IntroductionAdverse childhood experiences are common and have been linked to a number of physical illnesses, as well as socioeconomic problems. Moreover, it has been proven that ACEs can increase chances of people showing criminal behaviour. The question arises whether people with ACEs also have an increased chance of joining extremist groups or violent gangs.ObjectivesThe aim of this systematic review is to measure the ACE rates in violent extremists and gangs and to establish whether there is a pattern linking ACEs to violent extremist organizations and gangs.MethodsThe following databases were searched to retrieve relevant studies: the ProQuest Social Science database, Pubmed, Scopus. Eligible studies were articles of any study design that reported ACE rates in either extremists or gang members. Data was extracted and organized into a table and a quality assessment was performed using standardized tools (CASP and NHLBI). A narrative synthesis of the evidence was conducted. A meta-analysis could not be performed due to the heterogeneity of the studies.Results22 studies (eight on extremists and fourteen on gang members) were included. The studies varied in terms of research design, sample size, location and measured ACEs. Quality also varied across the studies. The prevalence rates were heterogenous and ranged from 0% to almost 100%.Physical abuse was the most addressed ACE (5 studies on extremists and 11 on gang members). Sexual abuse was the second most explored ACE (4 studies on extremists and 9 studies on gang members). Neglect and caregiver loss were also common ACEs, while the other ACEs were less represented in the two subpopulations. A comparison between the two subpopulations was difficult due to the differences in the studies.ConclusionsWhile overall ACE rates were high in the two groups and some ACEs were salient in the two subpopulations, quality of evidence varied across the studies. No solid ACE pattern across the studies could be found. Moreover, there were only two prospective studies on gang members and none on extremists, so a causal relationship between ACEs and involvement in violent gangs or extremist organizations could not be established. Future research should concentrate on studies of this design, as well as on improving the quality of the evidence.As ACEs are extremely common, researchers should also look beyond them when searching for causes of extremism or violent gang membership. Other negative events (bullying, racism) should also be explored.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Mental health difficulties, conduct problems, and emotional maladjustment predict a range of negative outcomes, and this may include gang involvement. However, few studies have examined how behavioral, mental health, socio-cognitive, and emotional factors all relate to adolescent gang involvement. This study examined 91 adolescents to compare non-gang with gang-involved youth on their conduct problems, emotional distress, guilt-proneness, anxiety and depression, and use of moral disengagement and rumination. Analyses revealed that gang-involved youth had higher levels of anxiety, depression, moral disengagement, and rumination. Gang-involved youth also had higher levels of conduct disorder and exposure to violence, but they did not differ from non-gang youth on levels of emotional distress and guilt-proneness. Discriminant function analysis further showed that conduct problems, moral disengagement, and rumination were the most important predictors of gang involvement. Discussion focuses on how intervention and prevention efforts to tackle gang involvement need to consider the mental health and behavioral needs of gang-involved youth. Further research is also needed to build an evidence base that identifies the cause/effect relationship between mental health and gang involvement to inform the best practice when tackling gang membership.

Effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy for gang-involved youth offenders: One year follow-up analysis of recidivism outcomes

This study uses longitudinal data from an ethnically diverse sample of 300 ninth grade students to examine the moderating effect of parenting practices upon the relationship between gang involvement and adolescent problem behavior. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicate that gang involvement is a highly significant positive predictor of each of three categories of problem behavior (minor delinquency, major delinquency, and substance use). Three of the four parenting variables (behavioral control, psychological control, parent-adolescent conflict, and warmth) are found to moderate the relationship between gang involvement and problem behavior, with the most consistent effects found for behavioral control and warmth. These findings indicate that intervention efforts aimed at reducing the impact of gang involvement on adolescent development should consider factors that may decrease the deleterious behavioral outcomes associated with youth gangs.

This study examines some of the individual, social, and environmental factors that differentiate gang-involved youth (both gang members and peripheral youth) and nongang youth in a British setting. The authors found that gang-involved youth were more likely than nongang youth to be older, and individual delinquency and neighborhood gangs predicted gang involvement. Using structural equation modeling, the authors examined the relationships between social/environmental factors and gang involvement. As a result, this article found that parental management, deviant peer pressure, and commitment to school had indirect relationships with gang involvement. These findings are discussed as they highlight a need to address the mechanisms in which protective and risk factors function collectively.

Although sexually abusive behaviors have been endorsed by gang-involved youth, no studies have evaluated gang involvement among adolescents adjudicated for illegal sexual behaviors (AISB). In a sample of 360 male adolescents, the current study examined whether treatment needs and sex offense characteristics for gang-involved and non-gang-involved AISB differ differand whether factors associated with gang membership and sex offense-specific factors are associated with gang membership among AISB. . Results revealed significantly higher rates of substance use, community violence exposure, and prior psychological treatment among gang affiliated AISB compared to non-gang affiliated AISB. Moreover, race was a significant interaction variable

Increasing scientific evidence suggests that youth involvement in street gangs is positively associated with multiple trauma-related symptoms. These symptoms may be explained by high exposure to violence, both as perpetrators and victims. While studies have documented the associations between gang involvement and violence exposure, as well as traumatic outcomes, it is still unknown whether perpetrated violence and/or victimization explain the traumatic outcomes of gang involvement. Notably, girls in gangs are at a higher risk of certain types of victimization, such as sexual exploitation. In the current quantitative study, data from 107 girls from a larger longitudinal study on adolescent girls placed in residential care centers in Montreal, Canada, were analyzed. Recurrences of exposure to street gangs, perpetrated violence, and sexual exploitation victimization were self-reported over a period of four and a half years, from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Trauma-related symptoms were measured in emerging adulthood. Correlational analysis indicated that all key variables were positively associated. Mediation analyses were performed to clarify the respective contributions of perpetrated violence and sexual exploitation victimization to the traumatic sequelae of involvement in a gang. The results indicated a total mediation effect of sexual exploitation victimization on the associations between gang involvement and symptoms of self-disturbance and post-traumatic stress in emerging adulthood, as well as a total mediation effect of sexual exploitation victimization and perpetrated violence on symptoms of externalization. These results corroborate the deleterious effects of violence exposure among girls involved in street gangs, both as perpetrators of violence and victims of sexual exploitation.

Targeting youth at risk for gang involvement: Validation of a gang risk assessment to support individualized secondary prevention

Purpose – Research suggests that gang-involved youth are more likely than non-gang youth to experience victimization. However, very little research has addressed the issue of whether the relationship between gang involvement and victimization depends on the context in which victimization takes place. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the relation between gang involvement and violent victimization in both street and school contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Data were provided by youth (n=421; ages 11-18; 70 percent male; 66 percent non-white) referred by the justice system for intensive home and community-based treatment of problem behavior. At intake, youth reported on their experiences of violent victimization, mental health status, problem behavior, and substance use. Youth and therapist reports were utilized to indicate gang involvement. Findings – Approximately 62 percent of gang-involved youth in the sample were victimized across both contexts. Linear and censored regression models found that on average, gang-involved youth experienced a greater frequency of victimization than non-gang youth (p<0.001). Importantly, results also show that gang involvement amplifies the impact of victimization on key behavioral and mental health outcomes. Victimization in both street and school contexts increases the risk of serious problem behavior for gang-involved youth (p<0.001). Victimization experiences in schools in particular also may increase alcohol use among gang-involved youth (p=0.006). Originality/value – These findings emanating from a unique sample of youth in treatment demonstrate the value of considering victimization in context for intervention programming.

The dream shattered: Vietnamese gangs in America: By Patrick Du Phuoc Long with Laura Ricard Northeastern University Press (416 Columbus Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02115), 1996, 250 pp., hardcover—$28.95