Role of Juvenile Gangs in Facilitating Delinquent Behavior (From Modern Gang Reader, P 174-185, 1995, Malcolm W. Klein, Cheryl L. Maxson, et al., eds. - See NCJ-173280)

• NCJ Number: 173294
• Author(s): T B Thornberry; M D Krohn; A J Lizotte; D Chard-Wierschem
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Roxbury Publishing Co.
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Data from the Rochester Youth Development study were used to examine alternative explanations for why gang members are more likely to have higher rates of serious and violent crime than are nongang members.

Abstract

The research focused on three models: (1) a selection or kind-of-person model, (2) a social facilitation or kind-of-group model, and (3) an enhancement model that combined aspects of the selection and social facilitation models. Each model has different implications for the rates of juvenile delinquency and the drug use of gang members before, during, and after membership in a gang. The data were collected in Rochester, N.Y., in a panel study that deliberately overrepresented adolescents at high risk for serious delinquent behavior and drug use. Information was collected by means of the adolescents and the adults primarily responsible for their care and from schools, police, and other agencies that have contact with youth. Results revealed that gang members did not have higher rates of delinquent behavior or drug use before entering the gang, compared to nongang members. However, once they became members, their rates increased substantially. Moreover, when gang members left the gang, their rates of delinquency typically declined. Findings supported the social facilitation model. Tables, notes, appended list of items in self-report indexes, and 41 references (Author abstract modified)