Attitude is everything: Youth attitudes, gang involvement, and length of institutional gang membership

Abstract

Prison gangs have been a topic of interest among scholars, but research on youth prison gangs is limited. Furthermore, violent attitudes and gang involvement have not been addressed extensively, and a better understanding of youth prison gang involvement is needed to effectively inform responses to violence in correctional facilities. This paper fills this research gap through an analysis of violent attitudes as they relate to gang involvement and length of gang membership. The data derive from interviews with 285 males conducted in a larger study on gangs and violence in California’s youth correctional facilities. The results show that gang members tend to have stronger violent and aggressive attitudes compared to nongang members, and length of institutional gang membership is statistically significant and negatively associated with violent and aggressive attitudes. Furthermore, a youth’s violent and aggressive attitudes will vary depending on if the youth has never spent time in an institutional gang, is currently in one, or is a former institutional gang member. I conclude the paper with a discussion of these findings and what they imply for gang group processes, theory, institutional policy, and programs.

Psychological and behavioural characteristics that distinguish street gang members in custody

“…Gang members are responsible for a high volume and wide range of offending, especially violent offending (e.g., Klein & Maxson, ). The literature also supports that incarcerated gang members are also more likely than non‐gang offenders to engage in misconduct and aggressive behaviour within prison establishments (Drury & DeLisi, ; Scott, ). Findings such as these are not limited to the North American context.…”

“…Many of the treatment programs available to offenders in custody incorporate training in anger management, problem‐solving skills, and coping skills (to name a few) to address a variety of treatment needs (Hollin, Browne, and Palmer (). However, this study and other recent findings (e.g., Scott, ) highlight areas that distinguish gang members from other types of offenders, thus indicating additional needs that should be addressed in treatment. For example, gang membership is accompanied by an array of intra‐ and intergroup processes that do not only facilitate behaviour amongst young people but also have implications for their interactions with persons of authority.…”

Consequences of Incarceration for Gang Membership: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Offenders in Philadelphia and Phoenix*

“…There is a body of institutional gang research derived from official records (e.g., DeLisi et al., ; Huebner, ; Trulson, ; Worrall and Morris, ), in‐depth interviews (e.g., Hunt et al., ; Lopez‐Aguado, ; Tapia, ; Trammell, ), surveys of inmates (e.g., Fox, Rufino, and Kercher, ; Krienert and Fleisher, ; Maxson et al., ; Rufino, Fox, and Kercher, ; D. W. Scott, ; Wood et al., ), and surveys of administrators (e.g., Camp and Camp, ; Ruddell, Decker, and Egley, ; Winterdyk and Ruddell, ).…”

Dimensions of Gang Issues at the National and International Level

“…While girls usually leave the youth gangs gradually, as they grow up, the boys in the gang remain at an advanced age (Gatti, Haymoz, 2010). The results of the survey (see Scott, 2014) show that gang members tend to have stronger violent and aggressive attitudes compared to non-gang members, and length of institutional gang membership is statistically significant and negatively associated with violent and aggressive attitudes. Klein and Maxson (2006) identify six broad categories of variables that studies in many locations consistently found related to gang participation:…”