NCJ Number
171732
Journal
Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: November 1996 Pages: 167-174
Date Published
1996
Length
8 pages
Annotation
A self-report study among 393 male and 465 female American Indian youths from several western States examined the involvement of American Indian youth in gangs.
Abstract
The participants attended 7th through 12th grades in Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Data were collected between 1989 and 1993. About 5 percent of males and less than 1 percent of females reported actual gang membership. In addition, about 10 percent of males and females reported hanging around with gangs. The level of drug involvement and involvement in juvenile delinquency was higher for youths in gangs and those who hung around with gangs than for those who were not involved in gangs. Youths who reported hanging around with gangs also reported drug and delinquency involvement that was higher than that of nongang youth but lower than that of gang members. Other research has indicated that poverty, lack of economic opportunities, discrimination, and the erosion of cultural identity provide the structural conditions for the attractiveness of gangs to Indian youth. The actual diffusion of gang culture is dependent on contact between Indian youth and non-Indian youth with knowledge about gangs. Tables and 55 references (Author abstract modified)