NCJ Number
213886
Journal
Corrections Today Magazine Volume: 68 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 48-50
Date Published
April 2006
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article discusses why girls join gangs, the gang initiation procedures, the roles girls play in various types of gangs, and how girls can leave gangs.
Abstract
The number of girls in gangs is apparently increasing, whether they are part of a male gang or members of a "girls only" gang. Girls join gangs for the same reasons as boys join, i.e., financial opportunity, identity and status, peer pressure, family dysfunction, and protection. Some girls join gangs for stimulation, excitement, and social activities. Gang membership is usually linked to skipping school, drinking, experimenting with drugs, performing low-level crimes, and engaging in sexual activity that may lead to pregnancy. The prime ages at which girls join gangs are 13 and 14. Crimes such as robbery and aggravated assault peak at age 15 and remain consistently high through age 18. Murders peak at this age. Initiation procedures may include a physical beating, committing a criminal act, sex with a male gang member, or being "blessed in." The latter ease of entrance into the gang is usually reserved for those who have had generations of family members as part of the gang. Roles of girls in gangs may be as auxiliary members of a male gang, a member of a coed gang, a member of an all-female gang, or as a female leader in a coed gang. Among the functions of girls in male gangs are holding and transporting drugs and guns, infiltrating law enforcement agencies in civilian jobs, acting as lures for information or attacks on rival gang members, and participating in the gang's various criminal acts. Leaving a gang requires a strong desire to leave, since it will involve dangers and various safety requirements, such as leaving the gang's neighborhood.