Tell Me Who You Hang with and I’ll Tell You What You Are: Gang Identity, Organization, and Desistance

• In Event: New Applications and Controversies in Survival and Trajectory Models

Abstract

Criminologists disagree as to how organized street gangs are. On one end of the spectrum gangs are said to be highly organized groups with formal rules and regulations. Conversely, other criminologists argue that gangs are groups of loosely affiliated individuals. The present research will revisit this debate by looking at how perceived gang organization impacts the length of time an individual spends in the gang. This research also investigates how one’s identity as a gang member impacts desistance from the gang. Social identity theory argues that identity comes from the groups that an individual is a part of and consequently these groups are sources of pride and self-esteem. What individuals get from groups, coupled with perceived constraints such as the group’s organization and individual’s peer group, in part determine how long an individual is a member of a group. I use discrete time event history models to evaluate social identity theory and existing theory on gang organization to study how they impact desistance from street gangs. Results indicate that perceived gang organization is independently associated with longer length of time in the gang. Furthermore, the effect of one’s social identity on length of time in the gang is mediated by the peer group.

Author

• John Leverso, University of Washington