Pathways to Risk Among Inner‐City African‐American Adolescent Females: The Influence of Gang Membership

Abstract

Differential rates of participation in three categories of risk behaviors (i.e., sexual activity, substance use, violence) were explored, comparing gang members to nonmembers, within a sample of 1,143 inner-city African American adolescent females. The relationship between gang membership and risk behavior also was examined, by exploring the association between a variety of microsystemic influences (e.g., gang, family, school) and participation in risk behaviors. MANOVA analyses indicated that gang members, relative to nonmembers, reported higher rates of participation in each of the three categories of risk behaviors. Stepwise linear regression analyses indicated that gang membership was the variable with the most consistent predictive ability, across all categories of risk, as it entered early in all equations and remained in all three final models after controlling for other statistically significant contextual variables. Findings suggest that intervention efforts aimed at reducing adolescent females' participation in sexual activity, substance use, and violence should consider the influence of gang membership on the participation in these behaviors.

Influence of Gang Membership on Negative Affect, Substance Use, and Antisocial Behavior Among Homeless African American Male Youth

“…They reported higher levels of violent behavior, greater participation in gang fights, and comparable levels of police involvement to that of non-gang-involved African American homeless male youth. These findings are not surprising considering that the gang literature provides substantial evidence that the gang lifestyle will expose members to more violence and involve members in more antisocial activities due to the significantly more violent nature of gangs and their greater involvement in illegal activities (Bjerregaard, 2002;Esbensen & Huizinga, 1993;Gatti et al, 2005;Harper & Robinson, 1999;Thornberry et al, 1993). The lives of homeless youth are often quite distant from nonhomeless youth, as they often experience constant threats of victimization, frequent engagement in delinquent activity to survive, and transient social networks (Baron, 2003;Ennet et al, 1999;Whitbeck & Simons, 1993).…”

Membresía a barras bravas y su influencia en el uso de drogas

“…Igualmente, se ha observado que el uso de estas sustancias en los miembros de estos grupos de fanáticos tiene como función facilitar los procesos de socialización, inclusión social, cohesión, y afirmación de roles masculinos (6) , lo que eventualmente puede significar la adopción de conductas de riesgo. Una dinámica similar se ha observado en las pandillas, en las cuales las sustancias psicoactivas cumplen una función fundamental en mantener la cohesión y estructura del grupo, facilitar la adopción de conductas delictivas y comportamientos sexuales de alto riesgo así como la participación en actos de violencia dentro y contra otros grupos similares con el fin de establecer jerarquías y marcar territorialidad (7)(8)(9) . En Colombia, la literatura sobre las barras bravas tradicionalmente se ha centrado en establecer los aspectos socio-antropológicos de estos grupos y de sus expresiones de violencia (1,(10)(11)(12) .…”

Pathways to Drug and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Detained Adolescents

“…However, the pathways which mediate such relationships are not adequately understood or empirically researched. Given that gang involvement is also associated with drug use and unsafe sex (Harper & Robinson, 1999;Huff 1998;Thornberry & Burch, 1997;Wingood et al, 2002;Voisin et al, 2004), it may provide a mechanism through which community violence exposure is associated with such youth risk outcomes. Such a mechanism may be widely speculated in clinical and community settings.…”