NCJ Number
177500
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 1999 Pages: 101-109
Date Published
1999
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined drug use and delinquency in the behavior of youth-gang members.
Abstract
Specific issues addressed were the effects of prior drug use and delinquency on gang membership, the effect of gang membership on drug use and delinquency, and the interaction effects of prior drug use and delinquency with gang membership on drug use and delinquency. Data for the study came from the first two waves of the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men. This was a 5-year panel study that began in 1992 and was designed to examine multiple causes of adolescent substance use and delinquency. Two questions in the first wave of the study permitted the identification of respondents as nongang members, prior gang members, and current gang members. For analysis, the current study created two dummy variables, with nongang members as a reference category: one for current gang membership and another for prior gang membership. Delinquency was measured in two dimensions: prior and later delinquency. Prior delinquency was measured at the first wave, and later delinquency at the second wave. Drug use was also measured in two dimensions of prior and later drug use. The data show that prior delinquency significantly affected gang membership, and prior drug use had no effect on gang membership. Gang membership had an effect on subsequent delinquency and drug use, although its effect on subsequent delinquency was modest. Finally, there were interaction effects between gang membership and prior delinquency/drug use on subsequent delinquency/drug use. The nature of these interaction effects indicate that gang membership had a stronger effect on youths who had not committed delinquent acts and facilitated drug use only for those who had not used drugs previously. 6 tables and 23 references