Youth Maltreatment and Gang Involvement

Abstract

Although childhood maltreatment has been found to contribute to a variety of youth problem behaviors, the implications of being maltreated on gang involvement remain unclear. This research examines whether physical and sexual maltreatment raises the risk of gang involvement among secondary school students. Findings show that being maltreated increases the probability of gang involvement, independent of demographic factors. When youth are subjected to extreme levels of maltreatment, their odds of participating in gang activities differ only slightly from youth who report occasional maltreatment, suggesting that prevalence measures may be better predictors of gang involvement than incidence measures. When youth are beaten physically and molested sexually, their odds of gang involvement are four times higher than youth who do not experience maltreatment. Finally, being maltreated is a much more robust correlate of gang involvement than the level of support, communication, educational interest, and supervision youth receive from their parents.