Situations of Violence in the Lives of Girl Gang Members

• NCJ Number: 191650
• Journal: Health Care for Women International Volume: 22 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 363-384
• Author(s): Geoffrey Hunt; Karen Joe-Laidler
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01-AA10819
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Drawing from qualitative and quantitative data of a comparative study on ethnic youth gangs in the San Francisco Bay area, this paper examines the role of violence in the lives of female gang members.

Abstract

Even though the area of women and violence has become a topic of growing concern over the last decade, a significant gap has existed in understanding the role of young women in gangs, including the nature and extent of female gang members' victimization and the extent of their involvement in perpetrating violence. To challenge recent portrayals of the characterization of female gang members, this paper examined the violence-prone situations in which these young women operate and exist in. The data for this analysis was acquired from a long-term comparative ethnographic study of ethnic gangs in the San Francisco Bay area which began in 1991 and is ongoing. One hundred and forty-one women from 44 different gangs were involved in the study. Three domains of violence were identified and discussed as existing in the lives of girl gang members: the street, the family, and relationships with boyfriends. Results indicated that girl gang members experience an extensive amount of violence in their lives whether on the streets, in their family lives, or in their relationships with their boyfriends and lovers. They experienced violence, not only as victims but they also act as instigators of the violence. They, on some occasions, were neither victims nor instigators but witnesses. And, when the impact of social organization and violence in the gang were considered, it was found that the women in auxiliary gangs were more subject to violence-prone situations than those in an independent gang. In summation, young women did not seek out violent encounters, what they sought was a place at home, on the street, and in a marginalized community that might have pushed them to resort to violence to protect themselves. References