Youth Gangs and Definitional Issues: When is a Gang a Gang, and Why Does it Matter?

Crime and Delinquency - Tập 47 Số 1 - Trang 105-130 - 2001
Finn‐Aage Esbensen1, L. Thomas Winfree, Ni He, Terrance J. Taylor
1U Nebraska, OK, US

Tóm tắt

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.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Akers, R. L., Deviant behavior: A social learning approach, 3

Akers, R. L., Criminological theory: Introduction and evaluation

10.1007/BF01064461

10.1111/j.1745-9125.1995.tb01177.x

10.1111/j.1745-9125.1998.tb01241.x

Battin-Pearson, S. R., Gang membership, delinquent peers, and delinquent behavior, 10.1037/e304542003-001

10.1007/BF01064108

Bursik, R. J., Jr., Neighborhoods and crime: The dimensions of effective community control

Cairns, R. B., The development and treatment of childhood aggression

Cloward, R. A., Delinquency and opportunity: A theory of delinquent gangs, 10.4324/9781315007274

Cohen, A. K., Delinquent boys: The culture of the gang

Curry, G. D., Estimating the national scope of gang crime from law enforcement data

Curry, G. D., Confronting gangs: Crime and community

Decker, S., Life in the gang: Family, friends, and violence, 10.1017/CBO9781139174732

10.1177/088740349100500401

10.1023/A:1007552105190

Elliott, D. S., Explaining delinquency and substance use

10.1111/j.1745-9125.1998.tb01266.x

10.1177/0193841X9602000605

10.1111/j.1745-9125.1993.tb01142.x

10.1177/0022427899036002004

10.1080/07418829800093861

Fleisher, M., Dead end kids

Gardner, S., Street gangs

10.1080/07418829500092661

10.1177/0022427898035001002

Gottfredson, M. R., A general theory of crime

10.1177/0022427893030001002

10.1177/0022427899036003003

Howell, J. C., Youth gangs: An overview. Juvenile Justice Bulletin

Huff, C. R., Comparing the criminal behavior of youth gangs and at-risk youths

10.2307/1143790

Kerlinger, F. N., Foundations of behavioral research, 2

Klein, M. W., Crime of violence, volume 13, a staff report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence

Klein, M. W., Street gangs and street workers

Klein, M. W., The American street gang: Its nature, prevalence, and control

Knox, G. W., 1996, Journal of Gang Research, 3, 41

10.1177/002204268201200403

10.1111/j.1755-6988.2000.tb00022.x

Maxson, C. L., Gang members on the move

Maxson, C. L., annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology

10.1086/515746

Miller, W. B., Violence by youth gangs and youth groups as a crime problem in major American cities

Miller, W. B., Critical issues in juvenile delinquency

National Youth Gang Center, 1995 national youth gang survey

National Youth Gang Center, 1996 national youth gang survey

Needle, J. A., Reports of the national juvenile justice assessment centers: Police handling of youth gangs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Highlights of the 1995 national youth gang survey

10.1177/002204269302300309

Shaw, C. R., Juvenile delinquency and urban areas

Short, J. F., Gang delinquency and delinquent subcultures

Short, J. F., Gangs in America, 2

Spergel, I. A., The youth gang problem: A community approach, 10.1093/oso/9780195070668.001.0001

Thornberry, T. P., Gang members and delinquent behavior, 10.1037/e302102003-001

10.1177/0022427893030001005

Thrasher, F. M., The gang: A study of one thousand three hundred thirteen gangs in Chicago

10.1177/0044118X94026002001

Winfree, L. T., Jr., The Social Science Journal

Winfree, L. T., Jr., 1992, Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 43, 20

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Crime and Delinquency

Tập 47 Số 1

105-130

Thông tin tác giả