NCJ Number
184406
Date Published
1999
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter looks at variation between female gangs as well as within them.
Abstract
The paper reports on a study of female gangs in Milwaukee, WI. The paper argues that female gangs vary as much as male gangs and on many of the same criteria. The nature and structure of both male and female gangs is not a simple, objective fact, but socially constructed by gang members. The paper questions the validity and utility of the longstanding typology of female gangs as mixed gender, autonomous or male auxiliary, and explains how the Milwaukee female gang member is “fighting female.” The study suggests the need for further research into: (1) developing a non-sexist typology of female gangs; research should move beyond convenience samples in order to appreciate the variation in female gang members’ conceptions of their gangs; (2) a better understanding of the reasons why female gangs are less violent than male gangs, how differing conceptions of gender interact with various neighborhood and drug market conditions and other factors to produce different levels of violence by female gang members and why most young adult women so sharply decrease both fighting and gang involvement; and (3) the different ways female gang members are “fighting female.” Tables