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THE CONTRIBUTION OF GANG MEMBERSHIP TO DELINQUENCY BEYOND DELINQUENT FRIENDS *
Author(s) -
BATTIN SARA R.,
HILL KARL G.,
ABBOTT ROBERT D.,
CATALANO RICHARD F.,
HAWKINS J. DAVID
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1998.tb01241.x
Subject(s) - juvenile delinquency , psychology , criminology , human factors and ergonomics , intervention (counseling) , poison control , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , medical emergency , medicine
Both being involved in a gang and having friends who are delinquent have been shown to contribute to an individual's own delinquency. However, the unique contribution of gang membership to delinquency, above and beyond having delinquent peers, has not been well studied. Increased delinquency among gang members may not be due to gang membership per se, but to the members' association with delinquent peers. Using data from the Seattle Social Development Project, this research compared involvement in delinquency for gang members, nongang youths with delinquent friends, and nongang youths who did not have delinquent friends. MANOVA and follow‐up ANOVA were conducted to determine differences on measures of delinquency among the three groups at ages 14 and 15. Gang members were found to have a higher rate of offending in the past year when compared with the other groups. The contribution of gang membership to delinquency above and beyond having delinquent friends was also examined using structural equation modeling. Gang membership was found to independently predict both self‐reported and officially recorded delinquency beyond the effects of having delinquent friends and prior delinquency. Implications of the results for delinquency prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.