NCJ Number
178378
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 33-47
Date Published
1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study interviewed 250 gang members (ages 12 to 19 years) from Dallas, Tex., regarding sexual activity, substance abuse, and 12 other behavior domains.
Abstract
They were sampled according to the proportion of each ethnicity reported by police to be involved in gangs; females were purposefully oversampled (male = 175, female = 75). For comparison purposes, data from the 1994 Texas School Survey for the Dallas Public Schools were used. Compared to Dallas Public School report interview data for students of similar ages, gang members surveyed were found to be significantly more likely to report using substances of abuse, having had sex with multiple partners, not using condoms during sex, having caused a pregnancy or having been pregnant, having had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), having had sex at 12 years of age or younger, and having been physically abused by a parent or stepparent. The prevalence of gonorrhea (by self-report) among gang members (5-7 percent) and medically diagnosed STDs (10 percent) were 25-fold and 50-fold higher, respectively, than among other teens of the same age (1 per 1,000 and 2 per 1,000). Thus, gang membership is apparently a significant risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and physical abuse. The greatest utility for these results is the development of a public health model for identifying youths at highest risk for sexually transmitted diseases among gang membership by their gang statuses and genders. 6 tables and 43 references