Predictors of Gang Involvement Among American Indian Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 197742
• Journal: Journal of Gang Research Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: Fall 2002 Pages: 11-26
• Author(s): Les B. Whitbeck; Dan R. Hoyt; Xiaojin Chen; Jerry D. Stubben
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents a study on gang involvement among American Indian adolescents.

Abstract

The hypothesis was that gang involvement was positively related to a sense of hopelessness and alienation among minority adolescents. There were three indicators that were specifically related to American Indian children and adolescents. The first is that attending an on-reservation school rather than a public school would be negatively associated with gang activity. The second indicator was the degree to which the adolescents engaged in traditional activities or cultural identification. The third indicator was that perceived discrimination would be positively associated with gang involvement among American Indian adolescents. The data were collected for a baseline survey that was part of a larger project. The report was based on interviews with 212 children that participated in the survey conducted on 3 American Indian reservations located in the upper Midwest. The measures used were gang involvement, age, household per capita income, mother’s antisocial history, adolescent hopelessness, academic competency, adolescent life transitions, cultural identification, perceived discrimination, delinquency, and substance abuse. Results show that the profile among the 5th to 8th grade American Indian adolescents that reported gang involvement was that of a male or female that engaged in delinquent behaviors and/or substance abuse and lived in a single-mother household where the mother had a history of antisocial behavior. The adolescent was most likely not doing well academically and had experienced multiple life transitions or losses in the past year. The adolescent was at least somewhat involved in traditional activities, which increased the likelihood of perceived discrimination and the probability of gang involvement. Thirty percent of the young people reported being approached to join a gang by the 8th grade. Thirty-five percent of the adolescents associated with members of gangs. 3 tables, 43 references