Gang Membership, School Violence, and the Mediating Effects of Risk and Protective Behaviors in California High Schools

Gangs, gangsters, and the impact of settler colonialism on the Latina/o experience

“…According to Martinez (2015), Latino communities are on average more likely to have violent crime than White neighborhoods, but immigration and greater access to at least some form of a segmented labor markets are associated with lowered rates of violence below what is experienced in Black neighborhoods. Estrada et al (2013Estrada et al ( , 2014 surveys with middle school and high school students in California found gang membership was not directly associated with violence perpetration or victimization. Students who had risky peers and engaged in behaviors that include truancy and substance use were more likely to be involved as perpetrators of school violence.…”

“…Estrada et al (, ) surveys with middle school and high school students in California found gang membership was not directly associated with violence perpetration or victimization. Students who had risky peers and engaged in behaviors that include truancy and substance use were more likely to be involved as perpetrators of school violence.…”

“…Survey research on middle school and high school students capture a greater proportion of Latinas/os, African Americans, and males self‐reporting gang membership, but more commonly at one, two, or three times greater than Whites, and in some instances, race and ethnicity along with gender were found to be only weakly associated with gang membership (Dukes, Martinez, & Stein, ; Esbensen & Deschenes, ; Esbensen & Winfree, ; Estrada, Gilreath, Astor, & Benbenishty, , ; Melde, Taylor, & Esbensen, ; Winfree, Bernat, & Esbensen, ). For example, Esbensen and Winfree () surveyed 5,935 eighth‐grade students in 42 schools located in 11 cities across the nation.…”

“…Esbensen and Deschenes () found Whites and Blacks had higher proportion of male gang members, whereas there were a greater proportion of Hispanic females (28.4%) self‐reporting gang involvement compared to Hispanic males (22.9%). Estrada et al () surveyed 272,863 high school students in California. Nearly 49% of the respondents were Latino, 44.2% White, and 6.6% Black.…”

Social Rejection, One More Form Of Violence In School

“…These violent acts in the academic sphere have negative effects on the balance of social relationships established there. School violence undermines the health of those affected, severely damaging the psychological and social well-being of the victim, often the injured have feelings of loneliness and sadness, low self-esteem, depression, difficulties in socializing and tend to withdraw from school (Nuñez Estrada, Gilreath, Avi Astor, & Benbenishty, 2014).…”