Gender and Peer Influence: A Multi-method Examination of the Influence of Gender on the Consequences of Gang and Delinquent Peer Group Membership

• In Event: New Developments on the Impact of Peers in the Life Course

Abstract

Research suggests that gang membership is criminogenic for both males and females. Although gang joining appears to increase criminal behaviors for both sexes, this does not necessarily suggest that the mechanisms responsible for this enhancement effect are not gendered. Rather, processes of multifinality and/or equifinality may produce differential developmental pathways as youth enter and exit delinquent peer groups such as gangs. The current study utilizes a turning points framework to examine the influence of gender on the mechanisms associated delinquent and violent behaviors in relation to discontinuities in peer group relations, especially as these relate to youth gang membership. To examine these developmental processes, six waves of prospective data (n = 3,820) from the second National Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program are utilized in conjunction with in-depth qualitative interview data from 180 of the youth in the G.R.E.A.T. study; nearly all of whom belonged to a gang or delinquent peer group at some point across the five year panel study.

Authors

• Christopher Melde, Michigan State University

• Dena Carson, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

• Finn-Aage Esbensen, University of Missouri - St. Louis