Gang Involvement and Membership among Homeless and Runaway Youth
- 1 June 2003
- journal article
- others
- Published by SAGE Publications in Youth & Society
- Vol. 34 (4), 441-467
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x03034004003
Abstract
The present study documented the extent of gang involvement and gang membership in a sample of 602 homeless and runaway youth from four midwestern states. The study also compared gang members, gang-involved youth who were not members, and nongang youth on several dimensions including sociodemographic characteristics, family background, school experiences, street experiences and exposure, emotional problems, alcohol and drug use, and other delinquent and deviant behaviors. Findings indicated that a significant number of these youth were gang members (15.4% of the sample) or involved in gangs (32.2% of the sample). Youth gang members and gang-involved youth reported more family legal problems, had been suspended from school more, ran away at a younger age, used more alcohol and drugs, were exposed to more deviant peers, and attempted suicide more than did nongang youth. In addition, youth gang members reported less parental monitoring, more severe abuse, more street victimization, and more deviant subsistence strategies than did either gang-involved or noninvolved youth.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Gang involvement and delinquency in a middle school populationJustice Quarterly, 2002
- Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development ProjectJournal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 1999
- Vulnerability to Street Gang Membership: Implications for PracticeSocial Service Review, 1998
- Precursors and Consequences of Membership in Youth GangsYouth & Society, 1997
- GANGS, DRUGS, AND DELINQUENCY IN A SURVEY OF URBAN YOUTH*Criminology, 1993
- Substance use among youth seen at a community-based health clinicJournal of Adolescent Health, 1993
- Gang and Non-Gang Youth: Differences in Explanatory FactorsJournal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 1993
- The family relations, peer relations, and criminal activities of Caucasian and Hispanic-American gang membersJournal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1992
- Familiar Correlates of Gang Membership: An Exploratory Study of Mexican-American YouthHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1984
- Recruitment to a Youth GangYouth & Society, 1983