Innovations in Gang Research: New Directions in Studying and Managing Gangs and Gang Members

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

Gang activity is on the rise nationally, as is the degree of violence associated with gang activity. Recently, scholars have called for new approaches for uncovering new problems in the study and management of gangs, and this thematic panel offers four new and innovative lines of inquiry into gang activity and gang members. The first two papers offer innovations in analyzing the causes and consequences of gang involvement: Paper 1 applies a behavior-genetic design to draw inferences about the relative impact of genetic risk and gang membership on violent offending. Paper 2 takes a historical perspective in assessing the life-course consequences of gang membership to consider whether gang dynamics have changed over time. The second two papers describe novel approaches to studying interventions for gang-involved youth: Paper 3 reports the results of a randomized trial gauging the effects of targeted intervention for gang-involved youth in comparison to routine treatment in the justice system. Paper 4 describes analyses of clinical data collected during a naturalistic field study of interventions for gang-involved youth. The panel will be timed such that ample opportunity will be afforded at the close of presentations for audience exchange.

Sub Unit

• Area III. Correlates of Crime and Oppression / 32. Gangs, Peers and Co-offending

Individual Presentations

• Gang membership as a nonshared environmental influence - J.C. Barnes, University of Cincinnati

• “The past is gone, but...”: The consequences of gang membership in historical context - Richard K. Moule, Jr., Arizona State University; Gary Sweeten, Arizona State University

• Blueprints for Gang Prevention: A Randomized Controlled Trial - Brook Kearley, University of Maryland; Denise Gottfredson, University of Maryland; Terence P. Thornberry, University of Maryland

• Best-practice intervention applied to gang-involved youth in the justice systems: Short-term and sustained effects on outcomes - Paul Boxer, Rutgers University; Joanna Kubik, Rutgers University; Bonita Veysey, Rutgers University; Michael Ostermann, Rutgers University

Chairs

• Paul Boxer, Rutgers University

• J.C. Barnes, University of Cincinnati