Gang Involvement

Abstract

This paper gives in-depth information on gang activity in the U.S. and explores the causes of gang membership. It also examines what several studies have found on correlations between gang membership and life circumstances. It further looks at questions of whether economic incentive is a factor in gang membership and if peer pressure increases violent crimes. The paper concludes by exploring various proposals for reducing the number of youths joining gangs in America.

Keywords: At-risk Youth; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF); Gangs; Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE); Juvenile Delinquency; National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97); Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (JJDP); Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT); Violent Crime Index (VCI)

Overview

History, Causes & Members of Gangs

American youth becoming involved in gangs is not a new phenomenon. The first documented youth gang was in the late 1700s in New York, so gangs have been part of American culture for well over two centuries (Arinde, 2006, p. 34). Most of the youth who get involved with gangs come from poor neighborhoods in large cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. Seals (2009) expresses the general consensus on gangs thus:

Kingsbury (2008) also notes that "gangs are perpetuated by a cycle of despair that is nearly impossible to break" and gives us a revealing statistic. As of a 2013 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide was the main cause of death for young black men between the ages of 15 and 34. There are of course historical reasons that many African Americans ended up in impoverished big-city ghettos where gangs proliferate, but gangs are by no means only a phenomenon among African Americans. Gangs arise from every ethnicity in America, and we should examine some studies and reliable statistics in order to get a clearer picture of the problem of gangs in America.

Obtaining a clear picture can be difficult, however. Kingsbury (2008) points out that "gauging the true scope of the gang problem is difficult, chiefly because law enforcement lacks a common definition of a gangster or what makes a particular crime gang-related" (p. 10). Captain Eric Adams, who has worked for years in New York City law enforcement, points out an additional problem in gathering accurate information on gangs. He asserts that, in New York, "The police department won't properly classify certain crimes as gang-related, and so you don't know if there is an increase or decrease in the crime rate … It's a public relations exercise. They think if they don't say it, then it's not happening" (cited in Arinde, 2006, p. 34). An important study that attempts to gather accurate information on gang activity in America is known as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), which began collecting data annually from 1997. This study gives the following definition for the concept of gang-involvement:

Gang Membership

According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment by the FBI, around 1.4 million active street, prison, and motorcycle gang members operate in the U.S., and these gang members belong to more than 33,000 different gangs across the country. However, the FBI also estimates a significant percentage of communities with gangs claim they do not have a problem with gangs when in reality they do. "It's a denial bred from either fear or stigma, according to the FBI" (Kingsbury, 2008, p. 10). Seals (2009) argues that street gangs have grown to become "an epidemic problem in the United States." Citing other researchers, Seals observes that gangs are probably the main distributors of all illegal drugs, and most adolescents who commit murders in American cities are members of gangs (p. 407).

Voisin et al. (2008) gathered data on gang activity in America, and their findings make it quite clear that there has been a significant rise in young women joining gangs. Voisin writes, "Male adolescents were equally as likely as female adolescents to belong to a gang" (p. 155). There has also been a significant increase in the female violent crime rate in the United States. In 1980, "the male Violent Crime Index rate was 8.3 times that of the female rate, by 2003, the male rate declined 26%, whereas the female rate increased 47% so that the male rate was only 4.2 times that of the female rate" (p. 155). Their conclusion is that female adolescents have been "closing the gap with male adolescents in terms of being arrested and committing more violent crimes." As for the cause of this significant increase in both female gang membership and female violent crimes, Voisin et al. cite that more girls are committing violent crimes from "negative peer influences, sexual abuse, dysfunctional families, and living in neighborhoods characterized by few or no viable educational opportunities, violence, and poverty" (p. 155). In this original study, Voisin finds that "female adolescents were more likely to witness family violence, suggesting that for some of these girls, being raised in a dysfunctional family, coupled with community violence, may play some role in their gang involvement" (p. 155).

Although gang activity has been described as cyclical in nature, in 2023 the number of gangs remains approximately the same. The figure of 33,0000 active gangs continues as the most-often number cited. In the previous two decades, membership is believed to have reduced. The current figure may have dropped to approximately 850,000, with the problem remaining most acute in urban areas. Nonetheless, external changes have made gang activity more ominous. These include easier access to firearms than in previous decades. Gang-related murders are reported to have increased since 2019 by 25% Gangs are now reported to be involved in networking activities such as human trafficking, infiltration of government organizations, use of social media, and associations with domestic extremist groups.

A new development in recent decades has been the appearance of transnational gangs. These are organizations involved in illegal activities whose operations cross international boundaries. The product of these operations, such as drugs or people to be smuggled, originate within the borders of one country, and the destination may be located thousands of miles away. Crime networks are employed to facilitate movement. On of these gangs that have gained notoriety is the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 gang. This organization originated in Los Angeles and among the immigrant community from El Salvador. MS-13 moved beyond California and into other parts of the United States. It now has a major presence in the “Northern Triangle” of countries in Central America, which include El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. MS-13 is reported to be involved in international drug trafficking, money laundering.

Common Characteristics

There is a relationship between youth being arrested and those that are gang members. Voisin et al. (2008, p. 147) cite statistics from other sources that present a more clear picture:

Data from the 2010 US Census, however, indicated a downward trend in juvenile incarceration, dropping 41% from 1995 to 2010.

Although it is clear that African American and Hispanic youths are not more inclined to criminal behavior merely due to their ethnicity, there is a disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic youths living in difficult economic conditions in America's cities, which tend to foster criminal activity and violence and gang membership. As Seals points out, "gang members report an astonishingly high rate of gun violence (34.9 percent) in their childhood environment compared with non-gang members. The rate of fatherless homes is also much higher among gang members than for non-gang members" (2009, p. 416).

Dysfunctional families, or broken homes, are quite common in impoverished communities as compared to middle- and upper-class communities. Dysfunctional families are also the largest source of runaway youth. Rafferty and Raimondi (2009) point out that a high number of runaway youths become members of street gangs. They cite a 2003 study in which 602 homeless and runaway youths were interviewed, and which revealed that "almost half of the youths were involved in gangs or were actual gang members." The study also showed that "the younger they were when they ran away increased the chances that the youths became associated with a street gang" (p. 21). Youth who experience housing instability, low levels of involvement or monitoring by parents or guardians, or strained relationships with their families are all more likely to become involved in a gang ("Why Black teens join gangs," 2014).

Further Insights

Why do Kids Join Gangs?

Economic Factors

An important question for researchers is the extent that economic incentives encourage gang membership. Seals points to a lack of data as a challenge in establishing these connections (2009, p. 407). Seals used annual county unemployment rates to understand the correlation between higher unemployment rates and increased gang activity. After analyzing the data, Seals asserts that "the local unemployment rate is positively related to male gang participation, as the availability of legitimate jobs is a key indicator of economic prospects for low-skilled workers" (p. 412). Seals also points to another important study that concludes the fundamental cause of urban poverty in the U.S. is "a lack of opportunity for low-skilled workers in the post-industrial economy and the resulting unemployment (or underemployment) of those workers." Seals' study shows that gang participation peaks when members are sixteen years old, which is the minimum legal age for working in any non-hazardous occupation. After age 16, youth membership in gangs begins to decline. Thus, "the rise in gang participation until age sixteen could be the result of economic opportunity provided by gangs to those unable to find legitimate employment" and that the decrease in gang participation after youth have reached sixteen years of age may be from youth having more opportunities for legitimate employment (p. 415).

There are other positive and negative correlations that create a clearer profile for those youth whom are likely to join gangs:

Exposure to Violence

Voisin et al. carried out a study exploring the last correlation that Seals points out—the relationship between being exposed to violence and committing violence. Voisin's study shows that about 80 percent of the delinquent youths interviewed reported that they had seen "one or more incidents of community violence within the 12 months before detainment" (p. 150). Other relevant statistics are that about 20 percent had experienced a family member robbed or attacked, about 40 percent "had seen someone other than a family member beaten or attacked by others," and well over 50 percent "had seen someone beaten, shot, or really hurt by someone." Also, over 50 percent "had been around people shooting guns in their neighborhood" (2008, p. 152). Many other researchers have also noted that there is a strong correlation between youth witnessing violence in their communities and youth becoming members of gangs. A former New York gang member, Robert de Sena, who works to prevent youth from joining gangs, confirms this correlation from his direct experience. De Sena, who grew up in an economically depressed area of New York, observes that,

One study above shows a correlation between economic incentives and gang-involvement, another study shows a correlation between witnessing violence and gang-involvement, and still other researchers have found a correlation between growing up in a broken home and gang-involvement. Most likely, all of these factors contribute to youth becoming involved in gangs.

Peer Pressure

We should also consider the social factor—and particularly the effects of peer pressure that youth certainly experience. McGloin and Piquero (2009) carried out a study that investigates this area. Their study demonstrates that there is a sharp increase in committing acts of violence when a youth is with "co-offenders." An important premise is that "individuals who would otherwise not engage in delinquency may do so when in a group setting. Co-offending may reflect the fact that individuals move past some restraint threshold for offending when in the presence of others" (p. 340). The individual's likelihood to commit a violent crime increases when more people are present, meaning gangs are the optimal social structure for committing violence. According to the study, for each additional person with whom the person offends, the odds of an individual's first group offense being violent increase by about 10 percent. McGloin and Piquero give two possibilities for why this is so. One reason may be that "when offending with accomplices, it is easier to 'blame' others for the act and obscure one's individual identity, giving oneself up to behavior without typical limitations." Another possibility is that "the consequences for inaction might be even more serious than social rejection under certain conditions . . . a number of scholars have discussed how demonstrating one's toughness in front of others is a key manner in which to obtain and maintain respect" (p. 345). They conclude:

Discussion

Is There a Solution?

Punishment

The solution to youth gang-involvement is no less complicated than its causes. The most straight-forward answer would seem to be the involvement of police force, but that solution is simplistic. Seals writes that the police are most commonly involved in deterring gang activity. However, he also argues that police "are often at a disadvantage because they cannot control the factors which are generally attributed to gang participation, such as poor economic opportunity, inadequate family structure, and cultural isolation" (2009, p. 407). Arinde points out there are plenty of attempts at creating tough legislation to deal with gang members, but this has not been very effective. Typically—as was included in a 2004 congressional bill—these legislative attempts to deal with gang activity create harsher sentencing, such as prosecuting 16-year-olds as adults or sentencing criminals with the death penalty for gang-related murders. But some argue that the reason Congress tends to increase its writing of legislation against gangs is that creating new legislation is less costly than funding preventive programs.

Captain Adams does not believe incarceration is the right answer to the problem of gangs. He was in a youth gang and was arrested at age 15 for burglary. He observes that if such harsh legislation were applied to him as a teenager, he would just be getting out of prison, having served a 30-year sentence. He adds,

Prevention

According to most experts who have researched gang involvement, prevention seems to be the best approach. Seals points out the lack of community support for youth in the ghettos, observing that there is a "scarcity of public resources such as community centers, youth counseling services, police protection, and even churches and schools necessary to service large populations," and he notes that this lack of community resources "is endemic to urban ghettos where street gangs flourish" (2009, p. 415). Voisin et al., after having thoroughly researched the relation between violence and gang involvement, argues that "interventions designed to alter negative peer affiliations and promote membership in pro-social peer groups might be a useful strategy." They suggest that school-based programs should be instituted to "encourage pro-social affiliation and membership that would substitute for gang membership" (2008, p. 154).

One expert on gangs observes that between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., students are often unsupervised, and this is the most dangerous time for youth (Henderson, 2009, p. 5). Sivan et al. (1999) cite a study released by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, which shows that the "greatest risk of violent victimization by nonfamily members" occurs between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The study also pointed out that "children who participate in organized after-school activities were less likely to be both victims and perpetrators of violence" (p. 147). Thus, many experts believe we should, as a society, create more social groups for youth to join. Again reasoning from his experience as a gang member, Robert de Sena concurs:

Seals gives another strong argument for taking a preventative approach. His study demonstrates that gangs generally have high member turnover rates because individual gang careers are relatively short and that "public policies that inhibit individual gang participation (particularly initial gang participation) are likely to generate positive results because gangs need new members to remain viable" (2009, p. 414). Having looked at the problem economically, Seals proposes that "programs designed to increase economic opportunity among disadvantaged youth could greatly reduce gang participation and, as a result, gang-related crime" (p. 422). Thus, two possible ways to decrease gang involvement are to create clubs and programs through our public schools and communities and to use state and local agencies to offer more employment opportunities for at-risk youth.

Public programs that reach out to parents could also help reduce gang-related crime. Voisin et al. point out that, in his study, "increased perceived parental monitoring was negatively associated with both gang involvement and drug use." They suggest that community-based parent-training classes and outreach programs should be developed for America's at-risk neighborhoods. Voisin proposes that "training parents to adequately monitor their youths, or assisting them with networking with other parents or adults who can provide monitoring functions for their youths, may be effective strategies for disrupting the likelihood of joining gangs or using illicit drugs" (2008, p. 155).

Involvement of Educators

Rafferty and Raimondi (2009) suggest that teachers and other educational personnel should be more involved with detecting problems youth may be having and with bridging between parents, communities, and programs (p. 21). Pyrooz (2014) indicates that non-gang-affiliated youth are up to 30 percent more likely to complete high school than their gang-affiliated peers, leading to increased socioeconomic stratification in the wider society. Henderson (2009) interviewed gang expert Bud Mayo, who makes some observations on how to improve the role of educators in preventing gang involvement. According to Mayo, most teachers and administrators "know very little about gangs and gang culture." One way to correct this is to promote more colleges of education around the country to "include courses on gangs and school violence in their programs to better prepare graduates for the classroom" (cited in Henderson, 2009, p. 6).

Law enforcement must be involved in bringing those who commit crimes to justice. As Kingsbury observes, federal law enforcement agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), carry out operations against gangsters—and particularly against gunrunners (2008, p. 4). Federal agents have been going on stakeouts, making undercover busts, and working with informants. The ATF, and also the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, then contacts regional SWAT teams to arrest the gunrunners. According to Kingsbury, catching and stopping the major gunrunners and charging them with conspiracy and racketeering, makes it more difficult for other gang members to obtain weapons. "As violence declines, local police and social workers can step in" (pp. 7-8).

The best alternative may be to address the problem of gang involvement through multiple strategies. Outside of the involvement of law enforcement, there is a lack of other alternatives such as positive social groups, outreach programs, or state and local employment programs for at-risk youth. Just as the cause of the problem is multi-faceted, so must be the solution.

Terms & Concepts

At-Risk Youth: Adolescents who are likely to become drug users, members of gangs, or juvenile delinquents.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF): A law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice. The ATF has agents who track violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.

Gangs: Comprise youth who associate together, wear gang colors or clothes, commit various crimes (often violent crimes) and have set boundaries for their territory. A gang protects its members and turf against other rival gangs through fighting or threats.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE): The largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE is responsible for enforcing the nation's immigration and customs laws, and the agency also collects and shares data with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Juvenile Delinquents: Youth under the age of 18 who commit acts that violate the law.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97): A survey first begun in 1997 and updated biennially. The survey uses a nationally representative sample of youths, ages 12 to 16.

Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP): An agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. The OJJDP is concentrated on juvenile delinquency prevention, treatment, and control in areas such as mentoring, substance abuse, gangs, truancy, and chronic juvenile criminality. The OJJDP supports states and communities in developing effective prevention and intervention programs to help reduce juvenile delinquency.

Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT): A special paramilitary tactical force used in American law enforcement departments. SWAT teams are trained to carry out high-risk operations such as counter-terrorism operations, hostage rescues, serving dangerous arrest-and-search warrants, and arresting heavily armed criminals.

Violent Crime Index (VCI): A set of annual statistics published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The VCI statistics come from police department reports from across the United States, and only includes statistics for homicide, rape, robbery, and assault.

Bibliography

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Suggested Reading

Barrett, A. N., Kuperminc, G. P., & Lewis, K. M. (2013). Acculturative stress and gang involvement among Latinos: U.S.-born versus immigrant youth. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 35, 370–389. Retrieved December 23, 2013 from the EBSCO online database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=89109481

Howell, J. C. (2015). The history of street gangs in the United States: Their origins and transformations. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. Retrieved January 20, 2016, from EBSCO online database eBook Collection. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1059948&site=ehost-live

Koffman, S., et al. (2009). Impact of a comprehensive whole child intervention and prevention program among youths at risk of gang involvement and other forms of delinquency. Children & Schools, 31, 239–245. Retrieved July 2, 2010 from the EBSCO online database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=44454567&site=ehost-live.

Levy, E., Tozer, C., & Olley, R. I. (2013). Preventing gang involvement: Beyond what is expected. Communique (0164775X), 42, 4. Retrieved November 15, 2014, from EBSCo Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=95718018

Piley, W. (2006). Interpreting gang tattoos. Corrections Today, 68, 46–53. Retrieved July 2, 2010 from the EBSCO online database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rst&AN=20610237&site=ehost-live.

Williams, L. R., LeCroy, C. W., & Vivian, J. P. (2014). Assessing risk of recidivism among juvenile offenders: The development and validation of the recidivism risk instrument. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 11, 318–327. Retrieved November 15, 2014, from EBSCo Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=97806035

Winfree, T., Jr. (2001). Hispanic and Anglo gang membership in two southwestern cities. Social Science Journal, 38, 105–118. Retrieved July 1, 2010 from the EBSCO online database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=4273214&site=ehost-live.