NCJ Number
85625
Date Published
1981
Length
265 pages
Annotation
This study documents the gang activities, academic performances, employment histories, and interpersonal relationships of a white, lower middle-class gang called the Dukes and the statuses and roles which gang members achieved as adults.
Abstract
Data were collected while the members were active as a conflict gang and again 10 years later. Gang activities covered a 5-year period before any data were collected. The gang was very stable, but unlike many gangs, did not promulgate a gang culture that was passed on to new recruits. When members no longer associated with one another, the gang disappeared. Most gang members came from stable families. About one-third of the members dropped out of school. As adults, the members were conventional, law-abiding citizens who were stable family men with steady employment. None of the adult Dukes had criminal careers. The gang experiences did not appear to have had any negative effects on the statuses and roles achieved by members as adults. The study's hypothesis -- that the development of stronger moral bonds resulted in a cessation of delinquent behavior for the Dukes -- was generally supported by the data. Tables, chapter footnotes, the interview code book, and about 65 references are included. (Author abstract modified)