NCJ Number
152627
Journal
Crime, Law and Social Change Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: (1994) Pages: 201-228
Date Published
1994
Length
28 pages
Annotation
The characteristics of 361 youths labeled as gang members by the police department of Honolulu, Hawaii, during 1991 were examined to explore the meaning of police estimates of gang membership.
Abstract
Results revealed that the arrest patterns of these youths do not support the view that they represent a seriously violent subset of criminals. Indeed, nearly one-third had not been arrested in the previous 3 years, and weapon or drug arrests were not frequent. Findings were amplified by data from a comparison of youth not labeled as gang members. These data indicate that youth in the city and county of Honolulu who are delinquent have few differences from the youth suspected of gang membership, when the frequency and severity of their offenses are considered. Finally, the groups most commonly labeled by police as gang members are Filipino and Samoan males, but self-report data on gang membership indicate a somewhat different ethnic composition. Findings suggested that the effort to develop gang-specific forms of intervention may not be as necessary has been assumed and that images of gang activity are inaccurate and racist. Figures, tables, notes, appended list of arrest categories, and 39 references