Gang Organization, Routine Criminal Activity, and Gang Member's Criminal Behavior

• NCJ Number: 153887
• Author(s): J F Sheley; J Zhang; J D Wright
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 20 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: Tulane University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Addressing definitional and typological problems in gang research, this study assesses the relationship between general gang organization and routine criminal activity to the criminal behavior, including drug-related behavior, of individual gang members.

Abstract

The analysis is based on responses to self-administered questionnaire completed by 381 male juveniles who reported that they were gang members prior to incarceration in maximum-security correctional facilities. Participants were asked about the organization of their gangs; whether their gangs were routinely involved in drug abuse, drug selling, robbing stores or people, and breaking into houses; and their own involvement in these same offenses. Findings indicate that, even though gangs and their individual members generally may be eclectic in their activities, gang cultures built around specific offense types do exist and seem to influence or be influenced by selected offense behavior by gang members. In some cases, the strength of these relationships is mediated by organizational characteristics of the gang. Tables and 70 references