New Approaches to Understanding Youth Gangs and Gang Members

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

Involvement in gang activity can lead to serious consequences for youth, including engagement in problem behaviors that can lead to victimization, justice system involvement, and school failure. Most research focuses on gangs resulting in such negative outcomes, yet there also can be positive aspects of gang involvement worthy of exploration. For example, although victimization is a common risk factor for gang membership, certain gang structures might actually decrease the risk for victimization. Further, when options for more positive, prosocial social networks are limited or not available, a gang network can serve as a means of providing social, emotional, and even financial support. Further, despite our wealth of knowledge about the negative aspects of gang activity, we still know very little about how specifically to help gang-affiliated youth. Papers in this panel address these gaps in the literature, bringing together teams from four research/evaluation projects including: a collaborative study on gang network structure and victimization in Chicago; RAND Corporation's study of social networks and gang desistance in Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC; Rutgers University's analysis of positive and pro-social outcomes related to gang involvement; and the National Gang Center's review of strengths-based program development strategies for gang youth.

Sub Unit

• Area IX: Juvenile Crime and the Justice System / 57: Delinquency

Individual Presentations

• Network Structure and Victimization: A Study of the Population of Gang Factions in Chicago - Timothy Lavery, Chicago Police Department; David Pyrooz, University of Colorado Boulder; Andrew V. Papachristos, Yale University

• A Typology of Gang Members’ Social Networks and their Relationship to Desistance from Crime and Gangs - Meagan Cahill, RAND Corporation; Caterina Gouvis Roman, Temple University

• Looking on the Brighter Side: Positive Correlates and Consequences of Youth Gang Involvement - Joanna Kubik, Rutgers University; Paul Boxer, Rutgers University

• A Developmental Model of Gang Involvement: Building Strengths from Childhood to Adulthood - James C. (Buddy) Howell, National Gang Center

Chairs

• Paul Boxer, Rutgers University

• Joanna Kubik, Rutgers University