Presently, there is no clear definition of what a gang is and what it is not. Different groups of people define gangs differently. For instance, policy makers in the gang task force, juveniles in detention and police officers all have a different idea of a gang. Therefore, attempts have been made to develop a standard definition for gangs and researchers have come up with a definition which states that a gang is a group of adolescents aged between 14-24 years, who normally engage in law violating actions (Pornari, Dixon & Humphreys, 2013). A much clearer definition states that gangs are solid, street-oriented and youth-oriented networks who are identified together and their behavior is generally unacceptable, and their main involvement is criminal activities. General knowledge is that gangs are involved in a wide range of crimes. However, some researchers do not tend to agree that gangs are defined by their lifestyle which is basically criminal activities involvement. However, studies have shown that gangs suffer victimization more than it’s ever documented. For instance, the homicide rates of gang members in the USA is 100 times more than that of the general public (Wood &Alleyne, 2010).
This is a research whose purpose is to provide an overview of whether gang involvement leads to increased victimization risk. It’s aimed at establishing whether gang membership and violent victimization are related. In the recent past, scholars have greatly turned their attention to studying gangs in America and hence several studies have been conducted in relation to gangs in America. Earlier works conducted, for instance, those conducted in the 19 th century mainly focused on describing the nature of gangs and gang activities (Wood &Alleyne, 2010). Studies about gangs have however evolved in complexity and recent studies have focused on the effects that these gangs have on the society. More specifically, several researchers have claimed that gangs encourage increased criminal activities among its members. It’s without doubt that the increasing number of reports in relation to gang associated problems have raised the need for research studies about gangs in America (Maxson & Esbensen, 2011).
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Literature review
Numerous studies about gangs have been conducted, which attempt to explain the concept of gang membership. Research studies have shown that a factor to note about gang membership, is that they help youths gain social status, companionship and identity as well as respect from people. Additionally, gangs have been established to offer individual members especially youth, ‘power’ more specifically power of status and power to buy anything or impress anyone. Gangs therefore may appear to offer youths with a sense of self-esteem, and most importantly access to financial assets (Bjerregaard & Cochran, 2011).
Various studies have been conducted in relation to factors leading to victimization, and evaluation of risk groups that are susceptible to victimization. Studies have shown that gang members are themselves victims of violence. However, it is important to note that victimization affects both gang and non-gang members. Ayling (2011) established that gang members are more likely to experience violent victimization. More studies for example, a study by Bjerregaard & Cochran (2011) found out that rate of victimization were much higher in gang members as compared to non-gang members.
Research studies have also found out that there are certain groups of people who are more likely to become victims of gang activities. For example, gender is a major defining characteristic, of gang victimization. According to Pizzaro and McGloin (2006), there is a 92.7% likelihood of a male becoming a victim of gang violence as compared to females. Similar study by Ayling (2011) established that 80% of males are involved in gang activity. For females, the urge to join gang activities kicks in when they feel that a gang will protect them from assaults by rival gang members (Ayling, 2011). However, this has led to an increased risk of other types of violence for example sexual harassment and assaults.
Studies to establish the relationship between gang membership and violence have also been conducted. Qualitative studies have established that gang membership is positively related to victimization. An important part of the gang lifestyle is involvement in violent activities. Empirical studies have attempted to connect gang-drug lifestyle to violence. In fact, studies conducted in the 1920’s established that a defining attribute of all gangs is ‘roughhousing’ and ‘gang warfare’ ( Di Placido et al., 2006) . Therefore, violence is a way that can be used to distinguish between gang and non-gang members. An interesting fact about violence is that it is an important aspect of the gang’s lifestyle. The significance of violence in gang membership is that it keeps the bond between existing members, increases the stakes of a prospective member and also improves the possibility of non- gang members joining the gang ( Di Placido et al., 2006) .
There are other types of activities that gang members are involved in that which increases their chances of vulnerability to victimization by other members of the society. Previously conducted research has found out that those involved in drug activities are more likely to be gang members rather than non-gang members. Involvement in drug sales may consequently lead to victimization (Alleyne & Wood, 2010). Moreover, street level drug dealers happen to be great targets for robbers because of their possession of desired goods such as drugs and money. Reports made to the police may not be followed up and therefore, this translates to victimization by the authorities.
Retaliation from rival gangs is another form of victimization that gang membership suffers. Drive-by shootings of members of a rival gang happens to be an acceptable practice among gang members. These kinds of practices are what make violence an integral part of gang lifestyle (Ralphs, Medina & Aldridge, 2009).
Discussion and conclusion
This research has been able to establish that gang membership is a factor for victimization risk. Gang members have a higher risk of suffering victimization as compare to non-gang members. Studies have also shown that more often, gang members are victimized notwithstanding that most of them have claimed that they joined the gangs only for protection reasons. Additionally, the relationship between gender, age and gang membership has been established. Some of the reasons established as to why youths choose to join gangs are; protection especially for females, social status and feeling a sense of belonging
However, prior research has mainly focused on establishing violent and criminal behaviors of gang members. Limited research has been conducted on the victimization of gangs, and up to date only a single research study has analyzed victimization rates among both non-gang members and gang members. Another limitation of studies conducted previously is that most of them have mainly dwelt on using adolescents as their sample group. Additionally, previous studies have been based on qualitative research and have mainly focused on the relationship between gang affiliation and homicide victimization. Future studies, more directed towards assessing the risk factors associated with gang membership victimization, and why youths choose to join gangs should be conducted. This will provide an insight of rhea reasons behind most youths preferring to be members of a certain gang despite all the risks associated.
It is therefore important that efforts be made to prevent or lessen victimization that is experienced by gang members. General prevention programs for pre-adolescents may help create an awareness of the kind of victimization gang members face. Provision of alternatives for youths different from gang membership is an intervention that would help reduce cases of victimization due to gang membership.
References
Alleyne, E., & Wood, J. L. (2010). Gang involvement: Psychological and behavioral characteristics of gang members, peripheral youth, and non-gang youth. Aggressive Behavior, 36 , 423-436.
Ayling, J. (2011). Gang change and evolutionary theory. Criminal Law and Social Change , 56 , 1-26.
Bjerregaard, B., & Cochran, J. A. (2012). The role of school-related bonding factors and gender: Correlates of gang membership among adolescents. Women and Criminal Justice, 22 , 3053.
Di Placido, C., & Simon, T. L, Witte, T. D., Gu, D., & Wong, S. C. P. (2006). Treatment of gang members can reduce recidivism and institutional misconduct. Law and Human Behavior, 30 (1) , 93-114.
Ralphs, R., Medina, J., & Aldridge, J. (2009). Who needs enemies with friends like these? The importance of place for young people living in known gang areas. Journal of Youth Studies, 12, 483–500.
Maxson, C. L., & Esbensen, F. (2011). The Intersection of Gang Definition and Group Process: Concluding Observations. Youth Gangs in International Perspective , 303-315.
Pornari, C. D., Dixon, L., & Humphreys, G. W. (2013). Systematically identifying implicit theories in male and female intimate partner violence perpetrators. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18, 496-505.
