Gang Membership Amongst Youth

Gang Membership Among Youth

Gang membership among youth is a compelling and concerning issue for a variety of reasons. It appears that despite the fact that the general rate of violent crime in America is decreasing, it is increasing among juveniles (Esbensen & Winfree, 1998). A second aspect of youth gang involvement that is concerning on an individual and sociological level is that youth who are involved in gang activities are much more likely than their peers to be involved in victimizing others (Curry, Decker & Egley, 2002). They are also much more likely to be victimized themselves (Curry, Decker & Egley, 2002). Gender, age and race or ethnicity also plays a role in risk factors for gang involvement, although the exact nature of that role differs from study to study and methodology to methodology. What is clearly based on the research, is that youth join gangs for many of the same reasons they do anything else; they find community, support and excitement. Gender, age and ethnicity only come into play as part of other socioeconomic and developmental factors

There are a number of methodological issues that impact the reported frequencies of behaviors and demographic information in related research. Most studies rely on law enforcement or survey methods, but each has flaws (Esben &Winfree, 1998). For one, law enforcement records only are relevant for those who have been arrested in conjunction with a gang-related crime. Much crime goes unreported or unsolved. Survey methods rely on self-reporting, which is also flawed as youth may over- or under-report their gang membership and involvement in crime due to either a desire to seem tough or fears about getting into trouble. A third methodological problem is that the gangs and gang members that the researchers have access to may not be as diverse as the entire spectrum of gangs and individuals involved in them. This can lead to an underestimation of the number of female gang members and an...