As has been observed and written about extensively, the racial/ethnic composition of a community’s gang problem is largely a reflection of the racial/ethnic composition of the community itself, once socioeconomic factors are taken into account. Gangs tend to emerge in the most disadvantaged areas and thus naturally attract the disadvantaged youth residing in those areas. Therefore, a discussion of the racial/ethnic composition of gangs is largely a discussion of the socioeconomic variables of that area.
Reflecting the racial/ethnic divide along socioeconomic lines across the country, the largest percentage of gang members in the NYGS belong to minorities, with around half reported as Hispanic/Latino and approximately one-third as African American/black. Around 10 to 15 percent of gang members are reported as white/Caucasian. A multisite study of school-aged youth finds comparable proportions. In contrast, a national survey of youth reports a much lower percentage of blacks (25 percent) and Hispanics (19 percent). Clearly, there is much variation across cities, counties, and states in the racial/ethnic composition of gangs, but ultimately, this descriptive characteristic of the gang problem is best regarded as a reflection of the social and economic inequalities that persist across the United States.
For more information, see:
https://nationalgangcenter.ojp.gov/survey-analysis/demographics.
Recent discussions of the national gang problem frequently allude to an increase in female gang membership across the country. The fact remains, however, that females have been observed, documented, and studied as gang members for decades. That is, females joining gangs is not a new development. What seems to change over time is the amount of attention they receive.
Despite recent law enforcement reports asserting an increase in female gang members, law enforcement data in the NYGS finds that the percentage of gang members who are female has remained unchanged over the past 15 years. From the late 1990s through the early 2010s, law enforcement agencies reported that the national total of female gang members ranged from 6.1 to 7.7 percent. That is, more than 90 percent of the gang members documented in a national study of law enforcement are male.
Other research strategies, however, provide a very different assessment of female gang membership. In a nationally representative survey of youth, nearly 30 percent of the gang members were found to be female. In another multisite study in known gang cities, nearly 40 percent of the gang members were female. Other studies find very comparable results. In general, the less a study relies on law enforcement-centric data, the greater the percentage of gang members who are observed to be female. Thus, an emerging trend—an increase in female gang membership asserted by law enforcement agencies—may be an artifact of these agencies’ paying closer attention to this part of the gang problem.
One compelling explanation for the discrepancy between law enforcement data and all other research methodologies is the observed pattern of gang involvement for females. In general, not only do males join gangs at a higher rate than females, they also stay in the gangs longer. This finding has been observed across multiple longitudinal studies. In one multisite study, the percentage of male and female gang members was roughly equal in the early teens, but diverged substantially over time as females made up an increasingly smaller proportion. This divergence may also be due, in part, to the findings of one study that males continue to join gangs throughout adolescence, while onset peaks in the early teens for females.
For more information, see:
https://nationalgangcenter.ojp.gov/survey-analysis/demographics.
Based on a multitude of studies, scholars note that youth may be “pulled” and/or “pushed” into gang membership. Pulls are features that attract youth, such as the perception of increased reputation and social status, the desire to be with friends and/or family who are already gang-involved, the promise of money, drugs, and/or excitement, and cultural pride and identification with one’s neighborhood. In contrast, because of the high levels of neighborhood crime and violence, some youth perceive gangs as providing protection (see the FAQ number 15 concerning victimization) and/or are fearful of the consequences if they do not join.
It is important to note that the pushes and pulls of gang membership are not necessarily mutually exclusive, in that they may simultaneously impact a youth’s decision to join a gang. However, by and large, numerous studies have found that youth themselves are more likely to report being “pulled” into the gang. This is especially evident in widespread accounts of youth who report joining the gang based on the social desire to be around gang-involved friends and/or family. In comparison, youth less frequently report being coerced or actively recruited to join the gang. This finding is important to note, since the latter is commonly (though erroneously) believed to be the primary reason youth join gangs, with many states developing legislation to criminalize and punish active recruitment.
Finally, it is also important to point out that the process of joining a gang is a gradual one. Youth may begin at a “gang-marginal status” by hanging around other gang members or having older family members in the gang, leading some to join later and others to remain in a marginal status or to disassociate entirely. For those who join, some may become increasingly embedded within the gang life, while others remain at the periphery. That is, gang membership patterns are dynamic and multilayered and are not reliably reducible to a simple gang-versus-nongang perspective.
Risk factors are variables increase the likelihood of the outcome in question—in this case, gang membership. Gang research scholars have discovered a multitude of risk factors that are statistically linked to gang joining. These individual risk factors span the many dimensions in a youth’s life and are typically grouped into five categories (called “domains”): individual, family, school, peer, and neighborhood/community. Importantly, however, these extensive research studies have demonstrated that there is no one risk factor (or even domain) responsible for gang joining; rather, it is the accumulation of multiple risk factors across multiple domains that greatly increases gang joining. Thus, put another way, gang joining is not reducible to a single risk factor (e.g., single-parent household), since some youth with the risk factor may not join a gang, and some youth without the risk factor may join. It is far more profitable, then, to assess (and ultimately address) the collection of risk factors across the five social domains to prevent gang joining.
As noted in FAQ number 13, youth often report joining a gang for protection. However, as numerous research studies have shown, the risk and rate of victimization, especially violent victimization, increases substantially while youth are in a gang. This finding is notably similar to that of the increase in the criminal offending rate during periods of active gang membership (noted in FAQ number 4). Thus, there is a seemingly paradoxical relationship between the expectation that joining a gang will provide protection from violence and the fact that actual rate (and risk) of victimization while in a gang increases. Research specifically examining this issue points to a compelling explanation: Given the “choice” between seemingly random acts of street violence when not in a gang versus the more structured and less random acts within the gang culture (including the sense of group protection that being part of a gang engenders), individuals are more likely to choose to belong to a gang. That is, the source of the risk of violence is qualitatively different (e.g., from a rival gang) while in a gang, which individuals cognitively perceive as being more predictable and manageable, and thus preferable. This explanation is important to consider when developing effective interventions with current gang members, since increased levels of neighborhood street violence may counteract incentives for individuals to leave the gang.
Following individuals over time (i.e., longitudinally) has also afforded researchers the opportunity to examine the long-term consequences of gang membership. The effects of gang membership, especially for members who remained in the gang for longer periods and/or were deeply embedded in the gang life, have been shown to negatively impact individuals well after leaving the gang. Some of the negative outcomes linked to prolonged gang membership include dropping out of school, early parenthood, and lack of or unstable employment. These long-term consequences are supplemental to the increased risk of being arrested, having a criminal record, and incarceration—which stems from the increased involvement in criminal offending while in a gang—which further reduces the probability of a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. Further, in a recent study specifically examining this issue, researchers found that adolescent gang membership was linked to other public health issues, such as alcohol and drug abuse and/or dependence, poor general health, and poor mental health during adulthood. Thus, gang membership, especially long-term membership and/or increased embeddedness in the gang, exacts a toll that extends far beyond periods of active membership.
It is commonly repeated that once a person joins a gang, he or she can never get out (the so-called “blood-in, blood-out” assertion). However, as noted in FAQ number 10, for many youth membership in a gang is a fleeting occurrence, with a large proportion remaining in the gang for only a relatively short period of time (i.e., for a year or two). The processes by which youth leave gangs, often referred to as “desistance,” are similar to the “push” and “pull” processes by which youth join gangs, although the specific reasons are often very different. The reasons individuals report for leaving the gang include growing out of the gang life; disillusionment with the gang life; settling down, getting a stable job, and/or family needs; unanticipated aspects of the gang life; gang violence experienced by the individual or someone close to the individual; and a constant future risk of being a victim of gang violence. While the topic of gang desistance is relatively newer across the field of gang research, preliminary evidence indicates that youth are more likely to be “pushed” out of the gang life because of the very same factors that “pulled” them into the gang in the first place—fear of the consequences of violence and victimization.
How youth leave a gang is also instructive in understanding the gang process. Similar to the gang-joining process, desisting from gang membership is best described as gradual, taking place over an extended period of time. This is understandable, after all, since desisting from gangs involves disassociating and severing social ties with friends and/or family members who are gang-involved and may entail many attempts, both cognitively and behaviorally. Also, this process may be interrupted or entirely negated because of outside influences, such as the perception by rival gangs and/or law enforcement that the individual is still an active gang member. Importantly, although it is commonly repeated otherwise, the available evidence demonstrates that most individuals stated that they left the gang without the fear or experience of physical consequences from the gang.
Gangs and gang violence have become increasingly complex, lethal, and resistant to prevention and control over the years. Overreliance on one strategy is unlikely to produce fundamental changes in the scope and severity of a community’s gang problem. Instead, communities should adopt a comprehensive, multifaceted, collaborative approach that involves prevention strategies for youth at risk of gang joining, intervention strategies for youth and young adults who are gang-involved, and suppression strategies in areas where gang violence threatens the public safety of a community.
A community’s responses to its gang problem must be based on a solid theoretical understanding of gangs—their social patterns and individual member behaviors—as well as programs and practices supported by systematic research and successful experience in the field. Once a community acknowledges that a youth street gang problem exists, a thorough assessment is needed to identify specific components of the problems, analyze the causes, and identify the resources currently available, as well as the resources needed (see Comprehensive Gang Model Assessment Guide). Such an assessment can reliably measure the scope and depth of the youth and street gang problem in a given community.
Community stakeholder participation should ideally include active engagement from law enforcement agencies, schools, grassroots organizations, youth agencies, government agencies, and civic organizations. Using the assessment as a foundation, key stakeholders can develop a plan to respond to their gang problem that is tailored to the unique needs and resources of that community (see Comprehensive Gang Model Implementation Manual). Ideally, a community should develop a continuum of developmentally appropriate programs and strategies to target gang-involved individuals at all ages and risk levels. A community should implement strategies that have been demonstrated to work (see https://nationalgangcenter.ojp.gov/about/strategic-planning-tool).
There is no quick, easy fix when responding to street and youth gang problems in a community. Both emerging and entrenched gang problems are the consequence of years of compounding, complex factors. A comprehensive, systematic approach to address these complexities will take focused determination and hard work.
Risk factors are variables that increase the likelihood of the outcome in question—in this case, gang membership. Many studies have identified causes, or risk factors, which, if present for a given individual, make it more likely that he or she will develop a problem behavior, including joining a gang. These extensive research studies have demonstrated that no one risk factor is responsible for gang joining; rather, it is the accumulation of multiple risk factors across multiple domains that greatly increases gang joining. Thus, put another way, gang joining is not reducible to a single risk factor (e.g., single-parent household), since some youth with the risk factor may not join a gang, and some youth without the risk factor may join.
Although the influence of risk factors and protective factors changes in the course of child and adolescent development (Howell, Lipsey, and Wilson, 2014), one study found that the effects of risk and protective factors for gang involvement did not vary with age, through age 19 (Gilman, Hill, Hawkins, Howell, et al., 2014). The study authors suggest that this finding may be owing to the multiple studies showing that gang members are distinctively different from ordinary delinquents in that they possess more risk factors and generally experience them in multiple developmental domains during childhood and early adolescence, thereby generating enduring effects. Thus, communities should develop a continuum of developmentally appropriate programs and strategies to target at-risk youth and gang-involved individuals at all ages and risk levels. Communities should implement strategies and programs that have been demonstrated to work.
Juvenile delinquency is a precursor behavior to gang membership. Put otherwise, virtually all youth who join a gang evidence prior delinquency involvement. Studies also show that antecedents of gang involvement begin to come into play long before youth reach a typical age for joining a gang. For the highest-risk youth, a stepping-stone pattern appears to begin as early as ages 3–4 with the emergence of conduct problems, followed by elementary school failure at ages 6–12; delinquency onset by age 12; gang-joining around ages 13–15; and serious, violent, and chronic delinquency onward from mid-adolescence (Howell and Egley, 2005). Therefore, risk factors for both delinquency and gang membership are included in this review, and communities that wish to prevent and reduce gang involvement are encouraged to address risk factors for juvenile delinquency at the same time. The Strategic Planning Tool (SPT) includes both sets of risk factors, and those that increase the risk of gang joining are asterisked.