NCJ Number
101307
Journal
Social Problems Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: (October 1985) Pages: 13-30
Date Published
1985
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Recent work suggests that the label 'gang member' is an important contingency in the legal processing of juveniles. An event-history analysis of 1,916 court referrals for 257 Chicano boys indicates that gang membership does not have an independent impact on the rate of movement through the juvenile court to various outcomes.
Abstract
However, the effects of school performance, prior record, offense characteristics, and complaint type on rates of movement to case disposition operate differently for gang and nongang youths. Although gang members are not subjected to direct discrimination, these findings indicate that gang identity affects the interpretation and influence of other personal, offense, and case factors in court processing. (Author abstract)