Abstract
The purpose of this chapter was to explore the validity of different definitional approaches to identify gang members. We applied three definitions (i.e., self-nomination, friends are gang, and the Eurogang definition) to the same diverse sample of American youth. We conclude that the use of any or all of the three definitions reveals a subsample of youth that are behaviorally and attitudinally distinct from non-gang youth. However, we found a lack of definitional convergence. Less than 10% of the sample of gang youth was classified as gang members by all three definitions. The majority of youth were only considered gang members by one definition. Further investigation showed that while different youth were captured by each definition, the attitudes and behaviors of all groups were relatively similar. A series of multivariate logistic regressions showed that the strongest correlates associated with gang membership were common to all three definitions.
This research was made possible, in part, by the support and participation of seven school districts, including the School District of Philadelphia. This project was supported by Award No. 2006-JV-FX-0011 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice or of the seven participating school districts.
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Matsuda, K.N., Esbensen, FA., Carson, D.C. (2012). Putting the “Gang” in “Eurogang”: Characteristics of Delinquent Youth Groups by Different Definitional Approaches. In: Esbensen, FA., Maxson, C. (eds) Youth Gangs in International Perspective. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1659-3_2
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