Gang Delinquency Research Articles

Violence and aggression in children and youth: a socio‐psychological perspective

The article concerns group-and-culture-related manifestations of interpersonal violence and aggression in children and youths. It is well documented that the intensity of aggressive behaviour in children depends more on the socio-cultural environment in which they live in than on their sex per se. One typical form of group-related violence is bullying/victimization in schools. Violence and hostility against some members of the ingroup and outgroups can develop as a result of a threat to positive social identity of the individual's own group. However, such social groups as juvenile delinquent gangs are organized/integrated around hostile and violent activities as basic values. The juvenile delinquent gang is a product of several societal processes and structural influences, which include socio-demographic factors as well as a criminal subculture. Several socio-normative conditions, i.e. disorganization of social life, diffusion of responsibility, moral approval of aggression, are important prerequisites of violence and aggression escalation in the world of young people.

“Smartness,” “Toughness,” and “Autonomy”: Drug Use in the Context of Gang Female Delinquency

This paper, based on data from interviews with a selective sample of self-identified gang females, compares the practices and characteristics of three gangs, highlighting the interrelationship of drugs, delinquency, and social context. Using themes developed from the classical gang delinquency study of Walter Miller in 1958 (Journal of Social Issues, XIV, no. 3), this paper argues that just as he was able to discern major “focal concerns” among lower-class gang males, the same might be said of gang females. However, during the era in which Miller was writing, gang females were still considered mere “appendages” of male gangs and left unanalyzed. This paper refocuses attention on the importance of gang female agency, showing how the degree of autonomy obtained by gang females is shaped by the entrepreneurial success of their delinquent activities, especially in the field of drug sales.

Gang Innovation, Patriarchy and Powerlessness : Expanding Theory To Relfect [Reflect] American Politics

When cities grew large enough to develop slums, gangs began to form. The heritage of gang behavior is poverty and its children: abuse, alcoholism, and drug addiction, to name a few. Today we are facing a problem of major proportions in our cities. Gang membership is seemingly growing with no end in sight, and a beleaguered nation, a struggling city, the mother of a gang member all ask: Why? There are probably several answers and more questions. This paper is an attempt to understand the problem of gang delinquency by utilizing already existing theory. Robert Merton9s Strain Theory lends itself to the discussion of gang delinquency; however, this paper will expand on the theory and link it to the powerlessness of young minority males and patriarchal ideology.

GANGS, DRUGS, AND DELINQUENCY IN A SURVEY OF URBAN YOUTH*

Youth delinquent gangs have been given considerable academic and media attention during the past decade. Much of the attention has focused on the violence and drug dealing in which gang members are assumed to be involved. Recent knowledge about gangs has relied primarily on data obtained from police gang units and from observational or case studies. Very little information has been derived from surveys or interviews with a more general sample of youths. In this paper, data from the Denver Youth Survey, a longitudinal study of families, are used to examine: (1) the prevalence and demographic composition of gangs: (2) the degree to which gang members are involved in illegal activities: and (3) the temporal relationship between criminal offending and gang membership.

Chinese Subculture and Criminality: Non-traditional Crime Groups in America.

Foreword Preface Introduction Traditional Secret Societies From Secret Societies to Organized Crime Chinatowns and Tongs The Development of Chinese Gangs Social Sources of Chinese Gang Delinquency Criminal Patterns of Chinese Gangs Gang Characteristics and Societal Reactions Triad Subculture and Beyond Appendixes Bibliography Index

On the Invisibility of the Female Delinquent Peer Group

The peer group has assumed a prominent role in the explanation of male delinquency while it has been virtually ignored in accounts of female delinquency. This paper examines the following assumptions which gave rise to this discrepancy and presents data which refute them. (1) Female delinquency is equated with sexual promiscuity, symptomatic of maladjustment and social isolation. (2) Family factors exert a more powerful influence on female rather than male delinquents. (3) Girls do not form strong same-sex friendships. (4) In mixed-sex groups, girls are influenced by boys rather than other girls. A more balanccd agenda for future research is suggested in which same and opposite sex relationships are examined for both boys and girls in relation to gendered differences in group interactions and to the role of dating in desistance from gang delinquency.

Drug Misuse and Psychopathology: A Meta-Analysis of 16PF Research

This report presents a meta-analysis of a series of published 16PF findings which describe score profiles of nine groups of substance users/abusers, a nonuser comparison group, seven psychiatric groups, a group of criminals, and a group of gang delinquents. Analytical procedures include K Means Clustering, Cattell's rp statistic, and Pearson r. Although drug use was found to be associated with various forms of psychiatric diagnoses, it was not found to be associated with any particular form of psychopathology. The 16PF profiles of groups of users of different substances were not homogeneous within groups. Some similarity, however, was found among profiles of alcoholics. No evidence could be found to support the contention that groups of substance abusers yield the particular profile pattern on the 16PF that was ascribed to them in an earlier meta-analyses. Due to the inadequacies of the 16PF in diagnosing psychiatric conditions, it is suggested that a more fruitful direction of future research might be to use Cattell's Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ).

A Brief Discussion of New Trends in the Development of Juvenile Delinquent Gangs

Since the 1970s, there has been a marked increase in the number of juvenile delinquent gangs in China. Their growing threat has become a glaring problem in the maintenance of public law and order and has aroused serious concern on the part of the party, the government, and the people.

Friendships and Delinquency

Major delinquency theories differ significantly in the ways in which they have portrayed the friendship patterns of male and, more recently, female delinquents. Psychological studies and control theory have depicted delinquents' peer relationships as inadequate or exploitive and cold, whereas subcultural theories generally emphasize the intimacy and solidarity of the delinquent gang. In spite of its pivotal theoretical role, few studies have actually examined delinquents' friendships and the ways in which they differ from those of more conforming adolescents. Multiple dimensions of friendship are identified that allow examination of adolescents' perceptions of the rewards and vicissitudes of their relationships and the patterns of interaction and influence that characterize them. The data reveal many similarities in the friendship patterns of adolescents with significant differences in their levels of self-reported delinquency involvement and challenge the conception of female delinquents as socially disabled. These data suggest that both the "cold and brittle" and "intimate fraternity" images may have oversimplified the nature of of delinquents' friendship relations. Similarities and differences in the friendship styles of black and white respondents are also examined.

The End of the Youth Gang

ABSTRACTThe varying attention criminologists have paid to youth gangs over the past several decades cannot be explained completely by the actual seriousness of gang delinquency and its extent relative to other kinds of delinquency. In order to explain this changing focus of attention by delinquency researchers, this article explores the interrelationships among four types of factors: social and political conditions, ideology, current sociological theory, and available methods. We focus on ideology and methodology, and argue that when ideology is largely centrist, such as during the 1950s and 1960s, theory would most likely be interactionist or subcultural and gangs would likely be of interest. During periods of greater ideological polarization, such as the late 1960s, however, we would expect to find more theoretical and empirical concern with either the individual or with social and economic structure and little interest in gangs.

The Behavioral-Ecological Model of Intervention with Chicano Gang Delinquents

This paper examines the use of a behavioral-ecological model to diagnose and prescribe interventions for a community problem. The paper is presented as a case study of a community-based organization that used the model in the treatment and prevention of Chicano gang delinquency. Other purposes of this work included a replication and extension of similar work performed in a different environment and with different subjects as well as a test of the generality of behavioral methods to the treatment and prevention of Chicano gang delinquency. In general, all three purposes were accomplished. Some unanticipated outcomes and future directions are discussed.

Outlaw motorcyclists: An outgrowth of lower class cultural concerns

The article compares the value system and lifestyle of three groups of deviant motorcyclists in the Tennessee‐Kentucky area to the focal concerns of lower class culture described by Walter Miller in his classic study of adolescent gang delinquency. Some striking parallels between the values of the two groups are noted. Some differences in the focal concern are noted, but the differences seem to be due primarily to the age differential between the two groups. Although both groups subscribe to lower class values and share most of the focal concerns described by Miller, the outlaw motorcyclists appear at least partially the products of downward mobility, which may be a result of subscribing to lower class values and concerns.

Multivariate Analysis Of Gang Delinquency: Iv. Personality Factors In Gangs And Clubs.

A sample of gang members and a comparison group of club boys are compared on eleven factors from the Objective-Analytic Personality Factor Battery. It is found that gang and club boys differ significantly on five of the personality factors, with club boys being more assertive, more exuberant, and more realistic. The gang boys show more manic smartness and less self-realization. Possible relationships between these variables and type of delinquent behavior are examined. Three factors (assertiveness, alertness, and stolidness) do show significant differences between gang boys engaged in different types of delinquent behavior. However, no simple linear relationships are found between personality factors and delinquent behaviors in gangs. The findings are examined in the light of several hypotheses drawn from theories of personality and of gang delinquency.

DO DELINQUENTS REALLY DRIFT?

This article is concerned with determining if in fact juvenile delinquents are committed to breaking laws. There is discussion the views crimin ologists who have asserted that youths who commit crimes are members a subcultural group committed to delinquency. Then follows a summary David Matza's views in Delinquency and Drift ; he sets forth a theory that proposes that juvenile delinquents appear to be committed, but they are really sounding each other out so that a state of pluralistic ignorance occurs where no real communication exists, and each delinquent pretends to be bad to gain the esteem fellow group members. Delinquents are thus in actuality drifting between the values their gang and those society. Due to these factors, and to the splitting up these sub-cultural groups, few juvenile delinquents become adult criminals. There is much clarification Matza's theory (and studies done to test his ideas) in order to understand the series eight questions that I devised to check his theory. They deal with these issues : ( i ) Is criminal behaviour required in a member a delinquent gang ? (2) Do the youths feel that their peers are committed ? (3) Do juvenile delinquents think before committing crimes? (4) Do they distinguish between good and bad people, protecting the former group?; (5) Do delinquents love their families? (6) Do youths justify their law-breaking activities? (7) What do juvenile delinquents think court officials? (8) Do they understand legal proceedings, such as the difference between a crime and a tort ? The purpose this article then is to test the validity Matza's theory and to propose revisions the present American juvenile-judicial and punitive systems based upon the findings. If the drift theory holds valid, it would raise serious objections to the present methods courts have processing delinquents.

Gang characteristics: an empirical survey.

SUMMARYThis research report is concerned with the organization of delinquent gangs, the stains of individuals within the gang, junior groups associated with the dominant gang and the activities of the members themselves. It suggests that a broadly based approach to the various theoretical models of delinquent subcultures is essential as no single model explains the wide variety of delinquent groupings which can exist in a large urban area.

Student Protesters and Gang Delinquents: Toward a Theory of Collective Deviance

Abstract The era of widespread student protest in the United States seems to have ended. While social scientists produced enormous amounts of material on student protest, many empirical findings remain to be codified. The theoretical significance of much of this work also remains to be explored. This study attempts some theoretical integration by viewing student protest as an instance of a more general class of social phenomena—collective deviance. In doing so it locates the theoretical significance of the topic. Four theories of gang delinquency, another well-studied form of collective deviance, are extended and applied to student protest. An assessment of the applicability of each of these approaches to student protest reveals the specific questions which must be addressed by any general theory of collective deviance.

Review of Gang delinquency.

Review of Gang delinquency.

OFFENDER TYPOLOGIES-TWO DECADES LATER

In the period immediately following the second world war, a major crimino logical interest, particularly among sociologists, grew up around offender typologies. A number of persons offered arguments holding that adult and juvenile lawbreaking involves a heterogeneous collection of activities which must be broken down for study into more homogeneous units. According to this view, typologies or categorisations of offender patterns, types, syndromes, or role-careers are required in order that (a) progress can be made on the etiological task, and (b) efficacious treatment of offenders can be developed. The causal contention is that no single theory can be uncovered to account for such diverse types of lawbreaking (or for the persons who engage in them) as embezzlement, forcible rape, arson, gang delinquency, aggressive delin quency, female delinquency, and so forth. Instead, separate but perhaps inter-related etiological hypotheses must be developed for each distinct offender type. The closeness of this perspective to the medical model of separate syndromes or disorders, each arising out of a different disease pattern or other set of causal factors, is readily apparent. The case for typologies and diagnostic classifications in correctional therapy closely parallels the etiological view. The basic argument is that differential treatment must be developed in which various tactics such as psychotherapy, group counselling, reality therapy, behaviour modification, or other strategems would be matched with particular offender types. The treatment would be fitted to the offender, thereby bringing about more effective rehabilitation than is now being achieved. An early and important articulation of the typological view regarding juvenile delinquents was made by Hewitt and Jenkins (1944), based on research data from a study of referrals to a child guidance clinic. These in vestigators asserted that there are two major, distinct kinds of delinquents encountered in guidance clinic settings. In another typological statement, Cohen and Short (1958) argued that the population of juvenile delinquents is made up of a number of different types of misbehaving adolescents. Unlike Hewitt and Jenkins, these theorists drew upon a variety of impressionistic evidence to support their claims about types of offenders. Among the patterns hypothesised by Cohen and Short was a parent male delinquent subcul ture , along with a number of other variants of working-class gang delinquency. A third, well-known description of delinquent types is found in the work of Cloward and Ohlin (i960), who contended that lower-class, subcultural delinquents fall into several quite distinct types. Still another statement on these matters was made by Kinch (1962), who summarised a large number of essays in the criminological literature that had offered some contentions

Social class, race, and juvenile delinquency: A review of the literature

Though delinquency is a universal problem, standards for delinquent behavior vary, both intra- and cross-culturally. The urban juvenile, typically black and of low socioeconomic status, is at highest risk of participating in delinquent acts for which he will be adjudicated. A number of theories are reviewed in the light of recent research into the nature of the urban Negro family, the resurgence of delinquent gang activities, cultural conflict, and varieties of identity-corrective experiences sought by adolescent males.

DIRECTIONS FOR RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENT GROUP VIOLENCE AND VANDALISM*

This paper is not an attempt to produce any fresh theoretical insights into the field, or to describe my own research. Nor do I wish to review the historical evolution of the field and report on its current status. Such tasks have already been undertaken by Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967) in regard to criminal violence as a whole and by a number of others (Empey, 1967; Geis, 1965; Hardman, 1967; Short, 1963; Tomkins, 1966) in regard to those forms of adolescent violence identified with gang or sub-cultural delinquency. Writings in the latter tradition—that of gang or sub-cultural delinquency—have dominated sociological interest in adolescent violence and vandalism. In certain respects, research in this tradi tion has become somewhat repetitive in the last few years. This is not to deny the quality of many such studies (see, for example, Klein, 1969; Lerman, 1967; Short and Strodtbeck, 1965; Short, 1968) but, with few exceptions, they have gone along the same directions laid down originally by Thrasher and given theoretical depth through the advances made by Cohen and Cloward and Ohlin. In this country, the work of Downes ( 1966a) stands alone in the sixties as a mainstream contribution to this tradition and, com pared to America, this period has been notable for the virtual absence of any genuinely sociological work on delinquency. What has happened—and this is only slightly more obvious in Britain than in America—is that sociologists in this field have been left behind by two major developments. The one is the construction and consolidation of the interactionist approach to deviance and the other is the emergence of civil disorder, revolts and protest move ments in America, centred around the anti-war cause, students and the Negroes. To the extent that any sociological theories of adoles cent group violence and vandalism have become established at all—