NCJ Number
187403
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: Winter 2001 Pages: 21-34
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines factors relative to adolescents leaving gangs.
Abstract
The article examines gang literature to attempt to discover why youths leave gangs and the circumstances under which they leave, and to determine risk and protective factors in gang membership and whether they are age-related. The article also attempts to determine whether it would be more productive to examine more general research regarding resilience and factors that enable delinquent youth to desist from offending. Finally, it attempts to determine whether gang member identification by police and court officials can inadvertently hinder those who want to leave the gang. The article recommends that early interventions with young people should be firmly rooted in developmental psychology and desistance research: with early-age adolescents already involved in gangs, interventions should focus on parents, siblings, relatives, guardians, personal safety, empathy, self-control, and aspirations; with mid-age adolescents, the focus should be on coping with peer pressure, social skills development, conflict resolution, self-concept, adventure, avocational pursuits, and vocational aptitude; and with late adolescents, the focus should be on one-on-one relationships, career and employment options, job skill development, finances, extended family responsibilities and attachments, and inferential thinking. In sum, early intervention designed specifically to hasten departure from the gang should key on each youngster's age-specific developmental needs. Bibliography, notes