Criminal Behavior of Gang Members and Nongang At-Risk Youth (From Gangs in America, Second Edition, P 75-102, 1996, C Ronald Huff, ed. -- See NCJ-165296)

• NCJ Number: 165300
• Author(s): C R Huff
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 28 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This research project was conducted in Cleveland, Ohio, to compare the criminal behavior of currently or formerly active youth gang members with that of youth who were at risk of crime and delinquency but had not become active in gangs.

Abstract

Fifty interviews with gang members were conducted, 34 in the community, 13 in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center, and 3 in correctional facilities operated by the State of Ohio. Interviews were also conducted with a sample of 49 young people who were at risk of criminal behavior but were not involved in gangs. Both samples were comparable with respect to age, gender, race, educational attainment, work experience, and family status. Those who joined gangs tended to begin their association with gangs at about 13 years of age, joined about 6 months later, and got arrested within 6 months after they joined the gang. Data also showed that young people could refuse to join gangs without incurring a substantial risk of physical harm and that they were far better off to resist joining gangs than to expose themselves to gang initiation and to the increased risk of arrest, incarceration, injury, and death associated with gang membership. A window of opportunity for intervention occurred between the first arrest of gang members for property crimes and their subsequent progression into more serious drug-related and violent offenses. Gang members were significantly more likely than nongang peers to be involved in the sale of higher profit drugs and to make nearly 50 percent more in earnings from drug sales per week with far fewer customers than nongang peers. Although many gang members and nongang at-risk peers said it would require a legitimate wage of around $15 per hour to induce them to stop selling drugs, many young people were amenable to lower legitimate wages, especially if they could obtain a large number of hours per week and increase their total income. Gangs possessed powerful and highly lethal weapons, despite the fact that many gang members were not yet old enough to even drive a car legally. Policy implications of the research findings are discussed, and recommendations for intervening with gang members and at-risk youth are offered. 3 notes, 17 tables, and 2 figures