Youth Gang Members Research Articles

Developmental pathways of youth gang membership: a structural test of the social development model

As a result of nearly 40 years of research using a risk and protective factor approach, much is known about the predictors of gang onset. Little theoretical work, however, has been done to situate this approach to studying gang membership within a more comprehensive developmental model. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the current study is the first to test the capacity of the social development model (SDM) to predict the developmental pathways that increase and decrease the likelihood of gang membership. Results suggest that the SDM provides a good accounting of the social developmental processes at age 13 that are predictive of later gang membership. These findings support the promotion of a theoretical understanding of gang membership that specifies both pro- and antisocial developmental pathways. Additionally, as the SDM is intended as a model that can guide preventive intervention, results also hold practical utility for designing strategies that can be implemented in early adolescence to address the likelihood of later gang involvement. Three key preventive intervention points to address gang membership are discussed, including promoting efforts to enhance social skills, increasing the availability of prosocial opportunities and rewarding engagement in these opportunities, and reducing antisocial socialization experiences throughout the middle- and high school years.

“Get off me”: Perceptions of disrespectful police behaviour among ethnic minority youth gang members

Recent media accounts have highlighted issues of use and abuse of police force and policing practices targeted at ethnic minorities within inner city areas. To date, little research has focussed specifically on the experiences and perceptions of youth gang members in dealing with police. Using data from 253 in-depth interviews with ethnic minority San Francisco-based youth gang members, we examine perceptions of respectful and disrespectful police behaviour. Premised on a procedural justice model, we explore how frequently disrespectful police behaviour is reported and how these negative experiences shape gang members’ attitudes towards the police more generally. We refine our investigation by comparing adverse encounters to examples in which gang members are treated respectfully. Using a data-driven inductive and qualitative theory testing deductive approach, our data revealed that male and female gang members regularly experience disrespectful police behaviour in terms of physical and verbal abuse. Our findings indicate that these exchanges contribute to negative attitudes, fear and distrust of police, while respectful interactions are meaningful and can contribute to positive attitudes towards officers.

Profile of Youth Gang Members, Causes and Effects of their Activities in Tagbilaran City

The problems of youth in modern society are both international and local concerns. One of the most alarming issues the world is facing today is the existence of youth gangs, and the actions of the gang members once fully indoctrinated. This study delved into the youth gang culture in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. It focused on children in school and out-of-school who were particularly vulnerable to the influence of the gangs. The researchers surveyed 81 respondents who were members of any gang in the city between the ages of 10 to 18 years old. It sought to explore the gang member’s reasons why he or she opted to join such a gang, the activities of the gang, and its effects. This study was essential because it determined the damage caused by the members to victims and its adverse effects on the community. This study utilized the quantitative approach through the distribution of questionnaires to the respondents.

Profile of Youth Gang Members, Causes and Effects of their Activities in Tagbilaran City

The problems of youth in modern society are both international and local concerns. One of the most alarming issues the world is facing today is the existence of youth gangs, and the actions of the gang members once fully indoctrinated. This study delved into the youth gang culture in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. It focused on children in-school and out-of-school who were particularly vulnerable to the influence of the gangs. The researchers surveyed 81 respondents who were members of any gang in the city between the ages of 10 to 18 years old. It sought to explore the gang member’s reasons why he or she opted to join such gang, the activities of the gang and its effects. This study was essential because it determined the damage caused by the members to victims and its adverse effects on the community. This study utilized the quantitative approach through the distribution of questionnaires to the respondents.

Gang masculinity and high-risk sexual behaviours

High-risk sexual behaviours include practices such as relationship violence and substance use, which often cluster together among young people in high-risk settings. Youth gang members often show high rates of such behaviours, substance use and relationship violence. This paper draws on data from in-depth interviews with male and female gang members from six different gangs to explore the role of powerful socialising peer groups that set gender, sexual and relationship roles and expectations for their male and female members. High-risk sexual behaviours among gang members included sex with multiple partners and group sex. Gang norms included the belief that male members were sexually insatiable with multiple sexual partners and that female gang members should be sexually available to male members. Alcohol and drugs were seen to have a large influence on sexual desire and the inability to use condoms. Much sexual behaviour with gangs, such as group sex, was viewed with ambivalence and seen as somewhat coercive. Finally, gendered sexual expectations (boys as sexually insatiable and girls as sexually available) made forming long-term romantic relationships problematic for gang members. The influence of gang norms such as these must be addressed in future programmes and interventions with gang members.

The role of delinquency, proactive aggression, psychopathy and behavioral school engagement in reported youth gang membership

Given the robust positive association between gangs and crime, a better understanding of factors related to reported youth gang membership is critical and especially since youth in gangs are a universal concern. The present study investigated the role of delinquency, proactive aggression, psychopathy and behavioral school engagement in reported youth gang membership using a large sample of 1027 Singapore adolescents. Results from logistic regression showed that delinquency, proactive aggression, and behavioral school engagement were statistically significant risk factors for reported youth gang membership, and that psychopathy was not related to reported gang membership. Implications for prevention and intervention work with respect to youth gang membership were discussed. In particular, strengthening students' engagement with school and meaningful school-related activities and developing supportive teacher–student relationships are particularly important in working with young people with respect to prevention work. Additionally, the present study's theoretical and empirical contributions were also discussed.

Gang Membership Between Ages 5 and 17 Years in the United States

PurposeThis study determined the frequency, prevalence, and turnover in gang membership between ages 5 and 17 years in the United States. MethodsData were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which is representative of youth born between 1980 and 1984. Age-specific patterns of gang joining, participation, and leaving are estimated based on youths (N = 7,335) self-reported gang membership at the baseline and eight subsequent interviews, which were combined with population age estimates from the 2010 U.S. Census to produce national estimates of gang membership. Sampling variance-adjusted bounds were estimated based on assumptions about missing cases and survey design effects. Demographic and socioeconomic variables are used to compare differences between gang and nongang youth. ResultsYouth gang members were disproportionately male, black, Hispanic, from single-parent households, and families living below the poverty level. We estimated that there were 1,059,000 youth gang members in the United States in 2010 (bounds ranging from 675,000 to 1,535,000). The prevalence of youth gang membership was 2.0% (1.2%–2.8%), peaking at age 14 years at 5.0% (3.9%–6.0%). Annually, 401,000 (204,000–639,000) juveniles join gangs and 378,000 (199,000–599,000) exit gangs, with a turnover rate of 36%. ConclusionsWe discovered that significantly more people are involved with gangs than previous estimates would suggest. Clinicians and policy makers must recognize that youth gang members may not conform to popular perceptions of gang demographics. The patterns of youth gang membership observed in this study support prevention programs aimed at children before the teen years. This strategy is more likely to succeed than gang intervention or suppression strategies aimed at teens.

Racism, Schooling, and the Streets: A Critical Analysis of Vietnamese American Youth Gang Formation in Southern California

This paper is an analysis of the relationship between educational experiences, street life, and gang formation for Vietnamese American youth gang members in Southern California. I use critical narrative methodology to center the life and experiences of a Los Angeles area gang member. His narrative substantiates how racism in schools and on the streets works together to impact and inform gang formation. Schools were sites of inter-ethnic conflict and racialized tension, and streets were spaces for contentious interactions with the police. In addition, I place the Vietnamese American youth gang phenomenon in larger historical and political contexts such as Californias anti-youth legislation, representations of Asian American youth, and U.S. geo-politics and imperialismfactors that have serious material and ideological implications and consequences.

Preventive Interventions to Reduce Youth Involvement in Gangs and Gang Crime in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND Youth gangs are frequently associated with high levels of crime and violence in low- and middle-income countries – creating fear, reducing social cohesion, costing billions of dollars in harm and many thousands of lives diverted to criminality. However, youth gangs are also seen to fill a void, as a means of overcoming extreme disadvantage and marginalization. Preventive interventions focus on capacity building and social prevention, and are designed to work proactively to stop crime before it occurs, either by preventing youth from joining gangs or by reducing recidivism by rehabilitating gang members outside of the criminal justice system. By addressing the causes of youth gang membership, these interventions seek to reduce or prevent gang violence...

Preventing Violence among Gang-Involved and High-Risk Youth in El Salvador: The Role of School Motivation and Self-Control

El Salvador, as a country of the Northern Triangle, exhibits significantly higher rates of crime and delinquency than the rest of the Latin American countries (World Bank 2011). Mass media portray transnational youth gangs in marginalized communities in Central American nations, such as El Salvador, as one of the main factors responsible for the high levels of violence. Few studies have empirically studied active youth gang members and high-risk youth in these contexts. Among the studies that have accessed active youth gang members, the focus has been on problem behaviors and risk factors analyses; little is known about what variables appear to serve as protective factors for these youth. Based on a cross-sectional sample of high-risk youth and youth gang members (n = 184) between the ages of 13 and 25 living in 10 urban communities in San Salvador, this study used linear regression modeling to analyze protective factors for three outcome variables: aggression, violence, and delinquency. Results reveal that self-control and school motivation act as important protective factors across the three domains, while school behavior is a protective factor of aggression and delinquency. Implications for community-based prevention and harm reduction policies are discussed.

PROTOCOL: Predictors of youth gang membership in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

BACKGROUND The Problem There is evidence of gang violence in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia, and the prevalence of gangs is particularly well documented throughout Central and South America (Decker & Pyrooz, 2010; Gatti et al., 2011). Official estimates of gang membership in Central America estimate approximately 69,000 members, while academic estimates believe this figure to be closer to 200,000 (UNODC, 2007). Some estimates are as high as 500,000 gang members in the region including South America and the Caribbean, and gangs have been identified as “the primary threat to regional stability and security” (Muggah & Aguirre, 2013). While reporting and recording issues make it difficult to estimate rates of gang violence, the homicide rate in Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador and Guatemala are substantially higher than those of European and North American countries (Decker & Pyrooz, 2010; UNODC, 2007). Gangs are also active in South Africa, with an estimate of 100,000 members in Western Cape alone (Reckson & Becker, cited in Decker & Pyrooz, 2010); however, to date, there is limited research examining gangs in Africa and Asia...

Preventing Youth Gang Joining and Facilitating Desistance

In 2006, Malcolm Klein and Cheryl Maxson published a fantastic book highlighting the current state of the field regarding youth gang research and practice. Although it is a few years old now, it is an incredible resource. The authors make the case that research and policy are intertwined, and we—as scholars and policy makers—must understand the linkages between the two if we are to make important inroads in reducing youth gangs and their criminal activity. In their book, Klein and Maxson document recent patterns of youth gang membership and activities, present an overview of the research why these patterns exist, assess a number of popular antigang strategies, and provide a series of theoretically driven, empirically supported policy recommendations for antigang efforts to be pursued in the future. My hope in designing this special issue is that readers keep the interconnectedness of these topical areas in mind when assessing each article and the overarching themes. In short, I have asked each of the authors of the current studies to answer not just, ‘‘What did you do in your study?’’ and ‘‘What did you find?’’ but also focus on ‘‘What should we do with this new information?’’ In this vein, each of the authors included in this special issue have spent considerable effort in tying their study into the broader research on youth gang theory and policy. More specifically, the purpose of this special issue was to tackle two topics important to the field of youth gangs. On one hand, scholars should (and have) devoted considerable efforts during the past several decades to understanding why some youth join gangs while others do not, even when they are faced with similar social settings and opportunities. In short, much of the research during the past few decades has focused on how individual differences affect youth gang joining. While these studies have, in many ways, taken a departure from earlier gang research on group processes, such examinations have also provided considerable information relevant to evidence-based prevention practices (i.e., those designed to keep youth from becoming gang members) that focus on individual change strategies, which have grown increasingly popular among practitioners. I strongly encourage readers to explore Klein and Maxson’s (2006) work as they comprehensively and elegantly tackle both the strengths and the weaknesses of such approaches.

Youth Gang Members: Psychiatric Disorders and Substance Use

Objective: Approximately 260,000 of youth in the United States are gang-affiliated. There is a paucity of data available to identify the prevalence of mental health disorders in this population. Gang members share many of the features of “at risk” or juvenile justice involved youth who deny gang membership. The authors identified rates of psychiatric disorders within a juvenile justice population delineated in three categories: gang members, friends of gang members, and non-gang members. Methods: A retrospective review of records obtained by a juvenile probation department. A large detention center conducted mental health screenings on 7,615 youth aged 13–17. The mental health screenings were performed by either a master level or doctoral level mental health professional. Odds ratios were computed as an effect size for gender, race/ethnic differences, and gang-membership associations with self-reported psychiatric and substance use disorders. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the risk for psychiatric and substance use disorders among gang-members and friends of gang members. Diagnostic information was generated through a clinical interview and flexible battery. Results: Of the 7,615 youth in this study, ~50% had contact with gangs; 11% were self-identified gang-members, and 38% acknowledged having at least one friendship with a gang member. Similar to other studies, being male was a risk-factor for gang-membership (2.31 odds). In this multi-racial and ethnic study, Latinos had a greater affiliation with gang membership and association with gang members as friends (1.44 odds). Gang members were found to have increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (1.77 odds), current substance abuse (2.58 odds), oppositional defiant disorder, (1.24 odds) and conduct disorder (4.05 odds); however, they were less likely to have an adjustment disorder than non-gang members (0.70 odds). Conclusions: Juveniles who received a mental health assessment in this study were found to have differences in rates of psychiatric disorders and substance use based upon gang-affiliation or association. Current data is limited and inconsistent in the delineation of individual, family, peer, school and community characteristics specific to gang members. These differences warrant further investigation for intervention and treatment.

Gangs, Criminal Offending, and an Inconvenient Truth

For a theoretically driven school-based program, there is much to like about the findings from the 1and 4-year evaluations of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program provided by Esbensen, Osgood, Peterson, Taylor, and Carson (2013, this issue). Relative to the control group, students who received the 13 lessons of the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum had (a) more positive scores across a range of attitudinal measures central to several theories of criminal behavior; (b) improved police–youth relationships and lower odds of gang membership, satisfying two of the three primary goals of the program; and (c) long-term positive effects on many of the attitudinal outcomes, as well as police–youth relationships and gang membership. The findings for gang membership are important because they stand in contrast to a large body of work, including the first national evaluation of G.R.E.A.T. (Esbensen, Osgood, Taylor, and Peterson, 2001), making this the first study with rigorous randomized control trial evaluation to have a demonstrable impact on decreasing the rates of gang membership. Despite being a “gang” spinoff of the ineffective Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, the aggregate results suggest that the more inviting and optimistic acronym is indeed fitting for the G.R.E.A.T. program. But the picture is not all rosy. The third primary program goal to “prevent violent and criminal activity” was not achieved despite positive program effects on gang membership and numerous mediating mechanisms. This finding flies in the face of the logic of gang

Youth Gang Members in Rio de Janeiro: The Face of a ‘Lost Generation’ in an Age of Fear and Mistrust

This article analyses the relationship between stigmatisation, violence and marginality, and its limits to social justice and citizenship. It involves a critical reflection on the way groups living in ‘a social and symbolical shade’ are represented and treated by governments and their institutions, and the way such practices reinforce a cycle of socio-symbolical marginality and the limits to life in the city. The article will explore the findings of a research within drug gangs in which I have been involved (Observat ´

Predictors of violence and delinquency among high risk youth and youth gang members in San Salvador, El Salvador

Low future orientation, low empathy, educational difficulty, school expulsion, delinquent peers, gang membership, and low social support were found to be significant risk factors for violence and delinquency among a sample ( N = 174) of high risk youth and youth gang members in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The impact of curfews and electronic monitoring on the social strains, support and capital experienced by youth gang members and offenders in the west of Scotland

Concerns about youth gang violence and offending have occurred in developed societies across the globe, and a plethora of youth justice sanctions have arisen in response to this. This article is focused upon an empirical study of 20 young men from socially deprived areas of the west of Scotland, whose involvement in individualized offending emerged from their earlier participation in gang violence. The article explores the impact of curfews and electronic monitoring on the social strains, support and capital experienced by the young men and their families. The findings indicate that the sanctions had some limited success in reducing anti-social capital in the young offenders’ lives, particularly when they were complemented by mechanisms for rehabilitation and care. However, when used in isolation the sanctions often failed to build pro-social capital and, in some cases, functioned as an additional social strain conducive to further criminal offending. The article ends with some suggested implications for future youth justice policy decisions, and calls for wider research into the impact of criminal justice sanctions on young offenders and families.

A Cross-National Comparison of Externalizing Behaviors among High-Risk Youth and Youth Gang Members in Metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts, and San Salvador, El Salvador

Youth interventions often focus on high-risk youth; however, little is known about the similarities and differences of these youth cross-nationally. This study examines externalizing behaviors of youth in Boston (n = 374) and San Salvador (n = 208) and compares several domains. Results reveal significant differences between populations; Salvadoran youth exhibited higher rates of violence and delinquency, marijuana use, and unprotected sex. Similarities were found for school attendance and school dropout levels, employment, alcohol use, and sexual activity. Findings indicate that youth gang members may face a higher intensity of externalizing risk behaviors. These findings have implications for interventions and policies.

Alliances, Conflicts, and Contradictions in Montreal’s Street Gang Landscape

This study proposes an analytical framework for examining the network of street gangs in Montreal. The objectives are twofold. One aim is to describe the core features of Montreal gangs. The second aim is to examine the structure of social relations between these gangs. These analyses allow us to assess whether the city’s gang landscape is structured around popularized rivalries between the Crips and the Bloods. Data for this research were gathered during focus group interviews involving 20 youth gang members residing in the Centre jeunesse de Montreal–Institut universitaire, the city’s main youth correctional institution. These gang members identified a total of 35 active gangs in Montreal. The network does reveal a relational setting that supports the popular Crips versus Bloods rivalry, with intercoalition conflicts and intracoalition alliances accounting for the vast majority of intergang relations. However, the study also revealed some important exceptions to this popular outlook. Such exceptions must be taken into consideration in order to arrive at a more complete and nuanced understanding of Montreal’s street gang landscape. The authors suspect that the conflicts and contradictions that emerge in the Montreal scene are also relevant for other major North American cities.

Reluctant Gangsters: The Changing Face of Youth Crime

Reluctant Gangsters: The Changing Face of Youth Crime By John, Pitts Cullompton : Willan , 2008 ISBN 9781843923657 pb, 176 pp , £22 Reluctant Gangsters reports the results of a research project carried out with youth gangs in London. The research consists of a number of interviews with young gang members, parents, peer mentors and professionals, the evaluation of gang desistance programmes and an analysis of statistical data. The book seeks to describe what life is like for young gang members and their families through investigating and explaining gang dynamics and structure and antecedents to gang membership and explains the importance of certain policies and interventions that are relevant to these elements of our society. The book addresses a number of issues, such as poverty, isolation and deprivation. The hardship of society’s children most at risk from youth gangs puts me in mind of Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ where the poverty and hardship of children during the industrial revolution prevented them from enjoying their youth. The research highlights how parental protection is not enough to support and stabilise the most impoverished children in our society, and the stigmatism and prejudices received because of their background or social position, engenders a deep mistrust of the adults who are supposed to protect them. This book suggests that for young people affected by gangs, there is no protection within their family units, who are too poor and have too little control over their situation to do anything, but survive in the pockets of these gangs. The author investigates the effect gangs and membership into youth gangs has on the immediate society, for example gangs’ territory spreading to primary schools and secondary schools, pupils being attacked for witnessing incidents on their way home from sports practice or school that involves gang members, weapons searches at schools and a strong police presence, even in the classrooms. The author states that for these young people, gang culture becomes all encompassing; the only way they can survive is to join. Survival is an issue that was particularly relevant in this research as many of the interviewees, whether professionals or young people, describe gang membership as the only way to live in society as they have seen the punishments handed to other people and families who have not complied with the wishes of the gang. However, it feels that the author has failed to address and incorporate issues such as media influence and the glorification of gang membership by role models, into the analysis and evaluation of the results. Reluctant Gangsters describes in detail the history of gang culture, its structure and dynamics employing plain language and diagrams. The structure and content are very accessible to readers not familiar with sociological, criminological and psychological theory as jargon is simplified and explained succinctly. The book makes very good use of these theories to give the findings of the study a theoretical basis such as the explanations for decisions to become a gang member. Some of the results are shown in clear and concise tables and supported by quotes from the individuals who were interviewed. Many of these quotations are very poignant as they are realistic, with speech and language styles recognisable to the reader. This may be a possible explanation for why those particular quotations were selected for publication, as you can’t help but empathise with the young people and their families. However, very little is said about the methodology and there is a distinct lack of access to the full results meaning that this research is potentially not replicable and calls into question the validity of the results and conclusions. The author does give evidence for the potential use and impact of Every Child Matters in helping youth gang members and in addressing the effects of social isolation, economic and political isolation and relative deprivation. I would recommend this book as an excellent tool for those interested in Every Child Matters (as well as in mentoring and social work) as it gives a wonderful insight into the lives of these young people and dispels many of the media created myths. The book also compares schemes in the UK to similar schemes worldwide giving the conclusions of the research an important cultural relevance. There is some evaluation of current projects and schemes and the author attempts to make suggestions for potential interventions based on the research. In all I feel I have learnt a great deal from this book and found it a very enjoyable read in spite of the emotional and difficult topics. I would certainly recommend it as a source to anyone working or studying in this field and would happily read it again.