NCJ Number
155155
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1995) Pages: 15-27
Date Published
1995
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The authors used a survey of municipal police departments in nine States to explore the effect of structural and behavioral variables on the frequency of two types of gang violence.
Abstract
Internecine violence was examined separately from violence directed at non-gang-involved citizens. The study was unique in its reliance on survey data obtained from the police and its focus on the gang problem in both small cities and major urban centers. Questionnaires were mailed to 131 municipal police departments in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas; 79 police departments responded, for a response rate of 60.3 percent. Regression analysis indicated that internecine violence was best predicted by the level of instrumental property crimes and by the frequency with which gang members carried weapons other than guns. Violence against nongang members was predicted only by instrumental property crimes. Dependence on drug sales and the frequency with which guns were carried by gang members were not even marginally significant predictors of either form of violence. 48 references