NCJ Number
147281
Journal
Adolescence Volume: 19 Issue: 75 Dated: (Fall 1984) Pages: 527-538
Date Published
1984
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The relationship between family background, interpersonal relationships at home and the socialization process and drug use, sexual experiences and other deviant behavior in a teenagers is investigated.
Abstract
As a nonparticipant observer, the author conducted an 11-year study of a loosely organized gang of 23 middle- class teens in Southern California. A sample of 31 young people in the same age range from the same community who were not gang members were also interviewed for comparison. The findings are presented mainly as a series of case narrations about individual group members but demographic characteristics are also included. All of the gang members came from families with average to above average incomes. Twenty-one of the youths came from broken homes with several marriages and divorces being common. The teens typically felt that their parents, particularly fathers and stepfathers, did not love or care about them. They seemed to be seeking a father-figure who would provide them with discipline as they strived for independence, adult responsibility and economic self-support. Relationships with the opposite sex were based mainly on sexual and financial exploitation. Drug use was a daily fact of life to facilitate relationships with the opposite sex, to alleviate anxiety and to escape responsibility. Non-gang members tended to come from more stable families. Drug use was common with this group as well but was not as frequent and was not an attempt to escape problems.