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1
Sempron, Joesil Dianne, Reina Rose Amor Galo, and Josie Vida Sempron. "Profile of Youth Gang Members, Causes and Effects of their Activities in Tagbilaran City." University of Bohol Multidisciplinary Research Journal 4 (September 30, 2016): 19–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.15631/ubmrj.v4i1.76.
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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.
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Scott, Daniel W. "Attitude is everything: Youth attitudes, gang involvement, and length of institutional gang membership." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 17, 2014): 780–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214548285.
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Prison gangs have been a topic of interest among scholars, but research on youth prison gangs is limited. Furthermore, violent attitudes and gang involvement have not been addressed extensively, and a better understanding of youth prison gang involvement is needed to effectively inform responses to violence in correctional facilities. This paper fills this research gap through an analysis of violent attitudes as they relate to gang involvement and length of gang membership. The data derive from interviews with 285 males conducted in a larger study on gangs and violence in California’s youth correctional facilities. The results show that gang members tend to have stronger violent and aggressive attitudes compared to nongang members, and length of institutional gang membership is statistically significant and negatively associated with violent and aggressive attitudes. Furthermore, a youth’s violent and aggressive attitudes will vary depending on if the youth has never spent time in an institutional gang, is currently in one, or is a former institutional gang member. I conclude the paper with a discussion of these findings and what they imply for gang group processes, theory, institutional policy, and programs.
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Boots, Denise Paquette, Jennifer Wareham, Kelli Stevens-Martin, and Nina Barbieri. "A Preliminary Evaluation of the Supervision With Immediate Enforcement Probation Program for Adult Gang–Affiliated Offenders in Texas." Criminal Justice and Behavior 45, no. 7 (June 1, 2018): 1047–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093854818774386.
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As of 2012, it was estimated that there were more than 30,000 active gangs in the United States with at least 850,000 members. Despite significant challenges that criminal justice agencies and personnel face in treating and supervising gang members, few studies have examined adult gang member outcomes and the effects of community supervision on gang-affiliated offenders. Recent research demonstrates mixed evidence that high-risk offenders have better outcomes in smaller problem-solving courts and programs, which have dual emphasis on rehabilitation and deterrence-based approaches to corrections. This study evaluates the efficacy of the Supervision with Immediate Enforcement (SWIFT) Court Program for young adult gang–affiliated probationers compared with non-SWIFT gang members and high-risk non-gang offenders. Findings indicated SWIFT had a moderate deterrent impact on offending compared with alternative probation sanctions. Results and discussion related to problem-solving courts and policy-related issues surrounding gang-affiliated and youthful violent offenders are offered.
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De Vito, Katherine. "Seeking a secure base: Gangs as attachment figures." Qualitative Social Work 19, no. 4 (May 24, 2019): 754–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473325019852659.
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Street gangs are problematic throughout the world. Youth involved with street gangs are at a higher risk for winding up seriously physically injured, dead, or incarcerated. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine (a) how the childhood experiences of former gang members shape their decision to join a gang and (b) the factors that contribute to former gang members’ decision to disengage from gang membership. This study will promote the use of attachment theory to analyze motivating/disengagement factors for gang involvement. The voices of 14 former gang members are heard through qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify the following themes: Lack of Family Consistency, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Unity: Gang as Replacement Family, “No other Option,” and “Jail, Death, or a Turnaround:” Making the Decision to Disengage. Findings could be used to aid in youth gang prevention and intervention.
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Pedersen, Maria Libak. "Do offenders have distinct offending patterns before they join adult gang criminal groups? Analyses of crime specialization and escalation in offence seriousness." European Journal of Criminology 15, no. 6 (March 10, 2018): 680–701. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370817751351.
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Researchers have put serious efforts into identifying youth at high risk of joining gangs. Their main focus has been on street gangs, whereas risk factors for joining adult gang criminal groups have received less attention. This study examines crime specialization and crime seriousness prior to gang initiation among 564 adult gang members, 800 outlaw bikers and matched comparison groups of offenders (up to three offenders convicted of the same number of offences) who stayed out of such gangs. The data stem from Statistics Denmark and the Police Intelligence Database. The study findings demonstrate that the gang members and the outlaw bikers commit more serious offences than their non-gang counterparts, but the study also provides evidence that it is difficult – most likely impossible – to identify upcoming members of gangs by paying attention to crime patterns only.
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Alleyne, Emma, and Elizabeth Pritchard. "Psychological and behavioral characteristics differentiating gang and non-gang girls in the UK." Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice 2, no. 2 (June 13, 2016): 122–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jcrpp-05-2015-0017.
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Purpose – Research has demonstrated that girls are involved in gangs as members and affiliates. However, the psychological processes related to female gang membership has, to date, not been examined using a rigorous comparative design. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether female gang members exhibit distinct psychological and behavioral features when compared to female non-gang youth. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 117 female students were recruited from all-girls’ secondary schools in London, UK. Gang members (n=22; identified using the Eurogang definition) were compared to non-gang youth (n=95) on self-report measures of criminal activity, sexual activity, self-esteem, anti-authority attitudes, their perceived importance of social status, and hypermasculinity, using a series of MANCOVAs. Findings – The results found that gang members reported significantly more criminal activity, sexual activity, unwanted sexual contact, and held more anti-authority attitudes when compared to their non-gang counterparts. Practical implications – These findings support Pyrooz et al.’s (2014) findings that gang membership contributes to the theoretical conceptualization of the victim-offender overlap. Practitioners need to take this into consideration when working with female gang members. Originality/value – There is very little research that explicitly examines the characteristics of female gang members with suitable comparison groups. This study adds to the growing literature on female involvement in gangs and highlights the distinct psychological and behavioral characteristics of this group. In summary, these findings support the notion that female gang members are both at risk of being sexually exploited and engaging in criminal activities.
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Gérard, Bertrand F. "Gang members." Essaim 12, no. 1 (2004): 139. http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/ess.012.0139.
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Maitra, Dev Rup. "‘If You’re Down With a Gang Inside, You Can Lead a Nice Life’: Prison Gangs in the Age of Austerity." Youth Justice 20, no. 1-2 (February 20, 2020): 128–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473225420907974.
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In many countries, there has been growing academic attention towards the activities of street and prison gang members. However, while much of the American literature explores the experiences of prison gang members, such investigation has been notably absent in the English context. This article seeks to address this deficit in the literature. Through gathering data from interviews with active prison gang members, it shows how reduced staffing levels in English prisons has led to an increasingly ‘ungovernable’ prison space. This, in turn, has led to an increase in levels of gang membership. Most notably, the high numbers of street gangs ‘imported’ into prisons has had the unintended effect of creating several ‘in prison’ gangs, which form for the first time in prison, with their members seeking protecting from more established gangs. This proliferation of gangs has had a significant impact on rates of in-prison violence, and how prisons are managed.
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Quinn, Katherine, Julia Dickson-Gomez, Michelle Broaddus, and Maria Pacella. "“Running Trains” and “Sexing-In”: The Functions of Sex Within Adolescent Gangs." Youth & Society 51, no. 2 (August 30, 2016): 151–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118x16667375.
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Gang members are exposed to unique sexual risks, yet little work has explored the influence of gang social norms. This study examines the functions and meanings of sex within gangs, with a specific focus on the ways in which sex is used to reinforce gang membership and norms, gender roles, and group cohesion. We conducted 58 semi-structured interviews with adolescent members of six gangs. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis and constant comparative method in MAXQDA. Sexual risk behaviors within gangs are upheld and reinforced through unspoken norms and expectations. These high-risk sexual practices increase group cohesion and reinforce gender norms and power differences. Despite the prevalence of such practices, many gang members felt regret and remorse over their participation but noted it was just part of “the life.” Our findings highlight the need for interventions to address the norms of the gang that reinforce sexual risk behavior.
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Wood, Jane L. "Understanding gang membership: The significance of group processes." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 29, 2014): 710–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214550344.
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Gang researchers have robustly established that gangs facilitate increased criminal activity in members—even those who were prolifically delinquent before gang membership (Klein, Weerman, & Thornberry, 2006). This suggests that there is something about gang membership, specifically, that influences individuals’ criminality. However, so far it is not clear what this influence is. This paper, taking a social psychological perspective on gang membership considers the potential influence that group processes exert on gang members to identify with a gang, to conform to group norms, become cohesive and to strive to acquire group goals—such as status. It further speculates that adherence to group norms may cultivate gang members’ social cognitions such as moral disengagement, offense supportive cognitions, and rumination. Conclusions note how group processes deserve closer research attention due to their potential for informing more accurate gang interventions to deter potential members and to reduce existing gang membership.
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Durán, Robert J. "The Core Ideals of the Mexican American Gang." Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 34, no. 2 (2009): 99–134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/azt.2009.34.2.99.
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Current approaches to designing antigang policies overemphasize the notion that criminality is the defining characteristic of gangs and that solutions require a get-tough approach. As an ex-gang member, I conducted a five-year ethnographic study and a fourteen-year informal study of Mexican American street gangs in two Southwestern states to understand the persistence of gangs. I found that the obstacles that have been imposed on low-income, ethnic minority neighborhoods have led to an adaptive strategy for survival in which gangs play a central, albeit destructive, role. Gangs maintain their cohesiveness and longevity through four core ideals: displaying loyalty, responding courageously to external threats, promoting and defending gang status, and maintaining a stoic attitude toward the negative consequences of gang life. State-sponsored opposition to gangs only further solidifies these ideals. Pragmatic solutions will require rechanneling the collective energy of current and former gang members toward community empowerment.
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Prasetyo, Beny Timor, Hibnu Nugroho, Agus Raharjo, and Angkasa. "The Impact Of Regulation Made by Local Government in Helping the Police Overcome the Motor Gang Action in Indonesia." Journal of Law and Sustainable Development 11, no. 11 (November 30, 2023): e1028. http://dx.doi.org/10.55908/sdgs.v11i11.1028.
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Purpose: Indonesian police find difficulty in souring the motor gang actors because of inadequate legal foundation to suppress the juvenile delinquency leading to criminality. This research aims to find out what the role of local regulation is in helping the police overcome the motor gang action in Indonesia. Method: This study was a qualitative research studying legal materials related to legal problem and regulation relevant to local regulation and motor gang in Indonesia. The data obtained was analyzed descriptively. Results: To deal with the motor gang actions and to sour the members and to prevent them from repeating their action, the police should be supported by the Local Government through developing a Local Regulation specifically governing the motor gangs containing criminal sanction. The motor gang-specific Local Regulation with criminal sanction will solve the problem or the constraints, because some actions can be taken against to members of motor gangs that are difficult to condemn as not all deeds are governed in the criminal regulation in Indonesia. Thus, the existence of such Local Regulation will help the policy ensnaring the actor of motor gangs with criminal sanction when they do anything disturbing public safety and orderliness. Conclusion: In overcoming the motor gang action and souring its member and preventing them from repeating their action. The police should be supported by the local Regional Government to issue Local Regulation containing criminal sanction. Several actions done by the members of motor gang cannot be condemned because not all deeds done are regulated in criminal regulation in Indonesia; thus, the presence Local Regulation will help the police sour the actors of motor gang with criminal sanction when they commit some actions harming the people’s security and order.
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Hunt, Geoffrey P., Karen Joe-Laidler, and Kristy Evans. "The Meaning and Gendered Culture of Getting High: Gang Girls and Drug Use Issues." Contemporary Drug Problems 29, no. 2 (June 2002): 375–415. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/009145090202900207.
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This paper explores drug use in the lives of female gang members. Gang researchers have traditionally neglected the roles that females play in street gangs. More recent efforts have begun to examine the social life of young women and to uncover the extent to which the women develop a subculture within a male-dominated environment. In analyzing the culture of drug use in gang life, we uncover the extent to which women use illicit drugs in a highly gendered way. We focus on the ways in which female gang members use drugs in a recreational manner, in a social setting where drug taking is normative behavior. Data for this paper are drawn from an ongoing study of street gangs in the San Francisco Bay area in which 168 female gang members were interviewed using both a quantitative and a qualitative interview schedule.
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Maitra, Dev Rup. "“For Me, They Were the Good Old Days”: Retrospective Narratives of Childhood Experiences in ‘the Gang’." Genealogy 4, no. 3 (July 1, 2020): 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4030071.
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Much of the existing scholarship on gang membership predominantly focuses on adolescence as being the formative time period for the development of gang identities; however, there has thus far been more limited attention towards the childhood experiences of gang members, (i.e., pre-adolescence). The organising principle of this paper is to articulate the retrospective accounts of gang members’ childhoods, and how these recollections form a central role to the emergence of gang identities. The data presented in this paper were collected during fieldwork in two adult, men’s prisons in England; interviews were conducted with 60 active and former prison gang members, identified through prison databases; a small number (n = 9) of interviews were conducted with ‘street’ participants, such as ex-offenders, outreach workers and gang researchers. This paper aims to show that many gang members romanticise accounts of their childhoods, in spite of often having experienced adverse childhood experiences:, so too do many gang members view their childhood experiences as part of their mythologised narrative of life in ‘the gang’. Nevertheless, a tension exists between how gang members seek to portray their childhood experiences around gangs and the negative labelling and strain they experienced during their childhood; often, romanticised accounts seek to retrospectively neutralise these harms. In so doing, the lens through which childhood gang membership is viewed is one which conceptualises childhood gang involvement as being something non-deleterious, thus acting as a lens that attempts to neutralise the harms and vicissitudes of gang affiliation.
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Meek, John. "Gangs in New Zealand Prisons." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 25, no. 3 (December 1992): 255–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000486589202500304.
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Gangs became a permanent feature of New Zealand prisons during the 1980s. Surveys indicate that more than 20% of inmates have past or present gang affiliations. This article looks at the gang phenomenon both in the community and in prisons. A case study looking at the impact of gangs at Auckland Maximum Security Prison (Paremoremo) is included; a unique inmate subculture was destroyed and inter-gang conflict resulted in the prison being run on a unit basis. Using information from the 1989prison census, including unpublished material, the article examines the level of gang membership and compares gang members and unaffiliated inmates over a range of variables. Gang members were found to be more likely to be younger, classified as requiring medium or maximum security custody, convicted of violent offences and serving longer sentences. The article also looks at management approaches to gangs in prisons and a fresh approach being adopted by the Department of Justice.
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Scott, Daniel, and Natalie Goulette. "Caregiver Type and Gang Involvement: A Comparison of Female and Male Gang Members." Social Sciences 12, no. 8 (July 31, 2023): 432. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080432.
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Gang involvement and delinquency are prominent issues frequently examined in criminal justice scholarship. Research has revealed that gang involvement increases the likelihood of delinquency/crime, and that youth participate in gangs for a variety of reasons including protection, status, and a sense of belonging. Although research has found that various social and familial factors increase the probability of gang involvement, it primarily focuses on males, and little work has compared how a youth’s primary caregiver influences the likelihood of gang involvement among both male and female gang members. The current study uses school level data to examine gang involvement and primary caregiver type among male and female youth. The results identify significant differences in gang involvement among boys and girls when examining primary caretaker. The findings have implications for theory and programming in connection with youth gang involvement for both boys and girls.
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Wood, Jane L., and Howard Giles. "Group and intergroup parameters of gang activities: An introduction and research agenda." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 12, 2014): 704–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214548620.
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In introducing this Special Issue on gangs, we overview the thrust of its papers, demonstrating how they assist in plugging research gaps from the dearth of psychological attention to gangs. The papers therein raise important theoretical considerations of group process effects, social identity, and communication influences in gangs. Also included are empirical examinations of how attitudes to formal organized crime groups may nurture progang views, how social networks bridge gang divides, the dehumanization and social dominance association with gang membership, and how membership longevity associates with gang members’ attitudes to their group. We conclude with theoretical prospects and empirical vistas for future work. For instance, vitality theory may help explain members’ immersion in gangs, discursive strategies could explain how youth are enticed into gangs, and examinations of community and law enforcement attitudes to gangs may provide insight into how oppositional attitudes are fostered on both sides of the gang divide.
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Bolden, Christian L. "Friendly foes: Hybrid gangs or social networking." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 12, 2014): 730–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214548284.
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Hybrid gangs have been identified as having organizational processes that differ from traditional gangs. This study comparatively examines structural processes and characteristics of gangs in a chronic gang city, San Antonio, and an emerging gang city that would be more likely to have “hybrid” gangs, Orlando. A limited number of recent studies have indicated that some gangs may better fit into a social network framework, which calls into question presumptions about hybrid gangs. In this analysis, cooperation between gang members from rival gangs is examined through a social network lens, and findings indicate that such cooperation is a normalized process in the gang landscape.
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Chalas, Dawn Marie, and Jana Grekul. "I’ve Had Enough: Exploring Gang Life From the Perspective of (Ex) Members in Alberta." Prison Journal 97, no. 3 (May 11, 2017): 364–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0032885517705312.
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Administrators and frontline workers in correctional centers and in the community search for effective gang prevention and intervention programs. To this aim, semistructured interviews with 175 male and female adult (ex) gang members in correctional centers and community corrections exploring a range of topics were conducted. Presented here is an overview of the childhood experiences of the sample, gang experiences, and prevention and intervention strategies identified as helpful by participants. Street–prison gang connections and the impact of gang desistance are explored, as is the influence of local context on the types of gangs and the implications for programming.
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Caporale, Juvenal. "A Foucauldian Analysis of Gang Injunctions." Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 48, no. 1 (2023): 111–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/azt.2023.48.1.111.
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Gang injunctions emerged during the 1980s with the expansion of prisons, targeting alleged street gang members and their spaces of association. This essay examines gang injunctions, or street gang restraining orders, in Southern California through a Foucauldian framework. Applying a critical analysis of court documents found at law enforcement agencies and district or city attorney offices, I offer a broad insight into gang injunctions , focusing on the county of San Diego. I argue that gang injunctions are significant: although these injunctions are neutral prima facie or on the face of race and ethnicity, they structurally embody ongoing legacies of criminalizing people of color through mechanisms associated with the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration. Gang injunctions embody the surveillance and disciplinary practices of the panopticon created by power and knowledge within civil society and illustrate biopolitical policies implemented by the state that exclusively target purported alleged street gang members in their communities. As gang injunctions systematically criminalize Latina/o street gangs and their communities, they have detrimental effects on all members as their enforcers are motivated by politics and overactive control over specific geographies. This study proposes that gang injunctions create a direct pipeline from civil society to prison.
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Rosen, Jonathan D., and José Miguel Cruz. "Overcoming Stigma and Discrimination: Challenges for Reinsertion of Gang Members in Developing Countries." International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 62, no. 15 (July 12, 2018): 4758–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624x18785517.
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This article is an effort to better understand the discrimination mechanisms that ex-gang members perceive upon leaving the gang and seeking to reinsert themselves into a society marked by high levels of violence and inequality, as in Central America. Based on 24 in-depth interviews with former members of MS-13, the 18th Street gang, and other street gangs in El Salvador, this article analyzes the different mechanisms of discrimination perceived by respondents as a result of the stigma of past gang membership. This article also documents how these perceptions of discrimination can affect individuals who are searching for employment opportunities and seeking to reinsert themselves into society.
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Scott, Daniel. "Regional differences in gang member identification methods among law enforcement jurisdictions in the United States." Policing: An International Journal 43, no. 5 (September 15, 2020): 723–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm-01-2020-0005.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare gang member identification methods across regions in the United States as reported by law enforcement.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through surveys with various law enforcement jurisdictions in both urban and rural communities across the United States. Methods of gang member identification were compared across the United States. Region through the use of Ordinal Logistic Regression and Multiple Imputation.FindingsThe results reveal that there are systematic variations in methods of gang member identification across regions in the United States. Specifically, the West is significantly more likely to identify gang members through associations or arrests with known gang members, symbols and self-nomination compared to other regions. The South, Northeast and Midwest regions are significantly more likely to identify gang members through a reliable informant compared to the West.Originality/valueResearch has not compared gang member identification methods across region in the United States or examined how variations in gang member identification methods potentially impact the accuracy of reported gang problems and prevalence.
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Loganathan Krishan and Saralah Devi Mariamdaran Chethiyar. "Explorative Study on Recidivism Factor of Gang Violence in Malaysia." International Journal of Linguistics and Culture 4, no. 2 (December 30, 2023): 323–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.52700/ijlc.v4i2.236.
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The number of crimes continues to rise high every year despite the imposition of punitive and harsh punishments. Gang violence is one of the parts of the crime that occurs in Malaysia. Gang violence is described as a violent phenomenon involving a group of people whose primary purpose is to engage in aggressive and delinquent behavior. Criminals who are involved in gang violence are substantially more likely to re-offend after being released than offenders who are not members of gangs. The objective of this study is to discuss the recidivism factors of gang violence in Malaysia. The Library Research approach was used in this study, where information and related statistics were gathered from a variety of sources. The psychological factors and criminogenic factors are the main factors of gang members return to the prison. The factors which are discussed in this study can help people to know the reasons gang members who are involved in violence return to prison.
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Densley, James A., Tianji Cai, and Susan Hilal. "Social dominance orientation and trust propensity in street gangs." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (May 18, 2014): 763–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214533161.
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The present research demonstrates that social dominance orientation (SDO) and trust propensity provide a valuable theoretical framework and methodological toolkit with which to both assess the concept of “defiant individualism,” Sánchez-Jankowski’s trait theory of gang membership, and understand social-psychological gang processes. The research samples 95 gang members in London, UK, while looking at the effects of age, contact with the gang, and position in the gang on the presence of SDO and trust propensity. Using path analysis, the research demonstrates gang tenure and rank are strong predictors of high SDO and low trust propensity, independent of time spent in the gang, which also significantly predicts high SDO and low trust propensity. High SDO and low trust propensity in gangs are also positively correlated. Gang members, it seems, exhibit a “defiant individualist” social character and both selection and group socialization processes are accountable. Such, in turn, may help explain intergang relations.
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Contreras, Randol. "Not Bowing Down." Swiss Journal of Sociocultural Anthropology 29, no. 1 (January 3, 2024): 55–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.36950/sjsca.2023.29.8825.
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In the United States, some prison gangs control not only inmates, but also what happens on the street. Since most gang members eventually get detained and incarcerated, prison gangs will victimize or kill any resistors in jail and prison. In this paper, I examine such a case between the California prison gang, La Eme, and the rebel Maravilla gangs of East Los Angeles. La Eme controls almost all the Latino gangs in Southern California and enforces prison and street rules that “Southsider” gangs must follow. Between 1993 and 2006, the Maravilla gangs resisted La Eme’s prison co-governance and then experienced a violence and victimization perhaps unrivaled in the gang world. Through field research on the Maravilla gangs, this paper reveals how some gangs defy prison co-governance, which then makes them feel meaningful in the gang world.
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Valdez, Avelardo. "Mexican American Youth and Adult Prison Gangs in a Changing Heroin Market." Journal of Drug Issues 35, no. 4 (October 2005): 843–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002204260503500409.
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This article focuses on the interaction between the larger community's drug markets and youth and adult prison gangs, and the process that leads to specific adverse consequences both to the youth gangs as organizations, and to individual members. Described is the emergence of a restructured heroin market dominated by an adult prison gang. A major consequence of this was the increasing use of heroin among Mexican American gang members and their transformation from autonomous youth gangs to extensions of the adult prison gangs or their demise. Data was collected from 160 members of 26 Mexican American youth gangs and key informants in San Antonio. Findings focus on organizational rules, drug market transformations, consequences on members, and the impact of heroin on the gang's organization. Discussed is how the dominance of prison gangs is related to the increased incarceration and recidivism rates of Mexican Americans and declining economic opportunities for urban minorities.
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Raufu, Abiodun, and Edidiong Mendie. "EXPLORING GANG RISK FACTORS AMONG URBAN NIGERIAN YOUTHS." Caleb Journal of Social and Management Sciences 06, no. 01 (August 31, 2021): 128–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.26772/cjsms2021060107.
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The proliferation of urban youth gangs is often attributed to criminogenic factors of economic, family, and community contexts. Among urban Nigerian youths, the sharp increase in youth gangs has been exacerbated by a broken socio-cultural value system arising from a sustained economic dislocation, aping of foreign cultures, as well as a predatory political elite that uses gang members as foot soldiers in the violent struggle for political power by rival political groups. This study examines the etiology, trend, and dynamism of gang culture in Nigeria. Employing a qualitative approach, the study used data from semi-structured interviews with gang members in Ibadan and Lagos, two of the large southwestern cities in Nigeria. Findings revealed that the interplay of multi-dimensional risk factors has contributed to the rapid growth of urban gang culture in Nigeria with the consequent effect on the increase in crime rates
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Hagedorn, John M., Jose Torres, and Greg Giglio. "Cocaine, kicks, and strain: patterns of substance use in Milwaukee gangs." Contemporary Drug Problems 25, no. 1 (March 1998): 113–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/009145099802500106.
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This study describes the patterns of substance use by male and female gang members in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from their teenage years in the 1980s into adulthood. Milwaukee gangs started out as one form of neighborhood-based drug-using peer group. There was much variation in drug use, and family variables explained little of the variation. Male gang members raised in families with a history of gang involvement and drug use were more likely than other gang members to use cocaine and to use it seriously. On the other hand, severe family distress was not related to onset, duration, or seriousness of cocaine use in either males or females. Cocaine use for both males and females increased in adulthood. It appears that the etiology of adult and adolescent drug use may differ. Neither social control theory nor differential association theory is well suited to explain the variations in gang drug use by age or gender.
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Marzo, Lea. "Set Trippin’: An Intersectional Examination of Gang Members." Humanity & Society 44, no. 4 (September 1, 2020): 422–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0160597620951951.
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Research on gang membership often ignores critical intersections of gender, class, and race. I seek to bridge the gap between the raced and gendered experiences of Black gang members, especially women whose experiences are often overlooked. Utilizing critical race theory, I will examine how gender performances are influenced by gang membership and how members and their associates construct their identities. An intersectional focus on Black women gang membership will broaden our understanding of gang literature where Black men are often overrepresented. This research will produce participant-led data that unearth gang members’ firsthand experiences and will produce important contributions. Findings suggest that gang members experience significant Black adolescent trauma; membership for Black women is familial, and as adults, they often use their gang identities to challenge gang culture; and there is a duality between “gang members” and “gang bangers.” I argue that this research debunks the narrative that gang members display inherent criminal behavior. Instead, I provide a counternarrative that humanizes gang members and adds validity to the structural causes of gang membership in these communities.
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Shap, Kacey. "Island in the street: analyzing the function of gang violence from a culture and conflict perspective." Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 6, no. 2 (April 8, 2014): 78–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jacpr-11-2012-0009.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the components of a gang culture in conflict with society, and second, to explore how gangs, the community, and law enforcers externalize the gang problem from the vantage point of worldview and worldmaking. Design/methodology/approach – The researcher gathered news articles from the Nexus-Lexis research database system within a one-year period (from February 2012 to February 2013). The data was randomly selected and representative of newspapers published throughout the USA. The news articles were coded based upon the aspects of culture (lens of perception, motives for human behaviors, criteria for evaluation, basis of identification, means for communication, justification for social stratification, and mode for production and consumption). A thematic analysis was also conducted to determine: the aspects of gang culture in conflicts with society; and how the gangs, the community, and the law enforcements externalize the gang conflict. Findings – Results suggest that gang violence is largely due to issues of identity, values, and gang cohesiveness rather than the result of the pathologically based environmental conditions. Criteria for evaluation and issue of identity constituted 66 percent of the violent conflict with society. In the context of worldviews and worldmaking, gang members and law enforcement personnel are more likely to adopt a rigid, win-lose framework while members of the community are more likely to prescribe to a flexible and holistic perspective toward the gang problem. In sum, gang violence is not necessarily a deviant or antisocial act; rather, it is a result of the conflicting narratives between the gang cultures and the culture-at-large. Research limitations/implications – In dissecting gang behavior from a cultural perspective, it is easy to categorize gangs as a collective subculture. However, gang members may not view themselves as a subculture nor consider themselves as belonging to a subculture community. Practical implications – By examining the function of culture – in this case, the gang culture – as it conflicts with society at large, one may better able to develop an action plan that emphasize identities, cultures, and values rather than crime and punishment. Also, it may help shed light on how the various stakeholders (i.e. the gangs, law enforcements, and the community) perceive the conflict, which may assist researcher to develop a comprehensive and holistic approach toward intervention. Finally, implementing a culturally based gang violence intervention may reduce cost. Originality/value – This research is unique in that it analyzes the function of gang violence in relation to the society-at-large. Also, the research addresses the issue as to how the various stakeholders interpret the “gang problem.” Finally, this research is innovative in that it employs news articles as units of analysis rather than the traditional qualitative interviews or quantitative surveys.
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Auyong, Zenta E. Gomez, Sven Smith, and Christopher J. Ferguson. "Girls in Gangs: Exploring Risk in a British Youth Context." Crime & Delinquency 64, no. 13 (March 21, 2018): 1698–717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128718763130.
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The existing literature on gangs has largely focused on boys from the United States. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study investigated select individual, peer, and community risk factors that differentiate gang and nongang girls in the United Kingdom. We find that 48.3% of gang-involved youth were girls, and that gang girls commit more crime than nongang girls. Furthermore, girls who live in socially disorganized neighborhoods are more likely to be members of gangs. The current research suggests that focusing on girls’ community environments may be beneficial to reducing gangs in the United Kingdom.
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Swetnam, Josh, and Jacqueline Pope. "GANGS AND GANG ACTIVITY IN A NON-METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY: THE PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND POLICE OFFICERS." Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal 29, no. 2 (January 1, 2001): 197–207. http://dx.doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2001.29.2.197.
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In recent years, both the media and the research literature have noted an increased presence of street gangs in non-metropolitan and rural communities. This study was conducted in a small community in the south which was identified by its police force as having a sizable gang population. Individuals from three groups within the community who have frequent, direct contact with gang members participated in the study. Participants completed questionnaires designed to measure their general perceptions of the gangs, the actors associated with gang development, and the community's response to the gang presence. The participants perceive a number of factors as having influenced the growth of gang activity. The results showed striking perceptual differences between the groups, as well as a number of similarities.
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Marston, Rebecca. "Guilt by Alt-Association: A Review of Enhanced Punishment for Suspected Gang Members." University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, no. 52.4 (2019): 923. http://dx.doi.org/10.36646/mjlr.52.4.guilt.
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This essay, written in reaction to the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform’s 2018 Symposium entitled “Alt-Association: The Role of Law in Combating Extremism” (the Symposium), does not dispute the seriousness of gang-related violence. Rather, it examines ways in which current strategies for combating gang-related crimes are ineffective or problematic and suggests possible reforms. Part One of this essay will describe current methods used in labeling, tracking, and prosecuting gang members, which result in a cycle of enhanced punishment. Part Two will evaluate these practices and reflect on whether enhanced punishment is the best way to reduce gang-related violence, especially given that modern “gangs” have evolved away from the sophisticated and well-defined criminal organizations of the past. Finally, this essay will explore novel solutions for reducing the harms associated with gang activity in affected communities. These solutions will incorporate ideas from the Symposium’s “Design Jam,” a brainstorming session following the day’s panel discussions in which law students, professors, and guest speakers worked in groups to brainstorm effective ways to combat extremism.
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Tapia, Mike. "Modern Chicano Street Gangs: Ethnic Pride Versus “Gangsta” Subculture." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 41, no. 3 (June 25, 2019): 312–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0739986319858966.
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This article examines the subcultural characteristics of modern Chicano street gangs, using San Antonio, Texas, as a case study. It is informed by archival material, police data, and multifaceted fieldwork with gang members and police in that city. The result is a broad sweeping analysis of the role of various social forces in shaping the form of contemporary Chicano gangs. I find that gang migration, the social mimicry of Black gangs, and the weakening of ethnic pride have all profoundly affected modern street gang subculture. However, ethnic pride norms have not completely faded away, presenting an interesting bifurcation among modern Chicano gangs. Profiling the most violent and reputable gangs from the early 1990s to 2015 in San Antonio drives this analysis of barrio longevity versus cultural succession. This study concludes that there are “period effects” that are not well accounted for in the current literature on youth gang subcultures.
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Sharpe, Elizabeth Gail. "Negotiating with Gang Members." Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations 2, no. 2 (June 2002): 35–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j173v02n02_05.
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Esbensen, Finn-Aage, L. Thomas Winfree, Ni He, and Terrance J. Taylor. "Youth Gangs and Definitional Issues: When is a Gang a Gang, and Why Does it Matter?" Crime & Delinquency 47, no. 1 (January 2001): 105–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128701047001005.
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The recent explosion in gang research has highlighted the importance of consistent definitions for gang affiliation and gang-related crime. Definitional questions have assumed greater significance in the wake of broad-ranging prevention and intervention strategies. In this article, the authors utilize a sample of approximately 6,000 middle-school students to examine the youth gang phenomenon using five increasingly restrictive membership definitions. The least restrictive definition includes all youth who claim gang membership at some point in time. The most restrictive definition includes only those youth who are current core gang members who indicate that their gang has some degree of organizational structure and whose members are involved in illegal activities. The authors examine the differentially defined gang and nongang youths on various demographic characteristics, theretical factors, and levels of self-reported crime. The authors also address the theoretical and policy implications of shifting definitions of gang membership.
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Beresford, Hayley, and Jane L. Wood. "Patients or perpetrators? The effects of trauma exposure on gang members’ mental health: a review of the literature." Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice 2, no. 2 (June 13, 2016): 148–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jcrpp-05-2015-0015.
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Purpose – Gangs have become a hot topic in recent years, particularly since 2011 when gang members became the poster child for “the worst bout of civil unrest in a generation”. Given the portrayal of gang members as “super predators,” it is maybe not surprising that much of the media and scholarly attention, to date, has focussed on gang members as perpetrators of violence — paying little attention to their role as victims and the impact this may have on their psychological wellbeing (Bennett et al., 1996). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and synthesize theory and research relating to the relationship between gang membership and mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder and considered how treating gang violence as a public health problem, rather than punishing it as a criminal justice problem has superior benefits in terms of rehabilitation and reduced recidivism. Design/methodology/approach – The scarcity of research on this topic meant that research from other subfields of psychology was be collated in order to build a clearer picture of the psychological consequences belonging to a gang can have. Findings – It is clear from this review that gang members’ involvement in violence (as victims and perpetrators) is likely to have a negative impact on their behavioral, social and psychological functioning. Originality/value – The authors suggest future directions should be aimed toward developing and honing a robust program of research capable of producing intelligence-led assessment and intervention.
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BAIRD, ADAM. "Becoming the ‘Baddest’: Masculine Trajectories of Gang Violence in Medellín." Journal of Latin American Studies 50, no. 1 (June 14, 2017): 183–210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022216x17000761.
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AbstractDrawing upon 40 life-history interviews with gang members in Medellín, Colombia, this paper argues that many young men join gangs to emulate and reproduce ‘successful’ local male identities. The accumulation by the gang of ‘masculine capital’, the material and symbolic signifiers of manhood, and the accompanying stylistic and timely displays of this capital, means that youths often perceive gangs to be spaces of male success. This drives the social reproduction of gangs. Once in the gang, the youths become increasingly ‘bad’, using violence to defend the gang's interests in exchange for masculine capital. Gang leaders, colloquially known asdurosor ‘hard men’, tend to be themás malos, the ‘baddest’. The ‘ganging process’ should not be understood in terms of aberrant youth behaviour; rather there is practical logic to joining the gang as a site of identity formation for aspirational young men who are coming of age when conditions of structural exclusion conspire against them.
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Lanctôt, Nadine, and Marc LeBlanc. "Les adolescentes membres des bandes marginales : un potentiel antisocial atténué par la dynamique de la bande ?" Criminologie 30, no. 1 (August 16, 2005): 111–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/017400ar.
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The goal of this article is to improve our knowledge concerning the social and personal characteristics of the female gang members. Data have been collected from 150 girls who were convicted by the juvenile court of Montreal during 1992 and 1993. The analysis shows that girls who join gangs have serious handicaps which are related to their social adaptation, their personality and their deviant and delinquent conducts. Consequently, female gang membership responds to a selection process, as it does with the male membership. The profile of the female also changes depending on the structure of the gang to which they join. As the gang becomes more organized, the girls' personality gets worst. However, the context of the organized gangs seems to limit the girls to auxiliary roles rather then being an opportunity to discharge their antisocial potential.
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Hagedorn, John M. "Gangs, Schools, and Social Change: An Institutional Analysis." ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 673, no. 1 (September 2017): 190–208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002716217726965.
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Understanding gangs and schools requires us to go beyond neighborhood-level analysis because spatial analyses tend to downplay or ignore social movements as key to fundamental change. This article supplements a traditional ecological approach with an institutional analysis of both schools and gangs. A history of Chicago gangs reveals that gangs are not one thing; at times they have played positive roles within schools and taken part in social movements. The author’s personal experiences with gangs and schools in Milwaukee and Chicago are presented as evidence documenting the mutability of gangs, the damaging consequences of some educational policies, and the importance of including gang members in social movements. The current Black Lives Matter movement presents opportunities for nonincremental, disruptive change and the potential inclusion of gangs and gang members in a broader strategy to create a better society.
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Petrus, Theodore. "Gangster school: The role of the school environment in gang recruitment strategies in Port Elizabeth, South Africa." South African Journal of Education 41, Supplement 2 (December 31, 2021): S1—S8. http://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41ns2a1665.
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Gangs and gang violence continue to be serious challenges throughout South Africa, but especially in cities such as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. In the northern areas of Port Elizabeth, hardly a day goes by without at least 1 report in the local news media about gang-related incidents. Most of the gangs in the northern areas have organised and relatively sophisticated recruitment strategies that they use to recruit new members. Various factors contribute to the gravitation of most youths to the gang lifestyle. With this article I seek to examine 1 of those factors, namely the school environment. I argue that various factors affecting the school environment make it possible for gangs to target school-going youths for recruitment. The article is based on both the literature and the use of primary data from my research into gangs in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth. The article concludes with some recommendations on how to combat gang recruitment in the school environment.
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THOMPSON, DAVID W., and LEONARD A. JASON. "Street Gangs and Preventive Interventions." Criminal Justice and Behavior 15, no. 3 (September 1988): 323–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093854888015003005.
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This article presents an evaluation of an intervention aimed at youth at risk for joining street gangs. In a quasi-experimental design, targeted youth were assigned to one of two levels of treatment (classroom sessions or a combination of classroom sessions and structured after-school activities) or to a no-treatment control group. To ascertain gang membership following the intervention, the youths' names were compared with gang membership rosters obtained from informants. Four members of the control group and one receiving youth receiving the more intensive intervention were subsequently identified as gang members. Implications of the study for public policy are considered, methodological difficulties in conducting research in this area are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.
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Zoettl, Peter Anton. "My body imprisoned, my soul relieved: Youth, gangs and prison in Cape Verde." European Journal of Cultural Studies 21, no. 2 (September 15, 2015): 148–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367549415603380.
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Urban street gangs flourish in the urban centres of the Cape Verdean archipelago. Most of their members belong to the male, young and economically disadvantaged strata of society. While in public discourse youth gangs are often peremptorily blamed for most of the violence and criminality that take place in the country, the internal dynamics of gang life often go unnoticed. Based on fieldwork in the cities of Praia and Mindelo, the article discusses the mechanisms that make Cape Verdean adolescents and youths join urban gangs and stick to them, despite the state’s politics of securitization and repression. Within this context, the experience of imprisonment is related to gang members’ pre-prison biographies and the conceptualization of prison itself, reinforced during individual ‘careers’ of marginality.
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Pawelz, Janina, and Paul Elvers. "The Digital Hood of Urban Violence: Exploring Functionalities of Social Media and Music Among Gangs." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 34, no. 4 (July 18, 2018): 442–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043986218787735.
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Social media and music are fundamental components of everyday life for today’s youth. The uses and functions of social media and music provide valuable insights for a better understanding of marginalized groups, subcultures, and gangs. Data are based on in-depth, semistructured interviews with gang members and gang affiliates in Trinidad and Tobago and combined with an analysis of social media content. The findings reveal that street gangs use music and social media to glorify gang life, to display power and send threats, to generate motivational support for criminal activities, and to bond socially and mourn collectively. In our analysis, social media, music, and music videos appear to be intimately interconnected phenomena; we thus call for a broader focus on gangs’ online behavior.
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Shelden, Randall G. "A Comparison of Gang Members and Non-Gang Members in a Prison Setting." Prison Journal 71, no. 2 (September 1991): 50–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/003288559107100206.
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Medina, Juanjo, Robert Ralphs, and Judith Aldridge. "Mentoring Siblings of Gang Members: A Template for Reaching Families of Gang Members?" Children & Society 26, no. 1 (May 6, 2010): 14–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2010.00307.x.
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Pyrooz, David C., Scott H. Decker, and Emily Owens. "Do Prison Administrative and Survey Data Sources Tell the Same Story? A Multitrait, Multimethod Examination With Application to Gangs." Crime & Delinquency 66, no. 5 (October 3, 2019): 627–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128719879017.
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Measurement is critical to advancing theory and research in criminology. Yet, criminologists are often forced to rely on data sources that are not intended to be used for research or collected in contexts where subjects may have incentives to misreport. This is particularly true of data in institutional corrections research. This study leveraged novel data to examine correspondence in key measures found in prison administrative and survey data on 802 prisoners in Texas, focusing on the measurement properties of an important group rarely studied in prison: gang members. We observed high rates of correspondence between data sources for gang membership (82%) and the gang with which they were affiliated (86%). A multilevel test of item correspondence demonstrated that the measures of gang membership performed as well or better than more episodic measures and worse than more durable measures common in corrections research. A multitrait, multimethod matrix revealed that gang membership, and nearly all other measures, satisfied the principles of validity. Finally, there were no differences in correspondence rates between gang and nongang members for nearly every measure, regardless of the method to measure gang membership. Prison administrative and survey data generally tell the same story, which is promising for institutional corrections research, particularly research focused on gangs.
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Van Damme, Ellen. "Corruption, impunity and mistrust: moving beyond police gatekeepers for researching gangs." Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 13, no. 2/3 (July 5, 2021): 125–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jacpr-01-2021-0572.
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Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of having several entry points into the field, via gatekeepers who do not belong to law enforcement agencies, in contexts where the police cannot be defined as trustworthy. Design/methodology/approach The argumentation of this paper is based on qualitative research on women and gangs in Honduras. An ethnographical methodology was implemented, which included over a year of observations, 65 interviews and two focus groups in gang-controlled communities and detention centers in Central America (with a focus on Honduras), between 2017 and 2020. The paper implements a feminist reflexive approach, focusing on patriarchy, positionality and silence. Findings Collaborating with the police as gatekeepers in gang research needs to be reevaluated. In countries such as Honduras, the police are riddled with corruption and impunity, which eventually leads to mistrust among gang members and other citizens. Hence, it is recommended to approach other, non-law enforcement, gatekeepers, who often stand much closer to the gangs and have a less conflicted or biased position toward them and toward other people living in gang areas. Research limitations/implications A feminist reflexive approach is recommended for researching women and gangs, and thus also for choosing the right gatekeepers in the field, taking into account researchers’ and gatekeepers’ positionality. Originality/value Police corruption in relation to gangs and gang-related crimes often goes unreported and silences people living in gang-controlled areas. This paper exposes these conflicted roles, not only regarding police abuse vis-à-vis gangs and people living in gang areas but also in relation to gang researchers in the field.
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Taylor, Jolene. "Equality, diversity and inclusion in forensic practice." Forensic Update 1, no. 144 (May 2023): 25–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.53841/bpsfu.2023.1.144.25.
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The concept of ‘gangs’ is poorly defined within legal and psychological literature. This article describes how methodological flaws in studies that apply the ‘gang’ label have perpetuated bias against Black and Asian males. Harms associated with the ‘gang’ label are discussed within the broader context of racism within the Criminal Justice System. Implications for forensic psychological practice in the areas of formulation, risk assessment and intervention planning with Black and Asian clients who have been labelled as ‘gang’ members are discussed. Feelings psychologists may experience upon acknowledging bias in their practice with those labelled as ‘gang’ affiliated are also explored. The article concludes by arguing why psychologists have a responsibility to stop using the term ‘gang’ and proposing alternative language and concepts to understand group related offending.
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Butti, Elena. "From Family to Franchise? Friendship, Individualism, and the Marketization of the Colombian Youth Gang." Youth and Globalization 3, no. 2 (March 21, 2022): 308–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/25895745-bja10012.
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Abstract The surge of transnational illicit economies has led to important transformations in gang structures and cultures. From locally-bound, solidarity-driven institutions, gangs have morphed into globally-connected, market-driven ones. But how has this change affected the way young gang members relate to each other? This paper explores this question in the particular case of Medellín (Colombia), based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork with adolescents working at the low ends of narco-gangs. It traces the evolution of gangs from the 1970s galladas – peer groups of kids who sought to support each other – to today’s pandillas – ruthless and profit-driven groups that operate as the local franchises of larger criminal organizations. The paper argues that the co-optation of youth gangs by transnational organized crime has drastically reduced the sense of protection, inclusion, and belonging that gangs provide to their youngest members. It has also hampered the role of gangs as institutions of cultural resistance and critique.