Gang Membership, Gun Carrying, and Employment: Applying Routine Activities Theory to Explain Violent Victimization Among Inner City, Minority Youth Living in Extreme Poverty∗

Spano, Richard; Freilich, Joshua D.; Bolland, John M.

doi:10.1080/07418820802024911

Cited by 82 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…In a recent review of this literature, Fox (2013Fox ( : 1035 argued that the ''analysis of the gang-victimization link should include examinations of longitudinal data and controls for delinquency/ crime.'' Longitudinal studies, alternatively, have focused on the contemporaneous and prospective direct effects of gang membership on victimization (Barnes et al 2012;DeLisi et al 2009;Gibson et al 2009;Ousey et al 2011;Ozer and Engel 2011;Spano et al 2008;Sweeten et al 2013), leaving the specific mechanisms that bring about this relationship unresolved, which Fox (2013Fox ( : 1016 identified as a key direction in her commentary on the literature.…”

Section: Advancing Knowledge On the Gang Membership-victimization Linkmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…A growing list of empirical studies have established a link between gang membership and violent victimization (Barnes et al 2012;Childs et al 2009;Decker and Pyrooz 2010;DeLisi et al 2009;Fox et al 2013;Gibson et al 2009;Gover et al 2009;Katz et al 2011;Ozer and Engel 2011;Pyrooz et al 2014;Rufino et al 2012;Sweeten et al 2013;Spano et al 2008;Taylor et al 2007Taylor et al , 2008Zavala and Spohn 2013). Drawn from wide and diverse research designs that span a range of demographic groups and sampling frames, this body of evidence is large enough that few would dispute the fact that gang members are victims of violence at a rate that is much higher than their peers who are not in gangs.…”

Section: Gang Membership and Violent Victimization In Contextmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Uncovering the Pathways Between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization

Pyrooz

2015

J Quant Criminol

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Objectives Gang members are more likely to be victimized violently than non-gang youth, but the extent to which this relationship is confounded, direct, or mediated remains unclear. This study responds to recent calls by scholars for more methodologically sound research in this area with the goal of uncovering the pathways between gang membership and violent victimization.Methods Using a school-based longitudinal sample of adolescents, the current study uses Preacher and Hayes multiple mediator structural equation modeling and counterfactual methodology to test whether and which theoretical pathways-self-control, cultural orientations, routine activity, and lifestyle theory-mediate the contemporaneous and prospective effects of gang membership on violent victimization. ResultsThe results indicate that 27 % of the contemporaneous effects of gang membership on victimization is attributable to selection, with the remaining 73 % endogenous to gang membership, supporting Thornberry et al.'s (J Res Crime Delinquency 30:55-87, 1993) enhancement model. Entry into a gang increases risk taking, temper, self-centeredness, negative peer commitment, neutralization of violence, aggressive conflict resolution, unstructured socializing, and delinquency, and decreases empathy and positive peer commitment. The contemporaneous gang membership-victimization link was fully mediated, due almost entirely to delinquency. Prospective models reveal a gang membership-victimization link that is fully confounded by selection, although attrition and desistance from gangs may be responsible for this finding.Conclusions The existing risky attitudes and behaviors of youth who select into gangs matters a great deal for understanding the gang membership-victimization link, but these very risks are exacerbated upon entry into a gang. Our mediation findings suggest that interventions targeting highly delinquent gang members should pay dual dividends of reducing delinquency and victimization.

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Section: Advancing Knowledge On the Gang Membership-victimization Linkmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Gang Membership and Violent Victimization In Contextmentioning

confidence: 98%

Uncovering the Pathways Between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization

Pyrooz

2015

J Quant Criminol

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“…For example, Spano et al (2008) used the lifestyles/routine activities theoretical perspective to examine the risk of violent victimization attributable to gang membership, gun carrying, and employment among a sample of 1,295 youth. Although the bivariate analyses indicated that gang members were significantly more likely to experience violent victimization, the effects were not significant when simultaneously controlling for demographic, family, and deviant lifestyle factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the relationship between violent victimization and gang membership

Katz

Webb

Fox

et al. 2011

Journal of Criminal Justice

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“…The majority of these studies use either high-risk populations Lizotte et al, 2000;Spano et al, 2011;Spano & Bolland, 2013), incarcerated populations (Sheley & Wright, 1993, 1995, all male populations (Hayes & Hemenway, 1999;Lizotte et al, 1997Lizotte et al, , 2000Luster & Oh, 2001) or use only one racial designation (Webster et al, 1993;Spano et al, 2008Spano et al, , 2011Spano & Bolland, 2013). There have been limited studies that use samples drawn from a general population.…”

Section: Gang Membership and Gun Carryingmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…First, most studies have focused on citybased or regional samples with high-risk populations that have limited generalizability (Bjerregaard & Lizotte, 1995;Lizotte et al, 2000;Lizotte et al, 1997;Bennett & Holloway, 2004;Sheley & Wright, 1993;Spano, Freilich, & Bolland, 2008). While focusing on high-risk samples has the benefit of yielding larger samples of gang members and those who carry guns, the external validity of these studies is jeopardized since these youths may be more predisposed to carry a gun.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Investigating the Relationship Between Gang Membership and Carrying a Firearm: Results from a National Sample

et al. 2015

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While there is evidence that gang membership impacts an individual's gun carrying proclivities, existing research has largely focused only on males and at-risk youth. The present study investigates the role of gang membership, peer gang membership, and delinquency on whether individuals carry a firearm using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Carrying a firearm was associated with involvement in delinquency, peer gang membership, and respondent gang membership. The association between gang membership and carrying a firearm weakened with age. Few significant differences across categories of sex and race emerged suggesting that the relationship between gang membership and carrying a firearm is equivocal across these groups.Keywords Gang membership . Gun carrying . Delinquency . ViolenceDespite documented decreases in rates of violent offending, gang-related violent crime remains a significant public concern. These issues are compounded by concerns around the use of firearms in the commission of these crimes. The FBI reported that in 2011 firearms were used in 68 % of murders, 41 % of robbery offenses and 21 % of aggravated assaults nationwide (FBI, 2012). According to the National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS), approximately 13 % of all homicides in the United States are gang- Am J Crim Just (2016) 41:168-184

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Gang Membership, Gun Carrying, and Employment: Applying Routine Activities Theory to Explain Violent Victimization Among Inner City, Minority Youth Living in Extreme Poverty∗

Cited by 82 publications

References 74 publications

Uncovering the Pathways Between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization

Uncovering the Pathways Between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization

Understanding the relationship between violent victimization and gang membership

Investigating the Relationship Between Gang Membership and Carrying a Firearm: Results from a National Sample

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