gangs research articles

• A-Z Publications

Annual Review of Criminology

Volume 5, 2022, review article, gang research in the twenty-first century.

• Caylin Louis Moore 1 , and Forrest Stuart 1
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: Department of Sociology, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305; email: [email protected] [email protected]
• Vol. 5:299-320 (Volume publication date January 2022) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-094656
• First published as a Review in Advance on September 16, 2021
• Copyright © 2022 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

For nearly a century, gang scholarship has remained foundational to criminological theory and method. Twenty-first-century scholarship continues to refine and, in some cases, supplant long-held axioms about gang formation, organization, and behavior. Recent advances can be traced to shifts in the empirical social reality and conditions within which gangs exist and act. We draw out this relationship—between the ontological and epistemological—by identifying key macrostructural shifts that have transformed gang composition and behavior and, in turn, forced scholars to revise dominant theoretical frameworks and analytical approaches. These shifts include large-scale economic transformations, the expansion of punitive state interventions, the proliferation of the Internet and social media, intensified globalization, and the increasing presence of women and LGBTQ individuals in gangs and gang research. By introducing historically unprecedented conditions and actors, these developments provide novel opportunities to reconsider previous analyses of gang structure, violence, and other related objects of inquiry.

Article metrics loading...

Full text loading...

Literature Cited

• Agnew R. 1992 . Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology 30 : 47– 88 [Google Scholar]
• Aldridge J , Medina-Ariz J , Ralphs R. 2012 . Counting gangs: conceptual and validity problems with the Eurogang definition. See Esbensen & Maxson 2012 35– 51
• Anderson E 1990 . Streetwise : Race , Class , and Change in an Urban Community Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Anderson E 1999 . Code of the Street : Decency , Violence , and the Moral Life of the Inner City New York: Norton [Google Scholar]
• Aspholm R. 2020 . Views from the Streets : The Transformation of Gangs and Violence on Chicago's South Side New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Auyero J , Berti MF. 2015 . In Harm's Way : The Dynamics of Urban Violence Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Ball RA , Curry GD. 1995 . The logic of definition in criminology: Purposes and methods for defining gangs. Criminology 33 : 225– 45 [Google Scholar]
• Barajas FP. 2007 . An invading army: a civil gang injunction in a Southern California Chicana/o community. Lat. Stud. 5 : 393– 417 [Google Scholar]
• Becker HS. 2008 . Outsiders : Studies in the Sociology of Deviance New York: Simon & Schuster [Google Scholar]
• Bookin-Weiner H , Horowitz R. 1983 . The end of the youth gang: fad or fact?. Criminol. Public Policy 21 : 585– 602 [Google Scholar]
• Bourgois P. 1996 . In Search of Respect : Selling Crack in El Barrio Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Brotherton DC. 1997 . Socially constructing the nomads. Part one. Humanit. Soc. 21 : 110– 29 [Google Scholar]
• Caldwell B. 2010 . Criminalizing day-to-day life: a socio-legal critique of gang injunctions. Am. J . Crim. Law 37 : 241– 90 [Google Scholar]
• Campbell A. 1984 . The Girls in the Gang : A Report from New York City New York: Blackwell [Google Scholar]
• Chavez L. 2013 . The Latino Threat : Constructing Citizens , Immigrants , and the Nation Palo Alto: Stanf. Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Cheng T. 2017 . Violence prevention and targeting the elusive gang member. Law Soc. Rev. 51 : 42– 69 [Google Scholar]
• Cheng T. 2018 . Recruitment through rule breaking: establishing social ties with gang members. City Community 17 : 150– 69 [Google Scholar]
• Cloward RA , Ohlin LE. 1960 . Delinquency and Opportunity : A Theory of Delinquent Gangs New York: Free Press [Google Scholar]
• Cohen AK. 1955 . Delinquent Boys : The Culture of the Gang Glencoe, IL: Free Press [Google Scholar]
• Collins PH. 2002 . Black Feminist Thought : Knowledge , Consciousness , and the Politics of Empowerment New York: Routledge [Google Scholar]
• Collins R. 2011 . Interaction rituals and the new electronic media. The Sociological Eye : Writings by the Sociologist Randall Collins http://sociological-eye.blogspot.com/2011/01/interaction-rituals-and-new-electronic.html [Google Scholar]
• Contreras R. 2013 . The Stickup Kids : Race , Drugs , Violence , and the American Dream Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
• Coughlin BC , Venkatesh SA. 2003 . The urban street gang after 1970. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 29 : 41– 64 [Google Scholar]
• Covington J. 1995 . Racial classification in criminology: the reproduction of racialized crime. Sociol. Forum 10 : 547– 68 [Google Scholar]
• Curry GD. 1998 . Female gang involvement. J. Res . Crime Delinquency 35 : 100– 18 [Google Scholar]
• Curry GD. 2015 . The logic of defining gangs revisited. See Decker & Pyrooz 2015 7– 27
• Curtis R. 1997 . The improbable transformation of inner-city neighborhoods: crime, violence, drugs, and youth in the 1990s. J. Crim. Law Criminol. 88 : 1233– 76 [Google Scholar]
• Dean M. 1999 . Governmentality : Power and Rule in Modern Society London: Sage [Google Scholar]
• Decker SH , Pyrooz D. 2015 . The Handbook of Gangs Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell [Google Scholar]
• Decker SH , Pyrooz DC , Sweeten G , Moule RK. 2014 . Validating self-nomination in gang research: assessing differences in gang embeddedness across non-, current, and former gang members. J. Quant. Criminol. 30 : 577– 98 [Google Scholar]
• Decker SH , Van Gemert F , Pyrooz DC. 2009 . Gangs, migration, and crime: the changing landscape in Europe and the USA. J. Int. Migr. Integr. 10 : 393– 408 [Google Scholar]
• Delgado SA , Alsabahi L , Wolff K , Alexander N , Cobar P , Butts JA 2017 . The effects of Cure Violence in the South Bronx and East New York , Brooklyn Rep., John Jay Coll. Crim. Justice Res. Eval. Cent. New York: https://johnjayrec.nyc/2017/10/02/cvinsobronxeastny/ [Google Scholar]
• Durán RJ. 2018 . The Gang Paradox : Inequalities and Miracles on the U.S.-Mexico Border New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Esbensen FA , Huizinga D. 1993 . Gangs, drugs, and delinquency in a survey of urban youth. Criminology 31 : 565– 89 [Google Scholar]
• Esbensen FA , Maxson C. 2012 . Youth Gangs in International Perspective New York: Springer [Google Scholar]
• Esbensen FA , Winfree LT Jr. , He N , Taylor TJ. 2001 . Youth gangs and definitional issues: When is a gang a gang, and why does it matter?. Crime Delinquency 47 : 105– 30 [Google Scholar]
• Fader JJ. 2019 .. “ The game ain't what it used to be”: drug sellers’ perceptions of the modern day underground and legal markets. J. Drug Issues 49 : 57– 73 [Google Scholar]
• Fagan J. 1990 . Social processes of delinquency and drugs among urban gangs. Gangs in America CR Huff 183– 219 Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE [Google Scholar]
• Feixa C , Canelles N , Porzio L , Recio C , Giliberti L 2008 . Latin Kings in Barcelona. Street Gangs , Migration and Ethnicity F van Gemert, D Peterson, I-L Lien 63– 78 Cullompton, UK: Willan [Google Scholar]
• Flores E. 2013 . God's Gangs : Barrio Ministry , Masculinity , and Gang Recovery New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
• Garland D. 1993 . Punishment and Modern Society : A Study in Social Theory Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Garot R. 2010 . Who You Claim : Performing Gang Identity in School and on the Streets New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
• Goodwin C. 1994 . Professional vision. Am. Anthropol. 96 : 606– 33 [Google Scholar]
• Gordon AF. 2008 . Ghostly Matters : Haunting and the Sociological Imagination Minneapolis, MN: Univ. Minn. Press [Google Scholar]
• Hagedorn J. 1998 . Gang violence in the postindustrial era. Crime Justice 24 : 365– 419 [Google Scholar]
• Hagedorn J. 2008 . A World of Gangs : Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture Minneapolis, MN: Univ. Minn. Press [Google Scholar]
• Hagedorn J , Aspholm R , Córdova T , Papachristos A , Williams L 2019 . The fracturing of gangs and violence in Chicago : a research-based reorientation of violence prevention and intervention policy Rep., Great Cities Inst. Univ. Ill. Chicago Chicago: [Google Scholar]
• Higginson A , Benier K. 2015 . Gangs in African, Asian, and Australian settings. See Decker & Pyrooz 2015 538– 57
• Huff CR 1990 . Introduction: two generations of gang research. Gangs in America CR Huff 24– 36 Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE [Google Scholar]
• Jacobs BA. 1999 . Dealing Crack : The Social World of Streetcorner Selling . Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Johnson S , Muhlhausen DB 2005 . North American transnational youth gangs: breaking the chain of violence. Trends Organ. Crime 9 : 38– 54 [Google Scholar]
• Jones N. 2009 . Between Good and Ghetto : African American Girls and Inner-City Violence New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Jütersonke O , Muggah R , Rodgers D. 2009 . Gangs, urban violence, and security interventions in Central America. Secur. Dialogue 40 : 373– 97 [Google Scholar]
• Katz J , Jackson-Jacobs C 2004 . The criminologists’ gang. The Blackwell Companion to Criminology C Sumner 91– 124 Oxford, UK: Blackwell [Google Scholar]
• Keiser RL. 1969 . The Vice Lords : Warriors of the Street New York: Holt Reinhart Winston [Google Scholar]
• Klein MW. 1971 . Street Gangs and Street Workers Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall [Google Scholar]
• Klein MW , Maxson CL. 2006 . Street Gang Patterns and Policies Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Laidler KJ , Hunt G. 2001 . Accomplishing femininity among the girls in the gang. Br. J. Criminol. 41 : 656– 78 [Google Scholar]
• Lane J. 2019 . The Digital Street New York: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Lapidot-Lefler N , Barak A. 2012 . Effects of anonymity, invisibility, and lack of eye-contact on toxic online disinhibition. Comput. Hum. Behav. 28 : 434– 43 [Google Scholar]
• Larner W. 2000 . Neo-liberalism: policy, ideology, governmentality. Stud. Political Econ. 63 : 5– 25 [Google Scholar]
• Lauger TR , Densley JA. 2018 . Broadcasting badness: violence, identity, and performance in the online gang rap scene. Justice Q 35 : 816– 41 [Google Scholar]
• Laumann EO , Marsden PV , Prensky D 1989 . The boundary specification problem in network analysis. Research Methods in Social Network Analysis LC Freeman, DR White, AK Romney 61– 87 Fairfax, VA: George Mason Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Leverso J , Hsiao Y. 2020 . Gangbangin on the [Face]book: understanding online interactions of Chicago Latina/o gangs. J. Res. Crime Delinquency 58 : 3 239– 68 [Google Scholar]
• Levitt SD , Venkatesh SA. 2000 . An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang's finances. Q. J. Econ. 115 : 755– 89 [Google Scholar]
• Lopez-Aguado P. 2018 . Stick Together and Come Back Home : Racial Sorting and the Spillover of Carceral Identity Oakland, CA: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
• Lopez-Aguado P , Walker ML. 2021 .. “ I don't bang: I'm just a Blood”: situating gang identities in their proper place. Theor. Criminol. 25 : 107– 26 [Google Scholar]
• Maguire ER , Oakley MT , Corsaro N. 2018 . Evaluating Cure Violence in Trinidad and Tobago Washington, DC: Inter-Am. Dev. Bank [Google Scholar]
• Matsueda RL. 1992 . Reflected appraisals, parental labeling, and delinquency: specifying a symbolic interactionist theory. Am. J. Sociol. 97 : 1577– 611 [Google Scholar]
• Matsueda RL , Esbensen F-A , Carson DC 2012 . Putting the gang in Eurogang: characteristics of delinquent youth groups by different definitional approaches. Youth Gangs in International Perspective : Results from the Eurogang Program of Research F-A Esbensen, CL Maxson 17– 33 New York: Springer [Google Scholar]
• Matthay EC , Farkas K , Rudolph KE , Zimmerman S , Barragan M et al. 2019 . Firearm and nonfirearm violence after operation peacemaker fellowship in Richmond, California, 1996–2016. Am. J. Public Health 109 : 1605– 11 [Google Scholar]
• Maxson CL. 1998 . Gang members on the move Off. Juv. Justice Delinquency Prev. Rep. NCJ 171153 US Dep. Justice Washington, DC: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/171153.pdf [Google Scholar]
• Maxson CL , Hennigan KM , Sloane DC. 2005 .. “ It's getting crazy in here”: Can a civil gang injunction change a community?. Criminol. Public Policy 4 : 577– 605 [Google Scholar]
• McCuddy T , Esbensen F-A. 2020 . The role of online communication among gang and non-gang youth. See Melde & Weerman 2020 81– 104
• Melde C , Weerman F. 2020 . Gangs in the Era of Internet and Social Media Cham, Switz: Springer [Google Scholar]
• Merton RK. 1938 . Social structure and anomie. Am. Sociol. Rev. 3 : 672– 82 [Google Scholar]
• Messerschmidt J 1999 . From patriarchy to gender: feminist theory, criminology, and the challenge of diversity. Female Gangs in America : Essays on Girls , Gangs and Gender M Chesney-Lind, J Hagedorn 118– 32 Chicago: Lake View Press [Google Scholar]
• Milam AJ , Buggs SA , Furr-Holden CDM , Leaf PJ , Bradshaw CP , Webster D. 2016 . Changes in attitudes toward guns and shootings following implementation of the Baltimore Safe Streets intervention. J. Urban Health 93 : 609– 26 [Google Scholar]
• Miller J. 2001 . One of the Guys : Girls , Gangs , and Gender New York: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Miller WB. 1958 . Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang delinquency. J. Soc. Issues 14 : 5– 19 [Google Scholar]
• Miller WB. 1975 . Violence by youth gangs and youth groups as a crime problem in major American cities . Off. Juv. Justice Delinquency Prev. Rep. NCJ 34497 US Dep. Justice Washington, DC: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/34497NCJRS.pdf [Google Scholar]
• Moule RK Jr. , Pyrooz DC , Decker SH. 2013 . From ‘What the f#@% is a Facebook?’ to ‘Who doesn't use Facebook?’: the role of criminal lifestyles in the adoption and use of the Internet. Soc. Sci. Res. 42 : 1411– 21 [Google Scholar]
• Muniz A. 2014 . Maintaining racial boundaries: criminalization, neighborhood context, and the origins of gang injunctions. Soc. Probl. 61 : 216– 36 [Google Scholar]
• Novich M. 2019 . Female gang involvement. The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime FP Bernat, K Frailing 1– 5 Hoboken, NJ: Wiley [Google Scholar]
• Padilla FM. 1992 . The Gang as an American Enterprise New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Panfil VR. 2017 . The Gang's All Queer : The Lives of Gay Gang Members New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
• Panfil VR 2018 . LGBTQ populations of color, crime, and justice. The Handbook of Race , Ethnicity , Crime , and Justice R Martínez, ME Hollis, JI Stowell 415– 33 Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell [Google Scholar]
• Panfil VR , Peterson D. 2015 . Gender, sexuality, and gangs: re-envisioning diversity. See Decker & Pyrooz 2015 208– 34
• Papachristos AV. 2009 . Murder by structure: dominance relations and the social structure of gang homicide. Am. J. Sociol. 115 : 74– 128 [Google Scholar]
• Papachristos AV. 2014 . The network structure of crime. Sociol. Compass 8 : 347– 57 [Google Scholar]
• Papachristos AV , Braga AA , Piza E , Grossman LS 2015 . The company you keep? The spillover effects of gang membership on individual gunshot victimization in a co-offending network. Criminology 53 : 624– 49 [Google Scholar]
• Papachristos AV , Hureau DM , Braga AA. 2013 . The corner and the crew: the influence of geography and social networks on gang violence. Am. Sociol. Rev. 78 : 417– 47 [Google Scholar]
• Pattillo M. 1999 . Black Picket Fences : Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Patton DU , Eschmann RD , Butler DA. 2013 . Internet banging: new trends in social media, gang violence, masculinity and hip hop. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 : A54– 59 [Google Scholar]
• Patton DU , Lane J , Leonard P , Macbeth J , Smith Lee JR. 2017a . Gang violence on the digital street: case study of a South Side Chicago gang member's Twitter communication. New Media Soc 19 : 1000– 18 [Google Scholar]
• Patton DU , Sanchez N , Fitch D , Macbeth J , Leonard P 2017b . I know God's got a day 4 me: violence, trauma, and coping among gang-involved twitter users. Soc. Sci. Comput. Rev. 35 : 226– 43 [Google Scholar]
• Pyrooz DC. 2014 .. “ From your first cigarette to your last dyin’ day”: the patterning of gang membership in the life-course. J. Quant. Criminol. 30 : 349– 72 [Google Scholar]
• Pyrooz DC , Decker SH. 2011 . Motives and methods for leaving the gang: understanding the process of gang desistance. J. Crim. Justice 39 : 417– 25 [Google Scholar]
• Pyrooz DC , Decker SH , Moule RK Jr 2015 . Criminal and routine activities in online settings: gangs, offenders, and the Internet. Justice Q 32 : 471– 99 [Google Scholar]
• Pyrooz DC , Mitchell MM. 2015 . Little gang research, big gang research. See Decker & Pyrooz 2015 28– 58
• Ralph L. 2014 . Renegade Dreams : Living through Injury in Gangland Chicago Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Rios VM. 2011 . Punished : Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
• Rios VM. 2017 . Human Targets : Schools , Police , and the Criminalization of Latino Youth Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Rios VM , Carney N , Kelekay J. 2017 . Ethnographies of race, crime, and justice: toward a sociological double-consciousness. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 43 : 493– 513 [Google Scholar]
• Roberto E , Braga AA , Papachristos AV. 2018 . Closer to guns: the role of street gangs in facilitating access to illegal firearms. J. Urban Health 95 : 372– 82 [Google Scholar]
• Rodgers D , Baird A. 2015 . Understanding gangs in contemporary Latin America. See Decker & Pyrooz 2015 478– 502
• Roks RA. 2019 . In the ‘h200d’: Crips and the intersection between space and identity in the Netherlands. Crime Media Cult. Int. J. 15 : 3– 23 [Google Scholar]
• Roks RA , Densley JA 2020 . From breakers to bikers: the evolution of the Dutch Crips ‘gang.’. Deviant Behav 41 : 525– 42 [Google Scholar]
• Roks RA , Leukfeldt ER , Densley JA. 2021 . The hybridization of street offending in the Netherlands. Br. J. Criminol. 61 : 4 926– 45 [Google Scholar]
• Sánchez-Jankowski M. 1991 . Islands in the Street : Gangs and American Urban Society Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
• Sassen S. 1991 . The Global City : New York , London , Tokyo Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Savenije W. 2009 . Maras y Barras : Pandillas y Violencia Juvenil en los Barrios Marginales de Centroamérica San Salvador: Fac. Latinoam. Cienc. Soc. [Google Scholar]
• Schalet A , Hunt G , Joe-Laidler K. 2003 . Respectability and autonomy: the articulation and meaning of sexuality among the girls in the gang. J. Contemp. Ethnogr. 32 : 108– 43 [Google Scholar]
• Sela-Shayovitz R. 2012 . Gangs and the web: gang members’ online behavior. J. Contemp. Crim. Justice 28 : 389– 405 [Google Scholar]
• Shaw CR , McKay HD. 1942 . Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Shelby T. 2016 . Dark Ghettos : Injustice , Dissent , and Reform Cambridge, MA: Harv. Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Short JF. 1996 . Gangs and adolescent violence Cent. Study Prev. Violence Rep., Univ. Colo. Boulder, CO: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.186.2044&rep=rep1&type=pdf [Google Scholar]
• Short JF , Hughes LA 2015 . Bringing the study of street gangs back into the mainstream. Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences : An Interdisciplinary , Searchable , and Linkable Resource RA Scott, SM Kosslyn 1– 13 Hoboken, NJ: Wiley [Google Scholar]
• Short JF , Strodtbeck FL. 1965 . Group Process and Gang Delinquency Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Slutkin G , Ransford C , Decker RB 2015 . Cure violence: treating violence as a contagious disease. Envisioning Criminology MD Maltz, SK Rice 43– 56 Cham, Switz: Springer [Google Scholar]
• Storrod ML , Densley JA. 2017 .. ‘ Going viral’ and ‘going country’: The expressive and instrumental activities of street gangs on social media. J. Youth Stud. 20 : 677– 96 [Google Scholar]
• Stuart F. 2016 . Down , Out , and Under Arrest : Policing and Everyday Life in Skid Row Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Stuart F 2020a . Ballad of the Bullet : Gangs , Drill Music , and the Power of Online Infamy Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Stuart F. 2020b . Code of the tweet: urban gang violence in the social media age. Soc. Probl. 67 : 191– 207 [Google Scholar]
• Stuart F , Armenta A , Osborne M. 2015 . Legal control of marginal groups. Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. 11 : 235– 54 [Google Scholar]
• Stuart F , Riley A , Pourreza H 2020 . A human-machine partnered approach for identifying social media signals of elevated traumatic grief in Chicago gang territories. PLOS ONE 15 : e0236625 [Google Scholar]
• Sullivan ML. 2005 . Maybe we shouldn't study “gangs”: Does reification obscure youth violence?. J. Contemp. Crim. Justice 21 : 170– 90 [Google Scholar]
• Thornberry TP , Krohn MD , Lizotte AJ , Chard-Wierschem D. 1993 . The role of juvenile gangs in facilitating delinquent behavior. J. Res. Crime Delinquency 30 : 55– 87 [Google Scholar]
• Thornberry TP , Krohn MD , Lizotte AJ , Smith CA , Tobin K. 2003 . Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Thrasher F. 1927 . The Gang : A Study of 1 , 313 Gangs in Chicago Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
• Totten MD. 2000 . Guys , Gangs , and Girlfriend Abuse Toronto: Univ. Tor. Press [Google Scholar]
• Totten MD. 2012 . Gays in the gang. J. Gang Res. 19 : 1– 24 [Google Scholar]
• Urbanik M-M , Haggerty KD. 2018 . ‘#It's dangerous’: the online world of drug dealers, rappers and the street code. Br. J. Criminol. 58 : 1343– 60 [Google Scholar]
• Urbanik M-M , Roks RA. 2020 . GangstaLife: fusing urban ethnography with netnography in gang studies. Qual. Sociol. 43 : 213– 33 [Google Scholar]
• Urbanik M-M , Roks R , Storrod ML , Densley J 2020 . Ethical and methodological issues in gang ethnography in the digital age: lessons from four studies in an emerging field. Gangs in the Era of Internet and Social Media C Melde, F Weerman 21– 41 Cham, Switz: Springer [Google Scholar]
• van Gemert F 2001 . Crips in orange: gangs and groups in the Netherlands. The Eurogang Paradox : Street Gangs and Youth Groups in the U.S. and Europe MW Klein, H-J Kerner, CL Maxson, EGM Weitekamp 145– 52 Dordrecht, Neth: Springer [Google Scholar]
• van Gemert F , Peterson D , Lien I-L. 2008 . Street Gangs , Migration and Ethnicity Cullompton, UK: Willan [Google Scholar]
• Vargas R. 2014 . Criminal group embeddedness and the adverse effects of arresting a gang's leader: a comparative case study. Criminology 52 : 143– 68 [Google Scholar]
• Venkatesh S. 1997 . The social organization of street gang activity in an urban ghetto. Am. J. Sociol. 103 : 82– 111 [Google Scholar]
• Venkatesh S. 2000 . American Project : The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto Cambridge, MA: Harv. Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Venkatesh S. 2001 . Chicago's pragmatic planners: American sociology and the myth of community. Soc. Sci. Hist. 25 : 275– 317 [Google Scholar]
• Vigil JD. 2008 . Female gang members from East Los Angeles. Int. J. Soc. Inq. 1 : 47– 74 [Google Scholar]
• Walker ML. 2016 . Race making in a penal institution. Am. J. Sociol. 121 : 1051– 78 [Google Scholar]
• Wallerstein I. 1979 . The Capitalist World-Economy Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• West C , Zimmerman DH 1987 . Doing gender. Gender Soc 1 : 125– 51 [Google Scholar]
• Article Type: Review Article

Most Read This Month

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• HHS Author Manuscripts

YOUTH GANGS AND VICTIMIZATION: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPACT OF GANG DYNAMICS ON EXPERIENCES OF VICTIMIZATION

John leverso.

1 University of Oklahoma, Department of Sociology, Kaufman Hall, 780 Van Vleet Oval, Norman OK 73019

Kate K. O’Neill

2 University of Washington, Department of Sociology, 211 Savery Hall, Box 353340 Seattle, WA 98195-3340

Studies comparing gang members to similarly situated non-gang members find youth gang involvement is positively associated with experiencing simple and aggravated assault (i.e., violent victimization). This study expands on those studies by using data on gang dynamics from the Denver Youth Survey and bringing theory and concepts directly related to street gangs to the analysis of the relationship between gang membership and different forms of victimization. We focus on specific mechanisms—such as gang organization, centrality, leadership roles, identity, and tenure—that inform gang member behaviors while controlling for risky behaviors and personal histories. Findings indicate (1) gang organization is positively associated with both simple and aggravated assault victimization; (2) gang centrality is positively associated with aggravated assault victimization; and (3) being the leader of a gang is negatively associated with aggravated assault victimization. We discuss the implications of these results using a gang-informed framework.

Youths’ violent offending and victimization can take many forms, including bullying, fighting, brandishing weapons, and in extreme cases, murder. Many of these behaviors are intrinsic parts of street gang culture and membership, and gang membership predicts involvement in youth violence ( Thornberry et al. 2004 ). Youth violence typically involves young people victimizing other young people ( David-Ferdon and Simon 2014 ), and while research often focuses on gang-involved youth as perpetrators ( Pyrooz et al. 2016 ), recent scholarship suggests gang-involved youth are also uniquely susceptible to victimization ( Conway-Turner et al. 2020 ). Intergang conflict, masculine posturing, and involvement in illicit activities are all part of the gang lifestyle, and broad criminological theories, such as routine activities theory ( Cohen and Felson 1979 ; Hindelang et al. 1978 ), have been used to contextualize how gang members’ everyday lives disproportionately expose them to victimization ( Spano, Freilich, and Bolland 2008 ; Taylor et al 2008 ). While studies using broad theories provide valuable insight into these correlations, they are limited in their ability to how or why within- and/or between-gang characteristics/organization facilitate violent victimization of members.

More narrowly scoped research that employs gang-informed frameworks supports assertions that gang dynamics are an important predictor of both violent offending and violent victimization. Such studies tend to use one of three theoretical models Thornberry et al. (2003) developed: selection, facilitation , and/or enhancement . The selection model posits individuals predisposed to violent behavior gravitate towards gangs because gangs allow them to engage in violent behavior. Gang-involved youth are therefore more likely to victimize and be victimized by their peers because their peers are similarly disposed toward violence. Conversely, the facilitation model argues gang-involved youth are no more violent than non-gang-involved youth, but that within-gang dynamics facilitate and encourage violence. The enhancement model combines these arguments, suggesting both individual behavioral dispositions and gang dynamics drive violence and victimization. Overall, research strongly supports the enhancement model ( Delisi et al. 2009 ; Fox 2017 ; Melde, Taylor, and Esbensen 2009 ; Peterson, Taylor, and Esbensen 2004 ; Taylor et al. 2007 ; Wu and Pyrooz 2016 ), implicating gang dynamics and selection as co-occurring drivers of gang members’ violence and victimization. However, as with studies using broader criminological theories, these studies often employ comparisons of gang-involved youth to non-gang counterparts, in part due to data limitations. This, in turn, prevents full and comprehensive application of gang-informed theory and concepts and leaves links between gang dynamics and victimization of gang members undertheorized.

This paper logically extends gang-informed research on violence and moves beyond causal arguments concerning whether or not membership increases victimization by testing the differential influence of gang dynamics. We use a longitudinal sample of gang-involved youth, their offending and victimization histories, and gang dynamics to specify mechanisms through which gangs increase risk of violent victimization (simple and aggravated assault) among gang-involved youth. This data, paired with our use of gang-informed theory and concepts, allows us to account for the fact that gangs are embedded in unique contexts where features distinct to gangs have important implications for gang members’ victimization. Specifically, we analyze the roles of perceived levels of organization in the gang, gang centrality, leadership status, gang identity, and gang tenure (i.e., gang dynamics) in simple- and aggravated-assault victimization.

This research directly responds to calls for increased inclusion of gang-informed theory in gang research ( Fox 2013 ; 2017 ) by using a longitudinal sample of 169 gang-involved youth (286 person years) from the Denver Youth Survey (DYS). While prior studies and datasets have addressed the influence of gang membership and gang member characteristics of violent victimization ( Fox 2017 ; Taylor et al 2008 ; Wu and Pyrooz 2016 ), and specific gang dynamics on violent victimization ( Decker, Katz, and Web 2008 ; Sweeten, Pyrooz, and Piquero 2013 ), data limitations have made it difficult to address all these factors at once. Further, samples used in the study of gang victimization are predominantly derived from school samples or jail surveys ( Fox 2017 ; Lane, Armstrong and Fox 2019 ; Lane and Fox 2020 ; Melde et al., 2009 ; Peterson et al., 2004 ; Taylor et al., 2008 ; Taylor et al.,2007 ; Watkins and Melde 2018 ), which may not include individuals who do not attend school or individuals who engage in less serious offending.

In addition, DYS data on respondent behaviors and histories generally associated with violent victimization allows us to empirically assess both gang- and individual-level characteristics influence of these factors of violent victimization. Given prior research questions whether the relationship between gang membership and victimization holds when accounting for individual behavioral histories ( Katz et. al 2011 ; Spano et al. 2008 ; Taylor et al. 2008 ) it is important to control for such characteristics, and we address these findings in our research question by asking: To what extent are gang dynamics associated with violent victimization when controlling for individual characteristics of gang members ? In answering this research question, this paper illuminates mechanisms for increased victimization of gang members, and investigates them in models including risky behaviors and histories to ascertain whether these relationships hold net of these characteristics.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Victimization in the context of the gang.

While joining a gang may decrease a member’s risk of certain types of victimization such as violence in the home or bullying at school ( Rios 2011 ), gang members are at heightened risk of violence by both rival gang members and fellow gang members ( Delisi et al. 2009 ; Fox 2017 ; Melde et al. 2009 ; Peterson et al. 2004 ; Peterson, Carson, and Fowler 2018 ; Wu and Pyrooz 2016 ). Routine activities theory ( Cohen and Felson 1979 ; Hindelang et al. 1978 ) suggests the day-to-day activities of gang-involved youth places them in situations where they are likely to be victimized ( Spano et al. 2008 ; Taylor et al. 2008 ). For example, street gang members regularly engage in violent disputes with members of rival gangs, and in the course of such interactions members typically perpetuate and experience violence. Street gangs are organized in a way that encourages these disputes ( Decker and Van Winkle 1996 ; Papachristos 2009 ; Papachristos, Hureau, and Braga 2013 ), in that they hold to reciprocity norms such that attacks on individual members are tantamount to attacks on the gang as a group. Subsequently, perpetrators often attribute gang shootings to retaliation for perceived harm to their own gang ( Decker and Curry 2002 ; Decker and Van Winkle 1996 ; Papachristos 2009 ). Such conflicts may persist over time and lead to violence among gang members who may have had little to do with the original sources of conflict.

Additionally, gang members may be victimized by members of their own gang. Joining gangs in some cases involves violent initiation rites, such as violent beatings ( Vigil 1996 ). In this way, gangs may be organized in favor of violence against their own members because they abide by rules or systems that violently punish members for rule-breaking behaviors. Intra-gang conflict, therefore, can readily lead to severe violence if individuals are predisposed to violence or become accustomed to violence because of these dynamics. The precise frequency of intra-gang violence is unknown, but research suggests intra-gang violence is a fairly common experience among gang members ( Papachristos 2009 ), and one study even found gang members are more likely to be murdered by members of their own faction than by members of rival gangs ( Decker and Curry 2002 ).

A third source of violent victimization likely stems from involvement in illicit activities, such as drug sales, where gang members may be targeted for victimization by both gang and non-gang members for instrumental reasons, such as attempts to rob them for drugs or money. Gang members’ participation in such risky activities likely leads to increases in their victimization ( Spano et al. 2008 ; Taylor et al. 2008 ; Wu and Pyrooz 2016 ).

Gang dynamics may affect all three sources of violence—inter-gang, intra-gang, and illicit activities. That is, members’ individual relationship to their membership and/or position in the gang may make them more or less susceptible to these forms of violence. The next section describes research on such dynamics.

Theorizing Gang Dynamics

Theories specific to street gangs suggest common mechanisms through which gang dynamics increases risk of victimization: gang organization ( Decker et al. 2008 ; Leverso and Matsueda 2019 ), gang identity ( Hennigan and Spanovic 2012 ; Leverso and Matsueda 2019 ), and gang role centrality and leadership status (or, as more recent research terms it, gang embeddedness) ( Hagedorn and Macon 1988 ; Klein 1997 ; Pyrooz, Sweeten, and Piquero 2013 ; Vigil 2010 ). Broadly, gang organization refers to the extent to which gangs have established roles for members, leadership hierarchies, and behavioral regulations. The complexity of gangs’ organizational systems varies, and members of gangs may be at higher or lower risk of victimization because of this variation. Gang identity is the extent to which individuals identify with their gang and the extent to which that identification influences their behavior. The more strongly members identify as “prototypical” gang members ( Turner et al. 1987 ), the more likely they are to behave according to established gang norms and expectations. Depending on the nature of these expectations, behaviors motivated by gang identity may increase risk of victimization, particularly if that identity is very strong. Gang centrality refers, specifically, to how central members are to gang activities. In addition, gang centrality is related to gang leadership status inasmuch as gang members in leadership roles may be more actively involved in particular gang activities. Because gang activities are sometimes violent, both centrality and leadership status may increase victimization. While some researchers look to gang centrality and leadership to measure “gang embeddedness” as a singular concept ( Pyrooz et al. 2013 ) we disaggregate the two in our analyses so as to unravel their individual influence on gang members’ violent victimization. Although predominantly investigated in gang research on offending and disengagement, each of these theoretical perspectives pay dividends for understanding gang member victimization.

Gang Organization.

Gang organization is a broad term, and has been used to refer to gang characteristics such as differentiated roles and coordinated activities, the presence of leadership; regular face-to-face meetings; rules, codes, and norms with sanctions for violators; and initiation rites of passage ( Bouchard and Spindler 2010 ; Decker et. al. 2008 ; Pyrooz et al. 2012 ). Studies on gang organization often focus on its impact on delinquency and serious offending. For example, Fagan’s (1989) study of gang members in Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Diego finds gangs with higher levels of organization generally include more serious delinquents. Likewise, Bouchard and Spindler (2010) find gang organization predicts drug sales, violent offending, and general delinquency among gang-involved youth. Decker et al.’s (2008) study of gang members in a drug abuse monitoring program found that even relatively low levels of gang organization are associated with offending, while Pyrooz et al. (2012) find modest support for the relationship between gang organization and offending in a cross-national study using three samples. Given gang organization’s relationship to offending, one might imagine that proximity to delinquents and delinquency, as found in these studies, puts gang members at increased risk of victimization. Indeed, both Decker et al. (2008) and Pyrooz et al. (2012) found correlations between organization and victimization.

We conceive of two important reasons for this connection. First, the positive relationship between gang organization and violent offending supports a positive relationship between gang organization and violent victimization. The reciprocal nature of gang conflict suggests that those involved in higher levels of violent offending are also at higher risk of experiencing violent victimizations. Second, the features of gang organization could directly lead to increases in victimization. Roles and rules, for example, may promote drug sales and fighting with other gangs, which in turn increases levels of offending and risk of victimization among members. Violent initiation requirements and physical assaults as punishment are themselves forms of intra-gang victimization.

Gang Identity.

Gang identity, or the extent to which individuals identify with and are influenced by their gang, is theorized to be both a cause and consequence of how tightly bonded individuals are to their gangs. Recent research on gang identity is often developed from social identity theory (see Lauger 2020 for a review of social identity theory). Social identity theory posits individuals identify with a particular social group—such as a gang—and the strength of this identity predicts behavior regarding the group membership ( Tajfel 1978 ). Stable or increasingly positive social identities are desirable, and therefore individuals compare the “in-groups” to which they belong to the “out-groups” to which they do not. Individuals who make favorable comparisons of their in-group to the out-group tend to hold more positive group-linked identities and are therefore more likely to continue their membership and engage in behaviors that protect their membership. Among gangs and gang members, these in- and out-group comparisons may explain why gang-involved youth are disproportionately involved in both offending and victimization: gang members fight with each other to increase status, respect, and “street cred” in relation to other gangs, and when these behaviors result in positive in-group comparisons, a stronger, more positive gang identity develops ( Wood 2014 ). Notably, identities are not static, but are made salient by different social contexts. When social identities are activated, they experience depersonalization; an individual sees themselves as a prototypical group member ( Turner et al. 1987 ) and behaves accordingly. Given normative behaviors of gang membership and gang life include violence and criminality, it stands to reason that these are attributes of the prototypical gang member, and that gang identity will encourage violence ( Hennigang and Spanovic 2012 ). While the relationship between gang identity and victimization remains understudied, we argue processes of categorization, which increases normative violent and criminal behaviors of gang members, and social comparisons, increase conflict. This in turn increases both victimization and violence.

Gang Centrality and Leadership Status.

Involvement in gang activities is not equally distributed across members. Gang centrality, more recently conceptualized as embeddedness within gang activities ( Pyrooz et al. 2013 ), is an important gang dynamic that could help us understand gang member victimization. Gang tenure, role expectations, and the extent of engagement in inter-gang conflict varies by individual, with so-called “core” members being more central to gang activities than comparatively disengaged “fringe” members ( Esbensen et al. 2001 ; Klein 1997 ). Core members central to (or embedded in) the gang are involved in more offending and have longer gang tenure than do fringe members ( Hagedorn and Macon 1988 ; Pyrooz et al. 2013 ; Vigil 2010 ). In addition more central members may gravitate to roles reserved for high-status gang members, roles which can come with increased victimization. For instance, leadership and enforcement roles are often given to gang members who have demonstrated stronger fighting ability than others. Moreover, gang leaders may be more likely to engage in violence to solidify/maintain their position in the gang hierarchy. Generally speaking, gang embeddedness is positively associated with victimization ( Sweeten et al. 2013 ), as well as offending.

Gang tenure (i.e., length of time in the gang) is likely associated with the gang dynamics highlighted in this paper. Given gang membership constitutes a high-risk state, lengthier gang tenure may increase risk of victimization. For example, individuals with longer tenure may be more active members than are newer gang members, and may be more likely to hold leadership positions. Given these likely associations, we control for gang tenure alongside our other gang dynamics, and discuss its influence accordingly. Taken together research suggests gang organization, centrality, leadership status, identity, and tenure, directly relate to violent offending, and likely influence victimization as well. Thus, we hypothesize:

H: Gang dynamics are associated with both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization, net of risky behavior and histories.

Because some research questions the unique contribution of gang membership to victimization, after accounting for individual offending histories ( Gibson et al. 2009 ) or controlling for offending ( Katz et al. 2011 ; Spano et al. 2008 ; Taylor et. al 2008 ), we test our hypothesis with risky behavioral histories to see if the hypothesized relationship holds net of these characteristics.

CURRENT STUDY

This study advances the scholarship of gang victimization in three important ways. First, while a majority of research has found that gang members are more likely than other youth to be victims of violence, potential mechanisms remain understudied. Thus, by investigating associations among gang member victimization and gang dynamics this study theoretically and practically contributes to existing literature. Second, our sample of high-risk youth complements other samples of adjudicated youth and school-enrolled children. Substantively, school-based samples may not include individuals who do not attend school and carceral samples may include only more serious offenders. Our high-risk sample will complement knowledge on gang victimization of individuals in other contexts, as many gang members may be truants and/or dropouts who have avoided adjudication ( Pyrooz 2014 ).

Finally, our models include controls for past and present violent offending and current weapon carrying to assess the effects of gang dynamics net of individual behaviors. In cases where gang dynamics, particularly gang organization, were examined in previous research pertaining to victimization, the designs were bivariate (Decker et al. 2009) or cross sectional ( Pyrooz et al. 2012 ), and lacked controls for individual level histories. We improve on these designs with multivariate models, which include controls for both past and present offending histories. In doing so, our study acknowledges selection-based arguments in order to isolate the impact of gang dynamics.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The DYS is a longitudinal study of delinquency and drug use in high-risk neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado, from 1987 to 1998. The period in which these data were collected has implications for interpreting our results. The Bloods and Crips formed in Denver in the 1980s, resulting in a splintering of gangs, increases in gang conflict, and a proliferation of gangs and gang activities ( Durán 2013 ). Given this context, the results of this study are most relevant to areas and time periods where gangs are undergoing proliferation and increased activity.

DYS data were gathered annually, creating ten waves. The first includes a total of 1,526 completed interviews. A child survey was used for respondents aged 7-11. After age 11 all respondents were administered a youth survey until they were aged approximately 18. Starting with Wave 6, all respondents aged 18 and over were given the adult survey. We use data from the youth and adult surveys because the child survey lacks questions about gang membership. We restrict the study to respondents who self-report being members of a street gang and report their gang is involved in fights with other gangs or participates in illegal activities (regardless of whether the respondent reported being involved with fights or illegal activities personally). This restricted measurement of gang membership is consistent with those used in other studies using the DYS ( Esbensen and Huizinga 1993 ; Leverso and Matsueda 2019 ), and is necessary to ensure respondents are referring to a street gang and not a peer group. 3 In total, 226 individuals representing 404 person years report gang membership during the survey period. However, because variables about gang organization that are central to our investigation were introduced in Wave 3, we further restrict our analysis to respondents reporting gang membership in Waves 3 or later, resulting in a sample of 201 persons and 360 person years. After list-wise deletion of missing key variables we have a final analytic sample of 286 person years representing 169 individuals.

Dependent Variables

Simple- and aggravated-assault victimization..

The DYS contains three measures of violent victimization: how many times in the past year a respondent was strong-armed by someone with a weapon, hit by someone trying to hurt them, or attacked by someone with a weapon trying to seriously hurt or kill them. The strong-arm robbery variable was dropped as an outcome because it lacked sufficient variation to be a dependent variable (very few respondents reported this type of victimization). Of the two remaining variables, we treated being hit as a measure of simple-assault victimization and being attacked with a weapon as a measure of aggravated-assault victimization. While this contrasts with previous research where all three measures are combined to make a summed frequency scale ( Childs, Cochran, and Gibson 2009 ; Gibson et al. 2009 ; Peterson et al. 2004 ; Taylor et al. 2007 ), there is good reason to use individual survey items to represent simple- and aggravated-assault victimization.

To start, prior research on gang member victimization cautions against using items without internal consistency ( Fox 2013 ). The Cronbach’s alpha for the three-item scale is 0.14, indicating robbery, simple-assault, and aggravated-assault victimization cannot be reliably combined to measure violent victimization as a single construct. Further analysis of simple- and aggravated-assault victimization suggests they are not strongly related either. Specifically a correlation test found a week correlation (α=0.07), and prior literature asserts differences between these types of violent victimization in regards to severity ( Hart and Rennison 2003 ), frequency ( Lauritsen and Rezey 2013 ), and correlates ( Lauritsen and Heimer 2008 ). Specific to gang research, scholars have warned about using theoretically different constructs of victimization in one measure ( Ozer and Engel 2012 ). We therefore measure simple-assault victimization as a self-reported count of how many times the respondent was hit by someone trying to hurt them in the past year, and aggravated-assault victimization as a count of how many times the respondent was attacked by someone with a weapon trying to seriously hurt or kill them in the past year.

Independent Variables: Gang Dynamics

Perceived gang organization..

Following Leverso and Matsueda’s (2019) work on gangs using the DYS data, we measure gang organization based on subjective perceptions of organizational features. While a “true” and objective state of gang organization exists, the development of any gang organization measure necessarily relies on individual perception and reports thereof. Given perceptions of gang membership are as likely, if not more likely, to motivate individual behaviors as is the true state of gang organization (see Matsueda 2006 ; Thomas and Thomas 1928 ) we posit this is a reasonable approach given data limitations. Indeed, Pyrooz and Decker (2019) find support for using self-reported perceptions to research group level characteristics.

Gang organization is a summed scale of time-varying dichotomous variables. For each year a respondent answered “yes” to being a member of a street gang they were also asked to respond to a series of questions about the organization of that gang. Respondents were given eight measures of gang organization: “Tell me if the following describes your gang”: (1) “there are initiation rites,” (2) “the gang has established leaders,” (3) “the gang has regular meetings,” (4) “the gang has specific rules or codes,” (5) “gang members have a specific role,” (6) “there are specific roles for girls,” (7) “there are specific roles for each age group” and (8) “the gang has colors and symbols.” High scores indicate greater organizational structure in the gang. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a one-factor solution and the Cronbach’s alpha is 0.68. Similar questions and scales have been successfully used in previous studies ( Bouchard and Spindler 2010 ; Decker 1996 ; Decker et al. 2007).

We follow previous research ( Leverso and Matsueda 2019 ) and measure gang identity using six items measured from 1 to 5: “being in a gang makes me feel important,” “being in a gang makes me feel respected,” “being a member of the gang makes me feel like I’m a useful person to have around,” “being a member of the gang makes me feel like I really belong somewhere,” “I really enjoy being a member of the gang,” and “how important to you is the gang and their activities?” Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a one-factor solution and Cronbach’s alpha was 0.88 for the scale. The scale score is the mean of all items divided by six so the scale remains bounded between 1 and 5. Higher scores indicate a stronger gang identity.

Gang Centrality.

We measure gang centrality with two variables. First, following previous research, we use a five-concentric-ring response scale ( Esbensen et al. 2001 ; Melde, Diem, and Drake 2012 ). Respondents were told, “The target scale represents the activities that go on in your gang. How far out from the center of things are you?” This item was reverse-coded and higher scores indicated greater role centrality. Second, we include a separate variable asking respondents if they were the leader of the gang as there is evidence leadership and embeddedness go hand-in-hand ( Pyrooz et al. 2013 ). Finally, we include a variable for the length of time an individual was a member of a gang (i.e. gang tenure) because gang membership is a high-risk state, which suggests greater time spent in the gang may be associated with increases in victimization. This variable is a summed score of how many waves an individual reports being in a gang. For example, an individual reporting gang membership in three waves would be scored a three.

Independent Variables: Risky Behaviors and Histories

We control for violent offending using a dichotomous measure of whether or not a respondent reports committing simple or aggravated assault within the past year and we include a lagged ( t -1) violent offending variable to control for whether or not respondents were involved in violent offending in the prior year. In addition, we separately control for whether or not a respondent has carried a hidden weapon in the past year because Spano et al. (2008) has found that carrying a weapon renders gang membership a non-significant predictor of victimization. We also include behavioral measures of frequency of drinking beer or hard liquor in the last year. Finally, we include a dichotomous, lagged victimization variable to control for whether or not respondents had experienced any violent victimization in the prior year (see Table 1 ).

Variable Descriptions and Descriptive Statistics, Denver Youth Survey Waves 3-10

Independent Variables Background and Contextual Variables

A detailed description of background and contextual variables appears in Table 1 . We include demographic measures of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status as measured by self-reported income, and age.

Analytic Strategy

To investigate the effects of gang dynamics on gang members’ violent victimization, we present our sample as a pooled time series. Our outcome measures of victimization are counts, and, therefore, we assume the counts follow a Poisson distribution. In estimating Poisson regressions, we found overdispersion—the variance exceeds the mean due to a large number of zeros. The negative binomial corrects for overdispersion, providing consistent and asymptotically efficient estimates of parameters and consistent estimates of standard errors. We use robust standard errors to correct for clustering on individuals and control for previous crime and victimization at t-1. Our analysis then proceeds in two steps. We first present descriptive statistics for our full sample at the person level taken from their first year of gang membership (N= 169). Next, we present person-year negative binomial regression models for both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization based on gang identity, gang organization, gang centrality, and risky behaviors and histories and controls (N= 286). Specifically, we test the hypothesis that gang dynamics are associated with both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization, net of risky behavior and histories .

Descriptive Statistics and Excluded Observations

Descriptive statistics for our sample of gang members are presented in Table 1 . Consistent with prior research, DYS gang members report a relatively brief period of membership: Almost half of respondents report only one year of gang tenure, 28% report two years of gang tenure, and 27% report three to six years of gang tenure. The composition of the sample reflects the ethnic and racial composition of the neighborhoods in which they reside: 54% of respondents are Hispanic and more than one-third are Black . 4 The mean age respondents reported joining a gang is 16.7 ( SD = 2.38).

We examined the distribution of missing data on the key variables in our analysis by comparing the distribution of 24 variables for included observations (n = 169) against excluded observations (n = 57). Pertaining to the majority of variables in our models we find no substantial differences between included and excluded observations. However, findings regarding gang tenure, violent offending, and carrying a weapon did indicate some statistically significant differences between included and excluded observations – though the practical implications of these differences are mostly incidental. 5 As expected given having only one data point increases the likelihood of list-wise deletion, respondents missing from analysis are more likely to report only one year of gang tenure. In addition, the 57 respondents excluded from analyses were more likely to report carrying a weapon (71% vs. 52%) and more likely to report involvement in violent offending (64% vs. 46%). While these differences do not substantively alter our interpretation of our results concerning carrying a weapon, violent offending, and violent victimization, it is worth noting more serious offenders may be underrepresented in our analyses.

Experiences of Victimization

Table 2 presents models predicting self-reported simple- and aggravated-assault victimization. When discussing results from negative binomial models, we convert coefficients into percent changes in-text, using the following formula:

The Effects of Gang Membership on Reported Victimization (Negative Binomial Models)

Robust standard errors in parentheses.

Given the frequency of beer and hard liquor consumption we divided the values by 10 so the interpretation is in terms of 10's of drinks.

Coefficients converted to percent changes in-text using the following formula: (exp β -1)×100= percent change in victimization counts

Overall, results support our hypothesis that gang dynamics are associated with simple- and aggravated-assault victimization. However, some gang dynamics are clearly more important than others with regards to predicting violent victimization, and the salience of gang dynamics is not uniform across the two types of victimization.

Simple Assault

Of our focal variables, only gang organization is associated with simple-assault victimization: a one-unit increase in perceived gang organization is associated with a 22% increase in simple-assault victimization counts among gang members. These results indicate that as perceptions of gang organization increase, the number of times per year individual gang members are victims of simple assault do as well. Such results suggest gangs are organized in favor of violence not only towards outsider threats, but towards their own members as well. Gang identity and centrality were not significantly associated with simple-assault victimization, a difference we explore further in our Discussion section.

Among individual behaviors and histories, violent offending, carrying a hidden weapon, and beer drinking are positively and significantly associated with simple-assault victimization counts. Gang members who report having engaged in one or more violent offenses in the past year see a 274% increase in victimization counts, though prior histories of violent offending are not a significant predictor of simple-assault victimization. Carrying a hidden weapon also exerts a sizable effect on simple-assault victimization; it is associated with a 206% increase in victimization counts. Drinking beer 10 times a year is associated with a 4% increase in reports of victimization. Of the background and contextual variables, age is associated with a decrease in simple-assault victimization, while being male is associated with a 151% increase in victimization. These results imply perceived gang organization and individual histories are important correlates of gang members’ simple-assault victimization, and reveal that not all gang dynamics are associated with simple-assault victimization.

Aggravated Assault

Our results for aggravated assault-victimization also partially support our hypothesis. Differentiating it from our results for simple-assault victimization is the fact that both perceived gang organization and gang centrality are significant predictors of aggravated-assault victimization. The positive association between perceived gang organization and aggravated-assault victimization is slightly larger in magnitude (31% increase with each additional feature of gang membership) than is the positive association between perceived gang organization and simple-assault victimization (22%). Further, a one-unit increase in gang centrality is associated with a 103% increase in aggravated-assault victimization. This is interpreted to mean gang members who are (or believe themselves to be) heavily involved in gang activities experience aggravated assaults in considerably greater numbers than do gang members who are further removed from gang activities. On the other hand respondents who report being a leader in their gang experience approximately 62% fewer incidents of aggravated-assault victimization than do non-leaders (p < 0.10).

As with simple-assault victimization, individual behaviors and histories are associated with aggravated-assault victimization. Having carried a hidden weapon in the past year is associated with an 282% increase in counts of aggravated-assault victimization, having been involved in one or more violent offenses is associated with a 144% increase in counts of aggravated-assault, and drinking beer 10 times a year is again associated with a 4% increase in reports of aggravated-assault victimization. No demographic variables are associated with experiences of aggravated-assault victimization.

Previous research finds gang membership is associated with increases in victimization ( Delisi et al. 2009 ; Fox 2017 ; Melde et al. 2009 ; Peterson et al. 2004 ; Taylor et al. 2007 ; Wu and Pyrooz 2016 ). However, a scarcity of gang-only samples means researchers generally compare gang members to similarly situated non-gang members using broader criminological theory. As a result, most research on how gang membership influences victimization offers a partial account of how gang dynamics influence youths’ victimization trajectories. By focusing on specific mechanisms shown to inform gang member behavior ( Decker et al. 2008 ; Hennigan and Spanovic 2012 ; Leverso and Matsueda 2019 ; Hagedorn and Macon 1988 ; Klien 1997 ; Vigil 2010 ; Pyrooz et al. 2013 ), we are able to empirically support our gang-informed framework and add nuance to the gang/victimization relationship. In addition, our inclusion of both gang dynamics and individual behaviors and histories known to influence victimization ( Katz et al. 2011 ; Spano et al. 2008 ; Taylor et al. 2008 ) allows us to test the importance of gang dynamics net of these factors.

We find varying levels of support for our hypothesis, gang dynamics are associated with both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization, net of risky behavior and histories . While perceived gang organization is positively and significantly associated with both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization, gang centrality and leadership are associated only with aggravated assault, and gang identity does not appear to be associated with violent victimization. Consistent with Ozer and Engel (2012) , our findings underscore the importance of disaggregating types of violent victimization in research on its correlates. One reason is that simple assault is considerably more prevalent than the more severely injurious victimization experience of aggravated assault (see Morgan and Truman 2019 ): DYS gang member respondents reported having experienced simple assault at more than double the amount of aggravated assault. Moreover, there are substantive differences in the experiences of our measures of simple and aggravated assault, being hit and being hit with a weapon by someone trying to cause death or serious injury (aggravated assault). For example, the former could describe an impulsive schoolyard fist fight among youths, whereas the latter could imply some premeditation (obtaining a weapon) and considerably more malicious intent. In line with this, our findings suggest that while these two types of violent victimization likely share some explanatory mechanisms, there are also important differences in how and why these events come to pass. While perceived gang organization is a crucial factor in both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization, gang centrality and leadership emerge as important predictors of aggravated-, but not simple-, assault victimization.

The finding that perceived gang organization is broadly associated with increases in violent victimization is unsurprising given prior literature indicates gangs are generally organized in ways that increase both within- and between-gang violence ( Decker and Curry 2002 ; Decker and Van Winkle 1996 ; Papachristos 2009 ). Initiation-type rituals ( Vigil 1996 ), corporal punishment for violations of gang code ( Padilla 1992 ) and impulsive physical scuffles amongst mostly young and male gang members may contribute to gang members’ experiences with simple-assault victimization. In addition, there is a feedback loop between violent offending and victimization ( Pyrooz, Moule, and Decker, 2014 ). Because gang organization is associated with greater levels of violent offending, it follows that members of gangs with greater levels of organization may be victimized at higher rates than gangs with less organization. Indeed, we find positive correlations between violent offending and violent victimization (see Table 2 ), and perceived gang organization and violent offending (supplementary analyses not shown).

While perceived gang organization is associated with both simple- and aggravated-assault victimization, gang centrality and leadership are only associated with the less common but more severe-in-its-consequences aggravated-assault victimization. We suggest this finding is related to what these two gang dynamics have in common: individual agency. Where gang organization and perceptions thereof may be more closely tied to structural characteristics of the gang, centrality and leadership are more dependent on individual gang members’ characteristics, desires, and abilities. Gang organization in favor of violence generally places gang members at higher risk of offending and victimization than similarly situated youth, but there is also variation among gang members regarding risk-taking and offending behaviors. Our findings suggest the gang-specific consequences of this behavioral diversity are expressed through gang centrality and leadership status. Specifically, we argue that as centrality to gang activities increases, risk of exposure to serious victimization does too. Simply put, gang activities are high risk, so it follows that the more gang activities one participates in the higher one’s risk of victimization.

This assertion is supported by our finding that gang centrality is associated with increases in aggravated-assault victimization (see also Sweeten et al. 2013 ). Further, more central gang members may be more likely to engage in retaliatory violence, which often involves acts of violence above and beyond simple assault ( Papachristos et al. 2013 ). In support of this statement, supplemental analyses indicate more “central” DYS gang members report more involvement in violent offending. It therefore appears that while gang organization uniformly influences risk of victimization among gang members, regardless of their within-gang status, central members of the gang experience contexts for risk above and beyond those of other members, and those contexts place them at greater risk of experiencing severe violent victimization. However, while gang dynamics indicative of being a more active member increase risk of aggravated-assault victimization, leadership status appears to exert the opposite effect.

The finding that being a leader is not related to simple assault and is negatively associated with aggravated-assault victimization is surprising. While our null finding for simple assault supports the assertion that individual-level gang dynamics are not especially predictive of simple-assault victimization, the tentative finding that leadership roles insulate members from aggravated-assault victimization appears to counter our narrative that “core” gang members are exposed to serious victimization risks more than peripheral members. However, we argue this finding may be because gang members’ perceptions of leaders as among the toughest people in a gang deters would-be assailants. In addition, leadership status may in fact be tied to capacity for violence, and it is possible gang leaders are more likely to forcibly end conflicts before they escalate past what we identify here as simple assault, and have greater control over decisions to fight (see Short and Strodtbeck 1965 ). Leadership roles, therefore, may afford members some protection from aggravated-assault victimization, though leaders experience simple assault victimization at the same rates as other members.

The finding that gang identity is not significantly associated with violent victimization is somewhat surprising, and we believe it has two likely explanations. First, as with other null findings regarding simple-assault victimization, it is likely that gang organization is the most salient predictor of this victimization type and that its influence eclipses the influence of gang dynamics at the individual level. Second, with regards to aggravated-assault victimization, it may be possible to identify strongly as a gang member but to be relatively uninvolved in high-risk gang activities. While gang centrality and identity likely overlap in important ways, they are not strongly correlated (α=0.26). Thus, it is possible that even among members who strongly identify with their gang, there is enough variation in taste for risk among these members that some are substantially more likely than others to steer clear of high-conflict, high-risk contexts. This finding therefore suggests a defining characteristic among deeply embedded gang members is their willingness to expose themselves to risky contexts, and that this exposure is an important predictor of aggravated-assault victimization among gang members. Regardless, given the relative novelty of this finding we encourage future researchers to explore this relationship using other datasets and analytical methods.

Of individual behaviors and histories, violent offending, carrying a weapon, and drinking beer were significantly associated with both types of violent victimization. Regarding simple assault, and taken together with our null findings regarding individual-level gang dynamics, we interpret results to mean the influence of individual-level characteristics that exist independent of respondents’ gang membership eclipses the influence of individual-level gang dynamics. Taking our results regarding aggravated assault together with the finding that gang centrality and leadership are important correlates of aggravated-assault victimization suggests both gang-dependent and non-gang-dependent individual-level characteristics influence aggravated-assault victimization. The finding that carrying a weapon exerts strong effects on aggravated-assault victimization aligns with prior research on the importance of individual behaviors, but contradicts prior research that indicates gang dynamics are spurious if one accounts for carrying a weapon ( Spano et al. 2008 ). Further, our analyses do not support the notion that prior victimization and/or offending are key factors in predicting gang members’ violent victimization. Thus, it appears prior histories of violent victimization and offending among gang members are less important than are their current gang contexts.

The above findings improve our knowledge of gang member victimization in important ways. DYS data on youths in high-risk communities facilitates a new vantage point in understanding the relationship between gangs and victimization in that it allows us to compare gang members to other gang members in an emergent gang city. In addition, this paper demonstrates the advantages of using gang-informed theory and concepts to better understand how different gang dynamics influence different types of violent victimization among gang-involved youth. The findings that the influence of gang dynamics varies based on both the type of dynamic and the type of victimization being analyzed should motivate future researchers to continue to disaggregate gang dynamics and victimization to further unpack this complex relationship.

This study has some limitations, and these limitations demonstrate future research is necessary to further support the findings and arguments presented in this paper. To start, while our sample affords us a rare opportunity to empirically compare gang members to other gang members, it is somewhat small and yields less statistical power than do larger samples (see Long and Fresses 2006 ). Thus our estimates of effect sizes may be conservative. Limitations related to our sample size may be especially relevant with regards to our argument that leadership roles insulate gang members from aggravated-assault victimization, given the leadership coefficient is only significant at p ≤ 0.10. Therefore, we present this finding as suggestive and encourage future researchers to critically evaluate this relationship. Finally, our measure of prior violent victimization necessarily includes victimization both within and prior to gang membership. While we explored restricting this variable to one state or the other, we ultimately determined it would have reduced the sample size in a way that would preclude multivariate models. For this reason, we suggest future researchers work to disaggregate pre- and post-gang-membership victimization in analyses wherever possible.

Regardless of its limitations, this study demonstrates the value of using gang-informed theory to analyze the relationship between gang dynamics and violent victimization in gang contexts. This research moves past the causal argument that gang membership leads to higher rates of victimization and suggests gang dynamics – particularly gang organization, gang centrality, and leadership – act as mechanisms to influence simple- and aggravated-assault victimization among gang members. Further, our results are robust to the inclusion of mechanisms for victimization suggested in prior literature, such as drinking, offending, and prior victimization. Taken together, these results clearly illustrate the advantages of investigating gang dynamics using gang-informed theory by showing this approach can help researchers understand an important dimension of youths’ violent victimization.

3 While research demonstrates self-report alone is a valid measure of gang membership ( Esbensen et al. 2001 ) the more restricted definition used here is necessary to rule out youths in non-criminal peer groups. For example, one participant reported being a member of a gang, but further analysis into the name of this gang revealed the respondent was referring to a church choir.

4 Unfortunately, the DYS did not disaggregate between race and ethnicity during data collection. Therefore, “Hispanic” is grouped along with racial identities despite the fact that it is an ethnicity. Thus, Black, White, and Asian Hispanics were forced to select either their race or their ethnicity during data collection.

5 Due to nontrivial levels of missingness, additional analyses were conducted using multiple imputation techniques. Missing values for our covariates were imputed using Stata 15’s chained command and imputing the data 10 times. Our imputation models adjusted for all independent variables with missingness. However, missing values for outcome variables were not imputed to prevent the introduction of bias. Sample size in these models increased to 343. Results, available on request, were consistent with the reported models.

• Bouchard Martin, and Spindler Andrea. 2010. “ Groups, gangs, and delinquency: Does organization matter? ” Journal of Criminal Justice 38 ( 5 ): 921–933. [ Google Scholar ]
• Childs Kristina K., Cochran John K., and Gibson Christopher L.. 2009. “ Self-control, gang membership, and victimization: An integrated approach .” Journal of Crime and Justice 32 ( 1 ): 35–60. [ Google Scholar ]
• Cohen Lawrence E., and Felson Marcus. 1979. “ Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach .” American Sociological Review 588–608. [ Google Scholar ]
• Conway-Turner Jameela, Visconti Kari, and Winsler Adam. 2020. “ The Role of Gang Involvement as a Protective Factor in the Association Between Peer Victimization and Negative Emotionality .” Youth and Society 52 ( 3 ): 469–489. [ Google Scholar ]
• David-Ferdon Corrinne, and Simon Thomas R.. 2014. “ Preventing Youth Violence: Opportunities for Action .” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . [ Google Scholar ]
• Decker Scott H., Katz Charles M., and Webb Vincent J.. 2008. “ Understanding the black box of gang organization: Implications for involvement in violent crime, drug sales, and violent victimization .” Crime and delinquency 54 ( 1 ): 153–172. [ Google Scholar ]
• Decker Scott H., and Van Winkle Barrik. 1996. Life in the gang: Family, friends, and violence . Cambridge University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Decker Scott H., and Curry David G.. 2002. “ Gangs, gang homicides, and gang loyalty: Organized crimes or disorganized criminals .” Journal of Criminal Justice 30 ( 4 ): 343–352. [ Google Scholar ]
• DeLisi Matt, Barnes JC, Beaver Kevin M., and Gibson Chris L.. 2009. “ Delinquent gangs and adolescent victimization revisited: A propensity score matching approach .” Criminal Justice and Behavior 36 ( 8 ): 808–823. [ Google Scholar ]
• Durán Robert. 2013. Gang life in two cities: An insiders journey . Columbia University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Esbensen Finn-Aage and Huizinga David. 1993. “ Gangs, drugs, and delinquency in a survey of urban youth .” Criminology 31 ( 4 ): 565–589. [ Google Scholar ]
• Esbensen Finn-Aage, Winfree Thomas L. Jr, He Ni, and Taylor Terrence J.. 2001. “ Youth gangs and definitional issues: When is a gang a gang, and why does it matter? ” Crime and delinquency 47 ( 1 ): 105–130. [ Google Scholar ]
• Fagan Jeffery. 1989. “ The social organization of drug use and drug dealing among urban gangs .” Criminology 27 ( 4 ): 633–670. [ Google Scholar ]
• Fox Kathleen A. 2013. “ New developments and implications for understanding the victimization of gang members .” Violence and victims 28 ( 6 ): 1015–1040. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fox Kathleen A. 2017. “ Gangs, gender, and violent victimization .” Victims and Offenders 12 ( 1 ): 43–70. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gibson Chris L., Miller Mitchell J., Jennings Wesley G., Swatt Marc, and Gover Angela. 2009. “ Using propensity score matching to understand the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization: A research note .” Justice Quarterly 26 ( 4 ): 625–643. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hagedorn John M., and Macon Perry. 1988. People and Folks. Gangs, Crime and the Underclass in a Rustbelt City . Lake View Press, PO Box 578279, Chicago, IL 60657: (paperback: ISBN-0-941702-21-9; clothbound: ISBN-0-941702-20-0). [ Google Scholar ]
• Hart Timothy C. and Rennison Callie M.. 2003. Reporting crime to the police, 1992-2000 . US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs; Washington, DC. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hindelang Michael J., Gottfredson Michael R., and Garofalo Jane. 1978. Victims of personal crime: An empirical foundation for a theory of personal victimization . Cambridge, MA: Ballinger. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hennigan Karen, and Spanovic Marija. 2012. “Gang dynamics through the lens of social identity theory.” Pp. 127–149 in Youth gangs in international perspective . Springer, New York, NY. [ Google Scholar ]
• Katz Charles M., Webb Vincent J., Fox Kate, and Shaffer Jennifer N.. 2011. “ Understanding the relationship between violent victimization and gang membership .” Journal of Criminal Justice 39 ( 1 ): 48–59. [ Google Scholar ]
• Klein Malcom W. 1997. The American street gang: Its nature, prevalence, and control . Oxford University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lane Jodi, Armstrong Gaylene S., and Fox Kathleen A.. 2019. “ Fear of victimization among incarcerated youths: Examining the effects of institutional “neighborhood” characteristics and gang membership .” Youth & Society 51 ( 3 ): 417–439. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lane Jodi, and Fox Kathleen A.. 2020. “ Race and ethnic differences in fear of property, personal, and gang victimization among people involved in crime: testing the effects of perceived neighborhood characteristics .” Victims & Offenders 15 ( 4 ): 395–417. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lauger Timothy R. " Gangs, identity, and cultural performance . 2020." Sociology Compass 14 ( 4 ). [ Google Scholar ]
• Lauritsen Janet L. and Heimer Karen. 2008. The Gender Gap in Violent Victimization, 1973–2004 . Journal of Quantitative Criminology 24 ( 2 ): 125–147. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lauritsen Janet L. and Rezey Maribeth L.. 2013. Measuring the prevalence of crime with the national crime victimization survey . U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. Washington, DC. [ Google Scholar ]
• Leverso John, and Matsueda Ross L.. 2019. “ Gang organization and gang identity: An investigation of enduring gang membership .” Journal of quantitative criminology 35 ( 4 ): 797–829. [ Google Scholar ]
• Long J. Scott, and Freese Jeremy. 2006. Regression models for categorical dependent variables using Stata . Vol. 7 . Stata press.. [ Google Scholar ]
• Matsueda RL (2006) Criminological implications of the thought of George Herbert Mead. In: Deflem M (ed) Sociological theory and criminological research: views from Europe and the United States . Elsevier, Oxford, pp 77–108 [ Google Scholar ]
• Melde Chris, Taylor Terrence J., and Esbensen Finn-Aage. 2009. “ ‘I got your back:’ An examination of the protective function of gang membership in adolescence .” Criminology 47 ( 2 ): 565–594. [ Google Scholar ]
• Melde Chris, Diem Chelsea, and Drake Gregory. 2012. “ Identifying correlates of stable gang membership .” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 28 ( 4 ): 482–498. [ Google Scholar ]
• Morgan RE, and Truman JL. “Criminal victimization 2020. National Crime Victimization Survey 2019, Bureau of Justice Statistics. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ozer M. Murat, and Engel Robin S.. 2012. “ Revisiting the use of propensity score matching to understand the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization: A cautionary note .” Justice Quarterly 29 ( 1 ): 105–124. [ Google Scholar ]
• Padilla FM (1992) The gang as an American enterprise . Rutgers University Press, Rutgers. [ Google Scholar ]
• Papachristos Andrew V. 2009. “ Murder by structure: Dominance relations and the social structure of gang homicide .” American journal of sociology 115 ( 1 ): 74–128. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Papachristos Andrew V., Hureau David M., and Braga Anthony A.. 2013. “ The corner and the crew: The influence of geography and social networks on gang violence .” American sociological review 78 ( 3 ): 417–447. [ Google Scholar ]
• Peterson Dana, Taylor Terrence J., and Esbensen Finn-Aage. 2004. “ Gang membership and violent victimization .” Justice Quarterly 21 ( 4 ): 793–815. [ Google Scholar ]
• Peterson Dana, Carson Dena C., and Fowler Eric. 2018. “ What’s sex (composition) got to do with it? The importance of sex composition of gangs for female and male members’ offending and victimization .” Justice Quarterly 35 ( 6 ): 941–976. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pyrooz David C. 2014. “ From colors and guns to caps and gowns? The effects of gang membership on educational attainment ”. Journal of research in crime and delinquency 51 ( 1 ): 56–87. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pyrooz Davod C., Fox Andrew M., Katz Charles M., and Decker Scott H.. 2012. “Gang organization, offending, and victimization: A cross-national analysis.” Pp. 85–105 in Youth gangs in international perspective . Springer, New York, NY. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pyrooz David C., Sweeten Gary, and Piquero Alex R.. 2013. “ Continuity and change in gang membership and gang embeddedness .” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 50 ( 2 ): 239–271. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pyrooz David C., Moule Richard K. Jr, and Decker Scott H.. 2014. “ The contribution of gang membership to the victim–offender overlap .” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 51 ( 3 ): 315–348. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pyrooz David C., Turanovic Jillian J., Decker Scott H., and Wu Jun. 2016. “ Taking stock of the relationship between gang membership and offending: A meta-analysis .” Criminal Justice and Behavior 43 ( 3 ): 365–397. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pyrooz David C., and Decker Scott H.. 2019. Competing for control: Gangs and the social order of prisons . Cambridge University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rios Victor M. (2011). Punished: Policing the lives of Black and Latino boys . NYU Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Short James F., and Strodtbeck Fred L.. 1965. Group process and gang delinquency . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Spano Richard, Freilich Joshua D., and Bolland John. 2008. “ Gang Membership, Gun Carrying, and Employment: Applying Routine Activities Theory to Explain Violent Victimization Among Inner City, Minority Youth Living in Extreme Poverty .” Justice Quarterly 25 ( 2 ): 381–410. [ Google Scholar ]
• Sweeten Gary, Pyrooz David C., and Piquero Alex R.. 2013. “ Disengaging from gangs and desistance from crime .” Justice Quarterly 30 ( 3 ): 469–500. [ Google Scholar ]
• Tajfel Henri E. 1978. Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations . Academic Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Taylor Terrence J., Peterson Dana, Esbensen Finn-Aage, and Freng Adrienne. 2007. “ Gang membership as a risk factor for adolescent violent victimization .” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 44 ( 4 ): 351–380. [ Google Scholar ]
• Taylor Terrence J., Freng Adrienne, Esbensen Finn-Aage, and Peterson Dana. 2008. “ Youth gang membership and serious violent victimization: The importance of lifestyles and routine activities .” Journal of interpersonal violence 23 ( 10 ): 1441–1464. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Thomas William Isaac, and Thomas Dorothy Swaine. 1928. “ The methodology of behavior study .” The child in America: Behavior problems and programs . 553–576. [ Google Scholar ]
• Thornberry Terrence P., Huizinga David, and Loeber Rolf. 2004. “ The causes and correlates studies: Findings and policy implications .” Juv. Just 9 : 3. [ Google Scholar ]
• Thornberry Terrence P., Krohn Marvin D., Lizotte Allen J., Tobin Kimberly, and Smith Carolyn A.. 2003. Gangs and delinquency in developmental perspective . Cambridge University Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Turner John C., Hogg Michael A., Oakes Penelope J., Reicher Stephan D., and Wetherell Margaret S.. 1987. Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory . Basil Blackwell. [ Google Scholar ]
• Vigil James D. 1996. “ Street baptism: Chicano gang initiation .” Human Organization 55 ( 2 ): 149–153. [ Google Scholar ]
• Vigil James D. 2010. Barrio gangs: Street life and identity in Southern California . University of Texas Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Watkins Adam M., and Melde Chris. 2018. “ Gangs, gender, and involvement in crime, victimization, and exposure to violence .” Journal of criminal justice 57 :11–25. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wood Jane L. 2014. “ Understanding gang membership: The significance of group processes .” Group Processes and Intergroup Relations 17 ( 6 ): 710–729. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wu Jun, and Pyrooz David C.. 2016. “ Uncovering the pathways between gang membership and violent victimization .” Journal of quantitative criminology 32 ( 4 ): 531–559. [ Google Scholar ]

Gangs, Methodology and Ethical Protocols: Ethnographic Challenges in Researching Youth Street Groups

• Original Article
• Open access
• Published: 14 July 2020
• Volume 3 , pages 5–21, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Carles Feixa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4874-1604 1 ,
• Jose Sánchez-García   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2880-7813 1 &
• Adam Brisley 1  

5795 Accesses

6 Citations

2 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

A Correction to this article was published on 04 December 2020

This article has been updated

Gangs have been described as an episodic phenomenon comparable across diverse geographical sites, with the US gang stereotype often acting as the archetype. Mirroring this trend, academic researchers have increasingly sought to survey the global topography of gangs through positivist methodologies that seek out universal characteristics of gangs in different cultural contexts. So, research about youth street groups requires an innovative methodological approach to develop a renewed approach for the twenty-first century’s youth street groups, different from the local, coetaneous, male and face-to-face model, used to understand the twentieth century’s gangs. How can complex social forms such as street gangs be researched in the twenty-first century? Can a single ethnographic approach be shared by researchers working in entirely different cultural contexts? What novel methodological and ethical challenges emerge from such a task and how might they be resolved? This article examines the methodological perspectives of the TRANSGANG project.

Similar content being viewed by others

Gangs: Fieldwork Experiences, Ethical Dilemmas, and Emotions in Youth Street Groups Research

Participation in and Transformation of Gangs (and Gang Research) in an International Context: Reflections on the Eurogang Research Program

Ethical and Methodological Issues in Gang Ethnography in the Digital Age: Lessons from Four Studies in an Emerging Field

Explore related subjects.

• Artificial Intelligence
• Medical Ethics

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

The structures used by the social scientist are, therefore, so to speak, constructs of the second degree, namely constructs of the constructs made by the actors in society itself, actors whose behaviour the researcher observes and tries to explain according to the procedural rules of his science (Schutz, 1974, p. 37-38).

Introduction

Gangs Footnote 1 have been described as an episodic phenomenon comparable across diverse geographical sites. Academic researchers have increasingly sought to survey the global topography of gangs in order to define the “universal characteristics” of groups that operate in different cultural contexts (Klein 1971 ; Miller 1992 ; Esbensen and Maxson 2012 ). The use of quantitative data and positivist methodologies has tended to result in rather Eurocentric accounts in which the “US gang stereotype” acts as a kind of global “gang archetype”. Footnote 2 In contrast, ethnographic work has revealed that contemporary gang formations diverge significantly from this normative model. Modern gangs are not strictly territorial, nor do they have compact structures. Instead, gangs today are structurally fluid, have significant geographic mobility and, due to patterns of human migration and globalization, organise and have a strong presence on social media (Reguillo 1995 ; Brotherton and Barrios 2004 ; Perea 2007 ). Gang identities in the global era are best understood as hybrid clusters of elements taken from the respective countries of origin of gang members; they are nomadic identities that, just like other contemporary “youth cultures”, appropriate and reproduce styles and trends as they circulate around the globe (Nilan and Feixa 2006 ).

This paper presents preliminary findings from a large-scale, multi-sited ethnographic study (Marcus 1995 ) of transnational youth gangs in 12 different cities around the globe (Barcelona, Madrid, Marseille and Milan in Southern Europe; Casablanca, Tunis, Algiers and Djendel in Northern Africa; Medellin, San Salvador, Santiago de Cuba and Chicago in the Americas). The study began in 2018 and is due to finish in 2022. This paper explores the methodological and ethical challenges of developing an ethnographic project on such a large scale and with such a high degree of cultural difference between the field sites and communities of study. The project is based on an experimental approach that combines “extended case method” (Burawoy 2009 ) with “relational ethnography” (Desmond 2010 ) and departs from the twentieth century’s model of studying youth street groups (a model that privileged local, coetaneous, male and face-to-face gangs). Our aim is to situate the experiences of youths at the centre of the project, unveiling the positive aspects of youth street sociability and how marginalized position within social structure is resisted and remade as a consequence. Some research focuses on proactive experiences in gang behaviour and policies (Leinfelt and Rostami 2011 ; Venkatesh 2009 ), but very few studies systematically compare such aspects in order to find variants and invariants in the evolution or in the reversal of the criminal gang model, use a transnational comparative methodology or focus on a group rarely included in gang studies (Young Arabs) along with another over-studied group (Young Latinos). Both groups face big challenges regarding new generations in their homelands and in their diasporic new land where their collective forms of behaviour have been seen as barriers to their social inclusion. Our standpoint combines post-subcultural studies and decolonial theoretical perspectives with critical criminology focusing on challenging traditional understandings and uncovering false beliefs about youth street groups. As a result, the combination of these viewpoints facilitates look at the field within the social structure of class and status inequalities and considers law and punishment of crime as connected to a system of social inequality and as the means of producing and perpetuating this inequality. Beyond this, we highlight the difficulties to apply the traditional criminological perspective in several different cultural contexts. Accordingly, the third section presents the process of elaboration of a transnational operational definition of “gang” in several academic discussions among all the local researchers of the project. Moreover, the discussion is oriented to a key point marked by several authors in the conceptualization of the meaning of gang: the question of labelling. How can such complex contemporary social formations be researched? Can a singular methodological approach be applied across very different cultural contexts? What new methodological and ethical challenges emerge from such a task and how might they be resolved? This article examines the methodological perspectives of the TRANSGANG project. Footnote 3

The paper focus in particular on our attempts to accommodate cultural difference in the research design and what happened as we put on plans in practice. The first section of the paper shows the theoretical perspective adopted contrasting with current literature on gangs and youth street groups, highlighting the ethnocentric tendency to use experiences from the Americas as a heuristic for experiences elsewhere in the world. We then set our how our plans for fieldwork sought to overcome this limitation by framing our understanding of gangs and youth street groups through debates about post-colonialism and critical subcultural studies. In particular, we focus on the definition of youth street groups in a transnational perspective and the need for out working definitions to avoid trite Western centrist viewpoints and the coloniality of knowledge (Mignolo 2010 ). Footnote 4 In “ Methodological Perspectives on Gang Research in the Twenty-First Century ”, we explore what happened in the first stage of fieldwork and the advantages and limitations of our approach. In “ Methodology in Motion: Defining “Gang Field ””, we discuss our unique approach to research ethics and safety, our attempts to tailor the highly bureaucratic ethical guidelines of the EU’s European Research Council for use around the globe and some of the ethical issues that have emerged from fieldwork thus far. The article is closed by a conclusion section summarizing the main conclusions of the different sections and its general implications for youth street group research.

Methodological Perspectives on Gang Research in the Twenty-First Century

As it is mentioned, our methodological perspective aims to reverse the traditional criminological approach. If we analyse these groups, in the first place, we find that these adolescents and young adults have a feeling of union and group belonging in a structure of sociability that resembles a second family. The use of the word hermanito (brother) by Latino groups shows the dimension of fraternity in the organization, whose main objective is not to commit crimes, but to offer solidarity by sharing their difficult daily life in terms of protection, identity construction and feelings of affection (Brotherton and Barrios 2004 ; Nilan and Feixa 2006 ; Feixa et al. 2008 ). As it is evidenced in previous research, gangs are diverse in ethnic composition, criminal (or not) activities, age of members, propensity towards violence and stable organization (Feixa et al. 2008 ; Feixa et al. 2019 ). Gangs experience changes due to direct factors and indirect factors, such as demographic shifts, economic conditions or the influence of the media, and their reactions vary according to community understanding, representation and policies; effective responses are diverse too: prevention, intervention and suppression or enforcement. A decade later, this situation is still “in process” in the Latin diaspora and the same (in) definition affects the Arabic and Muslim diasporic youth worlds (Camozzi et al. 2014 ; Feixa and Romaní 2014 ; Queirolo Palmas 2014 ). The challenge is to build a framework focused in the background of personal and social narratives, subjectivities and identities of group members. Our proposal is a unique mixture of views coming from subcultural and post-subcultural youth studies combined with a decolonial perspective that applies intersectional frame analyses.

The first tradition is rooted in subcultural studies elaborated at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at the University of Birmingham in the second half of the 1970s and the early 1980s. This university produced a series of influential works on youth and popular culture in the British context that opened up this new theoretical perspective from empirical research. One of the most insightful elements of the Birmingham school’s approach is its aim to take youth subcultures seriously and on their own terms, without dismissing them as ephemeral expressions of non-conformism youth or as forms of “juvenile deviance” like most of the previous studies on youth cultural practices and behaviours. As noted by Griffin: “The youth subculture project treated (…) working class youth cultural practices as imbued with meaning and political significance, as worthy to be studied in their own terms, and as potentially creative rather than inherently destructive or of minimal cultural value” (Griffin 2011 , p. 4). It provided youth research with crucial keys for understanding contemporary youth cultural practices such as street sociability; it is articulated more around expressive behaviour and less around direct and explicit political commitment. So, a comprehensive understanding of youth cultural worlds and production, drawing on ethnographic methods and on semiotic analytical tool, is essential for understanding the mediation processes at the heart of gangs.

However, we consider that there are several gaps in subcultural studies that need to be covered to refine this perspective according to our objectives. First, the attention paid to gender, sexual, ethnic and geographical differences among young people will be studied through an intersectional analysis (Yuval-Davis 2006 ). Moreover, we consider that youth subcultures are not clearly delimitated entities, but rather entities with blurred limits and crossbreed cultural references. Because the analysis of youth street groups’ cultural practices is no longer confined to spectacular styles, it rather tends to encompass the everyday life experiences and cultural practices of members or ex-members of youth groups. Consequently, the consideration of the limitations of the Birmingham conceptual framework and the new tendencies in conceiving youth cultural practices constitute the core elements of our “post-subcultural” approach (Bennett 1999 ; Bennett and Kahn-Harris 2004 ; Hodkinson and Diecke 2007 ).

On the other hand, this perspective considers identity construction as key variable in the research. Therefore, we refer to identifications rather than understand identity as a finished thing, as something in continuous construction and strategically negotiated. In recent descriptions of the identity creation processes among youth groups in the West, the treatment of the body (its construction, its treatment, its restructuring, deconstruction), the influence of an alleged global culture centred on the creation of transnational communities and the influence of music, specifically pop, rock, rap and local hybrid scenes, have emerged as major axes for young populations. These cultural elements are setting the primary reference markers for identity negotiation that some authors reflect upon in relation to global youth. Their importance to youth street groups is determined essentially by influencing choices, they invent new ways of understanding the body and diversifying transnational relations and the possibility of participating in solidarity groups related to similar cultural practices and identification artefacts coming from specific backgrounds differentiated from Western traditions. So, the identitarian processes emerge in an interface where, in addition to the hegemonic host culture and the traditional culture of their parents, several other subcultural traditions come together (Brotherton and Barrios 2004 ; Feixa and López 2015 ; Klein and Maxson 2006 ; Matza 1961 ; Venkatesh 2009 ). We can define five basic axes according to our subject, which are used as identification sources of cultural devices: (1) North American street gang tradition (Klein 1995 ; Thrasher 1927/2013 ; Whyte 1943 ); Latin American gang traditions: pandillas and naciones (Feixa 1998 ; Perea 2007 ; Ramoset al. 2013 ; Reguillo 2000 ); Arab youth subcultural traditions (Bayat 2012 ; Camozzi et al. 2014 ; Sánchez García 2016 ,  2019 ); European subcultural traditions (Esbensen and Maxson 2012 ; Klein et al. 2001 ; Leccardi 2016 ; Queirolo Palmas 2016 ; van Gemert et al. 2008 ); and finally, virtual global tradition represented by youth identity models that circulate through the Internet (Fernández Planells et al. 2020 ).

Beyond this, post-subcultural studies meet critical criminology challenging traditional understandings about gangs. This perspective examines the gang field within the social structure of class and status inequalities and considers law and punishment of crime as connected to a system of social inequality and as the means of producing and perpetuating this inequality. As a result, crime is seen as a product of oppression of subaltern groups within society, such as women and ethnic minorities. According to Brotherton ( 2015 ) to research gangs as subaltern groups, it is necessary to have a critical anti-colonial ethnography, as youth members have “little option but to resist this relationship of domination” (Brotherton 2015 , p. 80). This position emphasizes the creative and agency capacity of the gang members, their cultural productions and their forms of sociability as resistance practices, of course contradictory and ambiguous, against a set of discrimination processes in relation to culture, class, race and ethnicity. On the one hand, these groupings are seen as places of production and social transformation; on the other hand, the reproduction dynamics are also evident, that is, the homologies between their functioning logics and their symbolisms (masculinity, strength, authority, hierarchy) and the global functioning of society.

Finally, post-colonial studies, critical criminology links with decolonial epistemologies introducing the concept of border as both a symbolic and a physical space joining gang members’ perspectives with stakeholders’ and academic studies to produce border thinking in gangs. Footnote 5 In short, border thinking is a tool that allows us to discard Western conceptions and seek to accumulate other visions of the world that have been previously dismissed as invalid or backward. Border thinking arises in those populations that neither want to accept the humiliation of being relegated to an inferior position nor assimilate the imposed model. It is in these border spaces that other possible ways of seeing arise, which do seek not only to get rid of what is imposed but also to empower other ways of thinking, being and living (Mignolo 2010 ). With all this, we understand the subjects and groups studied as agents (with their own agency) that negotiate their situation in migrant societies and that, in that displacement (physical or social), adapt varied cosmovisions that are situated in what we will call the border.

Beyond studying gangs, we are interpreting social processes with blurred boundaries in different locations with very different social, political and economic conditions. So, more than construct “subjects” of research in an inductive manner, the objective is to follow configurations of relations. The focus of fieldwork becomes to describe a system of relations, “to show how things hang together in a web of mutual influence or support or interdependence or what have you, to describe the connections between the specifics the ethnographer knows by virtue of being there” (Becker 1996 , p. 56). Thus, more than to construct “subjects”, “youth street groups” or “gangs” in an inductive or deductive manner, the objective is to follow configurations of relations. Methodology constructs the pitch, in our case, “youth street group micro-cosmos” encompassing those agents that are part of it (state, academia, media, the gang, themselves among others) to understand how this field works what positions each of these agents occupies (although positions are variable) and see what dynamics are generated.

In summary, to research youth street groups as subaltern groups, it is necessary to have a critical de-colonial ethnography, as youth members have “little option but to resist this relationship of domination” (Brotherton 2015 , p. 80). The final objective is not to know “what it is” but “what it could be”. This perspective emphasizes the creative and agency capacity of the gang members, their cultural productions and their forms of sociability as resistance practices, of course contradictory and ambiguous, against a set of discrimination processes in relation to culture, class, race and ethnicity. On the one hand, these groupings are seen as places of production and social transformation; on the other hand, the reproduction dynamics are also evident, that is, the homologies between their functioning logics and their symbolisms (masculinity, strength, authority, hierarchy) and the global functioning of society.

Methodology in Motion: Defining “Gang Field”

However, the term gang exists, although it is usually associated mainly with organized crime, delinquency and illegal businesses with leadership and hierarchies similar to gangs in North America; terms and meanings may vary according to geographic locations and subcultural traditions, but using the concept, the danger of stigmatization of although all youth street practices is on the table.

From an “emic” point of view, in the three regions in which our study will be carried out, the use of the term is far from homogeneous. In Europe (as in the USA), the term “gang” tends to have a pejorative sense associated with crime, so it is juxtaposed with other terms of local use. This is the case in Marseille, where youth street groups are considered actors of the small banditry (drug trafficking, deal), while gangs “play in the major leagues” (they have guns and appear once or twice a year on television). Students between 12 and 16 years old use the term gang—to simply refer to their group of friends, showing that young people can call themselves gangs, despite their involvement in criminal activities (Mansilla, forthcoming). In other contexts, as in peripheral neighbourhoods of Paris, young people perceive the term gang as an extra-stigmatization to the fact that their neighbourhoods are marginalized and prefer to call themselves team, clique or crou (Moignard 2007 ). In Spain, the term gang— banda in Spanish—evokes the tradition of banditry of ancient origin and opposes the term pandilla , which does not have criminal connotations but refers to a group of peers. In Italy, when maras appeared in Milan, newspapers started to write about gangs and pandillas to distinguish them from local youth street groups.

In Latin America, there are a lot of local terms to name youth street groups: gangas , clicas and vatos on the border between Mexico and the USA, chavos banda in Mexico, maras in Central America, combos, parches and galladas in Colombia, coros in the Dominican Republic, pibes choros in Argentina, etc. In Cuba, despite the ignorance of the government about the phenomena, the term banda is associated with a musical group, while the term pandilla designates a criminal group.

By his side, in Standard Arabic, the term gang is ignored by its colonial background. The general term used to refer to “criminal youth groups” is iṣhāba while the term shila is used to designate a youth street group. However, there are other related terms coming from the national and local contexts and expressed in colloquial Arabic, such as hittistes (Algeria), tcharmils (Morocco) and baltagiyya (Egypt), which designate different criminalized street groups from paramilitaries to organized drug clans.

On the other hand, each youth group can use different categories to define itself. In Barcelona, the Latin Kings define themselves as a “nation” or “organization”, while the Ñetas define themselves as an “association”. In San Salvador, the Salvatrucha is a mara while the 18 is a pandilla or a barrio . In the case of the North African region, young people do not use a specific name, but rather are identified with the neighbourhood. In addition, some youth street groups propose using the term “street family” to avoid the term “gang” and to denote the horizontal fraternity and vertical authority relationships that occur among them.

So, how can we be sure that we will give the same meaning to the key concepts? This section examines two main methodological challenges that emerged during the operationalization discussions with different local researcher teams of the central concept of the project: what does “gang” mean? Footnote 6

According to Thrasher’s definition, a gang is “an interstitial group originally formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict” (Thrasher 1927/2013 , p. 57). Thrasher also points out that gangs, as forms of sociability, are characterized by a behaviour guided by face-to-face encounters, fights, urban spatial movement as a unit, conflicts with other agents and the planning of their actions. Thus, “the result of this collective behaviour is the development of a tradition, unreflective internal structure, esprit-de-corps, solidarity, morale, group awareness, and attachment to a local territory” (ibid.). In line with this approach, a gang can be characterized as an informal group of peers who are attached to a territory, in conflict with other peer groups and sometimes with adult institutions, an obsolete definition.

Although crime is not the main reason why gangs form, the police and political approaches in the USA have reinforced the criminal conceptualisation of gangs. When delinquency is not considered as a fundamental attribute of youth street behaviour, other concepts are used, such as peer groups, street groups, subcultures, countercultures or lifestyles, among others, and the term gang is reserved for youth street groups with members from mainly minority, migrant or ethnic backgrounds. However, the criminological tradition has tended to use the term gang as a synonym of youth street group more or less linked to criminal activities. Consequently, offering a gang definition with which all social actors (gang members, researchers, social workers, institutions, among others) can agree has always been a difficult challenge. Hence, during the twenty-first century, scholars have faced different challenges and have provided different approaches when trying to offer a conceptualisation of gangs.

First, the way in which we define “youth gang” determine the number and composition of what it is that we are talking about regarding the conceptualization of the term. In this question, two kinds of approaches can be found: (1) those offering wide definitions that gather more young people into the gangs’ conceptual net; and, on the other side and (2) those offering narrow definitions that are more exclusive conceptualizations that include fewer young people in gangs. Should more youth groups be integrated in the conceptual field defined as gangs or should the definition be narrowed to include only those groups engaged in illegal activities? Choosing a narrow approach usually involves focusing more on the illegal activities of the group and, consequently, being a member of a gang is seen as a criminalized behaviour. This perspective is represented by academic researchers who apply Klein’s definition, developed in the seventies in Los Angeles: “a gang is a group of young people that can be identified by: a) being perceived as an aggregation different from the others in the neighbourhood, b) recognizing themselves as a defined group, c) being involved in various criminal episodes that generate a constant negative reaction of the neighbours and/or of the services in charge of the application of the law” (Klein 1971 , p. 13). In this direction, the Eurogang network of researchers has defined a gang as “a street gang (or troublesome youth group) is any durable, street-oriented youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of their group identity” (Esbensen and Maxson 2012 , p. 5). These broad definitions focus the core criteria on durability, street-orientation, youth, identity and, most importantly, illegal activity.

The second challenge is about the naming process associated with “youth gangs” research. Although the process of assigning characteristics to gang groups helps to determine how conflicts and social problems are framed, if we focus on gangs only as a “social problem”, we ignore fundamental structural issues like racism, poverty and social inequality. Scholars who fail to capture the fluidity and contradiction inherent in gang identification create an artificial sense of similarity between diverse cultural contexts. The image of “the gang” as socially dangerous or damaging prevents gangs from developing into pro-social organizations or more organized criminal entities, often leading to intervention by state agents of control. This is the case in Algeria, where the term gang or its French version bande is ignored for colonial reasons; the researchers do not accept using the label gangs to youth street groups because the remembrances of the concept are very far from the realities of street young people selling gold or looking for a precarious job walking the streets and prevent criminalization and stigmatization.

Another question arising from the conceptualisation of gangs is related to the problem of how to study collective behaviour and group commitments while integrating personal experience and individual behaviour as well. The gang can be understood as an analysis frame about group status and relationships with other social subjects as individuals, criminalizing all the members. Here the focus is on collective behaviour and group engagements, and the personal experience is ignored. A good example of this dichotomy is Miller’s definition: “A self-formed association of peers, united by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership and internal organization, who act collectively or as individuals to achieve specific purposes, including the conduct of illegal activity and control of a particular territory, facility, or enterprise” (Miller 1992 , p. 21).

The last critical challenge we would like to point out when trying to offer a gang definition is how to integrate and emphasize the creative and agency capacities of members of youth street organizations. The definitions that line up into this issue take gang’s cultural productions and forms of sociability as resistance practices, contradictory and ambiguous, against a set of discrimination processes by culture, class, race and ethnicity. In this sense, Queirolo Palmas ( 2014 , p. 23) define gangs as “urban youth groups that take shape in the interstices of a post-migration society, with their cultural practices and sometimes cooperative interactions that are sometimes conflicting, and which are designated by the thinking of the institutions and the media as gangs, a signifier associated with violence, crime and social danger”. A definition that attempts to collect all of these attributes is that offered by Brotherton and Barrios ( 2004 , p. 23): “groups formed in large part by young people and adults from marginalized classes, whose objective is to provide their members with an identity of resistance, an opportunity for empowerment both individually and collectively, of a possible ‘voice’ capable of challenging the dominant culture, of a refuge with respect to the tensions and sufferings of daily life in the ghetto and, finally, of a spiritual enclave in which practices and rituals considered sacred can be developed”. In this perspective, we find the Latin American tradition of gang studies understanding gangs as social formations that attempt to build a cultural citizenship from the margins.

Based on the evidence established from ethnographic research in diasporic situations, as in the case of the Latin Kings in Barcelona (Nilan and Feixa 2006 ), the definition focused on group remarks the identitarian capacity of the crowd and describes it as street-oriented youth groups, with names, symbols and long-time traditions, composed by youths from deprived social backgrounds. Some of their members have connections with illegal activities, even if these activities are not part of the core group identity (Feixa et al. 2019 ). Adding the society-network context and the potential role of gang members as mediators to the Thrasher’s classic definition, we propose to use the generic term “youth street group” to refer to any gathering of young people, according to the definition of youth that exists in each context, who recognize themselves as a group and who use the public space, physical or virtual, to meet and find ways to be respected.

Thus, our perspective challenges the traditional criminological perspective on “gang”, considering the youth street groups not as a sole model but as a “continuum”. At one extreme, we would find, always ideally, the classic gangs based on illegal activities and not only formed by young people—like the bacrim in Colombia, the maras in El Salvador, the tcharmil in Marocco and the quinquis in Spain. At the other extreme, we would find youth subcultures based on leisure and economic activities—like the vatos locos in the Mexican American border, the rappers in north Africa and the tribus urbanas in Spain. And in the middle, there are a variety of hybrid groups that combine both strategies—like the naciones in Latin America, the hittistes in North Africa and the bandas latinas in Spain. The proposed conceptualization and operationalization make it possible to differentiate street gangs not only from organized crime or from transnational criminal organizations, including terrorist cells, but also from informal groups without stable organization, grouped exclusively around leisure. In short, we consider a gang as a dynamic cultural formation in a context of exclusion and social transformation. Youth street groups can both evolve towards more associative, cultural or sports forms and specialize in some kind of crime.

Ethics and Ethnography

In each of the project’s twelve field sites, local researchers are working with young, materially impoverished and social marginalised people who were possibly involved in criminality and may have little access to familial and social support. With a research topic of such ethical sensitivity, it was essential for us to develop project protocols that would ensure the interests of all researchers and research participants were safeguarded at all times. It was agreed with the European Research Council (ERC), the projects funder, that an internal Ethics Advisory Board (EAB) would be appointed to advise on the ongoing conduct of the project and that a post-doctoral researcher with experience of managing research ethics in the context of ethnographic research would be recruited.

Formalised research ethics review processes have been the subject to several bruising critiques from anthropologists and sociologists for their inherent Eurocentrism and general inapplicability to ethnographic research. In our project, the greatest difficulty was ensuring that we abided by our ethical agreement with the ERC while not blindly following a set of standards that were inappropriate for our subject of study and chosen methodology. We therefore worked to the principle that our agreement with the ERC was necessary but not sufficient to ensure the safe and ethical conduct of the research, or put differently, we sought to go beyond the agreement we made with the ERC by adapting our protocols to the ongoing, open-ended and culturally contingent nature of the ethnographic research process. In May 2019, work began on a “handbook” on how to conduct the aspects of the research that required special ethical consideration. The handbook was intended to be a reference document for fieldworkers and was based on broadly accepted ethics principles and norms of sociology and anthropology (ASA 2011 ), our agreement with the ERC and input and feedback from the local researchers and ERB. Before beginning fieldwork, each local researcher received training about how to use the handbook and conduct data collection activities in a manner that the research team considered safe and ethical.

Among the areas that required most adaptation was the process for gaining consent from research participants. Other than standard practices such as translating all consent documents into Spanish, English, Italian, French and Arabic to ensure that all research participants could understand the agreement they were signing, special consideration was given to the lower age limit of consent. The handbook states that laws and local customs and norms regarding the age of consent for participation in research must be respected by the researchers. However, in several of the locations where the research is based (including Spain, France and Italy), there exists no clear regulation regarding the age at which people can legally give consent for participation in research. Footnote 7 Moreover, the age at which people are considered mature adults is culturally contingent and varies in relation to class, gender, nationality and so on. In Algeria, for example, children are considered legally mature at 21. However, it is not clear whether legal maturity is required to give consent to research participation.

We decided that in countries where no law concerning research participation existed, only people over 14 years of age would be invited to participate in the research. This decision was based on the judgement that potential participants who were over the age of 14 were likely be able to (1) understand the information relevant to participating in the research, (2) understand the consequences of participating in the research and (3) give informed consent to participate in the research. Local researchers were instructed to exclude 14-year-olds who they believed lacked these capacities.

A second related point concerned parental permission. As potential participants over the age of 14 were considered able to give informed consent for themselves, we decided not to make the consent of parents and/ or legal guardians a mandatory precondition for participation. However, the handbook stated that under normal circumstances, parents and legal guardians should be informed by the local researchers about their child’s or ward’s participation in the project. This presented some difficulties, however. The team was concerned that some children may be put at risk of harm if their patents or legal guardians were informed about their association with a “gang”. Local researchers were therefore advised to only inform a participant’s legal guardians or parents about their child’s or ward’s participation in the project if they (1) had the participant’s permission and (2) believed that it was appropriate and safe to do so. If the local researchers judged it to be unsafe, they were advised not to tell the parents and to record their reasoning for not doing so in their next bimonthly ethics report. Our evocation of the researcher’s judgement was consciously intended as safeguard against ethnocentrism of the ethical principles on which ethical guidelines are based. The local researchers were recruited because of their local knowledge and expertise, and it was by positioning them as the principle decision maker that we hoped to avoid inappropriately applying our measures and definitions of safety.

A similar tension lay at the heart of the decisions we made regarding the process for recording consent. Among the trickiest aspect of the handbook that the team developed was the process for recording consent. The team was aware that gang members and ex-members may be reluctant to sign consent forms for fear of such documents being used against them in legal proceedings. It was decided that while written consent was ideal, in some circumstances, two alternative processes for recording consent could be used. The first was oral consent recorded via the researcher’s audio recorder. The second was a process called “single-party testimonial consent”. This is where the researcher writes a short description of the fact that the participant has given consent and explains their reasons for not recording consent via more conventional means. The local researchers were advised that if they used an alternative means of consent, they must include a description of their reasoning in their bimonthly ethics report for fieldworkers.

In Algeria, during an ethnographic visit, two local researchers arranged a meeting with a gold seller in a peripheral city about ten kilometres from Algiers. When the local researchers arrived to the informal market, they were met with a 19-year-old gold seller. Before starting the conversation, the local researchers asked him to sign a consent form, and because he was a minor, they asked for the permission of his parents as well. The gold seller refused both requests for different reasons. The gold sellers explained that he attended law classes, and having his name on a document that linked him to illicit economic activity could cause significate problems. The local researcher suggested that the gold seller sign the consent form for young members without seeking parental permission and explained again the nature of confidentially and anonymity in the project, but again, the gold seller refused, explaining that he would not sign any document for fear of the local authorities. In the end, another local researcher suggested that the consent could be recorded at the very beginning of the interview. The gold seller agreed, and the interview was conducted and audio-recorded. What this common situation demonstrates is that when working with at risk populations in repressive contexts, it is necessary to be flexible with the ethical requirements of the project design. By building this flexibility into out project protocols, we were able to avoid a situation where our efforts to be ethical, to ensure consent was properly recorded, ended up jeopardising the interests of our research participants.

Another area of particular concern was researcher and participant safety. All data collection for the project is being carried out under conditions of confidentiality. However, ethics committees usually require researchers to define the circumstances in which confidentiality may have to be broken. The general principle is that confidentiality and secrecy are not the same thing, and if a research participant discloses information that given the researcher course for concern, the researcher has an obligation to involve other professionals or agencies. Some studies work to the principle that any illegal activity uncovered during the course of the research should be reported to the relevant authority. The difficulty with this approach for our research was that it assumes that (1) criminal activity is unlikely to be revealed during the course of the research and that (2) state authorities can be trusted to safeguard the interests of those involved in the research (Scheper-Hughes 2004 ).

Neither assumption was safe in the context of our project, and if such an approach were applied, it could mean that local researchers would be obliged to report everyday forms of criminality such as drug use or vandalism to national authorities in whom they had no trust whatsoever. At the same time, however, the research team did not want local researchers to feel that they were never permitted to break confidentiality. The research team was concerned that local researchers may feel, for example, unable to warn one informant about a threat to their safety because of the need to protect the confidentiality of another. The team therefore developed a reporting framework that included examples of events that may occur and actions that should be taken in response. In the most severe cases, when the researcher believes someone involved in the project faces a credible threat of physical violence or abuse, they are instructed to report the incident immediately to regional coordinator, their local legal advisor, the project’s ethics supervisor and/or the ethics advisory board (EAB).

A discussion will then take place between all the interested parties, and a decision will be make about the appropriate action to take. Local researchers were told that in extremis, this may mean involving the police or some other state agency, but only if it is safe, beneficial and appropriate to do so. The handbook states that in such an event, the safety of the researcher will be treated as paramount and external reporting will not happen if it is likely to jeopardise the safety of the researcher. So far, in practice, only one serious ethical event has occurred during the course of the research. In our field site in Colombia, a group of armed men threatened one of the researcher participants, causing her and the local researcher to leave the neighbourhood where research was being conducted. By leaving the site when she believed she faced a credible threat of physical danger, our local researcher followed the protocols as set out in the project’s handbook. Thankfully, the situation has now been resolved and both the local researcher and research participant are not safe. The local researchers’ response to the threat reinforced the appropriateness of our approach.

The last example occurred in Madrid, Spain, during a course on mediation for members of youth street groups organized at the end of 2018—before writing the ethical handbook—in which we conducted a focus group. Three of the participants refused to fill the consent form and became silent. We interpreted that decision by the fact that their group suffered police prosecution even if it was not involved in criminal activities. One of the other participants was also reticent to sign the form, although he finally did, and he managed to finish the course and obtain the certificate. Time later, that same reticent participant was arrested by the police because his legal situation in Spain was irregular, but thanks to the certificate of the course provided by us, he was able to prove his integration and his social rooting in the community and avoided deportation. Another of the participants who had refused to sign the consent form ended up in prison, asked for our help and accepted to participate in the project.

In conclusion, while it is crucial to ensure that standardised protocols such as leaving field sites when threats are encountered are in place prior to the beginning of ethnographic fieldwork, it is equally important to allow people with local expertise to judge for themselves the severity of the threat and take action that they feel is appropriate.

The examples found during our fieldwork in Algeria, Colombia and Spain demonstrate that methodological tools, scientific categories and bureaucratic standards, such as ethical protocols, should be developed with flexibility in mind and should be adapted to the social and cultural context in which the research is conducted. As we have shown in the last section, flexibility built into the design of our ethical protocols means that the local researchers were able to respond appropriately and in a manner that was consistent with the cultural specificities of the field site. More than to construct “subjects” based on standardised categories and methodologies, our objective is to follow configurations of relations that came from “local knowledge” (Geertz 1983 )—in this case relations in, relations out and relations between youth street groups. The “macro-cosmos” of global gang’s policies and representations constitutes the general frame, but the pitch is formed by a myriad of local “youth street group micro-cosmos”.

What unites the three sections of the article is our commitment to emphasising the voices and perspectives of “others” is a basic ethical and methodological commitment that guides all aspects of the project including its methodology, its design, the data being collected and the ethical standards to which we adhere. This relates back to the point about “Eurocentrism” and post-colonial approaches. It is by providing researchers with autonomy and by having confidence in their expertise and judgement that we have been able to avoid reproducing the notion that “European” standards and ideas of risk and danger can be applied elsewhere. The fact that we are not “exporting” researchers from “the centre” (Europe) to the (semi)periphery (North Africa and Latin America) but rather relying on local expertise is the reason why we are able to work in this way. We celebrate the fact that since its inception, the project has made use of local researchers as a means of amplifying their voices, and this is what we mean by a “post-colonial” approach to research.

As seen in this article, traditionally, a youth gang has been typically understood as a small delinquent group of young men based in a locality. The focus has been on crime and violence. Where there has been acknowledgement of larger-sized gangs with a greater geographical range, the emphasis has still been primarily on violence and crime. Less attention has been paid to migration (rural-urban, transnational) and to the economies of gangs, that is, how members and local communities gain a variety of benefits. Gangs have also shown specific cultural practices and creative outputs. These, too, require recognition and highlight the needed of new ways of talking about transnational youth gangs in the global.

This article sets out to fill the gaps detected in gang conceptualization, and we expect to have helped to move forward thanks to the theoretical perspective proposed. The definition we have developed in this article is being implemented in the TRANSGANG project and has strong implications for practitioners and professionals working in law enforcement, public policy or with at-risk youth/young adults and for academic disciplines as criminology, social work, sociology or anthropology interested in youth street groups. The definition sets criminalization views aside and deals with inclusive and positive aspects of gang membership, trying to positivize the marginalized position of gangs within the social structure. Some research focuses on proactive experiences in gang behaviour and policies (Leinfelt and Rostami 2011 ; Venkatesh 2009 ), but very few studies systematically compare such aspects in order to find variants and invariants in the evolution or in the reversal of the criminal gang model.

Our perspective aims to recognize youth street groups as forms of youth culture to resist hegemonic discourses and practices and as social institutions to deal with and fight against stigmatization. Gangs have been examined as forms of youth culture used to resist hegemonic discourses and practices and as social resilience institutions to deal with and to fight against stigmatization. Normally, they are perceived as young, delinquent, depressed school drop-outs, jobless, marginalised, as well as aggressed by the lifestyle of the rich. However, the way of life they have chosen allows them to create distance from their sordid reality and everyday life, which is made even unliveable by contempt, exclusion and rejection.

Change history

04 december 2020.

A Correction to this paper has been published: <ExternalRef><RefSource>https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-020-00028-y</RefSource><RefTarget Address="10.1007/s43151-020-00028-y" TargetType="DOI"/></ExternalRef>

We use the term “gang” because it is used in daily life by most of the actors in the field—young people, adults, institutions, media, scholars—with different “emic” meanings. Nevertheless, in its more precise use, we will reserve this term to refer to the classical informal group associated with criminal activities, as it is used by hegemonic discourses, and we will use “youth street groups” as a generic term that includes different types of groupings: from those related to delinquency to those associated more with leisure and lifestyle (see “ Methodology in Motion: Defining “Gang Field” ”).

Eurocentrism, therefore, is not the cognitive perspective of the Europeans exclusively, or only of the rulers of world capitalism, but of the group of those educated under its hegemony. And although it implies an ethnocentric component, it does not explain it, nor is it its main source of meaning. It is the long-standing cognitive perspective of the whole Eurocentral world of colonial/modern capitalism and which naturalizes people’s experience of this pattern of power.

The TRANSGANG Project won an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council in the 2017 Call. The PI is Carles Feixa, Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona). The entire project data are: Transnational Gangs as Agents of Mediation: Experiences of conflict resolution in youth street organizations in Southern Europe, North Africa and the Americas (TRANSGANG). European Union: HORIZON-2020, European Research Council - Advanced Grant [H2020-ERC-AdG-742705]. This is a five years project: it started in 2018 and will end in 2022. There is another ERC Project on gangs, led by Dennis Rodgers (Graduate Institute Geneva), that won an ERC Consolidator Grant in the 2018 Call: Gangs, Gangsters, Ganglands: Towards a Global Comparative Ethnography (GANGS). Both Projects – TRANSGANG and GANGS – will collaborate with the aim to produce advances in comparative gang research.

Our methodology adheres to the decolonial shift “a project of epistemic detachment in the sphere of the social (also in the academic sphere, by the way, which is a dimension of the social), while post-colonial criticism and critical theory are projects of transformation that operated basically in the European and American academy. From the academy to the academy” (Mignolo 2010 , p. 15).

The idea of “border thinking” (Mignolo 2013 ) can allow us to locate ourselves as researchers and also locate study agents. It is necessary to understand border thinking as a branch that comes directly from the decolonial vision born in the Third World. For this, the expansion of border thinking occurs through migrations as central spaces.

The different meanings of “gang” emerge in two different seminars. The first in the kick off Meeting of the project celebrated in Barcelona in October of 2018 where,all the local researchers engaged in the project and significant scholars in the field of “gang” studies participated and gave consensus to the operative definition of “gang”. The second one is a seminar with all the Spain team researchers where we discussed the operativa final definition.

https://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/rights-child/child-participation-in-research

Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth (ASA) (2011). Ethical guidelines for good research practice. Accessed on 05-06-2020 from https://www.theasa.org/downloads/ASA%20ethics%20guidelines%202011.pdf

Bayat A (2012) Marginality: curse or cure? In: Bush R, Ayeb H (eds) Marginality and exclusion in Egypt. Zed Books, London

Becker HS (1996) The epistemology of qualitative research. In: Jessor R, Colby A, Shweder RA (eds) Ethnography and human development: context and meaning in social inquiry. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 53–71

Google Scholar  

Bennett A (1999) Subcultures or neo-tribes? Rethinking the relationship between youth, style and musical taste. Sociology 33(3):599–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/S0038038599000371

Article   Google Scholar  

Bennett A, Kahn-Harris K (2004) After subculture: critical studies in contemporary youth culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke

Book   Google Scholar  

Brotherton DC (2015) Youth street gangs: a critical appraisal. Routledge, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203727782

Brotherton DC, Barrios L (2004) The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation. Street politics and the transformation of a New York City Gang. Columbia University Press, New York

Burawoy M (2009) The extended case method: four countries, four methods, four great transformations, and one theoretical tradition. University of California Press, Berkeley

Camozzi I, Cherubini D, Leccardi C, Rivetti P, Feixa C, Sánchez García J (2014) Youth cultures: values, representations and social conditions (SAHWA - background papers no. 03-2014). Barcelona

Desmond M (2010) Relational ethnography. Theory Soc 43(5):547–579

Esbensen, F.-A., & Maxson, C. L. (2012). Youth gangs in international perspective. Results from the Eurogang Program of Research. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1659-3

Feixa C (1998) De jóvenes, bandas y tribus. Barcelona: Ariel. [4th edition 2014]

Feixa C, López T (2015) Generation one point five. Migrant Latino children and youth identities in Catalonia. In: Chisholm L, Deliyianni-Kouimtzis V (eds) Changing landscapes of childhood and youth in Europe. Cambridge scholars, Newcastle upon Tyne, pp 252–274

Feixa C, Romaní O (2014) From local gangs to global tribes: the Latin Kings and Queens Nation in Barcelona. In: Buckingham D, Brah S, Kehily MJ (eds) Youth cultures in the age of global media. Palgrave Macmillan, London & New York, pp 88–103

Feixa C, Canelles M, Porzio L, Recio C, Gilberti L (2008) Latin Kings in Barcelona. In: van Gemert F, Peterson D, Inger-Lise L (eds) Street gangs, migration and ethnicity. Willan Publishing, Devon, pp 63–78

Feixa C, Sánchez García J, Ballesté E, Cano-Hila AB, Masanet M-J, Mecca M, Oliver M (2019) The (trans)gang: notes and queries on youth street group research (TRANSGANG working papers 2.1). Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra & European Research Council. https://doi.org/10.31009/transgang.2019.wp02.1

Fernández-Planells A, Sánchez-García J, Oliver M, Feixa C (2020) Researching Transnational Gangs as Agents of Mediation in the Digital Era. In Melde C, Weerman F (eds) Gangs in the Era of Internet and Social Media. Springer, New York (Forthcoming)

Geertz C (1983) Local knowledge. Further essays in interpretative anthropology. Basic Books, New York

Griffin CE (2011) The trouble with class: researching youth, class and culture beyond the ‘Birmingham School’. J Youth Stud 14(3):245–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2010.533757

Hodkinson P, Diecke W (2007) Youth cultures: scenes, subcultures and tribes. Routledge, New York

Klein MW (1971) Street gangs and street workers. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs

Klein MW (1995) The American street gang. Oxford University Press, New York, NY

Klein MW, Kerner H-J, Maxson C, Weitekamp E (eds) (2001) The eurogang paradox. Street gangs and youth groups in the U.S. and Europe. Kluwer Academic Publishers, London

Klein MW, Maxson CL (2006) Street gang patterns and policies, vol xii. Oxford University Press, New York, 310 pp

Leccardi C (2016) Youth cultures in the new century: cultural citizenship and cosmopolitanism. In: Feixa C, Leccardi C, Nilam P (eds) Youth, space & time. Agoras and chronotopes in the Global City. Brill, London, pp 115–130

Leinfelt F, Rostami A (eds) (2011) The Stockolm Gang Model: Panther. Elanders, Stockolm

Marcus GF (1995) Ethnography in/of the world system: the emergence of multi-site ethnography. Annu Rev Anthropol 24(1995):95–117

Matza D (1961) Subterranean traditions of youth. In: Silverstein H (ed) The sociology of youth: evolution and revolution. MacMillan, New York, pp 252–271

Mignolo W (2010) Desobediencia epistémica: Retórica de la modernidad, lógica de la colonialidad y gramática de la decolonialidad. Ediciones del Signo, Buenos Aires

Mignolo W (2013) Geopolítica de la sensibilidad y del conocimiento. Sobre (de) colonialidad, pensamiento fronterizo y desobediencia epistémica. Revista de Filosofia 74(2):7–23

Miller WB (1992) Crime by youth gangs and groups in the United States. LLOC? U.S. Justice Department

Moignard B (2007) Bandes d’adolescents de la France au Brésil: Comparer l’incomparable ? En Les bandes de jeunes, pp. 351–377. La Découverte; Cairn.info. https://www.cairn.info/les-bandes-de-jeunes--9782707153456-p-351.htm

Nilan P, Feixa C (eds) (2006) Global youth? Hybrid identities and plural worlds. Routledge, London and New York

Perea CM (2007) Con el diablo adentro: Pandillas, tiempo paralelo y poder. Siglo XXI, México

Queirolo Palmas L (2014) El problema de las bandas en España como objeto de producción académica y de activismo etnográfico. Papers: Revista de Sociología 99(2):261–284. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/papers.595

Queirolo Palmas L (2016) Atlantic latino gangs. La Raza Latina, transnationalism and generations. In: Feixa C, Leccardi C, Nilam P (eds) Youth, space & time. Agoras and chronotopes in the Global City. Brill, Leiden, pp 85–114

Ramos D, Victor T, Seidl-de-Moura ML, Daly M (2013) Future discounting by slum-dwelling youth versus university students in Rio de Janeiro. J Res Adolesc 23(1):95–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00796.x

Reguillo R (1995) En la calle otra vez. Las bandas: identidades urbanas y usos de la comunicacion. Iteso, Guadalajara

Reguillo R (2000) Emergencia de culturas juveniles. Norma, Buenos Aires

Sánchez García J (2016) From hara to midam: public spaces of youth in Cairo. In: Feixa C, Leccardi C, Nilan P (eds) Youth, space & time. Agoras and chronotopes in the Global City. Brill, Leiden, pp 293–317

Sánchez-García J (2019) De la Esperanza a la represión: El interminable “estado de emergencia” en Egipto, en Luca Queirolo Palmas and Luisa Stagi (eds) Winou el shabab. Images of transformations between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Genova University Press, Génova

Scheper-Hughes N (2004) Parts unknown: undercover ethnography of the organs-trafficking underworld. Ethnography 5(1):29–73

Thrasher FM (1927/2013) The Gang. A study of 1313 gangs in Chicago. Chicago University Press, Chicago

van Gemert F, Peterson D, Inger-Lise L (2008) Street gangs, migration and ethnicity. Routledge, London

Venkatesh S (2009) Gangs leader for a day: a rogue sociologist crosses the line. Penguin Books, London and New York. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2008.01092_4.x

Whyte WF (1943) Street corner society. Chicago University Press, Chicago

Yuval-Davis N (2006) Intersectionality and feminist politics. Eur J Women’s Stud 13(3):193–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506806065752

Download references

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s HORIZON 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 742705.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Communication, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

Carles Feixa, Jose Sánchez-García & Adam Brisley

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jose Sánchez-García .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

The article Gangs, Methodology and Ethical Protocols: Ethnographic Challenges in Researching Youth Street Groups, written by Carles Feixa, Jose Sánchez-García, and Adam Brisley, was originally published Online First without Open Access. After publication in volume 3, issue 1, page 5-21 the authors decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed to © The Author(s) 2020 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY. The original online version of this article as revised.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Feixa, C., Sánchez-García, J. & Brisley, A. Gangs, Methodology and Ethical Protocols: Ethnographic Challenges in Researching Youth Street Groups. JAYS 3 , 5–21 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-020-00009-1

Download citation

Received : 26 February 2020

Revised : 10 June 2020

Accepted : 16 June 2020

Published : 14 July 2020

Issue Date : March 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-020-00009-1

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Youth street groups
• Methodology
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• Tools and Resources
• Customer Services
• Corrections
• Crime, Media, and Popular Culture
• Criminal Behavior
• Criminological Theory
• Critical Criminology
• Geography of Crime
• International Crime
• Juvenile Justice
• Prevention/Public Policy
• Race, Ethnicity, and Crime
• Research Methods
• Victimology/Criminal Victimization
• White Collar Crime
• Women, Crime, and Justice
• Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Article contents

Gangs and violence.

• Haley Bullard Haley Bullard Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
•  and  Shannon Reid Shannon Reid Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.442
• Published online: 26 April 2019

Much of the ongoing concern about the presence of gangs and gang members in the community has to do with the association between street gangs and violence. Decades of research on street gangs demonstrates the complexity of the violent perpetration and victimization of gang members. Although the violence attributed to gang members reached its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gang members continue to be disproportionately involved in violence, both as perpetrators and victims. Understanding gang violence requires careful consideration of the overlapping and intersecting relationships between violence and gang identity, victimization, perpetration, gender, and space. Violence plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of gang identity. Research on violence participation by gang members has demonstrated that gang violence can have both symbolic and instrumental purposes, and that this violence helps the gang build a collective identity and makes violence more normative. Despite some continued misconceptions about the role of female gang members and their presence in gangs, women make up a substantial portion of gang members, and any discussion of the relationship between gangs and violence must also consider the impact of gender on violence participation and victimization. Both male and female gang members are impacted by violence, but levels of participation and types of risk can vary by gender. The complex and gendered aspects of gang violence can make the prevention, intervention, and suppression of gang violence difficult tasks for law enforcement and policymakers. There are a range of perspectives on how best to reduce gang violence. Some researchers advocate early prevention programs to keep youth from joining gangs; others focus on ways to pull youth out of gangs at critical moments, such as when they enter emergency services. Other programs and policies are aimed at reducing gang violence that is ongoing in the community. These programs, such as Operation Ceasefire and Project Safe Neighborhoods, have utilized a focused deterrence framework to curb gang violence. All of these programs are aimed at reducing the amount of violence gang members participate in an attempt to minimize the risk of future violent victimization. Research on gang violence continues to grow and includes new avenues of research. The utilization of innovative methodologies, such as social network analysis, and new areas of research, such as examining the impact of social media on gang violence, continue to advance our knowledge of gang violence and its causes, correlates, and impact.

• street gangs
• gang violence
• victimization
• gang identity
• violence participation
• Operation Ceasefire
• Project Safe Neighborhood
• social network analysis

You do not currently have access to this article

Please login to access the full content.

Access to the full content requires a subscription

Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Criminology and Criminal Justice. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 30 August 2024

• Cookie Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Legal Notice
• Accessibility
• [162.248.224.4]
• 162.248.224.4

Character limit 500 /500

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Journal Menu

• Social Sciences Home
• Aims & Scope
• Editorial Board
• Reviewer Board
• Topical Advisory Panel
• Instructions for Authors
• Special Issues
• Sections & Collections
• Article Processing Charge
• Indexing & Archiving
• Editor’s Choice Articles
• Most Cited & Viewed
• Journal Statistics
• Journal History
• Journal Awards
• Editorial Office

Journal Browser

• arrow_forward_ios Forthcoming issue arrow_forward_ios Current issue
• Vol. 13 (2024)
• Vol. 12 (2023)
• Vol. 11 (2022)
• Vol. 10 (2021)
• Vol. 9 (2020)
• Vol. 8 (2019)
• Vol. 7 (2018)
• Vol. 6 (2017)
• Vol. 5 (2016)
• Vol. 4 (2015)
• Vol. 3 (2014)
• Vol. 2 (2013)
• Vol. 1 (2012)

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

Research on Gang-Related Violence in the 21st Century

• Print Special Issue Flyer

Special Issue Editors

Special issue information, benefits of publishing in a special issue.

• Published Papers

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2020) | Viewed by 62963

Share This Special Issue

Dear colleague,

Conflict, including the threat or fear of potential violence, or being witness to or a victim of physical, violence, constantly surrounds gangs and their communities and is the principal driver sustaining gang life. Much of the conventional gang-related research remains focused on this violence as a neighborhood-based phenomenon that directly impacts local community residents; however, the ubiquity of digital technology, particularly social media platforms, has disrupted this traditional dynamic. Online violence, including threats, taunts, or posting of violent acts that have taken place, is much less understood. This knowledge gap includes the link between the online activities of gang members and how it can manifest into real-world action. This Special Issue will examine the diverse nature of gang-related violence with the goal of better understanding the growing complexities of gang violence over the last two decades to better inform public policy solutions. Given the dynamic nature of gang-related violence today, we aim to include empirical and theoretical research (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods) with multi/interdisciplinary perspectives from around the world that highlights cutting-edge approaches to examining gang-related violence. All submissions will be considered; however primary consideration will be given to manuscripts that

• Investigate the relationship between online activity and real-world violence;
• Examine the efficacy of gang-related violence interventions;
• Conduct multi-site comparisons of gang-related violence;
• Conduct cross-cultural studies of gang-related violence;
• Describe innovative approaches to advance our understanding of gang-related violence.

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website . Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form . Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• social media
• neighborhood effects
• intervention
• public policy
• Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
• Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
• Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
• External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
• e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here .

Published Papers (10 papers)

Jump to: Research , Review

Jump to: Editorial , Review

Jump to: Editorial , Research

Further Information

Mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals

The Journal of Gang Research

is the Official Publication of the

National Gang Crime Research Center

Copyrighted by the NGCRC, All Rights Reserved.

ISSN Number: 1079-3062

This file last updated: January 11, 2018

This file provides a voluminous amount of information about the Journal of Gang Research, including an index of authors, a complete listing of all articles ever published in the journal, journal subscription policies, journal subscription prices, information about ordering back issues, etc.

                                                 Credit card payment options for ordering of individual articles: information is located towards the end of this file.

Credit card/payment options for subscriptions/back issues (see very end of this file).

This file provides the official policies and procedures established by the NGCRC for the distribution and management of the Journal of Gang Research.

About the Journal of Gang Research

              The Journal of Gang Research is an interdisciplinary journal and it is the official publication of the National Gang Crime Research Center (NGCRC). It is a peer-reviewed quarterly professional journal and the editors are well-known gang researchers or gang experts. It is abstracted in a number of different social sciences, including but not limited to: Sociological Abstracts (American Sociological Association), Psychological Abstracts (American Psychological Association), Criminal Justice Abstracts, National Criminal Justice Reference Service, Social Service Abstracts, and others.

             If we were ever asked what is our philosophy as a model for guiding our social relations with customers and subscribers and anyone doing business with the NGCRC, the NGCRC is committed to being friendly, responsive, courteous, helpful, cooperative, and understanding — and above all, to treat people as we ourselves would like to be treated so that fairness and justice prevails.

              For over two decades, the Journal of Gang Research has published original research, book reviews and interviews dealing with gangs and gang problems. These publications have included a wide range of topical areas including promising theory, scientifically sound research, and useful policy analysis related to gangs and gang problems. A list of the articles previously published in the Journal of Gang Research is published in this voluminous text file.

              Librarians are able to order the Journal of Gang Research through EBSCO, LM Information Delivery, AOBC, Divine, Otto Harrassowitz GMBH & Co. KG (Germany), Business Magazine Subscriptions, Blackwell, Basch Subscriptions (now Prenax) — in short, most of the major subscription services. Librarians can also order “back issues” of the journal. So if you need access to the Journal of Gang Research, then what you need to do is contact your local college/university or public library, ask for the “acquisitions librarian” or the “serials librarian”. They can order it through any of the subscription services the library uses.

             Do you want to have access to the Journal of Gang Research and the new “gang profiles” that are published in the future? The best way to do this is to ask your local librarian to subscribe to the Journal of Gang Research . Then your local library has the publication and it is accessible to you.

              Currently, there are a number of important new research initiatives underway or in planning, the results of which are clearly likely to fundamentally change the nature of what we know about gangs and gang threats. Such initiatives include “cross national gangs”, gangs that operate across national borders and which operate inside or pose a threat to the United States of America, as well as new types of gangs, new approaches to old gang problems, and new developments in the arena of social policy on gangs as well.

              The Journal of Gang Research particularly wants to encourage other gang analysts to contact the NGCRC if they are interested in working on a gang threat analysis of any type of violent criminal gang in any jurisdiction. Sometimes the NGCRC will assist with profile development, based on the many types of information it has developed over the years. The NGCRC does accept nominations for gang threat analysis as well: if a particular gang is presenting a growing problem in your jurisdiction, consider nominating it for a full gang profile analysis. To do this, simply write a letter to that effect to the NGCRC, PO Box 990, Peotone, IL 60468-0990.

              The journal may be ordered directly from the NGCRC (see subscription form at the end of this file) or through any of the major subscription services: EBSCO, Harrassowitz, etc. A subscription form is included at the end of this file.

INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

              The Journal of Gang Research is now in its 22nd year as a professional interdisciplinary quarterly and is the official publication of the National Gang Crime Research Center. The Journal of Gang Research is interdisciplinary. It is widely abstracted (Sociological Abstracts, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts, etc). It publishes original research on gangs, gang members, gang problems, gang crime patterns, gang prevention, and basically any gang issue (policy, etc).

             Authors should submit four (4) copies of the paper in ASA or APA format to: George W. Knox, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Gang Research , National Gang Crime Research Center, Post Office Box 990, Peotone, IL 60468l-0990. The review process takes between 2 to 3 months; sometimes longer.

Staff of the Journal of Gang Research (Last Updated Volume 22, Number 2, Winter, 2015 issue):

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

George W. Knox, Ph.D, Executive Director, National Gang Crime Research Center.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR:

D. Lee Gilbertson, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN.

REVIEWING EDITORS:

Tom Barker, Ph.D., Criminal Justice & Police Studies, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY.

Thomas M. Batsis, Ph.D., School of Education, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA.

Judith Bessant, Ph.D., Youth Studies and Sociology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

Steven R. Cureton, Ph.D., Dept. of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC.

Gregg W. Etter, Sr., Ed.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO.

Steve Feimer, DPA, Director, Criminal Justice Studies, the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.

Sandra Fortune, Ed.D., Tax Accountant/Corrections Volunteer, Mountain City, TN.

Vicky Ganieany, DBA, Education and Internet Consultant, Bourbonnais, IL.

Robert D. Hanser, Ph.D., Inst. of Law Enforcement, University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA.

Mario L. Hesse, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice Studies, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN.

Wendy L. Hicks, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA.

Jeffrey M. Johnson, Instructor, Legal Studies, University of Mississippi, University, MS.

Janice Joseph, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ.

Suman Kakar, Ph.D., Fellow of the Honors College, Florida International University, Miami, FL.

Siu-ming Kwok, Ph.D., RSW, School of Social Work, King's University College, London, Ont. Canada.

Richard H. Martin, Ph.D., Dept. of Justice, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA.

Keiron McConnell, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

David C. Moore, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE.

Todd Negola, Psy.D., Gang Consultant, Duncansville, PA.

Cynthia L. O'Donnell, Ph.D., Criminal Justice Administration and Policy, Marymount University, Arlington, VA.

Karen de Olivares, Ph.D.,The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX.

Chris J. Przemieniecki, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, West Chester University, West Chester, PA.

Professor Johnny R. Purvis, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR.

Dr. Manuel R. Roman, Jr., Dept. of Sociology/Psychology/Criminal Justice, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA.

Douglas L. Semark, Ph.D., Executive Director, Gang Alternatives Program, Wilmington, CA.

Carter F. Smith, J.D.,Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice Administration, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.

James Sutton, Ph.D., Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY.

Charla Waxman, Ph.D., Linden Oaks at Edward, Naperville, IL.

Michael J. Witkowski, Ph.D., CPP, Dept. of Criminal Justice, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI.

Mickie Wong-Lo, Ph.D., Dept. of Special Eduction, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL.

Doris D. Yates, Ph.D., College of Education, California State University, East Bay, CA.

Douglas L. Yearwood, Director, North Carolina Justice Analysis Center, Raleigh, NC.

SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED Q & A INFORMATION FOR SUBSCRIBERS AND SUBSCRIPTION AGENCIES

Q: We are from a subscription company, can I just call in a question I have about one of our subscribers?

Q: We sent in a check for a subscription, but it has not yet been cashed, is there a problem?

A: No, we sometimes wait until depositing checks until shortly before we are ready to mail out the next issue of the journal. We are a quarterly, so we update routine subscriptions/renewals also on a quarterly basis.

Q: I am a subscriber through a subscription company, when does my subscription expire?

A: We send out an individualized letter to each and every subscriber (new and renewing) each time there is a transaction: e.g., payment received for a new or continuing subscription. In that letter, we indicate the start and end of the paid up subscription period.

Q: What is the current one year subscription price (USC) for U.S.A. addresses including postage?

A: $175 per year. ($300 per year for any subscriber who is located outside of the U.S.A.); there is also a “Secure Subscription Service” at a slightly higher price due to increased mailing and postage costs.

Q: Has the journal achieved the kind of strong and interdisciplinary intellectual recognition it needs in order to be widely abstracted in the social sciences?

Q: Does the journal have any special subscription rates for proprietary “abstracting services” or journal information companies and private firms who want to subscribe to the journal for commercial purposes and be able to offer their own kinds of “abstracting services” outside of the professional bodies that are already abstracting this journal?

A: Yes, the journal may be able to accommodate such private companies outside of academia, please inquire; please note, however, that the subscription rates for private, or for profit, or proprietary “abstracting companies” are significantly higher than the rates for regular subscribers. And, further, special “conditions” may apply: the Journal of Gang Research may insist upon a signed agreement to make certain the proprietary abstracting service is not going to abuse the NGCRC copyrights. Of course, depending on the transparency and openness of companies inquiring about such an option, the NGCRC reserves the right to refuse such services and terminate the subscription at any time an abuse is suspected.

Q: Do you permit blind subscriptions by agencies with a U.S. mailing address who can then reship the journal abroad or to a cloaked subscriber?

A: No, we need to know who our subscribers are.

Q: What is the number of issues per year (frequency) and which months are they published in?

A: The Journal of Gang Research is a “quarterly”: thus, four (4) times a year is the frequency at which the journal is published. The months it is published in here is defined as the months in which each issue is actually “mailed” out using the United States Postal Service, and those months are the four seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. E.G.: the fall issue is always mailed in “fall” which means between Sept. 22 nd and December 20 th . The Fall issue is always the sequence of issue number “1" within a volume. Thus, “issue number 4" will always be the “Summer” issue within a volume.

Q: Is there an agency or individual or special government discount or reduced student rate or reduced “bulk” rate or any special “member” rate or professional association membership discount?

Q: Are there reduced rates for “multi-year” subscriptions?

Q: If a subscriber “loses” a copy of the journal from its collection, or if it is destroyed or stolen, is it replaced free of charge?

A: Yes, we have a “journal replacement insurance” policy, where we provide up to one free replacement issue during any one year period of a subscription. The first replacement is free, no questions asked. If there are two or more “claims” in the same year, you would have to pay the replacement cost (reduced price) per each issue you wanted replaced. If there is ever a problem with the actual delivery of your journal copy (we use the U.S. Postal Service to deliver copies of the journal to you), then we have a provision where you can get a free replacement of a journal lost or stolen from the U.S. Mails. We have reasonable and affordable rates established below for individual back issues of the journal.

             Q: What is the cost for individual replacement back issue copies?

A: See the price structure in this file at this file.

Q: Is there an online full text edition?

A: Yes, we have a number of back issues already online, we provide subscribers with a password to get access to these electronic versions of back issues and articles published in past issues of the journal. Not 100% of the back issues are all “on-line” yet. It is a work in progress.

Q: What languages is the Journal of Gang Research available in?

A: English only.

Q: Do we accept cancellations?

A: Yes, just print off a “cancellation request form” (see this webfile) and mail it to the NGCRC address on the form. We do not accept returned merchandise (copies of the journal received by the subscriber and then mailed back to us). We do not provide refunds of any kind: so if you were halfway through a one year subscription, and wanted to cancel hoping to get ½ of the subscription cost refunded, we cannot do that.

Q: Does the subscription begin with the next issue after the order is received or can we back start (retroactively apply) the subscription?

A: Both are possible. One can backdate the subscription for most issues of the journal to almost Volume 4, Number 1, Fall 1996. We cannot guarantee all issues between Vol. 4, No. 1 and the present are “in stock”: thus we reserve the right to substitute another issue of the journal in case we are out of stock of a copy that occurs within the sequence of a retroactive order. Note: the rates for back issues apply to anyone who is an existing subscriber and wants back issues. Note: starting a subscription retroactively to any point up to Volume 4, Number 1 and paying the regular yearly subscription rates is available only to new subscribers and this is a domestic U.S. rate only. The Journal is not offering the retroactive start option to subscribers who are not located in the USA.

Q: Are there free replacements for copies damaged by weather or natural disasters through the U.S. Postal Service delivery system?

A: Yes. Limited to a 30 day time period after receipt of said journal by the subscriber.

Q: Do you accept Purchase Orders (a promise to pay in the near future or upon completion of the subscription)?

A: From government agencies only.

Q: Is there a cost-effective method available from the Journal of Gang Research for a library or a private research agency to acquire individual copies of specific articles previously published in the Journal of Gang Research from Volume Number 1, Issue Number 1 to the present?

A: Yes, see that section for “ordering information” in this file. For U.S. and Canada, we can fax them, all other countries: we must mail the copies to you.

Q: What is the refund policy of the JGR?

A: No refunds are allowed for any unserviced portion of the subscription should a subscriber want to cancel the subscription..

The Right to Refuse Service or to Do Business: The Journal of Gang Research Policy on Subscriptions, Subscription Companies, Foreign Subscribers, etc:

 It has been the policy of the NGCRC to exercise due diligence and consideration with regard to certain problematic situations arising in the context of persons, companies, governments seeking a subscription to or to do business with the Journal of Gang Research. The Journal of Gang Research publicly declared the country of South Africa, during the Apartheid Regime, to be ineligible to subscribe to our journal, and the NGCRC refused to do business with South African police agencies at the time, due to the issue of international human rights. Because of situations such as that and other good causes and the simple right to refuse service directly to subscribers and through subscription companies based on our judgment of what is best for us, the Journal of Gang Research reserves the right to refuse service to customers applying for new subscriptions. The Journal of Gang Research reserves the right to refuse to do business with or to continue to do business with subscription companies for any reason. The Journal of Gang Research reserves the right to refuse to provide subscriptions to any country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department or to any country currently facing sanctions from the United States of America.

Cancellation Refund Policy:

             We will stop your subscription when we receive the “Cancellation Request Form” provided below or any notification to that effect. But we do not provide any refunds on the unserviced portion of the subscription to the Journal of Gang Research as a longstanding policy.

INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE COPIES NOW AVAILABLE:

              Back issues of the Journal of Gang Research can be ordered individually, see the end of this text file for a Back Issue Order Form. All back issues are available. Feel free to write to the National Gang Crime Research Center, P.O. Box 990, Peotone, IL 60468 for price information on large orders. The lowest cost per issue is $75 (for orders originating within the U.S. only, all foreign orders handled on an individual basis), and could be more for rare older issues; note that these are prices only within the U.S., for prices involvement shipment outside of the USA, please inquire first in writing.

             Please note that the Journal of Gang Research has no relationship with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), and it is not possible to photocopy our materials and then later pay the CCC. We tried that for a few years, it did not work out, there were abuses to our copyrighted materials and we elected simply not to be listed with CCC. Please note that the Journal of Gang Research does not authorize second parties to xerox, photoduplicate, copy or disseminate our articles through Interlibrary Loan arrangements. There are no “ex post facto” prices for violation of our copyrights. Please do not do it. We provide a reasonable, low cost way to get our information, please follow these simple guidelines. This policy provides for an efficient and cost-effective way to get the information available in back issues of the Journal of Gang Research.

             In order to serve the research needs of scholars in universities and agencies that do not have an extensive back collection of issues of the Journal of Gang Research, the NGCRC now provides a convenient and low cost mechanism for allowing access to the information and knowledge in the Journal of Gang Research from Volume 1, Number 1 to present. Individual copies of specific articles previously published in the Journal of Gang Research are now available for sale. The terms are for individual research usage only and do not convey any rights for reproduction (e.g., designing an ad hoc anthology of articles for use as a reader in a class, etc).

             Here is the way to order if you want the journal article faxed to your fax number: Just count the number of pages in the page lengths of the article(s) you want, and multiple the total page length by $3.50 each page. For example, if the article is under 10 pages in length, the cost is going to be $35.00 ($3.50 per page) including the cost of faxing to any U.S. or Canadian fax number.

             If you are located outside of the USA or Canada, then we will mail the article(s) to you by U.S. Postal Service (shipping free, via U.S. Postal Service). Ways to pay: by check, money order, or credit card. If you are a library, and you are contacting the NGCRC in order to comply with U.S. Copyright Law, where you want to notify us that your library may have exceeded the privileges granted to libraries in subsection 108(g)(2), then here are the costs: you must pay on a per page basis, and the cost per page is $3.50. You must add up the total page length count, and multiply it by $3.50 to calculate the fees due to the NGCRC. Make checks payable to: National Gang Crime Research Center, P.O. Box 990, Peotone, IL 60468-0990.

ORDER FORM FOR ORDERING INDIVIDUAL COPIES OF ARTICLES PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF GANG RESEARCH:

CHECK ONE: ____Please fax me the articles ____Please mail me the articles

I live in the USA or Canada, My Fax number is:

Area code:_________ fax number:________________________

Mail the article(s) to this address:

Name:____________________________________________________________________

Agency:___________________________________________________________________

Street address:______________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip:_____________________________________________________________

I understand I am allowed use of the one copy of the article(s) for personal use and that I am not authorized to reproduce, distribute, or disseminate the article(s).

Here are the articles I want to order: (repeat as needed):

Vol. Number Year Title/Authors Page Numbers Number of Pages Rate Cost for Article

**** ******* **** ************ *********** ************** ******* ***********

____ _____ ____ __________ __________ ___________ x$3.50= _________

(Repeat as needed)

 Total Cost: $____________

Bill the following credit card:

____Visa ___MasterCard ___Discover ___American Express

Bill my credit card in the amount of $___________ (same as total cost above)

Credit card number:________________________________________________________________

Name as it appears on card (print):_____________________________________________________

Expiration date: Month ______________ Year________________

Street address for card holder:________________________________________________________

Zip code for card holder:____________________________________________________________

Your telephone number to verify card information:________________________________________

Credit card orders can be faxed in: (708) 258-9546

Do you want us to fax you or mail you a receipt? ____Yes ____No

 Return this form with payment to:

 Journal of Gang Research

 Subscription Department

 National Gang Crime Research Center

 P.O. Box 990

 Peotone, IL 60468-0990

A COMPLETE LISTING OF ARTICLES AND AUTHORS, WITH PAGE NUMBER REFERENCES IN THE ORIGINAL, ETC PUBLISHED IN THE Journal of Gang Research:

 There are always four issues in each volume of the journal (Number 1, Number 2, Number 3 and Number 4). The seasons coinciding with numbers 1-4 are: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.

NOTE: Some issues may be out of print and therefore unavailable for back issue orders. Inquire before placing order.

Volume 1, Number 1:

"Lost in the Melting Pot: Asian Youth Gangs in the United States", by John Huey-Long Song, John Dembrink, and Gilbert Geis, pp. 1-12.

"Coming Out to Play: Reasons to Join and Participate in Asian Gangs", by Calvin Toy, pp. 13-30.

"Being Bad is Good: Explorations of the Bodgie Gang Culture in South East Australia, 1984-1956", by Judith Bessant and Rob Watts, pp. 31-56.

"Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves: A Black Female Gang in San Francisco", by David Lauderback, Joy Hansen, and Dan Waldorf, pp. 57-72.

Volume 1, Number 2:

"Investigating Gang Migration: Contextual Issues for Intervention", by Cheryl L. Maxson, pp. 1-8.

"Issues in Accessing and Studying Ethnic Youth Gangs", by Karen A. Joe, pp. 9-24.

"Methodological Issues in Studying Chinese Gang Extortion", by Ko-lin Chin, Robert J. Kelly, and Jeffrey A. Fagan, pp. 25-36.

"A Preliminary Inquiry into Alabama Youth Gang Membership", by Carol Aiken, Jeffrey P. Rush, and Jerry Wycoff, pp. 37-48.

"Review Essay: A Methodological Critique of Islands in the Street ", by James F. Anderson, pp. 49-58.

"An Interview with Lewis Yablonsky: The Violent Gang and Beyond", by James G. Houston, pp. 59-68.

“Gang Colors: Should Students Be Allowed to Wear Them in College?”, pp. 69-70.

Volume 1, Number 3:

"Predictors of the Severity of the Gang Problem at the Local Level: An Analysis of Police Perceptions", by James F. Quinn and Bill Downs, pp. 1-11.

"Preliminary Findings from the 1992 Law Enforcement Mail Questionnaire Project", by George W. Knox, Edward D. Tromanhauser, Pamela Irving Jackson, Darek Niklas, James G. Houston, Paul Koch, and James R. Sutton, pp. 12-28.

"Non-Criminal Predictors of Gang Violence: An Analysis of Police Perceptions", by James F. Quinn and William Downs, pp. 29-38.

"The Implications of Social Psychological Theories of Group Dynamics for Gang Research", by Key Sun, pp. 39-44.

"Joe: The Story of an Ex-Gang Member", by Jessie Collins, pp. 45-50.

"An Interview With Richard Cloward", by Jeffrey Paul Rush, pp. 51-54.

Volume 1, Number 4:

"Do Gang Prevention Strategies Actually Reduce Crime?", by Dennis Palumbo, Robert Eskay, and Michael Hallett, pp. 1-10.

"When the Crips Invaded San Francisco - Gang Migration", by Dan Waldorf, pp. 11-16.

"Fraud Masters: Studying an Illusory, Non-Violent Gang Specializing in Credit Card Crimes", by Jerome E. Jackson, pp. 17-36.

"Asian Gang Problems and Social Policy Solutions: A Discussion and Review", by Lee-jan Jan, pp. 37-44.

"The Legacy of Street Corner Society and Gang Research in the 1990s: An Interview with William F. Whyte", by Karen A. Joe, pp. 45-52.

Volume 2, Number 1 (Fall 1994):

"The Effects of Gangs on Student Performance and Delinquency in Public Schools", by Thomas A. Regulus.

"The American 'Juvenile Underclass' and the Cultural Colonisation of Young Australians Under Conditions of Modernity", by Judith Bessant.

"National Policy Neglect and Its Impact on Gang Suppression", by James G. Houston.

"Youth Gang Intervention and Prevention in Texas: Evaluating Community Mobilization Training", by Elizabeth H. McConnell.

Volume 2, Number 2 (Winter 1995):

"A Comparative Analysis of Prison Gang Members, Security Threat Group Inmates and General Population Prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections", by Robert S. Fong and Ronald E. Vogel, pp. 1-12.

"The Gang Problem in Large and Small Cities: An Analysis of Police Perceptions in Nine States", by James F. Quinn, Peggy M. Tobolowsky, and William T. Downs, pp. 13-23.

"A Community-University Based Approach to Gang Intervention and Delinquency Prevention: Racine's Innovative Model for Small Cities", by Susan R. Takata and Charles Tyler, pp. 25-38.

"The Evolution of Gang Formation: Potentially Delinquent Activity and Gang Involvement", by Jeffery T. Walker, Judge Bill White, and E. Ashley White, pp. 39-50.

"A More Effective Strategy for Dealing With Inner City Street Corner Gangs", by Angelo Ralph Orlandella, pp. 51-60.

"An Interview with James F. Short, Jr.", by Eric L. Jensen, pp. 61-68.

Volume 2, Number 3 (Spring 1995):

"Gang Affiliation Among Asian-American High School Students: A Path Analysis of Social Development Model 1", by Zheng Wang, pp. 1-13.

"Predictors of Gang Violence: The Impact of Drugs and Guns on Police Perceptions in Nine States", by James F. Quinn and Bill Downs, pp. 15-27.

"Juvenile Gang Activity in Alabama", by Jerry C. Armor and Vincent Keith Jackson, pp. 29-35.

"Hispanic Perceptions of Youth Gangs: A Descriptive Exploration", by Marc Gertz, Laura Bedard, and Will Persons, pp. 37-49.

"Implications of the Shaw-McKay Studies and the Problems of Intervention in Gang Work", by Anthony Sorrentino, pp. 51-60..

"Findings on African-American Female Gang Members Using A Matched Pair Design", by George W. Knox, pp. 61-71.

Volume 2, Number 4 (Summer, 1995):

"Female Gang Members: A Growing Issue for Policy Makers", by George T. Felkenes and Harold K. Becker, pp. 1-10.

"The Disaster Within Us: Urban Conflict and Street Gang Violence in Los Angeles", by John P. Sullivan and Martin E. Silverstein, pp. 11-30.

"Patterns of Gang Activity in a Border Community", by William B. Sanders and S. Fernando Rodriguez, pp. 31-43.

"Blood-in, Blood-out: The Rationale Behind Defecting From Prison Gangs", by Robert S. Fong, Ronald E. Vogel, and Salvador Buentello, pp. 45-51.

"Potential Research Areas for Addressing Gang Violence", by Shirley R. Holmes, pp. 53-57.

"Preliminary Results of the 1995 National Prosecutor's Survey", a report of the National Gang Crime Research Center, pp. 59-71.

Volume 3, Number 1 (Fall 1995):

"Gang Enforcement Problems and Strategies: National Survey Findings", by Claire M. Johnson, Barbara A. Webster, Edward F. Connors, and Diana J. Saenz, pp. 1-18.

"Delinquency in Chicago During the Roaring Twenties: Assembling Reality in Ethnography", by Karen A. Joe, pp. 19-32.

"Investigating Gang Structures", by Cheryl L. Maxson and Malcolm W. Klein, pp. 33-40.

"Victimization Patterns of Asian Gangs in the United States", by John Huey-Long Song and Lynn M. Hurysz, pp. 41-49.

"Tattoos and the New Urban Tribes", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, pp. 51-54.

"Gang Profile: The Gangster Disciples", by George W. Knox and Leslie L. Fuller, pp. 58-76.

Volume 3, Number 2 (Winter 1996):

"Gang Migration: The Familial Gang Transplant Phenomenon", by John A. Laskey, pp. 1-15.

"Community Strategies to Neutralize Gang Proliferation", by James F. Anderson and Laronistine Dyson, pp. 17-26.

"Preliminary Results of the 1995 Adult Corrections Survey: A Special Report of the National Gang Crime Research Center", pp. 27-63.

"Gang Profile: The Black Gangsters, AKA 'New Breed'", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 64-76.

Volume 3, Number 3 (Spring, 1996):

"What Works: The Search for Excellence in Gang Intervention Programs", by James G. Houston, pp. 1-16.

"A Violent Few: Gang Girls in the California Youth Authority", by Jill Leslie Rosenbaum, pp. 17-23.

"Specialization Patterns of Gang and Nongang Offending: A Latent Structure Analysis", by Kevin M. Thompson, David Brownfield, and Ann Marie Sorenson, pp. 25-35.

"The 'Tabula Rasa' Intervention Project for Delinquent Gang-Involved Females", by Ernest M. DeZolt, Linda M. Schmidt, and Donna C. Gilcher, pp. 37-43.

"Gang Profile: The Black Disciples", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 45-65.

Editorial on O.J.J.D.P., pp. 72-74.

Volume 3, Number 4 (Summer, 1996):

"Inside Gang Society: How Gang Members Imitate Legitimate Social Forms", by Alice P. Franklin Elder, Ph.D., pp. 1-12.

"Defiance and Gang Identity: Quantitative Tests of Qualitative Hypotheses", by Gary F. Jensen, pp. 13-29.

"Factors Associated With Gang Involvement Among Incarcerated Youths", by William Evans and Alex Mason, pp. 31-40.

"Research Note: The 1996 National Law Enforcement Gang Analysis Survey — A Special Report from the NGCRC", pp . 41-55.

"Gang Profile: The Black P. Stone Nation", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 57-74

Volume 4, Number 1(Fall, 1996):

"The Extent and Dynamics of Gang Activity in Juvenile Correctional Facilities", by Sandra S. Stone, Ph.D. and Jerry Wycoff, Ph.D., pp. 1-8.

"A Comparative Analysis of Female Gang and Non-Gang Members in Chicago", by Jean Chang, Ph.D., pp. 9-18.

"Joining the Gang: A Look at Youth Gang Recruitment", by Thomas A. Rees, Jr., pp. 19-25.

"Side by Side: An Ethnographic Study of a Miami Gang", by Wilson R. Palacios, pp. 27-38.

"Views from the Field: Not Just Removing Tattoos", by Brian M. Bochenek, pp. 39-42.

"Gang Profile: The Latin Kings", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 43-72.

Volume 4, Number 2 Winter, 1997):

"Black Youth Gangs", by Janice Joseph, Ph.D., pp. 1-12.

"Causes of Gang Participation and Strategies for Prevention in Gang Members' Own Words", by Suman K. Sirpal, pp. 13-22.

"Kindred Spirits: Sister Mimetic Societies and Social Responsibilities", by Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, pp. 23-36.

"The Social Reality of Street Gangs", by David E. Neely, pp. 37-46.

"Research Note: A Gang Classification System for Corrections — A Special Report of the NGCRC", pp. 47-57.

"Gang Profile: The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation of New York", by G.V. Corbiscello, pp. 59-74.

Volume 4, Number 3 (Spring 1997):

"The Gang Snitch Profile", by John A. Laskey, pp. 1-16.

"Helping Schools Respond to Gang Violence", by Tom Batsis, pp. 17-22.

"A Regional Gang Incident Tracking System", by Bryan Vila and James W. Meeker, pp. 23-36.

"Views from the Field: A Street Gang in Fact", by Fernando Parra, pp. 37-38.

"Views from the Field: GD Peace Treaty Fails in Gary", by Curtis J. Robinson, pp. 39-40.

"Research Note: The Facts About Female Gang Members", pp. 41-59.

"Crips: A Gang Profile Analysis", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 61-75.

Volume 4, Number 4 (Summer 1997):

"Introducing Gang Evidence Against a Criminal Defendant at Trial", by James G. Guagliardo, J.D. and Sgt. Michael Langston, pp. 1-10.

"Correlates of Gang Membership: A Test of Strain, Social Learning, and Social Control Theories", by David Brownfield, Kevin M. Thompson, and Ann Marie Sorenson, pp. 11-22.

"Origins and Effects of Prison Drug Gangs in North Carolina", by Dennis J. Stevens, pp. 23-35.

"A Socioeconomic Comparison of Drug Sales by Mexican-American and Mexican Immigrant Male Gang Members", by Harold K. Becker, George T. Felkenes, Lisa Magana, and Jill Huntley, pp. 37-47.

"Special Report: The Gang Problem in Chicago's Public Housing", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 49-65

"The Gang Dictionary: A Guide to Gang Slang, Gang Vocabulary, and Gang Socio-linguistic Phrases", pp. 66-75.

Volume 5, Number 1 (Fall 1997):

"Prison Gang Research: Preliminary Findings in Eastern North Carolina", by Mary S. Jackson and Elizabeth Gail Sharpe, M.S.W., pp. 1-7.

"Ideology and Gang Policy: Beyond the False Dichotomy", by J. Mitchell Miller, William J. Ruefle, and Richard A. Wright, pp. 9-20.

"The 'Get Out of the Gang Thermometer': An Application to a Large National Sample of African-American Male Youths", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 21-43.

"California Juvenile Gang Members: An Analysis of Case Records", by Jennifer Santman, Julye Myner, Gordon G. Cappeletty, and Barry F. Perimutter, pp. 45-53.

Views from the Field: Gangs in Sight, by Conny Vercaigne, pp. 55-61.

An Update on the Chicago Latin Kings, by George W. Knox, pp. 63-76.

Volume 5, Number 2 (Winter 1998):

"Bullying Behavior in School: A Predictor of Later Gang Involvement", by Shirley R. Holmes, Ph.D. and Susan J. Brandenburg-Ayres, Ed.D., , pp. 1-6.

"Correlates of Gang Involvement Among Juvenile Probationers", by Jeffrey M. Jenson, Ph.D. and Matthew O. Howard, Ph.D., pp. 7-15.

"Common Characteristics of Gangs: Examining the Cultures of the New Urban Tribes", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., pp. 19-33.

"The Rural Gang Problem: A Case Study in the Midwest", by Michael P. Coghlan, pp. 35-40.

"Research Note: A Comparison of Two Gangs - The Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 41-50.

"Special Report: White Racist Extremist Gang Members - A Behavioral Profile", pp. 51-60.

"Gang Profile: A Nation of Gods - The Five Percent Nation of Islam", by G.V. Corbiscello, pp. 61-73.

Volume 5, Number 3 (Spring 1998):

"At-Risk Behavior and Group Fighting: A Latent Structure Analysis, by Kevin M. Thompson, David Brownfield, and Ann Marie Sorenson, pp. 1-14.

"Social and Psychological Characteristics of Gang Members", by Marc Le Blanc and Nadine Lanctot, pp. 15-28.

"Nickname Usuage by Gang Members", by Barbara H. Zaitzow, pp. 29-40.

"Prison Gangs in South Africa: A Comparative Analysis", by James G. Houston and Johan Prinsloo, pp. 41-52.

Special Report: An Update of Asian Gang Affiliation, by Zheng Wang, Ph.D., pp. 53-59.

Abstracts: The Preliminary Program of the 19998 Second International Gang Specialiast Training Conference, pp. 60-73.

Volume 5, Number 4 (Summer 1998):

"Development of an Instrument for Predicting At-Risk Potential for Adolescent Street Gang Membership", by Todd D. Negola, M.A., pp. 1-14.

"From Boozies to Bloods: Early Gangs in Los Angeles", by John C. Quicker and Akil Batani-Khalfani, pp. 15-22.

“A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis of Female Gang Members”, by Arthur J. Lurigio, James A. Schwartz, and Jean Chang, pp. 23-33.

"The Death of Telemachus: Street Gangs and the Decline of Modern Rites of Passage", by Andrew V. Papachristos, pp. 35-44.

"Views from the Field: Guidelines for Operating an Effective Gang Unit", by Sgt. Michael Langston, pp. 45-70.

"Special Report: How to Gang Proof Your Child", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 71-76.

Volume 6, Number 1 (Fall 1998):

"A Special Report from the National Gang Crime Research Center: Excerpts from the Economics of Gang Life", pp. 1-34.

"Views from the Field of Law Enforcment: A Speech by Sgt. Ron Stallworth", pp. 35-55.

"Views from the Vield of Corrections: A Speech to Inmates by Major Raymond Rivera", pp. 57-60.

"Gang Profile: Association Neta", by Sgt. Raymond E. Hehnly, pp. 61-68.

Volume 6, Number 2 (Winter 1999):

"Risk Factors Associated with Gang Joining Among Youth", by Sandra S. Stone, Ph.D., pp. 1-18.

"The Promulgation of Gang-Banging Through the Mass Media", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 19-38.

"Views from the Field: Gang Homicide Investigation", by Det. James Fanscali, pp. 39-46.

"Research Note: Asian Gangs", by Thomas F. McCurrie, Ph.D., pp. 47-52.

"Special Report: A Comparison of Gang Members and Non-Gang Members from Project GANGFACT", pp. 53-76.

Volume 6, Number 3 (Spring 1999):

"Goal Displacement at Leadership and Operational Levels of the Gang Organizatin", by Alice P. Franklin Elder, Ph.D., pp. 1-7.

"Skinheads: Manifestations of the Warrior Culture of the New Urban Tribes", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter Sr., pp. 9-21.

"Prison Gangs: The North Carolina Experience", by Barbara H. Zaitzow, Ph.D. and James G. Houston, Ph.D., pp. 23-32.

"Risk Behaviors for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Gangs in Dallas, Texas", by Bertis B. Little, Ph.D.; Jose Gonzalez, M.S.S.W., Laura Snell, M.P.H., and Christian Molidor, Ph.D., pp. 33-47.

Research Note: "Juvenile Gang Members: A Public Health Perspective", by George W. Knox, Ph.D. and Edward D. Tromanhauser, Ph.D., pp. 49-60.

Gang Profile: The Brotherwoods - The Rise and Fall of a White-Supremacist Gang Inside a Kansas Prison, by Roger H. Bonner, pp. 61-76.

Volume 6, Number 4 (Summer 1999):

"A Comparison of Cults and Gangs: Dimensions of Coercive Power and Malevolent Authority", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., pp. 1-39.

"Jamaican Posses and Transnational Crimes", by Janice Joseph, Ph.D., pp. 41-47.

"The Affirmation of Hanging Out: The U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Gang Busting Laws and Their Consequences", by Lewis Yablonsky, Ph.D., pp. 49-55.

"Trying to Live Gang-Free in Cicero, Illinois", by George W. Knox and Curtis J. Robinson., pp. 57-70.

"Views from the Field: The Impact of Gangs on Private Security in the Workplace", by Melvyn May, Ph.D., pp. 71-74.

Volume 7, Number 1: Fall, 1999

"Gang Prevention and Intervention in a Rural T own in California", by Karen Stum and Mayling Maria Chu, pp. 1 - 12.

"Gang Membership: Gang Formations and Gang Joining", by Steven R. Cureton, Ph.D., pp. 13-21.

"A New Breed of Warrior: The Emergence of American Indian Youth Gangs", by Julie A. Hailer and Cynthia Baroody Hart, pp. 23 - 33.

"Profiling the Satanic/Occult Dabblers in the Correctional Offender Population", by Curtis J. Robinson, pp. 35-66.

"Views from the Field: By Gordon McLean", pp. 72-75.

Volume 7, Number 2: Winter, 2000

"The Impact of the Federal Prosecution of the Gangster Disciples", by George W. Knox, pp. 1 - 64.

"Views from the Field: A Look Into the Michigan Department of Corrections STG/Gang Program", by Robert Mulvaney, STG Coordinator, pp. 65-66.

"Legal Note: Additional Civil Suits Against Gangs in Illinois", pp. 67-73.

"Views From the Field: A.D., After the Disciples: The Neighborhood Impact of a Federal Prosecution", by Andrew V. Papachristos, pp. 74-76.

Volume 7, Number 3: Spring, 2000

"A National Assessment of Gangs and Securty Threat Groups (STGs) in Adult Correctional Institutions: Results of the 1999 Adult Corrections Survey", by George W. Knox, pp. 1 - 45.

"The Preliminary Program for Gang College 2000: Confirmed Trainers and Presenters With Session Length and Abstracts/Bios", pp. 47 - 71.

"Information About Gang College 2000", pp. 72-76.

Volume 7, Number 4: Summer, 2000

"Overcoming Problems Associated with Gang Research: A Standardized and Systemic Methodology", by Douglas L. Yearwood and Richard Hayes, pp. 1 - 8.

"The Gangbangers of East Los Angeles: Sociopsycho-analytic Considerations", by Gene N. Levine and Fernando Parra, pp. 9 - 12.

"A Corporation-Based Gang Prevention Approach: Possible? Preliminary Report of A Corporate Survey", by John Z. Wang, Ph.D., pp. 13-28.

"Homicide in School: A Preliminary Discussion", by Shirley R. Holmes, Ph.D., pp. 29-36.

"Special Report of the NGCRC: Findings from Project GANGMILL", pp. 37-76.

Volume 8, Number 1: Fall, 2000

"Frederic M. Thrasher (1892-1962) And The Gang (1927)", by Gilbert Geis and Mary Dodge, pp. 1-49.

"Asian Gangs: New Challenges in the 21st Century", by John Z. Wang, pp. 51-62.

"Street Gangs and Apartment Housing in America: A Qualitative Assessment", by Michael J. Witkowski, CPP, pp. 63-70.

Volume 8, Number 2: Winter, 2001

"Vietnamese Gangs, Cliques, and Delinquents", by Yoko Baba, pp. 1-20..

"Adolescents Leaving Gangs: An Analysis of Risk and Protective Factors, Resilency and Desistance in A Developmental Context", by Laura Caldwell and David M. Altschuler, pp. 21-34.

"Ecological Assessment: Establishing Ecological Validity in Gang Intervention Strategies - A Call for Ecologically Sensitive Assessment of Gang Affected Youth", by Thomas Boerman, pp. 35-48.

"Totemism and Symbolism in the White Supremacist Movements: Images of an Urban Warrior Culture", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., Ed.D., pp. 49-75.

Volume 8, Number 3: Spring, 2001

“The Relationship between Gang and Other Group Involvement and the Use of Illicit Drugs: Findings From Maryland’s Offender Population Urinalysis Screening (OPUS) Program”, by George S. Yacoubian, Jr.,; Delcie G. Rico; Elisabeth Fost; Blake J. Urbach; and Eric D. Wish, pp. 1 - 11.

"Program Information on the 4th International Gang Specialist Training Program: Chicago, IL, Aug. 15-17, 2001: Confirmed Trainers and Presenters With Session Length and Abstracts/Bios", pp. 13-31

"Abstract Information for the Summer, 2001 Training Conference", pp. 33 - 76.

Volume 8, Number 4: Summer, 2001

"A Statewide Assessment of Gangs in Public Schools: Origins, Membership and Criminal Activities", by Douglas L. Yearwood and Richard Hayes, pp. 1-12.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Veterano Chicano Gang Members and the (Dys)Functional Aspects of the Role", by Fernando Parra, pp. 13-18.

"A Gang By Any Other Name is Just a Gang: Towards an Expanded Definition of Gangs", by James F. Anderson, Nancie J. Mangels, and Laronistine Dyson, pp. 19-34.

"Legal, Ethical and Clinical Implications of Doing Field Work with Young Gang Members Who Engage in Serious Violence", by Mark Totten, pp. 35-56.

Gang Profile: "The Satan's Disciples", by George W. Knox, pp. 57-76.

Volume 9, Number 1: Fall, 2001

"Bomb and Arson Crimes Among American Gang Members: A Behavioral Science Profile --- A Special Report by the National Gang Crime Research Center", pp. 1-38.

"Methamphetamine Use and Sales Among Gang Members: The Cross-Over Effect", by Curtis J. Robinson, pp. 39-52.

"Gang Profile Update: The Black P. Stone Nation", by George W. Knox, pp. 53-76.

Volume 9, Number 2: Winter, 2002

"Distinguishing the Effects of Peer Delinquency and Gang Membership on Self-Reported Delinquency", by David Brownfield and Kevin Thompson, pp. 1-10.

"Familial Crimnality, Familial Drug Use, and Gang Membership: Youth Criminality, Drug Use, and Gang Membership - What are the Connnections?", by Suman Kakar, pp. 11-22.

"Differentiating Factors in Gang and Drug Homicide", by Gerri-Ann Brandt and Brenda Russell, pp. 23-40.

"Applying Self-Control Theory to Gang Membership in a Non-Urban Setting", by Trina L. Hope and Kelly R. Damphouse, pp. 41-61.

NGCRC Special Report: "Responding to Gangs in the 21st Century: A Research and Policy View", by George W. Knox, pp. 63-74.

Book Review: Hope Fulfilled for At-Risk and Violent Youth , reviewed by Shirley R. Holmes, pp. 75-76.

Volume 9, Number 3: Spring, 2002

Special Report: "The Melanics - A Gang Profile Analysis", by George W. Knox, pp. 1-76.

Volume 9, Number 4: Summer, 2002

"A Preliminary Profile of Laotian/Hmong Gangs: A California Perspective", by John Z. Wang, pp. 1-14.

"The Perceived Effects of Religion on White Supremacist Culture", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter Sr., pp. 15-24.

"From Religious Cult to Criminal Gang: The Evolution of Chinese Triads (Part 1)", by Hua-Lun Huang and John Z. Wang, pp. 25-32.

"Dangerous Motorcycle Gangs: A Facet of Organized Crime in the Mid Atlantic Region", by Richard C. Smith, Sr.

"The Drivers License: A Suggested Gang Suppression Strategy", by James O. Henkel and Philip L. Reichel, pp. 45-56.

Abstracts of the Preliminary Program for the 2002 Fifth International Gang Specialist Training Conference, August 14-16, 2002, Chicago, IL, pp. 57-75.

Volume 10, Number 1: Fall, 2002

"Work, Workplace Deviance, and Criminal Offenders: An Analysis of Project GANGMILL", by Michael J. Witkowski, Robert J. Homant, aned Erick Barnes, pp. 1-10.

"Predictors of Gang Involvement Among American Indian Adolescents", by Les B. Whitbeck, Dan R. Hoyt, Xiaojin Chen, and Jerry D. Stubben, pp. 11-26.

"Promising (And Not-So-Promising) Gang Prevention and Intervention Strategies: A Compehensive Literature Review", by Jeanne B. Stinchcomb, pp. 27-46.

"The "New" Female Gang Member: Anomaly or Evolution?", by James F. Anderson, Willie Brooks, Jr., Adam Langsam, and Laronistine Dyson, pp. 47-65.

Gang Profile Analysis: "Black Gods in Red Bank: The Five Percent Nation in Central New Jersey", by David J. Dodd and Damon Pearson, pp. 66-74.

Volume 10, Number 2: Winter, 2003

"Security Threat Groups: The Threat Posed by White Supremacist Organizations", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., pp. 1-24.

"White Supremacy Music - What Does it Mean to Our Youth", by Andrew M. Grascia, pp. 25-31.

"Confronting Transnational Gangs in the Americas", by Joseph Rogers, pp. 33-44.

"Native-American Youths and Gangs", by Janice Joseph and Dorothy Taylor, pp. 45-54.

"Chicano Music and Latino Rap and its Influence on Gang Violence and Culture", by Gabe Morales, pp. 55-63.

"Prison Deviance as a Predictor of General Deviance: Some Correlational Evidence from Project GANGMILL", by Robert J. Homant and Michael J. Witkowski, pp. 65-75.

Volume 10, Number 3: Spring, 2003

"A Modus Operandi Analysis of Bank Robberies by An Asian Gang: Implications for Law Enforcement", by John Z. Wang, pp. 1-12.

"Strategic Planning for Law Enforcement Agencies: Management as a Gang Fighting Strategy", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., pp. 13-23.

"Street Gangs: Utilizing Their Roll Calls for Investigative and Research Purposes", by Ken Davis, pp. 25-36.

"Gang Violence in Rural Georgia: A Community's Fight", by Shirley R. Holmes and Joe Amerling, pp. 37-64.

Gang Threat Analysis: "The Chaldean Mafia: A Preliminary Gang Threat Analysis", by George Knox, pp. 65-76.

Volume 10, Number 4: Summer, 2003

“Female Gangs and Patterns of Female Delinquency in Texas”, by Alan C. Turley, pp. 1-12.

“How Do Youth Claiming Gang Membership Differ From Youth Who Claim Membership in Another Group, Such As A Crew, Clique, Posse, or Mob?”, by Julie M. Amato and Dewey G. Cornell, pp. 13-23.

“The Effect of Gang Membership on Parole Outcome”, by Marilyn D. McShane, Frank P. Williams III, and H. Michael Dolny, pp. 25-38.

“Connecting Students At-Risk to Schools: Social Program Interventions”, by Shirley R. Holmes, Susan J. Brandenburg-Ayres, and Daria T. Cronic, pp. 39-46.

Volume 11, Number 1: Fall, 2003

“Differential Association and Gang Membership”, by David Brownfield, pp. 1-12.

“Do Gangs Exist in Rural Areas and Small Cities: Perceptions of Law Enforcement Agencies”, by Satasha L. Green, pp. 13-31.

“Girls in Gangs: Biographies and Culture of Female Gang Associates in New Zealand”, BY Greg Newbold and Glennis Dennehy, pp. 33-53.

“Gangster Rap - The Real Words Behind the Songs”, by Andrew M. Grascia, pp. 55-63.

“Why Do Children Join Gangs?”, pp. 65-75.

Volume 11, Number 2: Winter 2004

“An Assessment of Gang Presence and Related Activity at the County Level: Another Deniability Refutation”, by J. Mitchell Miller, et al, pp. 1-22.

“Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13) in Montgomery County Maryland”, by Jeffrey T. Wennar, pp. 23-28.

“Gang Violence: Mara Salvatrucha - Forever Salvador”, by Andrew M. Grascia, pp. 29-36.

“Exporting American Organized Crime - Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs”, by Tom Barker, pp. 37-50.

“Skinheads: A Three Nation Comparison”, by Wendy L. Hicks, pp. 51-74.

Volume 11, Number 3: Spring 2004

“Females and Gangs: Sexual Violence, Prostitution, and Exploitation”, by George W. Knox, pp. 1-15.

Special Report: The Preliminary Program of the 2004 NGCRC 7 th International Gang Specialist Training Program, Chicago, IL”, pp. 16-76.

Volume 11, Number 4: Summer 2004

“The Truth about Outlaw Bikers & What You Can Expect If They Come To Your Town”, by Andrew M. Grascia, pp. 1-16.

“Gang Unit Journal, Part I: ‘There’s Always a But...’”, by Karen de Olivares, pp. 17-24.

“Prison Gang Leadership: Traits Identified by Prison Gangsters”, by Sandra Fortune, pp. 25-46.

“Let Senior Brothers/Sisters Meet Junior Brothers/Sisters: The Categorical Linkages between Traditional Chinese Secret Associations and Modern Organized Chinese Underground Groups”, by Hua-Lun Huang, pp. 47-68.

Volume 12, Number 1: Fall, 2004

Special Issue - “The Problem of Gangs and Security Threat Groups (STG’s) in American Prisons Today: A Special NGCRC Report”, pp. 1-76.

Volume 12, Number 2: Winter, 2005

“Working With Youth Street Gangs and Their Families: Utilizing a Nurturing Model for Social Work Practice”, by Mary S. Jackson, Lessie Bass, and Elizabeth G. Sharpe, pp. 1-17.

“Youth Gangs of Rural Texas: College Students Speak Out”, by Satasha L. Green, pp. 19-40.

“Gang Behavior and Movies: Do Hollywood Gang Films Influence Violent Gang Behavior?”, by Chris J. Przemieniecki, pp. 41-71.

Volume 12, Number 3: Spring, 2005:

“The Ku Klux Klan: Evolution Towards Revolution”, by LT. Gregg W. Etter Sr., Ed.D., David H. McElreath, Ph.D., and Chester L. Quarles, Ph.D., pp. 1-16

Abstracts for the 2005 Gang Specialist Training Program, pp. 17-76

Volume 12, Number 4: Summer, 2005:

“ Correlates of Hispanic Female Gang Membership”, by Dorothy D. Sule, pp. 1-23.

“The Impact of Gang Membership on Mental Health Symptoms, Behavior Problems and Antisocial Criminality of Incarcerated Young Men”, by Kevin Corcoran, Alex Washington, and Nancy Meyers, pp. 25-35.

“Beyond the Lenses of the ‘Model’ Minority Myth: A Descriptive Portrait of Asian Gang Members”, by Glenn T. Tsunokai, pp. 37-58.

“Golden Parachutes and Gangbanging: Taiwanese Gangs in Suburban Southern California”, by Kay Kei-ho Pih and KuoRay Mao, pp. 59-72.

“Views from the Field: Memorandum in Support of Gang Expert Testimony”, by Jeffrey T. Wenner, pp. 73-76.

Vol. 13, No. 1: Fall, 2005:

“Gangs in the Law: A Content Analysis of Statutory Definitions for the Term Gang”, by D. Lee Gilbertson and Seth J. Malinski, pp. 1-16.

“The Linkages Between Street Gangs and Organized Crime: The Canadian Experience”, by Katharine Kelly and Tullio Caputo, pp. 17-31.

“Drug Use Among East African and Middle Eastern Immigrants: The Khat is out of the Bag”, by LT Gregg W. Etter, Sr., Ed.D., and Mohamed A. Ali, pp. 33-40.

“Gang Membership, Delinquent Friends and Criminal Family Members: Determining the Connections”, by Suman Kakar, pp. 41-52.

Vol. 13, No. 2: Winter, 2006:

“El remolque y el vacil: HIV Risk Among Street Gangs in El Salvador”, by Julia Dickson-Gomez, Gloria Bodnar, Aradenia Guevara, Karla Rodriguez, and Mauricio Gaborit, pp. 1-26.

“Motorcycle Gangs: The New Face of Organized Crime”, by Edward J. McDermott, pp. 27-36.

“Girls, Gangs and Crime: Profile of the Young Female Offender”, by Lianne Archer and Andrew M. Grascia, pp. 37-49.

Vol. 13, No. 3: Spring, 2006:

“The Use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in the Examination of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang”, by Donnay McNally and Jonathan Alston, pp. 1-25.

Official Proceedings: Session Abstracts for the 2006 NGCRC 9 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 27-74.

Vol. 13, No. 4: Summer, 2006:

“An Assessment of Hispanic/Latino Gangs in North Carolina: Findings from a General Law Enforcement Survey”, by Alison Rhyne and Douglas L. Yearwood, pp. 1-14.

“Asian Gang Homicides and Weapons: Criminalistics and Criminology”, by D.A. Lopez, pp. 15-29.

“A Defiance Theory of Sanctions and Gang Membership”, by David Brownfield, pp. 31-43.

Views from the Field: “Opportunities Missed: Montgomery County Gang Prevention Task Force”, by Jeffrey T. Wennar, pp. 45-50.

Vol. 14, No. 1: Fall, 2006:

Special Report from the NGCRC: “Findings from the K-12 Survey Project: A Special Report of the NGCRC on Gang Problems in American Public Schools”, by George W. Knox, pp. 1-52.

Vol. 14, No. 2: Winter 2007:

 “Hispanic/Latino Gangs: A Comparative Analysis of Nationally Affiliated and Local Gangs”, by Douglas L. Yearwood and Alison Rhyne, pp. 1-18.

“Gangs and Terrorists in the Americas: An Unlikely Nexus”, by Joseph Rogers, pp. 19-30.

“Gangster ‘Blood’ over College Aspirations: The Implications of Gang Membership for One Black Male College Student”, by Steven Cureton and Rochelle Bellamy, pp. 31-49.

Vol. 14, No. 3: Spring, 2007:

“The Gang’s All Here: The Globalization of Gang Activity”, by Jodi Vittori, pp. 1-34.

“The Preliminary Program for the 2007 NGCRC Training Conference, Course Abstracts”, pp. 35-76.

Volume 14, No. 4, Summer: 2007:

“Third Generation Gang Studies: An Introduction”, by John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, pp. 1-10.

“Theoretical Foundations for Gang Membership”, by Michael Klemp-North, pp. 11-26.

“Street gangs in Indian Country: A Clash of Cultures”, by Christopher M. Grant and Steve Feimer, pp. 27-66.

“A Call for an Assessment-Based Approach to Gang Intervention”, by Thomas Boerman, pp. 67-73.

Volume 15, No. 1, Fall, 2007:

“The Organizational Structure of Street Gangs in Newark, New Jersey: A Network Analysis Methodology”,. By Jean Marie McGloin, pp. 1-34.

“Central American Gangs: An Overview of the Phenomenon in Laltin America and the U.S.”, by Thomas Boerman, pp. 35-52.

Volume 15, No. 2, Winter, 2008:

“Graffiti Formats: Are they Gangs or Graffiti Crews?”, by Kenneth A. Davis, pp. 1-18.

“A Comprehensive Literature Review of Rural Youth Gangs”, by Karen L. Wilson, pp. 19-32.

“Border Crossings: A Look at the Very Real Threat of Cross Border Gangs to the U.S.”, by G.V. Corbiscello, pp. 33-52.

Volume 15, No. 3, Spring , 2008:

“Exploring the Experiences of Asian Youth in the Criminal Justice System in Canada”, by Siu-ming Kwok, pp. 1-17.

“The Preliminary Program Listing of the 2008 NGCRC 11 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference: Session Abstracts”, pp. 18-68.

Volume 15, No. 4, Summer, 2008.

“Understanding Gang Theories: Social Process Theories, Part One”, by Mario L. Hesse, pp. 1-14.

“Antecedents to Gang Membership: Attachments, Beliefs, and Street Encounters with the Police”, by Arthur L. Lurigio, Jamie L. Flexon, and Richard G.Greenleaf, pp. 15-33.

“Female Gang Members and Desistance: Pregnancy as a Possible Exit Strategy”, by Jennifer A. Varriale, pp. 35-64.

“Gang Affiliation and Negative Perceptions About Authority, Law Enforcement, and Laws: Is Gang Affiliation a Precursor to Becoming a Threat to Homeland Security and Terrorism?”, by Suman Kakar, pp. 65-76.

Volume 16, No. 1, Fall, 2008:

“Examining the Demographics of Street Gangs in Wichita, Kansas”, by Dr. Gregg W. Etter Sr., and Warren G. Swymeler, pp. 1-12.

“Relationship of Latino Gang Membership to Anger Expression, Bullying, Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem”, by Ede L.Lemus and Fred A. Johnson, pp. 13-32.

“Gangs and Gang Violence in School”, by Janice Joseph, pp. 33-50.

Volume 16, No. 2, Winter, 2009:

“Are Gangs a Social Problem”, by D. Lee Gilbertson, pp. 1-25.

“Healing Connections: Rising Above the Gang”, by Tania Lafontaine, Sharon Acoose, and Bernard Schissel, pp. 26-55.

“In Their Own Words: A Study of Gang Members Through Their Own Perspective”, by Aleljandro del Carmen, John J. Rodriguez, Rhonda Dobbs, Richard Smith, Randall R. Butler, and Robert Sarver III, pp. 57-76.

Volume 16, No. 3, Spring, 2009:

“Explaining Gang Involvement and Delinquency among Asian Americans: An Empirical Test of General Strain Theory”, by Glenn T. Tsunokai and Augustine J. Kposowa, pp. 1-33.

“The Preliminary Program Listing of the 2009 NGCRC 12 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 12-14, 2009 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios, pp. 34-76.

Volume 16, No. 4, Summer, 2009:

“MS-13: A Gang Profile”, by Jennifer J. Adams and Jesenia M. Pizarro, pp. 1-14.

“Weapon Related Violence among Students in Philadelphia and Toronto: The Gang Connection”, by Jennifer E. Butters, Lana Harrison, Edward Adlaf, and Patricia G. Erickson, pp. 15-34.

“The Psychological Effect of Exposure to Gang Violence on Youth: A Pilot Study”, by Sarah Kelly, Debra Anderson, and Ann Peden, pp. 35-52.

Volume 17, No. 1, Fall, 2009:

“How Street Gangs Recruit and Socialize Members”, by Stanley S. Taylor, pp. 1-27.

“Lessons Learned from the National Evaluation of the Gang-free Schools and Community Program”, by Jennifer Scherer, Dana Thompson Dorsey, and Daniel Catzva, pp. 29-44.

“By Working Together We Can Support Youth: Observations from a Preliminary Evaluation of the Community solution to Gang Violence”, by Jana Grekul, Pattie LaBoucane-Benson, and Karen Erickson, pp. 45-67.

“Statistical Evaluation Results from the 2009 NGCRC Training Conference”, pp. 68-72.

Volume 17, No. 2, Winter, 2010:

“Mara Salvatrucha 13: A Transnational Threat”, by Gregg W. Etter Sr., pp. 1-17.

“Recent Gang Activity in Jamaican High Schools”, by Lorna Grant, Camille Gibson, and Edward Mason, pp. 19-35.

“Gangs in North Carolina: Responding to a Legislative Study Mandate”, by Douglas L. Yearwood and Richard Hayes, pp. 36-52.

Volume 17, No. 3, Spring, 2010:

“The Presence of Serious Gang Involvement in Elementary Schools”, by Mahfuzul I. Khondaker, Kennon Rice, and Brenda Russell, pp. 1-9.

“The Preliminary Program for the 2010 NGCRC 13 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 16-18, 2010 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios”, pp. 10-76.

Volume 17, No. 4, Summer, 2010:

“Social Control, Self-Control, and Gang Membership”, by David Brownfield, pp. 1-12.

“Gangs Go to College: A Preliminary Report”, by Tom W. Cadwallader, pp. 13-20.

“The Perceived Effects of Precursor Laws on Domestic Methamphetamine Production”, by Dr. Gregg W. Etter Sr., and Cclarinda W. Garrett, pp. 21-37.

“Charismatic Role Theory: Towards a Theory of Gang Dissipation”, by Christian Bolden, pp. 39-70.

Volume 18, No. 1, Fall, 2010:

“Recent Patterns in Gang Prevalence: A Two State Comparison”, by Jeff Rojek, Matthew Petrocelli, and Trish Oberweis, pp. 1-17.

“The Fourty-Two Gang: The Unpublished Landesco Manuscripts”, by Robert M. Lombardo, pp. 19-38.

“Lost Souls of Society Become Hypnotized by Gangsterism”, by Steven R. Cureton, pp. 39-52.

Volume 18, No. 2, Winter, 2011:

“Players, Social Bandits, Would-Be Radical Revolutionaries: Examining Hip-Hop, Narcocorrido, and neo-Nazi Hate Rock”, by Dr. Gregg W. Etter Sr., pp. 1-22.

“Building Collective Efficacy and Sustainability Into a Community Collaborative: Community Solution to Gang Violence”, by Jana Grekul, pp. 23-45.

“Special Report: Little Hope in 2011 for Federal Anti-Gang Legislation”, by George W. Knox, pp. 46-52.

Volume 18, No. 3, Spring, 2011:

“Alabama Prison Gang Survey”, by Richard H. Martin, Jeffrey L. Gwynne, Robert Parillo, Bar Younker, Jr., and Reginald Carter, pp. 1-19.

“Preliminary Program for the 2011 NGCRC 14 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 8-10, 2011): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios”, pp. 20-76.

Volume 18, No. 4, Summer, 2011:

"Documenting the Pilot: The Military Gang Perception Questionnaire (MGPQ)", by Carter F. Smith, pp. 1-17.

"Drug Wars: It is Not All Quiet on the Mexican Front", by Dr. Gregg W. Etter Sr., pp. 19-45.

"Views From the Field: The Early Days of Military Gang Investigating", by Carter F. Smith, pp. 46-52.

Volume 19, No. 1, Fall, 2011:

"Adolescent Males' Perceptions of Gangs and Gang Violence", by Sarah Kelly, Debra Anderson, Lynne Hall, Ann Peden, and Julie Cerel, pp. 1-8.

"A Comprehensive Literature Review of Military-Trained Gang Members", by Carter F. Smith, pp. 9-20.

"Psychological and Cultural Aspects of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Members", by Brandon Prenger and Dr. Gregg W. Etter Sr., 21-36.

"Use of the Teardrop Tattoo by Young Street Gang Members in Canada", by Mark Totten, pp. 37-52.

Volume 19, No. 2, Winter, 2012:

"Gays in the Gang", by Mark Totten, pp. 1-24.

"Gender and Gang Membership: Testing Theories to Account for Different Rates of Participation", by David Brownfield, pp. 25-32.

"Globalization and Gang Growth: The Four Phenomena Affect", by M. Michaux Parker, pp. 33-49.

Volume 19, No. 3, Spring, 2012:

"Predicting Fear of Gangs among High School Students in Chicago", by Arthur J. Lurigio, Jamie L. Flexon, and Richard G. Greenleaf, pp. 1-12.

"The Preliminary Program for the 2012 NGCRC 15th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (July 23-25, 2012 - Chicgo): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios, pp. 13-76.

Volume 19, No. 4, Summer, 2012:

"A Crucible of Conflict: Third Generation Gang Studies Revisited", by John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, pp. 1-20.

"Gangs in the Village: Re-conceptualizing Gangs as a Social Work Phenomenon", by M. Michaux Parker, Jennifer J. McRant, and Shereuka L. Coleman, pp. 21-36.

"The Gang Officer's Perception: Measuring Intervention Propensity Among Gang Investigators", by Blake Lafond, Shruti Mehta, and Richard Hayes, pp. 37-51.

Volume 20, No. 1, Fall, 2012:

"The Industrial Organization of Street Gangs", by David Skarbek and Russell Sobel, pp. 1-17.

"Are You Down? Power Relations and Gender Reconstruction Among Latina Gang Members in Los Angeles", by Abigail Kolb and Ted Palys, pp. 19-32.

"Views from the Field: Flashgangs and Flashgangbanging: How can local police prepare?", by Carter F. Smith, Jeffrey P. Rush, Daniel Robinson, and Megan Karmiller, pp. 33-50.

"Special NGCRC Report: The Problem of Gang and Security Threat Groups (STG's) in American Prisons and Jails Today", by George W. Knox, pp. 51-76.

Volume 20, No. 2, Winter, 2013:

“Teaching About Hate Crimes to University Students”, by Jeffery Johson, Gregg W. Etter, Sr.,, and Lynn W. Varner, pp. 1-8.

“Interactive Visualization of New Jersey Gang Data”, by Manfred Minimair, pp. 9-25.

“Gang Membership and Gender: Does Being a Female Gang Affect the Type, Frequency and Intensity of Crimes Committed?”, by Suman Kakar, pp. 27-40.

“Gangster Undergrads: Perceptions Regarding Gang Members in Colleges and Universities”, by Carter F. Smith, pp. 41-52.

Volume 20, No. 3, Spring, 2013:

“Youth Gangs in Contemporary China”, by Lening Zhang, pp. 1-18.

“The Preliminary Program for the 2013 NGCRC’s 16 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 5-7, 2013 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios”, pp. 19-76.

Volume 20, No. 4, Summer, 2013:

“The Mexican Drug Wars: Organized Crime, Narco-Terrorism, Insurgency or Asymmetric Warfare?”, by Dr. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., and Erica L. Lehmuth, pp. 1-34

“Gang Formation Revisited: A Human Development Framework to Inform Balanced Anti-Gang Strategies”, by Gilberto Q. Conchas and James Diego Vigil, pp. 35-52

Volume 21, No. 1, Fall, 2013:

“Making Sense Out of the Census: Identifying Relationships Between Census Data, Validated Gang Levels, and Index Crime Levels”, by Blake Lafond and Shruti Mehta, pp 1-16

“Street Gangs and Violence in Trinadad and Tobago”,by Randy Seepersad, pp. 17-42

“An Overview of a Gang Diversion Collaboration Operation by the Carson Sheriff’s Station in Los Angeles”, by Bill Sanders, pp. 43-52.

Volume 21, No. 2, Winter, 2014:

“Does Religion Matter? A Study of the Impact of Religion on Female Incarcerated Gang Members in a Bible Belt State”, by Nick Genty, A. Christon Adedoyin, Mary S. Jackson, and Mark Jones, pp. 1-16

“Understanding and Meeting the Needs of Formerly Gang-Affiliated Youth Through Tattoo-Removal Services”, by Sonia Jain, Adriana Mercedes Alvarado, Alison K. Cohen, and Quamrun Eldridge, pp. 17-31

“Barriers to Effective Gang-Member Reentry: An Examination of Street Gang-Affiliated Probation Revocation in a Southwestern State”, by Adam K. Matz, Kelli D. Stevens Martin, and Matthew T. DeMichele, pp. 32-51

Volume 21, No. 3, Spring, 2014:

“Transnationalism: Law Enforcement Perceptions of Gang Activity on the Texas/Mexico Border”, by John J. Rodriguez, Raymond A. Eve, Alejandro Del Carmen, and Seokjin Jeong, pp. 1-15.

“The Preliminary Program for the 2014 NGCRC 17 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 11-13, 2014 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios”, pp. 16-76.

Volume 21, No. 4, Summer, 2014:

“Testing a Subcultural Theory of Crime and Delinquency in a Gang Context”, by David Brownfield, pp. 1-9.

“Hate Crimes Against American Indians and Alaskan Natives”, by Hillary D. McNeel, pp. 11-21.

“The Transformation of Playgroups to Street Gangs”, by Tim Delaney, pp. 23-43.

“Cumulative Index to Articles Published in the Journal of Gang Research”, pp. 44-52.

Volume 22, No. 1, Fall, 2014:

“Anomie Theory and Gang Delinquency”, by David Brownfield, pp. 1-12.

“An Empirical Evaluation of the Project B.U.I.L.D. Gang Intervention Program”, by M. Michaux Parker, George Wilson, and Chalita Thomas, pp. 13-24.

“A Comparison of Gang and Non-gang Involved Adult Probationers in California’s Agricultural Heartland”, by James Eric Sutton and Jessica Erin Sutton, pp. 25-42.

“Views from the Field: Are We Color Blind to the Violence Behind Graffiti?”, by Kenneth A. Davis, pp. 43-50.

Volume 22, No. 2, Winter, 2015:

“Recent Literature on Approaches and Programs for Dealing with the Gang Phenomenon: Between Tradition and Innovation”, by Sylvie Hamel, Marc Alain, and Karine Messier-Newman, pp. 1-22.

“Military-Trained Gang Members – Two Different Perspectives”, by Carter F. Smith, pp. 23-38.

“Females and Emotional/Behavioral Disorders and Delinquency”, by Mickie Wong-Lo, Ph.D., pp. 39-51.

Volume 22, No. 3, Spring, 2015:

“Understanding Transnational Gangs and Criminal Networks: A Contribution to Community Resilience – A Social Network Analysis of the San Diego/Tijuana Border Region”, by Ami C. Carpenter and Stacey Cooper, p. 1-24.

“The Preliminary Program for the 2015 NGCRC’s 18 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 10-12, 2015 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios”, pp. 25-76.

Volume 22, No. 4, Summer, 2015:

“A Media Analysis of Gang-related Homicides in British Columbia from 2003 to 2013", by Samuel Jingfors, Gloria Lazzano, and Keiron McConnell, pp. 1-17.

“The Spearhead: Assessing Gangs and Community Vulnerability to Gang Infiltration”, by M. Michaux Park and Stephanie Whitehead, pp. 19-35.

“Community Level Factors and Concerns Over Youth Gangs in First Nation Communities”, by Tullio Caputo and Katharine Kelly, pp. 37-52.

Volume 23, No. 1, Fall, 2015:

“What is the Nexus Between Organized Crime and Gangs?”, by Stephen L. Mallory, Michael P. Wigginton Jr., Gregg W. Etter Sr, Jeffery M. Johnson, and Sara Thomas, pp. 1-21.

“St. Louis Gang Violence and the Code of the Street”, by Grant Shostak, pp. 23-30.

“The Latent Catalyst: Clarifying the Impact of Gang Behavior on Juvenile Mental Illness Within a Multivariate Context”, by George Wilson, M. Michael Parker, and Charlita Thomas, pp. 31-43.

“A Synopsis of the NGCRC’s 2016 Gang Training Conference”, pp. 45-52.

Volume 23, No. 2, Winter, 2016:

“A Community-Based Soccer Program for At-Risk Youth in Ventanilla, Peru: An Examination of the Long Term Effectiveness of Club Deportivo Dan”, by Michael E. Antonio and Susan R. Shutt, pp. 1-18.

“Disproportionate Gang Crime and Violence in the West Zone of Greenville (Pitt County) North Carolina”, by James F. Anderson, Kelly Reinsmith-Jones, Laronistine Dyson, and Adam H. Langsam, pp. 19-40.

“When is a Prison Gang Not a Prison Gang: A Focused Review of Prison Gang Literature”, by Carter F. Smith, pp. 41-52.

Volume 23, No. 3, Spring, 2016:

“Disproportionate Minority Contact: Impact of Race and Risk Factors of First-Time Juvenile Offenders on Recidivism”, by Shelby Brisky, Yoshiko Takahashi, and Vanessa Hernandez, pp. 1-11.

“The Preliminary Program for the 2016 NGCRC’s 19 th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 8-10, 2016 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts and Bios”, pp. 12-76.

Volume 23, No. 4, Summer, 2016:

“The Russian Mayfia: Examining the Thieves World From Thieves-In Law to Thieves in Authority”, by Gregg W. Etter Sr., and Stacia Pottorff, pp. 1-27.

“Nothing Works or Something Works? Gang-Crimes and Interventions in the Print Media”, by Xiaochen Hu and Layne Ditttman, pp. 29-50.

“Two Book Reviews” by Dr. Vicky Ganieany, pp. 51-52.

Volume 24, No. 1, Fall, 2016:

“Gang Membership and Suicidality in Adolescents”, by Shao-Chiu Juan and David Memenway, pp. 1-15.

“Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs as Complex Organizations”, by J. Randal Montgomery, pp. 17-36.

“Volunteer Stress: Examining Job-related Stress and Effects for Gang Officers in Tennessee”, by Tae Choo and Carter F. Smith, pp. 37-52.

“The Insane Spanish Cobras: A Gang Threat Analysis”, by Fred Moreno, pp. 53-76.

Volume 24, No. 2, Winter, 2017:

“I’m Just a Juggalo! Will the Gangs Go on Without Me?”, by Gregg W. Etter, Sr., Ed.D. and Hillary D. McNeel, M.S., pp. 1-14.

“The Non-Gang: A Retrospective Essay on Los Paisanos de L.A. in the 1960s”, by Fernando Parra, Frank Malgesini, and Anna Cecilia Villareal Ballesteros, pp. 15-22.

“Exploring Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome among African-American Adolescent Gang Members in Rural Areas: Suggestions for Therapeutic Interventions”, by Johnathan Brunson, Mary S. Jackson, A. Christon Adodeoyin, Monte Miller, Archie Pender, and Sturdivant David, pp. 23-34.

“Voices from a gang - A study of gang member and stories as told by themselves about upbringing, school and gang life - Gang research in a Danish context”, by Kirsten Elisa Petersen, pp. 35-52.

Volume 24, No. 3, Spring, 2017:

" Revisiting the Comprehensive Gang Intervention Model: Implementation, Data, and Program Impact in a Chronic Gang Site", by Mike Tapia and Carlos E. Posadas, pp. 1 - 16.

“ The Preliminary Program for the 2017 NGCRC's 20th International Gang Specialist Training Conference (Aug. 7-9, 2017 - Chicago): The Course Titles, Abstracts, and Bios, pp. 17 - 76"

Volume 24, No. 4, Summer, 2017:

"Italian Organized Crime: Will the Real Mafia Please Stand Up", by Dr. Gregg W. Etter Sr., Ed.D., pp.1 - 38.

" Comparing Gang Crime Patterns of Two Different Land Uses with Intensity Value Analysis in Winston-Salem, NC ", by Pedro M. Hernandez, pp. 39 - 44.

" Correctional Management of Security Risk Groups: A Case Study ", by Divya Sharma, Ph.D. and Kim Marino, Ph.D., pp. 45 - 65.

Volume 25, No. 1, Fall, 2017:

“Chiraq: Oppression, Homicide, Concentrated Misery, and Gangsterism in Chicago”, by Steven R. Cureton, pp. 1-18.

“When It Gets Gangsta: An Examination of Gang-related K-12 School Violence Perpetrators”, by Gordon A. Crews, pp. 19-33.

“Using Anomie Theory to Examine Gang Fighting”, by Angela M. Collins and Scott Menard, pp. 35-49.

Volume 25, No. 2, Winter, 2018:

ALPHABETICAL AUTHOR INDEX

Acoose, Sharon; V16N2 (e.g, V16N2 = Volume 16, Number 2)

Adams, Jennifer J.; V16N4

Adedeoyin, A. Christon; V21N2; V24N2

Adlaf, Edward; V16N4

Aiken, Carol; V1N2 (e.g., V1N2 = Volume 1, Number 2)

Alain, Marc; V22N2

Ali, Mohamed A.; V13N1

Alston, Jonathan; V13N3

Altschuler, David M.; V8N2

Alvarado, Adriana Mercedes; V21N2

Amato, Julie M.; V10N4

Amerling, Joe; V10N3

Anderson, Debra; V16N4; V19N1

Anderson, James F.; V1N2; V3N2; V8N4; V10N1; V23N2

Antonio, Michael E; V23N2

Archer, Lianne; V13N2

Armor, Jerry C.; V2N3

Baba, Yoko; V8N2

Ballesteros, Anna Cecilia Villareal; V24N2

Barker, Tom; V11N2

Barnes, Erick; V10N1

Bass, Lessie; V12N2

Batani-Khalfani, Akil; V5N4

Batsis, Tom; V4N3

Becker, Harold K.; V2N4; V4N4

Bedard, Laura; V2N3

Bellamy, Rochelle; V14N2

Bessant, Judith; V1N1; V2N1

Bochenek, Brian M.; V4N1

Bodnar, Gloria; V13N2

Boerman, Thomas; V8N2; V14N4; V15N1

Bonner, Roger H.; V6N3

Brandenburg-Ayres, Susan J.; V5N2; V10N4

Brandt, Gerri-Ann; V9N2

Brisky, Shelby; V23N3

Brooks, Willie, Jr.; V10N1

Brownfield, David; V3N3; V4N4; V5N3; V9N2; V11N1; V13N4; V19N2; V21N4; V22N1

Brunson, Johnathan; V24N2

Buentello, Salvador; V2N4

Bunker, Robert J.; V14N4; V19N4

Butler, Randall R.; V16N2

Butters, Jennifer E.; V16N4

Caldwell, Laura; V8N2

Cappeletty, Gordon G.; V5N1

Caputo, Tullio; V13N1; V22N4

Carpenter, Ami C.; V22N3

Catzva, Daniel; V17N1

Cerel, Julie; V19N1

Chang, Jean; V4N1

Chen, Xiaojin; V10N1

Chin, Ko-Lin; V1N2

Choo, Tae; V24N1

Chu, Mayling Maria; V7N1

Coghlin, Michael P.; V5N2

Cohen, Alison K.; V21N2

Coleman, Shereuka L.; V19N4

Collins, Angela; V25N1

Collins, Jesse; V1N3

Conchas, Gilberto Q.; V20N4

Conners, Edward F.; V3N1

Cooper, Stacey; V22N3

Corbiscello, G.V.; V4N2; V5N2; V15N2

Corcoran, Kevin; V12N4

Cornell, Dewey G.; V10N4

Crews, Gordon A.; V25N1

Cronic, Daria T.; V10N4

Cureton, Steven R.; V7N1; V14N2; V25N1

Damphouse, Kelly R.; V9N2

Dart, Robert; V1N1

David, Sturdivant; V24N2

Davis, Kenneth A.; V10N3; V15N2; V22N1

Delaney, Tim; V21N4

Del Carmen, Alejandro; V16N2

Dembrink, John; V1N1

DeMichele, Matthew T.; V21N2

Dennehy, Glennis; V11N1

DeZolt, Ernest M.; V3N3

Dittman, Layne; V23N4

Dobbs, Rhonda; V16N2

Dodd, David J.; V10N1

Dodge, Mary; V8N1

Dolny, H. Michael; V10N4

Dorsey, Dana Thompson; V17N1

Downs, Bill; V1N3; V2N2: V2N3

Dyson, Laronistine; V3N2; V8N4; V10N1; V23N2

Elder, Alice P. Franklin; V3N4; V6N3

Eldridge, Quamrun; V21N2

Erickson, Karen; V17N1

Erickson, Patricia G.; V16N4

Eskay, Robert; V1N4

Etter, Gregg W.; V3N1; V5N2; V6N3; V8N2; V9N4; V10N2; V10N3; V12N3; V13N1; V16N1; V17N2; V18N4; V19N1; V20N2; V20N4; V23N1; V23N4 ; V24N2; V24N4 ;

Evans, William; V3N4

Fagan, Jeffrey A.; V1N2

Fanscali, James; V6N2

Feimer, Steve; V14N4

Felkenes, George T.; V2N4: V4N4

Flexon, Jamie L.; V15N4; V19N3

Fong, Robert S.; V2N2; V2N4

Fortune, Sandra; V11N4

Gaborit, Mauricio; V13N2

Ganieany, Vicky; V23N4

Geis, Gilbert; V1N1; V8N1

Genty, Nick; V21N2

Gertz, Marc; V2N3

Gibson, Camiolle; V17N2

Gilbertson, D. Lee; V13N1; V16N2

Gilcher, Donna C.; V3N3

Gonzalez; Jose; V6N3

Gomez, Julia Dickson-; V13N2

Grant, Christopher M.; V14N4

Grant, Lorna; V17N2

Grascia, Andrew M.; V10N2; V11N1; V11N2; V11N4; V13N2

Green, Satasha; V11N1; V12N2

Greenleaf, Richard G.; V15N4; V19N3

Grekul, Jana; V17N1

Guagliardo, James G.; V4N4

Guevara, Aradenia; V13N2

Hailer, Julie A.; V7N1

Hall, Lynn; V19N1

Hallet, Michael; V1N4

Hamel, Sylvie; V22N2

Hansen, Joy; V1N1

Harrison, Lana; V16N4

Hart, Cynthia Baroody; V7N1

Hayes, Richard; V7N4; V8N4; V17N2; V19N4

Henkel, James O.; V9N4

Henley, Raymond E.; V6N1

Hernandez, Pedro M.; V24N4

Hernandez, Vanessa; V23N3

Hesse, Mario L.; V15N4

Hicks, Wendy L.; V11N2

Holmes, Shirley R.; V2N4; V5N2; V7N4; V9N2; V10N3; V10N4

Homant, Robert J.; V10N1; V10N2

Hope, Trina L.; V9N2

Houston, James G.; V1N2; V1N3; V2N1; V3N3; V5N3; V6N3

Howard, Matthew O.; V5N2

Hoyt, Dan R.; V10N1

Hu, Xiaochen; V23N4

Huang, Hua-Lun; V9N4; V11N4

Huntley, Jill; V4N4

Hurysz, Lynn M.; V3N1

Jackson, Jerome: V1N4

Jackson, Mary S.; V5N1; V12N2; V21N2; V24N2

Jackson, Pamela Irving; V1N3

Jackson, Vincent Keith; V2N3

Jain, Sonya; V21N2

Jan, Lee-jan; V1N4

Jensen, Eric L.; V2N2

Jensen, Gary F.; V3N4

Jenson, Jeffrey M.; V5N2

Jingfors, Samuel; V22N4

Joe, Karen; V1N2; V1N4; V3N1

Johnson, Claire M.; V3N1

Johnson, Fred A.; V16N1

Johnson, Jeffery; V20N2; V23N1

Jones, Mark; V21N2

Joseph, Janice; V4N2; V6N4; V10N2; V16N1

Juan, Shao-Chiu; V24N1

Kakar, Suman; V9N2; V13N1; V15N4; V20N2

Karmiller, Megan; V20N1

Kelley, Robert J.; V1N2

Kelly, Katharine; V13N1; V22N4

Kelly, Sarah; V16N4; V19N1

Khondaker, Mahfuzul I; V17N3

Kirk-Duggan, Cheryl A.; V4N2

Klein, Malcolm W.; V3N1

Klemp-North, Michael; V14N4

Knox, George W.; V1N3; V2N3; V3N1; V3N2; V3N3; V3N4; V4N1; V4N3;V4N4; V5N1; V5N2; V5N4; V6N2; V6N3; V6N4; V8N3; V8N4; V9N1; V9N2; V9N3; V10N3; V11N3, V14N1; V20N1

Koch, Paul; V1N3

Kolb, Abigail; V20N1

Kposowa, Augustine J.; V16N3

Kwok, Siu-ming; V15N3

LaBoucane-Benson, Pattie; V17N1

Lafond, Blake; V19N4; V20N1 ;

Lafontaine, Tania; V16N2

Lanctot, Nadine; V5N3

Langsam, Adam; V10N1; V23N2

Langston, Michael; V4N4; V5N4

Laskey, John A.; V3N2; V4N2

Lauderback, David; V1N1

Lazzano, Gloria; V22N4

Le Blanc, Marc; V5N3

Lehmuth, Erica L.; V20N4

Lemus, Eder L.; V16N1

Levine, Gene M.; V7N4

Little, Bertis B.; V6N3

Lopez, D.A.; V13N4

Lurigio, Arthur J.; V15N4; V19N3

Magana, Lisa; V4N4

Malgesini, Frank; V24N2

Malinski, Seth J.; V13N1

Mallory, Stephen L.; V23N1

Mangels, Nancie J; V8N4

Mao, KuoRay; V12N4

Marino, Kim; V24N4

Martin, Kelli D. Stevens; V21N2

Mason, Alex; V3N4

Mason, Edward; V17N2

Matz, Adam K.; V21N2

Maxson, Cheryl L.; V1N2; V3N1

May, Melvyn; V6N4

McConnell, Elizabeth H.; V2N1

McConnell, Keiron; V22N4

McCurrie, Thomas F.; V5N2; V6N2

McDermott, Edward J.; V13N2

McGloin, Jean Marie; V15N1

McLean, Gordon; V7N1

McNally, Donnay; V13N3

McNeel, Hillary; V21N4; V24N2

McRant, Jennifer J.; V19N4

McShane, Marilyn D.; V10N4

Meeker, James W.; V4N3

Mehta, Shruti; V19N4; V20N1

Memenway, David; V24N1

Menard, Scott; V25N1

Messier-Newman, Karine; V22N2

Meyers, Nancy; V12N4

Miller, J. Mitchell; V5N1; V11N2

Miller, Monte; V24N2

Minimair, Manfred; V20N2

Minor, Julye; V5N1

Molidor, Christian; V6N3

Montgomery, J. Randal; V24N1

Morales, Gabe; V10N2

Moreno, Fred; V24N1

Neely, David E.; V4N2

Negola, Todd D.; V5N4

Newbold, Greg; V11N1

Nicklas, Darek; V1N3

Olivares, Karen de; V11N4

Orlandella, Angelo Ralph; V2N2

Palacious, Wilson R.; V4N1

Palumbo, Dennis; V1N4

Palys, Ted; V20N1

Papachristos, Andrew V.; V5N4

Parker, M. Michaux; V19N2; V19N4; V22N1; V22N4; V23N1

Parra, Fernando; V4N3; V7N4; V8N4; V24N2

Pearson, Damon; V10N1

Peden, Ann; V16N4; V19N1

Pender, Archie; V24N2

Perimutter, Barry F.; V5N1

Persons, Will; V2N3

Peterson, Kirsten Elisa; V24N2

Pih, Kay Kei-ho; V12N4

Pizzaro, Jesenia M.; V16N4

Posados, Carlos E.; V24N3

Pottorff, Stacia; V23N4

Prenger, Brandon; V19N1

Prinsloo, Johan; V5N3

Przemieniecki, Chris J.; V12N2

Quicker, John C.; V5N4

Quinn, James F; V1N3; V2N2; V2N3

Rees, Thomas A., Jr.; V4N1

Regulus, Thomas A.; V2N1

Reichel, Philip L.; V9N4

Reinsmith-Jones, Kelley; V23N2

Rhyne, Alison, V13N4; V14N2

Rice, Kennon; V17N3

Rivera, Raymond; V6N1

Robinson, Curtis J.; V6N4; V7N1; V9N1

Robinson, Daniel; V20N1

Rodriguez, Fernando; V2N4

Rodriguez, John; V16N2

Rodriquez, Karla; V13N2

Rogers, Joseph; V10N2, V14N2

Rosenbaum, Jill Leslie; V3N3

Ruefle, William J.; V5N1

Rush, Jeffrey P.; V1N2; V1N3; V20N1

Russell, Brenda; V9N2; V17N3

Saenz, Diana J.; V3N1

Sanders, William B.; V2N4; V20N1

Santman, Jennifer; V5N1

Sarver, Robert III; V16N2

Scherer, Jennifer; V17N1

Schissel, Bernard; V16N2

Schmidt, Linda M.; V3N3

Seepersad, Randy; V20N1

Sharma, Divya; V24N4

Sharpe, Elizabeth Gail; V5N1; V12N2

Shelden, Randall G.; V1N1

Shostak, Grant J.; V23N1

Shutt, Susan R.; V23N2

Silverstein, Martin E.; V2N4

Sirpal, Suman K.; V4N2

Skarbek, David; V20N1

Smith, Carter F.; V18N4; V19N1; V20N1; V20N2; V22N2; V23N2; V24N1

Smith, Richard; V16N2

Smith, Richard C, Sr.; V9N4

Snell, Laura; V6N3

Snodgrass, Ted; V1N1

Snodgrass, Pam; V1N1

Sobel, Russell; V20N1

Song, John Huey-Long; V1N1; V3N1

Sorenson, Ann Marie; V3N3; V4N4; V5N3

Sorrentino, Anthony; V2N3

Stallworth, Ron; V6N1

Stevens, Dennis J.; V4N4

Stinchcomb, Jeanne B.; V10N1

Stone, Sandra S.; V4N1; V5N2

Stubben, Jerry D.; V10N1

Stum, Karen; V7N1

Sule, Dorothy D., V12N4

Sullivan, John P.; V2N4; V14N4; V19N4

Sun, Key; V1N3

Sutton, James Eric; V22N1

Sutton, Jessica Erin; V22N1

Sutton, James R.; V1N3

Swymeler, Warren G.; V16N1

Takahashi, Yoshiko; V23N3

Takata, Susan R.; V2N2

Tapia, Mike; V24N3

Taylor, Dorothy; V10N2

Taylor, Stanley S.; V17N1

Thomas, Chalita; V22N1; V23N1

Thomas, Sara; V23N1

Thompson, Kevin M.; V3N3; V4N4; V5N3; V9N2

Tobolowski, Peggy M.; V2N2

Totten, Mark; V8N4; V19N1; V19N2

Toy, Calvin; V1N1

Tromanhauser, Edward; V1N3; V6N3

Tsunokai, Glenn T; V12N4; V16N3

Turley, Alan C., V10N4

Tyler, Charles; V2N2

Varner, Lynn; V20N2

Varriale, Jennifer A.; V15N4

Vercaigne, Conny; V5N1

Vigil, James Diego; V20N4

Vila, Bryan; V4N3

Vittori, Jodi; V14N3

Vogel, Ronald E.; V2N2; V2N4

Waldorf, Dan; V1N1; V1N4

Walker, Jeffery T.; V2N2

Wang, John Z.; V2N3; V5N3; V7N4; V8N1; V9N4; V10N3

Watts, Rob; V1N1

Washington, Alex; V12N4

Webster, Barbara A.; V3N1

Wennar, Jeffrey T.; V11N2; V12N4; V13N4

Whitbeck, Les B.; V10N1

White, E. Ashley; V2N2

White, Judge Bill; V2N2

Whitehead, Stephanie; V22N4

Wigginton, Michael P. Jr.; V23N1

Williams, Frank P., III; V10N4

Wilson, George; V22N1; V23N1

Wilson, Karen L.; V15N2

Witkowski, Michael J.; V8N1; V10N1; V10N2

Wong-Lo, Mickie; V22N2

Wright, Richard A.; V5N1

Wycoff, Jerry; V1N2; V4N1

Yablonsky, Lewis; V6N4

Yearwood, Douglas; V7N4; V8N4, V13N4, V14N2; V17N2

Zaitzow, Barbara H.; V5N3; V6N3

Zhang, Lening; V20N3

CLASSIFICATION OF JOURNAL ARTICLES BY SUBJECT AREA:

 The following list provides a useful guide to the articles published in the Journal by the "subject area".

HISTORICAL ISSUES:

"Being Bad is Good: Explorations of the Bodgie Gang Culture in South East Australia, 1984-1956", by Judith Bessant and Rob Watts, V1N1.

"An Interview with Lewis Yablonsky: The Violent Gang and Beyond", by James G. Houston, V1N2.

"An Interview With Richard Cloward", by Jeffrey Paul Rush, V1N3.

"The Legacy of Street Corner Society and Gang Research in the 1990s: An Interview with William F. Whyte", by Karen A. Joe, V1N4.

"An Interview with James F. Short, Jr.", by Eric L. Jensen, V2N2.

"Delinquency in Chicago During the Roaring Twenties: Assembling Reality in Ethnography", by Karen A. Joe, V3N1.

"From Boozies to Bloods: Early Gangs in Los Angeles", by John C. Quicker and Akil Batani-Khalfani, V5N4.

"Frederic M. Thrasher (1892-1962) And The Gang (1927)", by Gilbert Geis and Mary Dodge, V8N1.

"From Religious Cult to Criminal Gang: The Evolution of Chinese Triads (Part 1)", by Hua-Lun Huang and John Z. Wang, V9N4.

JUVENILE CRIME THEORY:

"The American 'Juvenile Underclass' and the Cultural Colonisation of Young Australians Under Conditions of Modernity", by Judith Bessant, V2N1.

"Correlates of Gang Membership: A Test of Strain, Social Learning, and Social Control Theories", by David Brownfield, Kevin M. Thompson, and Ann Marie Sorenson, V4N4.

"Distinguishing the Effects of Peer Delinquency and Gang Membership on Self-Reported Delinquency", by David Brownfield and Kevin Thompson, V9N2.

"Applying Self-Control Theory to Gang Membership in a Non-Urban Setting", by Trina L. Hope and Kelly R. Damphouse, V9N2, pp. 41-61.

“Explaining Gang Involvement and Delinquency among Asian Americans: An Empirical Test of General Strain Theory”, by Glenn T. Tsunokai and Augustine J. Kposowa, V16N3, pp. 1-33.

GANG MEMBER COMPARISONS WITH NON-GANG MEMBER CHARACTERISTICS:

"Comparing Gang and Non-Gang Offenders: Some Tentative Findings", by Randall G. Shelden, Ted Snodgrass, and Pam Snodgrass, V1N1.

"Specialization Patterns of Gang and Nongang Offending: A Latent Structure Analysis", by Kevin M. Thompson, David Brownfield, and Ann Marie Sorenson, V3N3.

"Correlates of Gang Involvement Among Juvenile Probationers", by Jeffrey M. Jenson, Ph.D. and Matthew O. Howard, Ph.D., V5N2.

"Special Report: A Comparison of Gang Members and Non-Gang Members from Project GANGFACT", by the NGCRC, V6N2.

"Special Report of the NGCRC: Findings from Project GANGMILL", V7N4.

"Work, Workplace Deviance, and Criminal Offenders: An Analysis of Project GANGMILL", by Michael J. Witkowski, Robert J. Homant, and Erick Barnes, V10N1.

GANG PROFILE ANALYSIS:

"Gang Profile: The Gangster Disciples", by George W. Knox and L.L. Fuller, V3N1.

"Gang Profile: The Black Gangsters, AKA 'New Breed'", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V3N2.

"Gang Profile: The Black Disciples", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V3N3.

"Gang Profile: The Black P. Stone Nation", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V3N4.

"Gang Profile: The Latin Kings", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V4N1.

"Gang Profile: The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation of New York", by G.V. Corbiscello, V4N2.

"Crips: A Gang Profile Analysis", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V4N3.

"An Update on the Chicago Latin Kings", by George W. Knox, V5N1.

"Research Note: A Comparison of Two Gangs - The Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V5N2.

"Gang Profile: A Nation of Gods - The Five Percent Nation of Islam", by G.V. Corbiscello, V5N2.

"Gang Profile: Association Neta", by Sgt. Raymond E. Hehnly, V6N1.

"Gang Profile: The Brotherwoods - The Rise and Fall of a White-Supremacist Gang Inside a Kansas Prison", by Roger H. Bonner, V6N3.

"Jamaican Posses and Transnational Crimes", by Janice Joseph, Ph.D., V6N4.

"The Satan's Disciples", by George W. Knox, V8N4, pp. 57-76.

"Gang Profile Update: The Black P. Stone Nation", by George W. Knox, V9N1.

"The Melanics - A Gang Profile Analysis", by George W. Knox, V9N3, pp. 1-76.

"A Preliminary Profile of Laotian/Hmong Gangs: A California Perspective", by John Z. Wang, V9N4.

"Black Gods in Red Bank: The Five Percent Nation in Central New Jersey", by David J. Dodd and Damon Pearson,

"The Chaldean Mafia: A Preliminary Gang Threat Analysis", by George Knox, V10N3, pp. 65-76.

“MS-13: A Gang Profile”, by Jennifer J. Adams and Jesenia M. Pizarro, V16N4, pp. 1-14.

GANG STRUCTURE/ORGANIZATION ANALYSIS:

"Investigating Gang Structures", by Cheryl L. Maxson and Malcolm W. Klein, V3N1.

"Inside Gang Society: How Gang Members Imitate Legitimate Social Forms", by Alice P. Franklin Elder, Ph.D., V3N4.

"Goal Displacement at Leadership and Operational Levels of the Gang Organization", by Alice P. Franklin Elder, Ph.D., V6N3.

ETHNOMETHDOLOGY/FIELD WORK WITH GANGS:

"Issues in Accessing and Studying Ethnic Youth Gangs", by Karen A. Joe, V1N2.

"Review Essay: A Methodological Critique of Islands in the Street ", by James F. Anderson, V1N2.

"Side by Side: An Ethnographic Study of a Miami Gang", by Wilson R. Palacios, V4N1.

"Views From the Field: A.D., After the Disciples: The Neighborhood Impact of a Federal Prosecution", by Andrew V. Papachristos, V7N2.

"Legal, Ethical and Clinical Implications of Doing Field Work with Young Gang Members Who Engage in Serious Violence", by Mark Totten, V8N4, pp. 35-56.

GANG MIGRATION:

"Investigating Gang Migration: Contextual Issues for Intervention", by Cheryl L. Maxson, V1N2.

"When the Crips Invaded San Francisco - Gang Migration", by Dan Waldorf, V1N4.

"Gang Migration: The Familial Gang Transplant Phenomenon", by John A. Laskey, V3N2.

"Confronting Transnational Gangs in the Americas", by Joseph Rogers, V10N2, pp. 33-44.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES AND GANG MEMBERS:

"The Implications of Social Psychological Theories of Group Dynamics for Gang Research", by Key Sun.

"Social and Psychological Characteristics of Gang Members", by Marc Le Blanc and Nadine Lanctot, V5N3.

"Development of an Instrument for Predicting At-Risk Potential for Adolescent Street Gang Membership", by Todd D. Negola, V5N4.

"The Gangbangers of East Los Angeles: Sociopsycho-analytic Considerations", by Gene N. Levine and Fernando Parra, V7N4.

IDENTITY AND RIGHTS OF PASSAGE:

"Defiance and Gang Identity: Quantitative Tests of Qualitative Hypotheses", by Gary F. Jensen, V3N4.

"Nickname Usuage by Gang Members", by Barbara H. Zaitzow, V5N3.

"The Death of Telemachus: Street Gangs and the Decline of Modern Rites of Passage", by Andrew V. Papachristos, V5N4.

GETTING INTO THE GANG: GANG JOINING BEHAVIOR

"Joining the Gang: A Look at Youth Gang Recruitment", by Thomas A. Rees, Jr., V4N1.

"Risk Factors Associated with Gang Joining Among Youth", by Sandra S. Stone, Ph.D., V6N2.

"Gang Membership: Gang Formations and Gang Joining", by Steven R. Cureton, Ph.D., V7N1.

GETTING OUT OF THE GANG:

"Joe: The Story of an Ex-Gang Member", by Jessie Collins, V1N3.

"The 'Get Out of the Gang Thermometer': An Application to a Large National Sample of African-American Male Youths", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V5N1.

"Adolescents Leaving Gangs: An Analysis of Risk and Protective Factors, Resilency and Desistance in A Developmental Context", by Laura Caldwell and David M. Altschuler, V8N2.

GANG PREVENTION/INTERVENTION:

"Do Gang Prevention Strategies Actually Reduce Crime?", by Dennis Palumbo, Robert Eskay, and Michael Hallett, V1N4.

"Youth Gang Intervention and Prevention in Texas: Evaluating Community Mobilization Training", by Elizabeth H. McConnell, V2N1.

"A Community-University Based Approach to Gang Intervention and Delinquency Prevention: Racine's Innovative Model for Small Cities", by Susan R. Takata and Charles Tyler, V2N2.

"A More Effective Strategy for Dealing With Inner City Street Corner Gangs", by Angelo Ralph Orlandella, V2N2.

"Implications of the Shaw-McKay Studies and the Problems of Intervention in Gang Work", by Anthony Sorrentino, V2N3.

"Community Strategies to Neutralize Gang Proliferation", by James F. Anderson and Laronistine Dyson, V3N2.

"What Works: The Search for Excellence in Gang Intervention Programs", by James G. Houston, V3N3.

"The 'Tabula Rasa' Intervention Project for Delinquent Gang-Involved Females", by Ernest M. DeZolt, Linda M. Schmidt, and Donna C. Gilcher, V3N3.

"Views from the Field: Not Just Removing Tattoos", by Brian M. Bochenek, V4N1.

"Causes of Gang Participation and Strategies for Prevention in Gang Members' Own Words", by Suman K. Sirpal, V4N2.

"Views from the Field: GD Peace Treaty Fails in Gary", by Curtis J. Robinson, V4N3.

"The Rural Gang Problem: A Case Study in the Midwest", by Michael P. Coghlan, V5N2.

"Special Report: How to Gang Proof Your Child", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V5N4.

"Gang Prevention and Intervention in a Rural Town in California", by Karen Stum and Mayling Maria Chu, V7N1.

"Views from the Field: By Gordon McLean", V7N1.

"A Corporation-Based Gang Prevention Approach: Possible? Preliminary Report of A Corporate Survey", by John Z. Wang, Ph.D., V7N4.

"Ecological Assessment: Establishing Ecological Validity in Gang Intervention Strategies - A Call for Ecologically Sensitive Assessment of Gang Affected Youth", by Thomas Boerman, V8N2.

"Promising (And Not-So-Promising) Gang Prevention and Intervention Strategies: A Compehensive Literature Review", by Jeanne B. Stinchcomb, V10N1.

GANG PROBLEMS IN SCHOOL:

"The Effects of Gangs on Student Performance and Delinquency in Public Schools", by Thomas A. Regulus, V2N1.

"Potential Research Areas for Addressing Gang Violence", by Shirley R. Holmes, V2N4.

"Helping Schools Respond to Gang Violence", by Tom Batsis, V4N3.

"Bullying Behavior in School: A Predictor of Later Gang Involvement", by Shirley R. Holmes, Ph.D. and Susan J. Brandenburg-Ayres, Ed.D., V5N2.

"Homicide in School: A Preliminary Discussion", by Shirley R. Holmes, Ph.D., V7N4.

"A Statewide Assessment of Gangs in the Public Schools: Origins, Membership an Criminal Activities", by Douglas L. Yearwood and Richard Hayes, V8N4, pp. 1-12.

ASIAN GANGS:

"Lost in the Melting Pot: Asian Youth Gangs in the United States", by John Huey-Long Song, John Dembrink, and Gilbert Geis, V1N1.

"Coming Out to Play: Reasons to Join and Participate in Asian Gangs", by Calvin Toy, V1N1.

"Methodological Issues in Studying Chinese Gang Extortion", by Ko-lin Chin, Robert J. Kelly, and Jeffrey A. Fagan, V1N2.

"Asian Gang Problems and Social Policy Solutions: A Discussion and Review", by Lee-jan Jan, V1N4.

"Gang Affiliation Among Asian-American High School Students: A Path Analysis of Social Development Model 1", by Zheng Wang, V2N3.

"Victimization Patterns of Asian Gangs in the United States", by John Huey-Long Song and Lynn M. Hurysz, V3N1.

"Special Report: An Update of Asian Gang Affiliation", by Zheng Wang, Ph.D., V5N3.

"Research Note: Asian Gangs", by Thomas F. McCurrie, Ph.D., V6N2.

"Asian Gangs: New Challenges in the 21st Century", by John Z. Wang, V8N1.

"Vietnamese Gangs, Cliques, and Delinquents", by Yoko Baba, V8N2.

"From Religious Cult to Criminal Gang: The Evolution of Chinese Triads (Part 1)", by Hua Lun-Huang and John Z. Wang, V9N4.

"A Modus Operandi Analysis of Bank Robberies by An Asian Gang: Implications for Law Enforcement", by John Z. Wang, V10N3.

BLACK GANGS:

"Black Youth Gangs", by Janice Joseph, Ph.D., V4N2.

"The Social Reality of Street Gangs", by David E. Neely, V4N2.

HISPANIC GANGS:

"Hispanic Perceptions of Youth Gangs: A Descriptive Exploration", by Marc Gertz, Laura Bedard, and Will Persons, V2N3.

"Patterns of Gang Activity in a Border Community", by William B. Sanders and S. Fernando Rodriguez, V2N4.

"Views from the Field: A Street Gang in Fact", by Fernando Parra, V4N3.

"A Socioeconomic Comparison of Drug Sales by Mexican-American and Mexican Immigrant Male Gang Members", by Harold K. Becker, George T. Felkenes, Lisa Magana, and Jill Huntley, V4N4.

"Chicano Music and Latino Rap and its Influence on Gang Violence and Culture", by Gabe Morales, V10N2, pp. 55-63.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Veterano Chicano Gang Members and the (Dys)Functional Aspects of the Role", by Fernando Parra, V8N4, pp. 13-18.

NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN GANGS:

"A New Breed of Warrior: The Emergence of American Indian Youth Gangs", by Julie A. Hailer and Cynthia Baroody Hart, V7N1.

"Predictors of Gang Involvement Among American Indian Adolescents", by Les B. Whitbeck, Dan R. Hoyt, Xiaojin Chen, and Jerry D. Stubben, V10N1.

"Native-American Youths and Gangs", by Janice Joseph and Dorothy Taylor, V10N2, pp. 45-54.

FEMALE GANG MEMBERS:

"Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves: A Black Female Gang in San Francisco", by David Lauderback, Joy Hansen, and Dan Waldorf, V1N1.

"Findings on African-American Female Gang Members Using A Matched Pair Design", by George W. Knox, V2N3.

"Female Gang Members: A Growing Issue for Policy Makers", by George T. Felkenes and Harold K. Becker, V2N4.

"A Violent Few: Gang Girls in the California Youth Authority", by Jill Leslie Rosenbaum, V3N3.

"A Comparative Analysis of Female Gang and Non-Gang Members in Chicago", by Jean Chang, Ph.D., V4N1.

"Kindred Spirits: Sister Mimetic Societies and Social Responsibilities", by Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, V4N2.

"Research Note: The Facts About Female Gang Members", V4N3.

"The New Female Gang Member: Anomaly or Evolution?", by James F. Anderson, Willie Brooks, Jr., Adam Langsam, and Laronistine Dyson, V10N1.

GANGS AND TRIBALISM:

"Tattoos and the New Urban Tribes", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, V3N1.

"Common Characteristics of Gangs: Examining the Cultures of the New Urban Tribes", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., V5N2.

HEALTH RISK FACTORS AND GANG INVOLVEMENT:

"Risk Behaviors for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Gangs in Dallas, Texas", by Bertis B. Little, Ph.D.; Jose Gonzalez, M.S.S.W., Laura Snell, M.P.H., and Christian Molidor, Ph.D., V6N3.

Research Note: "Juvenile Gang Members: A Public Health Perspective", by George W. Knox, Ph.D. and Edward D. Tromanhauser, Ph.D., V6N3.

HATE GROUPS/SKINHEADS/WHITE RACIST EXTREMIST GANGS:

"Special Report: White Racist Extremist Gang Members - A Behavioral Profile", by Thomas F. McCurrie, V5N2.

"Skinheads: Manifestations of the Warrior Culture of the New Urban Tribes", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter Sr., V6N3.

"Totemism and Symbolism in the White Supremacist Movements: Images of an Urban Warrior Culture", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., Ed.D., V8N2.

"Methamphetamine Use and Sales Among Gang Members: The Cross-Over Effect", by Curtis J. Robinson, V9N1, Fall, 2001, pp. 39-52.

"The Perceived Effects of Religion on White Supremacist Culture", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., V9N4, pp. 15-24.

"Security Threat Groups: The Threat Posed by White Supremacist Organizations", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., V10N2, pp. 1-24.

"White Supremacy Music - What Does it Mean To Our Youth", by Andrew M. Grascia, V10N2, pp. 25-31.

“The Ku Klux Klan: Evolution Towards Revolution”, by Lt. Gregg W. Etter Sr.; David H. McElreath; and Chester L. Quarles.

CULTS/SATANISM AND GANGS:

"A Comparison of Cults and Gangs: Dimensions of Coercive Power and Malevolent Authority", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V6N4.

"Profiling the Satanic/Occult Dabblers in the Correctional Offender Population", by Curtis J. Robinson, V7N1.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GANGS:

"Views from the Field: The Future is Here Today: Street Gang Trends", by Robert W. Dart, V1N1.

"A Preliminary Inquiry into Alabama Youth Gang Membership", by Carol Aiken, Jeffrey P. Rush, and Jerry Wycoff, V1N2.

"Predictors of the Severity of the Gang Problem at the Local Level: An Analysis of Police Perceptions", by James F. Quinn and Bill Downs, V1N3.

"Preliminary Findings from the 1992 Law Enforcement Mail Questionnaire Project", by George W. Knox, Edward D. Tromanhauser, Pamela Irving Jackson, Darek Niklas, James G. Houston, Paul Koch, and James R. Sutton, V1N3.

"The Gang Problem in Large and Small Cities: An Analysis of Police Perceptions in Nine States", by James F. Quinn, Peggy M. Tobolowsky, and William T. Downs, V2N2.

"Juvenile Gang Activity in Alabama", by Jerry C. Armor and Vincent Keith Jackson, V2N3.

"The Disaster Within Us: Urban Conflict and Street Gang Violence in Los Angeles", by John P. Sullivan and Martin E. Silverstein, V2N4.

"Gang Enforcement Problems and Strategies: National Survey Findings", by Claire M. Johnson, Barbara A. Webster, Edward F. Connors, and Diana J. Saenz, V3N1.

"Research Note: The 1996 National Law Enforcement Gang Analysis Survey", V3N4.

"A Regional Gang Incident Tracking System", by Bryan Vila and James W. Meeker, V4N3.

"Views from the Field: Guidelines for Operating an Effective Gang Unit", by Sgt. Michael Langston, V5N4.

"Views from the Field: Gang Homicide Investigation", by Det. James Fanscali, V6N2.

"Responding to Gangs in the 21st Century: A Research and Policy View", by George W. Knox, V9N2, pp. 63-74.

"Strategic Planning for Law Enforcement Agencies: Management as a Gang Fighting Strategy", by Lt. Gregg W. Etter, Sr., V10N3, pp. 13-23.

"Street Gangs: Utilizing Their Roll Calls for Investigative and Research Purposes", by Ken Davis, V10N3, pp. 25-36.

GANG PROSECUTION:

"Preliminary Results of the 1995 National Prosecutor's Survey", a report of the National Gang Crime Research Center, V2N4.

"The Gang Snitch Profile", by John A. Laskey, V4N3.

"Introducing Gang Evidence Against a Criminal Defendant at Trial", by James G. Guagliardo, J.D. and Sgt. Michael Langston, V4N4.

"The Impact of the Federal Prosecution of the Gangster Disciples", by George W. Knox, V7N2.

GANGS: NEW MUNCIPAL LAWS AND CIVIL REMEDIES

"The Affirmation of Hanging Out: The U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Gang Busting Laws and Their Consequences", by Lewis Yablonsky, Ph.D., V6N4.

"Trying to Live Gang-Free in Cicero, Illinois", by George W. Knox and Curtis J. Robinson, V6N4.

"Legal Note: Additional Civil Suits Against Gangs in Illinois", V7N2.

GANGS IN ADULT CORRECTIONS/STGs:

"A Comparative Analysis of Prison Gang Members, Security Threat Group Inmates and General Population Prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections", by Robert S. Fong and Ronald E. Vogel, V2N2.

"Blood-in, Blood-out: The Rationale Behind Defecting From Prison Gangs", by Robert S. Fong, Ronald E. Vogel, and Salvador Buentello, V2N4.

"Preliminary Results of the 1995 Adult Corrections Survey: A Special Report of the National Gang Crime Research Center", V3N2.

"Research Note: A Gang Classification System for Corrections", V4N2.

"Origins and Effects of Prison Drug Gangs in North Carolina", by Dennis J. Stevens, V4N4.

"Prison Gang Research: Preliminary Findings in Eastern North Carolina", by Mary S. Jackson and Elizabeth Gail Sharpe, M.S.W., V5N1.

"Prison Gangs in South Africa: A Comparative Analysis", by James G. Houston and Johan Prinsloo, V5N3.

"Views from the Vield of Corrections: A Speech to Inmates by Major Raymond Rivera", V6N1.

"Prison Gangs: The North Carolina Experience", by Barbara H. Zaitzow, Ph.D. and James G. Houston, Ph.D., V6N3.

"Views from the Field: A Look Into the Michigan Department of Corrections STG/Gang Program", by Robert Mulvaney, STG Coordinator. V7N2.

"A National Assessment of Gangs and Securty Threat Groups (STGs) in Adult Correctional Institutions: Results of the 1999 Adult Corrections Survey", by George W. Knox, V7N3.

"Prison Deviance as a Predictor of General Deviance: Some Correlational Evidence from Project GANGMILL", by Robert J. Homant and Michael J. Witkowski, V10N2, pp. 65-75.

“The Problem of Gangs and Security Threat Groups (STG’s) in American Prisons Today: A Special NGCRC Report”, by George W. Knox, V12N1, pp. 1-76.

GANGS IN JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS:

"Factors Associated With Gang Involvement Among Incarcerated Youths", by William Evans and Alex Mason, V3N4.

"The Extent and Dynamics of Gang Activity in Juvenile Correctional Facilities", by Sandra S. Stone, Ph.D. and Jerry Wycoff, Ph.D., V4N1.

"California Juvenile Gang Members: An Analysis of Case Records", by Jennifer Santman, Julye Myner, Gordon G. Cappeletty, and Barry F. Perimutter, V5N1.

GANG POLICY ANALYSIS:

"National Policy Neglect and Its Impact on Gang Suppression", by James G. Houston, V2N1.

"Ideology and Gang Policy: Beyond the False Dichotomy", by J. Mitchell Miller, William J. Ruefle, and Richard A. Wright, V5N1.

"The Drivers License: A Suggested Gang Suppression Strategy", by James O. Henkel and Philip L. Reichel, V9N4, pp. 45-56.

HOUSING ISSUES:

"Special Report: The Gang Problem in Chicago's Public Housing", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V4N4.

"Street Gangs and Apartment Housing in America: A Qualitative Assessment", by Michael J. Witkowski, V8N1.

GANG VIOLENCE:

"Predictors of Gang Violence: The Impact of Drugs and Guns on Police Perceptions in Nine States", by James F. Quinn and Bill Downs, V2N3.

"At-Risk Behavior and Group Fighting: A Latent Structure Analysis, by Kevin M. Thompson, David Brownfield, and Ann Marie Sorenson, V5N3.

"Bomb and Arson Crimes Among American Gang Members: A Behavioral Science Profile --- A Special Report by the National Gang Crime Research Center", V9N1, Fall, 2001, pp. 1-38.

"Differentiating Factors in Gang and Drug Related Homicide", by Gerri-Ann Brandt and Brenda Russell, V9N2, pp. 23-40.

"Gang Violence in Rural Georgia: A Community's Fight", by Shirley R. Holmes and Joe Amerling, V10N3, pp. 37-64.

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF GANGS:

"Fraud Masters: Studying an Illusory, Non-Violent Gang Specializing in Credit Card Crimes", by Jerome E. Jackson, V1N4.

"A Special Report from the National Gang Crime Research Center: Excerpts from the Economics of Gang Life", V6N1.

"Views from the Field: The Impact of Gangs on Private Security in the Workplace", by Melvyn May, Ph.D, V6N4.

MASS MEDIA AND GANGS:

Views from the Field: Gangs in Sight, by Conny Vercaigne, V5N1.

"The Promulgation of Gang-Banging Through the Mass Media", by George W. Knox, Ph.D., V6N2.

GANGS AND DRUGS:

"Familial Criminality, Familial Drug Use, and Gang Membership: Youth Criminality, Drug Use, and Gang Membership - What are the Connections?", by Suman Kakar, V9N2, pp. 11-22.

"The Evolution of Gang Formation: Potentially Delinquent Activity and Gang Involvement", by Jeffery T. Walker, Judge Bill White, and E. Ashley White, V2N2.

"The Gang Dictionary: A Guide to Gang Slang, Gang Vocabulary, and Gang Socio-linguistic Phrases", by the NGCRC, V4N4.

"Overcoming Problems Associated with Gang Research: A Standardized and Systemic Methodology", by Douglas L. Yearwood and Richard Hayes, V7N4.

"Dangerous Motorcycle Gangs: A Facet of Organized Crime in the Mid Atlantic Region", by Richard C. Smith, Sr., V9N4, pp. 33-44.

"A Gang By Any Other Name Is Just A Gang: Towards An Expanded Definition of Gangs", by James F. Anderson, Nancie J. Mangels, and Laronistine Dyson, V8N4, pp. 19-34.

JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM

Name:____________________________________________________

Organization:______________________________________________

Address:__________________________________________________

City, State, Zip:__________________________________________

Telephone:_________________________________________________

The Four (4) Types of Subscriptions:

International Rate for Secure Subscription Service: $380/year (U.S. Dollars). This in includes one year international subscription (four issues of the journal) but mailed by means designed to achieve the highest security level possible in terms of certainty and security to the subscriber (and definitely includes a “signature based” delivery method as proof of delivery to the end destination).

International Rate: (any subscriber outside of the USA) $300 (U.S. Dollars)/year (please inquire: Not Available in All Countries).

Domestic Rate for Regular Subscribers: $175 year. As a quarterly publication, a one year subscription provides for four issues of the journal (No. 1 through No. 4).

Domestic Rate for Special Security Subscriptions: $250 per year. This includes one year domestic subscription (four issues of the journal) but mailed by means of Registered Mail, Return Receipt to provide a higher level of certainty and security to the subscriber.

Note: Some back issues may be out of print and thus not available, so if you are making a “back order” is it okay to substitute another back issue if we are out of stock on one in the series you are ordering? ___Yes it is okay to substitute if you are out of stock and one or more of the volumes are out of stock ____No please just return my order if you are out of stock on any particular back issue.

Start my new subscription with: (CHECK ONE)

_____Volume 7, No. 1, Fall 1999

_____Volume 7, No. 2, Winter 2000

_____Volume 7, No. 3, Spring 2000

_____Volume 7, No. 4, Summer 2000

_____Volume 8, No. 1, Fall 2000

_____Volume 8, No. 2, Winter 2001

_____Volume 8, No. 3, Spring 2001

_____Volume 8, No. 4, Summer 2001

_____Volume 9, No. 1, Fall 2001

_____Volume 9, No. 2, Winter 2002

_____Volume 9, No. 3, Spring 2002

_____Volume 9, No. 4, Summer 2002

_____Volume 10, No. 1 Fall 2002

_____Volume 10, No. 2 Winter 2003

_____Volume 10, No. 3 Spring 2003

_____Volume 10, No. 4 Summer 2003

_____Volume 11, No. 1 Fall 2003

_____Volume 11, No. 2 Winter 2004

_____Volume 11, No. 3 Spring 2004

_____Volume 11, No. 4 Summer 2004

_____Volume 12, No. 1 Fall 2004

_____Volume 12, No. 2 Winter 2005

_____Volume 12, No. 3 Spring 2005

_____Volume 12, No. 4 Summer 2005

_____Volume 13, No. 1 Fall 2005

_____Volume 13, No. 2 Winter 2006

_____Volume 13, No. 3 Spring 2006

_____Volume 13, No. 4, Summer 2006

_____Volume 14, No. 1, Fall, 2006

_____Volume 14, No. 2, Winter, 2007

_____Volume 14, No. 3, Spring, 2007

_____Volume 14, No. 4, Summer, 2007

_____Volume 15, No. 1, Fall, 2007

_____Volume 15, No. 2, Winter 2008

_____Volume 15, No. 3, Spring 2008

_____Volume 15, No. 4, Summer 2008

_____Volume 16, No. 1, Fall 2008

_____Volume 16, No. 2, Winter 2009

_____Volume 16, No. 3, Spring 2009

_____Volume 16, No. 4, Summer, 2009

_____Volume 17, No. 1, Fall, 2009

_____Volume 17. No. 2, Winter, 2010

_____Volume 17, No. 3, Spring, 2010

_____Volume 17, No. 4, Summer, 2010

_____Volume 18, No. 1, Fall, 2010

_____Volume 18, No. 2, Winter, 2011

_____Volume 18, No. 3, Spring, 2011

_____Volume 18, No. 4, Summer, 2011

_____Volume 19, No. 1, Fall, 2011

_____Volume 19, No. 2, Winter, 2012

_____Volume 19, No. 3, Spring, 2012

_____Volume 19, No. 4, Summer, 2012

_____Volume 20, No. 1, Fall, 2012

_____Volume 20, No. 2, Winter, 2013

_____Volume 20, No. 3, Spring, 2013

_____Volume 20, No. 4, Summer, 2013

_____Volume 21, No. 1, Fall, 2013

_____Volume 21, No. 2, Winter, 2014

_____Volume 21, No. 3, Spring, 2014 _____Volume 21, No. 4, Summer, 2014

_____Volume 22, No. 1, Fall, 2014

_____Volume 22, No. 2, Winter, 2015

_____Volume 22, No. 3, Spring, 2015

_____Volume 22, No. 4, Summer, 2015

_____Volume 23, No. 1, Fall, 2015

_____Volume 23, No. 2, Winter, 2016

_____Volume 23, No. 3, Spring, 2016

_____Volume 23, No.4, Summer, 2016

_____Volume 24, No. 1, Fall, 2016

_____Volume 24, No. 2, Winter, 2017

_____Volume 24, No. 3, Spring, 2017

_____Volume 24, No. 4, Summer, 2017

_____Volume 25, No. 1, Fall, 2017

_____Volume 25, No. 2, Winter, 2018

Please enter my subscription to the Journal of Gang Research.

 Enclosed, please find check or money order made payable to "National Gang Crime Research Center". You can also charge your subscription (see below). We no longer accept Purchase Orders for subscriptions, all subscriptions must be prepaid in advance.

 My subscription will start as I have selected above.

Bill my credit card in the amount of $___________

CVC #:_________

(You can now fax in credit card payments: NGCRC Fax # is 708 258-9546)

 Return this form with payment or P.O. to:

 SINGLE BACK ISSUE PRICES (domestic) And ORDER FORM

From Volume 1, Number 1 up to and including Volume 6, Number 4 the price is $100 for each back issue (domestic rate only, inquire for rates outside of USA).

From Volume 7, Number 1 up to and including the present the price per back issue is $75 for each back issue (domestic rate only, inquire for rates outside of USA).

Specify the back issue(s) you wish to order, enclose check or money order made payable to the “National Gang Crime Research Center”, and mail order (legible, printed or typed) with payment to: Journal of Gang Research, NGCRC, PO Box 990, Peotone, IL 60468-0990.

Note: Some back issues may be out of print and thus not available, so if you are making a “back order” is it okay to substitute another back issue if we are out of stock on one in the series you are ordering?

___Yes it is okay to substitute if you are out of stock and one or more of the volumes are out of stock

____No please just return my order if you are out of stock on any particular back issue

Please mail me all of those checked below at $75.00 each (U.S. orders only):

_____ Volume 10, No. 1 Fall 2002

__ ___Volume 12, No. 3, Spring, 2005

____Volume 12, No. 4, Summer, 2005

____Volume 13, No. 1, Fall, 2005

____Volume 13, No. 2, Winter 2006

____Volume 13, No. 3, Spring, 2006

____Volume 13, No. 4, Summer, 2006

____Volume 14, No. 1, Fall, 2006

____Volume 14, No. 2, Winter 2007

____Volume 14, No. 3, Spring, 2007

____Volume 14, No. 4, Summer, 2007

____ Volume 15, No. 1, Fall 2007

_____Volume 23, No. 4, Summer, 2016

_____Volume 25, No. 2, Winter, 2018 Bill the following credit card:

Signed (card holder:________________________________________________________________

Credit Card Number:_______________________________________________________________

Expiration date: Month ______________ Year________________ CVC#_________________

Mail the back issues to me at (PRINT, Print NEATLY)

 __________________________________________________

Credit card orders can be faxed in (708) 258-9546

 Back Issues Department

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

The NGC maintains an extensive listing of research‐based publications; federal, national, and state reports; statistical analyses; and synthesized information to assist students, educators, researchers, journalists, and anyone else seeking knowledge about gang‐related issues.

Featured Items

Explore the recommended featured items below to enhance your knowledge and awareness of gang‐related research literature. For more resources, visit the  What Works  and  Library  sections of this site

National Youth Gang Surveys and Analysis

Frequently Asked Questions About Gangs

Frequently Asked Questions About Risk Factors

History of Street Gangs in the United States

Findings From the Evaluation of OJJDP’s Gang Reduction Program

Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs (Publication)

Articles on Gang violence

Displaying 1 - 20 of 46 articles.

Mexico poised to elect first female president: 3 essential reads on landmark vote

Matt Williams , The Conversation

Mexico’s voters set to make history by electing the country’s first woman president

Rosario Aguilar , Newcastle University

Haiti: first Kenyan police arrive to help tackle gang violence – but the prospects for success are slim

Amalendu Misra , Lancaster University

‘It’s between us and gangs’: teachers are on the front line against youth violence

Emma Soye , Queen's University Belfast

The UN has a ‘list of shame’ for those who harm children in war – but who is missing?

Samantha Holmes , University of York

Latin America: several countries look to combat gang violence by fighting fire with fire

‘Bukelism,’ El Salvador’s flawed approach to gang violence, is no silver bullet for Ecuador

Marie-Christine Doran , L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier: the gangster behind the violence in Haiti who may have political aspirations of his own

Deep-seated inequality is fuelling an escalation of violence across Latin America

Andrew Nickson , University of Birmingham

Street gangs in South Africa and Canada are worlds apart - but they have a great deal in common

Dariusz Dziewanski , University of Cape Town and Bobby (Robert) Henry , University of Saskatchewan

NFL icon and social activist Jim Brown leaves a complicated legacy

Kenneth L. Shropshire , University of Pennsylvania

Liverpool shooting and the devastating impact of violence and deprivation on communities

Robert Hesketh , Liverpool John Moores University

Scapegoating rap hits new low after July Fourth mass shooting

A.D. Carson , University of Virginia

Model minority blues: The mental health consequences of being a model citizen — Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 9

Vinita Srivastava , The Conversation and Ibrahim Daair , The Conversation

Study paints a grim picture of what young gangsters think about violence and manhood

G. Nokukhanya Ndhlovu , University of Fort Hare and Pius Tanga , University of Fort Hare

Colombian city beset by crime declares ‘Black Lives Matter’

Shauna N Gillooly , University of California, Irvine

Biden ends policy forcing asylum-seekers to ‘remain in Mexico’ – but for 41,247 migrants, it’s too late

Austin Kocher , Syracuse University

The Cape Town gangsters who use extreme violence to operate solo

Dariusz Dziewanski , SOAS, University of London

Faith-based ‘violence interrupters’ stop gang shootings with promise of redemption for at-risk youth – not threats of jail

Deanna Wilkinson , The Ohio State University

It’s hard to leave a Cape Town gang. But these men’s stories show that it’s possible

Related topics.

• Central America
• El Salvador
• Give me perspective
• knife crime
• Peace and Security
• Peacebuilding

Top contributors

Professor of International Politics, Lancaster University

Honorary research affiliate, Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town

Lecturer in Policing Studies, School of Justice Studies., Liverpool John Moores University

Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Brighton

Assistant Professor of Human Security, American University School of International Service

Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at Essex Law School, University of Essex

Director of Research, Florida International University

Associate Professor, Sociology, Brock University

PhD Candidate, UCL

Lecturer in Media, University of Adelaide

PhD Candidate in Latin American Studies, University of Liverpool

Researcher, Queen's University Belfast

Professor of Sociology, University of Essex

Professor, Center for Research on North America, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Director of the Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Study, University of London

• X (Twitter)
• Unfollow topic Follow topic

Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs

Since the mid-20th century, gang violence in this country has become widespread—all 50 states and the District of Columbia report gang problems, and reports have increased for 5 of the past 7 years. Despite the steady growth in the number and size of gangs across the United States and the criminal behavior and violence they spawn, little is known about the dynamics that drive gangs and how to best combat their growth. For instance, no consensus exists on how gangs form, and few gang prevention programs have been rigorously evaluated. The recent Juvenile Justice bulletin (PDF, 24 Pages), published by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (OJJDP), presents a compilation of current research on gangs, including data on the state of gang problems in the United States today, why youth join gangs, the risk factors and attractions that increase youth’s propensity to join gangs, and how gangs form. The author examines how community members can begin to assess their gang problems and provide necessary enhancements to prevention and intervention activities. The bulletin also describes a number of effective and promising programs that may help prevent youth delinquency and gang violence.

The following are some key findings:

• Youth join gangs for protection, enjoyment, respect, money, or because a friend is in a gang.
• Youth are at higher risk of joining a gang if they engage in delinquent behaviors, are aggressive or violent, experience multiple caretaker transitions, have many problems at school, associate with other gang-involved youth, or live in communities where they feel unsafe and where many youth are in trouble.
• To prevent youth from joining gangs, communities must strengthen families and schools, improve community supervision, train teachers and parents to manage disruptive youth, and teach students interpersonal skills.

No programs have been developed specifically to prevent gangs from emerging. In the meantime, to prevent youth from joining gangs, communities must employ multiple strategies and services, including:

• Addressing elevated risk factors for joining a gang.
• Strengthening families.
• Reducing youth’s conflicts.
• Improving community-level supervision of youth.
• Providing training for teachers on how to manage disruptive students.
• Providing training for parents of disruptive and delinquent youth.
• Reviewing and softening school “zero tolerance” policies to reduce suspensions and expulsions.
• Ensuring that punitive sanctions target delinquent gang behaviors, not gang apparel, signs, and symbols.
• Providing tutoring for students who are performing poorly in school.
• Increasing adult supervision of students after school.
• Providing interpersonal skills training to students to help resolve conflicts.
• Providing a center for youth recreation and referrals for services.
• Providing gang awareness training for school personnel, parents, and students.
• Teaching students that gangs can be dangerous.
• Providing training for school resource officers in mediating conflicts.

A balance of prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies is important for success in any community. Prevention programs target youth at risk of gang involvement and help reduce the number of youth who join gangs. Intervention programs and strategies provide sanctions and services for younger youth who are actively involved in gangs to push them away from gangs. Law enforcement suppression strategies and intensive services target and rehabilitate the most violent gangs and older, criminally active gang members.

For more information about why youths join gangs and gang prevention strategies, the bulletin is available in full (PDF, 24 Pages).

Guides for assessing community gang problems and implementing intervention and prevention strategies, part of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Comprehensive Gang Model, are available on the National Gang Center Web site .

Learn about six communities and their innovative strategies to address youth violence.

Announcements

Feature article, federal links.

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Overview of Gangs and Gang Crime

Archival notice.

This is an archive page that is no longer being updated. It may contain outdated information and links may no longer function as originally intended.

Gang members engage in a higher level of serious and violent crime than their non-gang-involved peers. Research about gangs is often intertwined with research about gun violence and drug crime. It is clear that gangs, guns, drugs and violence are interconnected. [1]

When communities assess their gun violence problem, they often uncover a gang violence problem. Communities that recognize the unique challenges associated with reducing gangs and related crime problems, such as gun violence, become safer and healthier, and may be more resilient to future crime threats.

NIJ-funded research and initiatives focus on building knowledge about promising practices in preventing gang membership and gang violence. [2]

Programs and other efforts to prevent and reduce gang violence build on what we have learned from past evaluations of similar programs; evaluations can guide the development of better programs for the future.

Evaluations of gang prevention programs have identified key factors in designing and implementing positive interventions. These factors include:

• Working with the local community.
• Engaging city leaders.
• Partnering with social service agencies.
• Involving community members who have the respect of local gang leaders and members.
• Addressing gang-related issues at multiple levels.

Interagency collaboration, especially at the local level and across several levels of government, gives civic leaders a multidisciplinary perspective on issues related to preventing gang joining and gang-related crime.

[note 1] National Gang Intelligence Center and National Drug Intelligence Center, National Gang Threat Assessment , Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Gang Intelligence Center and National Drug Intelligence Center, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2010. Thornberry, T.P., "Membership in Youth Gangs and Involvement in Serious and Violent Offending," in R. Loeber and D. P. Farrington (eds.), Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders: Risk Factors and Successful Interventions, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1998. Note that Thornberry's analysis of self-reported data speaks to violent crime, while NGIC's analysis of law enforcement reports speaks to crime generally.

[note 2] For past research, see Responding to Gangs: Evaluation and Research, published by NIJ in 2002 . This book provides a comprehensive historical overview of a "decade of gang research" at NIJ, as well as chapters on individual programs and topics.

Cite this Article

Read more about:.

• Fellows & Advisors
• Digital Analysis Unit
• Research Methods
• Training & Capacity Building
• Communications & Campaigns
• Education & Digital Citizenship
• Dialogue & Deradicalisation
• Digital Policy
• Disinformation
• Electoral Disinformation
• Climate Disinformation
• Public Health Disinformation
• Conspiracy Networks
• Far-right Extremism
• Women & Extremism
• Polarisation & Hate
• Islamophobia
• Antisemitism
• Anti-LGBTQ+
• Strong Cities Network
• Young Cities
• Digital Policy Lab
• Extreme Dialogue
• Prevention Practitioners Network
• Be Internet Citizens
• Youth Civil Activism Network
• Against Violent Extremism Network
• Young Digital Leaders
• ISD’s Global Reach
• ISD Germany
• Quick Links
• Digital Dispatches
• ISD Insights Newsletter
• ISD in the Media
• Partnerships & Funders
• Publications
• English Publications
• French Publications
• German Publications
• Press Releases
• Meet the experts

Gangstalking and Targeted Individuals

By: Cody Zoschak and Kevin D. Reyes

‘Targeted individuals’ (TIs) are self-identified individuals who believe they are victims of constant group stalking, monitoring, and harassment (i.e. “gangstalking”) by shadowy adversaries, most commonly government agents. TIs generally believe that these adversaries use physical surveillance as well as fantastic forms of electronic surveillance such as microwave technology.

TIs have committed at least four mass shootings or acts of violence in the United States since 2013. While a number of TIs have harassed family members or other acquaintances, the delusions held by TIs have led them to target strangers on several occasions, most notably the 2013 Navy Yard shooting which killed 12 people.

The link between mental illness and violence is not unique to TIs, but they are distinguished by the degree to which they congregate and organize on online platforms. These communities are insular and serve to reinforce their delusions. This also creates the risk that social media groups affiliated with TIs could be exploited by extremist groups for their own agendas.

What do Targeted Individuals believe?

The basic belief of TIs is that they are being harassed by some entity for an unknown reason. This alleged harassment most often takes the form of ‘gangstalking’ or mass surveillance. TIs will often describe bizarre, highly improbable, and science fiction-like situations . According to social media posts from self-identified TIs, these situations include:

• 24/7 surveillance by nearly everyone around them;
• Physical attacks, including poisonings;
• Electronic surveillance and hacking;
• Targeted noise harassment;
• Surgical implantation of microchips for tracking;
• Directed energy weapons (DEWs), extremely low-frequency (ELF) radiation, psychotronic weapons, or “voice to skull” (V2K) technologies to broadcast sounds into TIs’ minds, mind control them, and/or remotely control their body;

The alleged perpetrators of gangstalking – often referred to by TIs as “perps” – are typically believed to be government, military, or law enforcement agencies; medical practitioners (e.g. doctors, psychiatrists); financial institutions; private businesses (e.g. insurance and pharmaceutical companies); media and the press; family, friends, and neighbors; and strangers. As one study noted, TIs “are unable to identify a single person responsible for their persecution and experience it as a widely distributed and coordinated effort.”

There is significant evidence that TIs are suffering from mental illness, but there has been insufficient study to provide further definition. Of the small sample of peer-reviewed literature on the subject, for example, a study published in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology (2015) examined a sample of 128 individuals who claimed to be the subject of gangstalking. The authors determined that all 128 cases of self-reported gangstalking in the study were “highly likely to have been delusional,” as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), an industry standard in mental health. However, when they are labeled as mentally ill on the internet or receive clinical diagnoses of psychiatric illness, TIs tend to reject this by arguing that their appearance of mental illness is merely a goal of their gangstalkers.

Despite being driven to desperation by their alleged tormentors, the vast majority of TIs do not take violent action or express violent rhetoric. In addition to their inability to name a single person responsible for their torment, TIs are also rarely able to articulate a reason why they are being targeted. Despite their belief that the government or military is targeting them and destroying their lives, there is surprisingly little anti-government rhetoric in TI communities and little to no overlap with anti-government extremist groups.

Mass shootings by TIs (or possible TIs)

Washington, DC (2013):   In one of the most prominent shootings by a TI, Aaron Alexis killed 12 and injured three others at the Washington Navy Yard in September 2013. Alexis, a Navy veteran who had been working as a contractor at the Navy Yard, had been suffering from documented issues consistent with those of a TI for at least several months before the shooting.

In August 2013, he filed a police report in Rhode Island claiming that he was under surveillance. In a separate incident, he disassembled a hotel bed because he believed somebody was hiding underneath it. Later that month, he was treated for insomnia by two Department of Veterans Affairs doctors. During treatment, he was described as lucid and stated that he had no desire to harm others. Other reports indicated that he believed a chip had been implanted in his head. Most notably, Alexis used a shotgun on which he had etched “my ELF [see ‘What do Targeted Individuals believe?’, above],” “end to the torment,” “not what y’all say,” and “better off this way.” The director of People Against Covert Torture & Surveillance International (PACTS International), a support group for self-identified TIs, also claimed that he had exchanged emails with Alexis.

Figure 1: Photo of shotgun used by Alexis during Navy Yard shooting. Etched into the stock are the phrases “better off this way” and “my ELF Weapon”.

St. Joseph, Louisiana (2013): Fuaed Abdo Ahmed held a number of bank customers in St. Joseph, Louisiana, hostage with the demand that authorities remove what he claimed was a listening device they had implanted in his head. Ahmed was shot and killed after shooting at officers. According to law enforcement reporting, Ahmed was taking medication to treat schizophrenia. His family claimed that he had experimented with bath salts and other “hard drugs” while enrolled at Louisiana State University.

Ahmed left behind a Facebook page and a variety of handwritten notes, none of which appear to have referenced or were linked to TI groups. It cannot be confirmed that Ahmed considered himself a TI despite his statements during the attack. Given the robust presence of TI pages on Facebook, it would be unusual for a TI with an active Facebook profile to not interact with any such pages.

Tallahassee, Florida (2014): Myron May, a self-identified TI, shot three people at a Florida State University (FSU) library before being killed by police in 2014. May was a graduate of FSU who abandoned a successful legal career after he began suspecting that he was the target of a large-scale coordinated surveillance campaign. For several years, he lived a transient lifestyle and began posting on social media about his experiences as a TI. It is unclear why May chose to carry out a shooting or the significance of the target; a series of letters he wrote to friends and relatives before the attack indicate that the attack was premeditated and that he did not intend to survive.

His personal papers included a letter titled “My Experiences as a Targeted Individual” documenting alleged harassment. The five-page document includes roughly a year of increasingly extreme accusations including local police that refuse to take a report, a ten-car surveillance team, forced eviction and the co-opting of an old friend to participate in the harassment. May also listed several tactics he claimed are used against TIs.

Figure 2: Excerpt from May’s personal papers.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2016): In July 2016, Gavin Eugene Long targeted six police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killing four before being shot and killed himself. Long’s digital footprint included a melange of ideological influences including Black nationalism, sovereign citizen ideology and anti-government beliefs. These influences received the most attention at the time. The attack was deemed part of a string of incidents in the summer of 2016 motivated by Black nationalism or anti-police sentiment after police shot several unarmed Black men in the US. However, reporting and Long’s social media provides evidence that he also identified as a TI.

On Facebook and other social media platforms, Long expressed his belief that he was being stalked. On his blog, he accused the police of being responsible for this harassment, stating that “99% of gang-stalking is carried out by police.” As with Aaron Alexis, Long also interacted with PACTS International, adding himself to their buddy list in 2015 before deactivating his account a month later. Long left a suicide note in which he railed against corrupt police officers and their targeting of Black Americans.

Rochester Hills, Michigan (2024): Michael William Nash shot and injured nine people at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, in June 2024. He was later found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at his residence in Shelby Township, Michigan. According to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, Nash “ believed the government was tracking him.” Other reporting stated that “Nash’s mother informed law enforcement after the shooting that Nash had been suffering with paranoia that the government was watching him.”

Nash did not leave a social media footprint or other writings that explicitly identified him as a TI, but the reporting from law enforcement and his relatives indicate that he exhibited many of the characteristics of one. Nash’s motivation for the attack remains unknown and it is unclear whether his likely status as a TI influenced his decisions.

Online communities and activity

TIs have formed large communities on a variety of social media sites and forums [i].  Though some estimate that there are “ conservatively ” more than 10,000 self-described TIs, it is difficult to validate this number through social media analysis as TIs often congregate in small groups and use multiple accounts across mainstream and alt-tech platforms.

A review by ISD of TI and gangstalking on Reddit found numerous related subreddits – one of which has over 60,000 members. Data from Reddit shows that users who post on TI/gangstalking subreddits commonly post on subreddits related to conspiracy theories (e.g. Illuminati, New World Order , reptilians) and mental health issues (e.g. bipolar disorder, schizophrenia). ISD also found at least ten TI/gangstalking Facebook pages with more than 25,000 members.

Some TIs have also created their own web pages or group organizations that seek to encourage awareness of the phenomenon, disseminate theories on surveillance, and organize lawsuits against those they believe are harassing them. One website, for example, was found by ISD to have nearly 50,000 monthly visits in mid-2024. Dozens of self-published books are also available on Amazon to help self-identified TIs understand and deal with their perceived torment.

A popular form of TI content involves TIs filming their gangstalking and uploading their encounters on video-sharing platforms. Searches for key terms on YouTube and TikTok, for example, show thousands of videos by TIs, many with tens of thousands of views and likes. These videos usually show the TI capturing “ incontrovertible evidence ” of their gangstalkers (i.e. perps), which includes strangers in public doing ordinary things such as walking and driving.

While these online communities may serve as a way for TIs to support each other, they may also reinforce their beliefs and pull them into other conspiracy theories (as highlighted by our Reddit analysis mentioned above). Additionally, not all the activity on these forums and pages consists of an echo chamber. Some users on the forums, for example, post to offer countervailing evidence and challenge TIs’ beliefs. These users, some of whom are former TIs, are rarely confrontational, but rather sympathetic. TI communities online are often quite insular, with little effort to advertise or find new members. Due to this, non-TIs do not often stumble into TI fora, reinforcing the echo chamber and reducing the level of harassment or debate that is often observed in online spaces. Conspiracy theorists are a notable exception, however their proclivity to accept controversial and outlandish ideas rarely creates confrontation.

[i] ISD has chosen not to link to any of these sites or forums.

Further Reading:

Joe Pierre, “Gang Stalking: Real-Life Harassment or Textbook Paranoia?” Psychology Today , October 20, 2020, https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/psych-unseen/202010/gang-stalking-real-life-harassment-or-textbook-paranoia

Chrstine M. Sarteschi, “Mass Murder, Targeted Individuals, and Gang-Stalking: Exploring the Connection,” Violence and Gender , vol. 5, no. 1 (March 2018), https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/vio.2017.0022

Lorraine P. Sheridan and David V. James, “Complaints of Group-Stalking (‘Gang-Stalking’): An Exploratory Study of Their Nature and Impact on Complainants,” Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology , vol. 26, no. 5 (2015), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14789949.2015.1054857

Lorraine Sheridan, David V. James, and Jayden Roth, “The Phenomenology of Group Stalking (‘Gang-Stalking’): A Content Analysis of Subjective Experiences,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , vol. 17, no. 7 (April 2020), https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2506

Andrew Lustig et al., “Linguistic Analysis of Online Communication About a Novel Persecutory Belief System (Gangstalking): Mixed Methods Study,” Journal of Medical Internet Research , vol. 23, no. 3 (March 2021), https://www.jmir.org/2021/3/e25722/

Andrew Lustig et al., “Social Semiotics of Gangstalking Evidence Videos on YouTube: Multimodal Discourse Analysis of a Novel Persecutory Belief System,” JMIR Mental Health , vol. 8, no. 10 (October 2021), https://mental.jmir.org/2021/10/e30311/

Vice, “Meet the Targeted Individual Community,” YouTube video, uploaded May 24, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62s3FinAoC0

Vice, “The Nightmare World of Gangstalking,” YouTube video, uploaded November 7, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LPS7E-0tuA

This Explainer was uploaded on 28 August 2024.

• Anti-Muslim
• Anti-Vaccination
• Climate Change
• Conspiracy Theories
• FoExtremism
• General Far Right
• Hate Speech
• Misinformation
• US 2020 Election

EU Digital Services Act

This Explainer covers the EU's Digital Services Act, focusing on its impact on ISD's efforts against election risks, terrorism, extremism & tech accountability.

US ‘Antifa’ Groups

'Antifa' groups operate in a mostly decentralized way but share a belief that they're resisting fascist ideology, primarily through protests and counterdemonstrations against far-right extremism, utilizing tactics such as doxxing, and at times criminal activity.

Neo-Confederate Ideology

'Neo-Confederate' refers to individuals or groups echoing US Confederate beliefs, emphasizing states' rights & heritage preservation, with some overlap with white supremacist ideologies.

Editorials | Editorial: Is a violent gang of illegal…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Digital Replica Edition

• Endorsements

Editorials | Editorial: Is a violent gang of illegal immigrants taking over Aurora?

There is no conspiracy to cover up activity of tren de aragua in colorado.

Of course not.

The conservative and liberal mayors of Aurora and Denver have even come together to dispel the sensationalized reports of rampant gun violence.

There also is no vast conspiracy to cover up the gang activity of Tren de Aragua , an international criminal organization that is run by Venezuelan nationals across South America and is likely behind the criminal organization of recent arrivals in America who likely arrived illegally or using the asylum system.

The Denver Post and other mainstream news outlets have covered the emergence of this gang in America, but also have maintained perspective on the size, threat and activities of the gang, unlike some who are using incidents in Aurora and Denver to fuel fear of other Venezuelans and asylum seekers. Others, like the owners of an apartment beset with crime in Aurora, are using the gang as a scapegoat for the unsanitary, unsafe and unhealthy conditions of their apartments that were condemned by the city this month.

Aurora is an extremely diverse city of about 400,000 people. It has always had some gang activity – same with Denver, Commerce City, Arvada, Westminster, and Lakewood. The addition of the Tren de Aragua gang to the mix is a dangerous complication, but not a cause for panic, fleeing the city, or calling 911 without cause.

The videos of men armed with semi-automatic long guns and pistols – in the hallway of an apartment complex and during a violent armed burglary at a Denver jewelry store — are unnerving. But they’d be unnerving regardless of the race or nationality or immigrant status of the wielders.

We understand the frustration of Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky. It is completely unacceptable to have apartment complexes where residents are unsafe because of rampant gang activity. She is right to call attention to the issue, just as we have done for years with gangs in Aurora and youth violence in general.

Now is the time for elected officials and law enforcement to come together and eliminate organized crime that often preys upon the most vulnerable people in our communities including small-business owners, immigrants, and low-income families.

Last year, Aurora launched the Standing Against Violence Every Day , or SAVE, program in an effort to keep young people – between the ages of 14 and 25 – from committing crimes, especially acts of violence. It’s estimated 1% of the population in Aurora was involved in 34% of the city’s homicides during a 15-month span.

Four men were arrested and charged with crimes related to the violent robbery of Joyeria El Ruby in Denver in June. At least one of those men was believed to be a member of Tren de Aragua, and was captured in Texas, a sign federal officials and local law enforcement are working hand in hand to shut down this gang.

Homeland Security Investigations regional spokeswoman Alethea Smock, told The Denver Post this month that the gang was an emerging threat in Denver.

But as Aurora’s Republican Mayor Mike Coffman and Denver’s Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston told 9News Thursday night in a joint interview, their cities are still safe.

The danger of blowing things out of proportion, however, is very real.

The vast majority of Venezuelan refugees and migrants from other South American countries have come to America for a chance at freedom and to escape the violence in their home countries. We cannot demonize them because a small proportion of the thousands of recent arrivals have banded together to commit crimes.

Let’s catch the criminals, deport them, and secure our southern border so we can ensure bad eggs aren’t getting in with the good people seeking work permits, liberty and a better life for their children.

Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

• Report an Error
• Submit a News Tip

More in Editorials

Editorials | Editorial: Democrats use newly created loophole to meet in private about our property taxes. This is not the spirit of the Sunshine law.

Editorials | Editorial: We knew these wildfires would come. Did we do enough to prepare?

Editorials | Editorial: Are the Frankenstein mansions on East Colfax really worthy of preservation?

Editorials | Editorial: Here’s why Terrell and Tamiko Davis were right to put their vacation on pause to speak out about United Airlines

• Latest News
• Colorado History
• Environment
• Social Justice
• Transportation
• Latest Food & Drink
• Openings & Closings
• Restaurant Guide
• Top 100 Bars
• Top 100 Restaurants
• Latest Arts & Culture
• Hiking & Outdoors
• Sex & Dating
• Visual Arts
• Concert Calendar
• Concert Reviews
• Just Announced
• Local Music
• Touring Artists
• Latest Cannabis
• Ask a Stoner
• Dispensary Guide
• Colorado Cannabis Laws
• Psychedelics
• Strain Reviews
• Find Weed - Presented by Weedmaps
• Westword Burger Week
• Westword Out to Brunch
• Westword Pizza Week
• Westword Tacolandia
• Westword Taco Week
• Arts & Entertainment
• Cannabis & More
• Food & Drink
• Music & Venues
• Shopping & Services
• Readers' Choice
• Newsletters
• Advertise with Us
• Flipbook Archive
• Promotions & Free Stuff
• Support Westword
• Where To Find Westword In Print
• Sign Up/Sign In

Aurora in National Spotlight After Online Video, Claims of Venezuelan Gang Takeovers

Audio By Carbonatix

Newsletter Sign Up

Enter your name, zip code, and email, sign up for our newsletters.

Homelessness

Homeless handyman found dead days after sharing his story.

By Bennito L. Kelty

Broadway Halloween Parade Needs a Hero by September 6

By Catie Cheshire

Immigration

Racist signs popping up in denver connected to controversial street artist.

By Thomas Mitchell

Longtime Businesses Leaving Denver's Broadway for Englewood, but Both Sides Have Big Plans

• View This Week's Print Issue
• Arts & Culture
• Things To Do
• Advertise With Us
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Westword Careers
• Shop Cover Art
• Voice Media Group
• Dallas Observer
• New Times Broward-Palm Beach
• Miami New Times
• Phoenix New Times
• V Audience Labs
• V Digital Services

latest in US News

Bananas republic! Mom arrested for violating law against...

Ohio GOPer wants proof of citizenship to register to vote

Harris-Biden White House called 'accomplice' to deadly Russian...

Inside the Egyptian-themed NYC compound that's home to...

MTA's slow-to-start subway safety rails test installed at just 10...

Virginia Dem declines top TV debate as key House seat shifts to...

Dems told to pony up $10M to secure Kamala Harris' appearances --...

Disgraced NYC public schools exec who turned blind eye to tainted...

Armed crew storms colorado apartment building overrun by venezuelan gang spilling out from sanctuary city: wild video.

A shocking video shows a crew of gun-wielding men storm through a Colorado apartment building  overrun by the violent Venezuelan prison gang  Tren de Aragua, which has overtaken multiple housing complexes in the area.

In the clip,  obtained by Fox Denver , a group of heavily armed men — including three with handguns and one with a rifle — can be seen in surveillance video entering another troubled apartment complex in the Denver suburb of Aurora and breaking into a unit.

The Aurora Police Department acknowledged it is “aware that components of [Tren de Aragua] are operating in Aurora,” saying that the police force “has been increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area.”

Local cops declined to provide additional details — citing ongoing investigations. 

The video emerged after The Post identified Venezuelan prison gang “shot-caller” Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, who had taken part in an assault and then a shooting at the Fitzsimons Place apartment complex in Aurora, which was recently  shut down over code violations , which the owners said they couldn’t fix due to a takeover of the building by the gang, according to court documents obtained by The Post.

The apartment investor said they’ve “lost control” of several apartments in the area to the gang, which has been renting out units to migrants under “threat.”

“They were first hanging out around the property and creating a bad element that’s constantly there. And then they started taking over, quite a few months ago, they started taking over vacant units.”  

The latest footage was captured earlier this month, shortly before a shootout at the The Edge at Lowry apartment complex severely injured one person and damaged multiple cars, according to the local news station.

A separate clip taken at a different time shows two men bashing the lock of a unit with a tire iron inside the same housing complex, where migrants have moved in.

Recent crime at the building has left residents of The Edge on edge.

“It’s been a nightmare and I can’t wait to get out of here,” Cindy Romero told KDVR as she moved out of the building with her husband, Edward.

The couple said the violence began when a large number of migrants moved into the building.

They used five locks on their apartment door from top to bottom as well as a door security bar jammer.

“Every day when we come home, we have to do this every time we go outside to take out the garbage,” Cindy said, turning each lock. “Every time we go to bed at night. We have to keep like this so that nobody can kick in the door.”

Their car was one of the vehicles riddled with bullets after the shootout.

The Romeros had been trying to move somewhere safer but said they couldn’t get the help needed to do so.

“We couldn’t get any help. We tried reaching out to resources, but they told us since it was not a condemned building, we would have to wait ’til that was the issue, but we didn’t want to wait for that,” Edward Romero told the local station.

Start and end your day informed with our newsletters

Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories

Thanks for signing up!

Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Never miss a story.

They finally were able to pack up their stuff and leave with the help of Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky, who has been outspoken about the influx of alleged members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua in the suburb of 390,000.

“The city nonprofits have lined up to help the migrants that have come here but nobody is helping the Americans that are trapped in these apartment complexes,” Jurinsky told the news station. “[And] this isn’t just Americans. Other Venezuelans are being extorted by this gang.”

The council member spoke to The Post earlier Wednesday about her community suffering from the spillover of Denver’s new migrant population — and resulting Tren de Aragua gang members.

“To our governor and to the mayor of Denver, I refuse to be silenced. I refuse to play the game of politics with you regarding this migrant crisis. And I will continue to speak up and speak out and help as many people as I can,” she said.

Denver, a sanctuary city, has received the largest number of migrants per capita across the nation, with  more than 40,000 new arrivals  since December 2022.

Directly east of Denver, Aurora has seen a flood of migrants itself — and crimes attributed to Tren de Aragua, a prison gang originating in the Aragua region of Venezuela.

The gang has infiltrated multiple states and other big cities like New York and Chicago after crossing into the US from the southern border.

Multiple high-profile crimes including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the Big Apple shooting of two NYPD officers in June have been linked to members of the violent gang.

Advertisement

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election results
• Google trends
• AP & Elections
• U.S. Open Tennis
• Paralympic Games
• College football
• Auto Racing
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Haitian and Kenyan police try to oust gangs from a rough part of Haiti’s capital

Haitian forces have teamed up with police sent from Kenya to oust criminal gangs from one of the roughest neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital. The operation was announced by Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille on Wednesday at a hospital in Port-au-Prince, where three Haitian policemen were recuperating after being injured in a shootout in the impoverished and gang-controlled neighborhood of Bel Air. (AP Video/Pierre Richard Luxama)

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, center left, speaks with Police Chief Normil Rameau at Bernard Mevs Hospital where he visited injured police officers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A vendor pushes a wheelbarrow loaded with sacks of charcoal in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

• Copy Link copied

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian forces working with police sent from Kenya have launched a joint operation to oust criminal gangs from one of the roughest neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital, Prime Minister Garry Conille said Wednesday.

Conille spoke at a hospital in Port-au-Prince where three Haitian policemen were recuperating after being injured in a shootout Tuesday during the joint operation in the impoverished and gang-controlled neighborhood of Bel Air.

“I am tired of seeing police officers beings shot. I am tired of going to police officers’ funerals. We must solve this insecurity problem,” Conille said.

Conille did not provide further details of the operation and did not take questions during his brief news conference, but he called on Haitians to cooperate with police and share information to help reduce crime.

More than 3,200 killings have been reported in Haiti from January to May. Gangs that control 80% of Port-au-Prince have left more than half a million people homeless in recent years as they fight to control more territory.

“It’s not going to be quick,” Conille said. “We must be patient.”

Earlier in the day, a police union reported that a female officer was killed while going to work on Wednesday, with more than a dozen bullet holes found in her windshield. Michelle Nathanielle Megine is one of roughly two dozen officers killed so far this year.

A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenya has sent some 400 police officers to Haiti so far to help quell gang violence. Police and soldiers from countries including Benin, Chad and Jamaica also are expected to arrive in coming months for a total of 2,500 foreign personnel.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2024/08/us-ai-safety-institute-signs-agreements-regarding-ai-safety-research

U.S. AI Safety Institute Signs Agreements Regarding AI Safety Research, Testing and Evaluation With Anthropic and OpenAI

These first-of-their-kind agreements between the u.s. government and industry will help advance safe and trustworthy ai innovation for all..

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Today, the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced agreements that enable formal collaboration on AI safety research, testing and evaluation with both Anthropic and OpenAI.

Each company’s Memorandum of Understanding establishes the framework for the U.S. AI Safety Institute to receive access to major new models from each company prior to and following their public release. The agreements will enable collaborative research on how to evaluate capabilities and safety risks, as well as methods to mitigate those risks. 

“Safety is essential to fueling breakthrough technological innovation. With these agreements in place, we look forward to beginning our technical collaborations with Anthropic and OpenAI to advance the science of AI safety,” said Elizabeth Kelly, director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute. “These agreements are just the start, but they are an important milestone as we work to help responsibly steward the future of AI.”

Additionally, the U.S. AI Safety Institute plans to provide feedback to Anthropic and OpenAI on potential safety improvements to their models, in close collaboration with its partners at the U.K. AI Safety Institute. 

The U.S. AI Safety Institute builds on NIST’s more than 120-year legacy of advancing measurement science, technology, standards and related tools. Evaluations under these agreements will further NIST’s work on AI by facilitating deep collaboration and exploratory research on advanced AI systems across a range of risk areas.

Evaluations conducted pursuant to these agreements will help advance the safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of AI by building on the Biden-Harris administration’s Executive Order on AI and the voluntary commitments made to the administration by leading AI model developers.

About the U.S. AI Safety Institute

The U.S. AI Safety Institute , located within the Department of Commerce at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), was established following the Biden-Harris administration’s 2023 Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence to advance the science of AI safety and address the risks posed by advanced AI systems. It is tasked with developing the testing, evaluations and guidelines that will help accelerate safe AI innovation here in the United States and around the world. 

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

James Bjorken, 90, Dies; Physicist Who Helped Prove That Quarks Exist

His research enabled the discovery that protons and neutrons are made of smaller particles, contributing to a fuller picture of the subatomic universe.

By Katrina Miller

Katrina Miller earned a Ph.D. in particle physics from the University of Chicago in 2023.

James Bjorken, a theoretical physicist who played a key role in establishing the existence of the subatomic particles called quarks, died on Aug. 6 in Redwood City, Calif. He was 90.

His death, in an assisted living facility near his home in Sky Londa, Calif., was caused by metastatic melanoma, his daughter Johanna Bjorken said.

Dr. Bjorken, who was known as B.J., was a professor at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, Calif., in the late 1960s when he invented what would come to be known as “ Bjorken scaling ,” which the laboratory described as “his most famous scientific achievement.”

At the time, physicists at SLAC were firing electrons at nucleons — protons and neutrons — to study their nature. The electrons functioned somewhat like magnifying glasses: When fired at high enough energies, they allowed physicists to “see” the nucleon’s inner structure.

Two quantities helped characterize these collisions: the energy at which the strike occurred and the energy of the outgoing electron. Dr. Bjorken proposed that the behavior of the collisions depended not on these two quantities separately, but on a particular combination of them.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .