NCJ Number
133571
Date Published
1990
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Police and school records and survey data from 139 Hispanic and 300 black males in the 6th through 8th grades at 4 inner-city schools in Chicago formed the basis of an analysis of the incidence of 8 kinds of self-reported activities believed to be associated with increasing gang involvement.
Abstract
The survey gathered information regarding: (1) the perceived advantage in gang membership, (2) hanging out where gang members hang out, (3) having friends identified as gang members, (4) flashing gang signs, (5) wearing gang colors, (6) committing delinquent acts in the company of gang members, (7) being attacked in a gang-related incident, and (8) being the attacker in a gang-related incident. Results indicated that a majority of both groups demonstrated at least some limited gang experience or identification, but the groups had different patterns of involvement. Fitting Rasch models for the eight items for the two subsamples produced two different 7-item scales, each of which was internally reliable. A preliminary examination of relationships to other variables further supported the view that Hispanic and black youth differ in their patterns of gang involvement. Tables and 20 references