Elsevier

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 18, Issue 4, July–August 2013, Pages 417-425
Aggression and Violent Behavior

Youth gang affiliation, violence, and criminal activities: A review of motivational, risk, and protective factors

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.05.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Involvement with gangs appears to be fluid and transitory for most youth.

  • Juvenile delinquency is highest during periods of active gang membership.

  • There are no unique predictors of youth gang membership versus violent delinquency.

  • Gangs have powerful, enduring effects on the lives of adolescents who join them.

  • Motivations to desist from gang activity often involve processes of maturation.

Abstract

Youth gangs are a universal phenomenon attracting increasing attention; the criminal and antisocial behavior perpetuated by youth gangs has an adverse impact on local communities across the globe. Although there is an extensive body of research that has examined the problems posed by youth gangs in America (and more recently in other countries), there have been relatively fewer empirical studies that examined the factors and psychological processes that are related to youth joining and leaving gangs. This review compiles the international research on the nature of youth gangs and critically evaluates: (a) the factors that motivate engagement in and desistance from gang-related activities, (b) risk and protective factors that impact on youths' propensity for gang membership, delinquency, and violent behavior, and the adverse consequences associated with gang affiliation, and (c) the relationship between gang-affiliation, youth violence, and criminal behavior.

Introduction

Youth gangs are a universal phenomenon attracting increasing attention. Although variations in gang activity are observed across settings and contexts, the criminal and antisocial behavior of youth gangs is known to have an adverse impact on local communities across the globe. An extensive body of research has examined the problems posed by youth gangs in America, with research beginning to emerge in other countries (Klein, Weerman, & Thornberry, 2006). Specifically, international research has consistently demonstrated that youth gang members contribute disproportionately to the overall level of crime, especially violent and serious offenses (Chu et al., 2012, Krohn and Thornberry, 2008), and that gang affiliation can significantly disrupt life course transitions (Thornberry, Krohn, Lizotte, Smith, & Tobin, 2003). Importantly, these studies have found similarities, but also important differences, between youth gang offenders and those who are not gang-affiliated. This paper reviews and critically evaluates diverse research on the nature of youth gangs and the factors that motivate engagement in and desistance from gang-related activities, risk and protective factors associated with gang membership, and explores the adverse consequences associated with gang affiliation, including extensive research on the gang–crime relationship.

Section snippets

Methodology

Searches were conducted in a variety of publication databases, relevant peer-reviewed journals, one mainstream Internet database, and national and international juvenile justice departmental and gang research websites. These included: (a) Ovid PsychINFO and Criminal Justice Abstracts; (b) Juvenile Justice Bulletin (not peer reviewed); and (c) Juvenile justice and gang research websites (e.g., The Eurogang Project, the National Gang Crime Research Center, the Office of Juvenile Justice in the

Definition of youth gangs

Assessing the scope of youth gang problems is challenging as there is little consensus among experts on what constitutes a gang or the defining features of youth gangs (Esbensen et al., 2001, Howell, 1998). Varying definitions of gang involvement can lead to difficulties in measuring the scope and nature of gang problems, in identifying predictors of gang membership and the direction of strategies aimed at targeting youth gang problems (Esbensen et al., 2001). Overestimating or underestimating

Global trends in youth gang affiliation

The expansion of youth gangs across the United States (U.S.) is well documented. The number of U.S. cities reporting gang activity has grown exponentially since 1990 (Klein & Maxson, 2006). Research across the U.S. suggests that prevalence rates for youth gang membership vary between 2% and 37%, depending on the nature of the sampling population and the definition adopted (Klein and Maxson, 2006, Thornberry et al., 2003). However, the transmission of youth gangs and gang culture has not been

Gang membership, violence, and crime

Various characteristics associated with delinquency consistently distinguish gang members from youth who never join gangs. The most enduring finding is that gang-affiliated youth commit more crimes (Klein & Maxson, 2006), especially violent, drug and weapon-related offenses, and are more delinquent than youth who have never been involved with gangs (Esbensen et al., 1993, Klein and Maxson, 2006). Additionally, youth gang membership is associated with a higher rate of offending, beyond the

Motivation for joining and desisting from gangs and persistence processes

Although there is extensive research investigating the risk factors associated with gang involvement, few studies have shed light on motivations for joining gangs or the factors that promote retention in gangs or desistance from gang activity (Caldwell and Altschuler, 2001, Pyrooz and Decker, 2011). Decker and Van Winkle (1996) provide a framework for understanding the processes involved in decisions to join gangs, describing affiliation in terms of “pushes” (e.g., external forces that compel

Consequences of gang membership

Gangs have powerful, enduring effects on the lives of adolescents who become involved with them, interfering with normal development and transitions to adulthood (Thornberry et al., 2003). Most notable and well researched are the long-term deleterious effects of adolescent involvement in deviant behavior. Research has clearly established that early delinquency predicts later disorder in the life course (Thornberry et al., 2003). In particular, adolescent deviancy has been associated with

Conclusion, limitations and future research

This review has identified some important characteristics that operate as risk factors for youth gang membership and associated violence, and highlights a number of individual and contextual factors that increase the likelihood that youth at risk will engage in antisocial and violent behavior (Decker, Melde, & Pyrooz, 2012). The identification of risk factors specific to gang membership is crucial to the development of effective gang intervention strategies. Importantly, the characteristics,

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