Gang Membership, Deviant Behavior and Social Reaction to Offending: Results from the Third Wave of the International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD-3) in 12 countries.

• In Event: Juvenile Gangs in America, Europe, and the Caribbean: Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Abstract

In this study, we explore the link between gang membership, deviant behaviour and social reaction to offending, as revealed by a large student survey conducted by means of the same questionnaire in 12 countries. The sample (N=40,675) is made up of 7th, 8th, 9th grade students, both boys and girls, attending different types of schools. To identify gang members we used the Eurogang networks definition which is: Any durable, street-oriented youth group whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activity, and added the self-nomination to the questions indicated by the Eurogang. About 2.2% of youths were identified as gang members according to this definition, with large differences among different contexts. The prevalence of gang members decreased, in comparison with the second wave of the ISRD, conducted six year earlier. In general, gang membership implied a more frequent and serious antisocial behaviour and a greater social reaction to offending. For all these aspects, regional differences were taken into account.

Authors

• Uberto Gatti, University of Genoa (Italy)

• Sandrine Haymoz, University of Applied Sciences (Fribourg) Switzerland