Do Gang Members Commit Abnormal Homicide?

Associations Among Trauma Exposure, Callous-Unemotionality, Race or Ethnicity, and Gang Involvement in Justice-Involved Youth

“…Research across the globe has indicated that gang involvement has serious negative consequences and is related to significant offending behavior (Pyrooz & Decker, 2013; Wood et al, 2017). In the United States in particular, there are an estimated 29,400 youth gangs (Egley & Howell, 2012), and participation in gangs has been related to heightened rates of delinquency and violent offending including homicide (DeLisi et al, 2014; Valdez et al, 2009). Therefore, scholars have emphasized the importance of understanding the factors that account for youth gang participation (Kerig et al, 2013).…”

A Prospective Study of Offending Patterns of Youth Homicide Offenders Into Adulthood

“…In line with prior studies (e.g., DeLisi et al, 2014; Hagan, 1997), to be categorized as a YHO ( n = 26), an offender must have been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, or attempted murder. Attempted murder was included in this conceptualization of homicide because of its fundamental similarity to murder.…”

“…From this perspective, the assumption that all YHOs will become prolific or serious adult offenders can result in increasing the risk that would-be nonrecidivists or YHOs characterized by a low-rate offending pattern will develop into more frequent and serious adult offenders. In effect, understanding offending trajectories and the crime mix posthomicide among YHOs has important implications for which YHOs warrant more intensive intervention from the justice system (Liem, 2013) and the allocation of additional resources for this group (DeLisi et al, 2014).…”

“…The fact that they have committed one of the most serious crimes, combined with the high costs associated with homicide offenses (DeLisi et al, 2010), has prompted political leaders and policy makers to support efforts to identify childhood and early adolescent risk factors that help predict which youth will be involved in a homicide offense (DeLisi, Piquero, & Cardwell, 2014; Lee, 2013). However, there is minimal evidence of meaningful distinctions in the developmental risk factor profiles of YHOs and other serious and violent youth offenders that would allow for reliable predictions of risk for involvement in a homicide offense (DeLisi et al, 2014; Farrington, Loeber, & Berg, 2012; Loeber & Farrington, 2011). For example, although some studies have identified certain risk factors that were more common among homicide offenders compared to other offenders, false positives occurred in upward of 90% of cases (see Loeber et al, 2005; Loeber & Farrington, 2011).…”

“…Although involvement in the juvenile justice system is a key precursor to involvement in the adult justice system (Gilman, Hill, & Hawkins, 2015), especially for serious and violent youth (Trulson, Haerle, DeLisi, & Marquart, 2011), a key question is whether and how a homicide offense in youth impacts the unfolding of offending in adulthood. Given that developmental risk factors are not likely sufficient to meaningfully differentiate most YHOs from those involved in serious nonlethal violence (DeLisi et al, 2014), a prospective approach was used to examine YHO and youth nonhomicide offender (YNHO) involvement in new crimes as they transitioned through the early stages of adulthood. First, we examined changes in criminal versatility, or the crime mix, pre and posthomicide among YHOs who were interviewed in adolescence as part of the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study (ISVYOS).…”