The first article is about young women with gang connections who are always victimized. There is increasing evidence that young women involved in gang activities are always subjected to physical and sexual violence within the gang, particularly if they are perceived in having transgressed their expected gang boundaries or gendered roles ( Trickett, 2016). However, the illogicality here is that most of the young women recognizing certain benefits from gang membership, including feeling protected or gaining status may, in reality, be exposing themselves to higher risk of physical violence or sexual abuse, both from the rival gangs and their own gang members. Besides, the study was entirely based on extensive empirical and theoretical work, which conceptualized gang violence against women as multidimensional. The article revealed that most women do join gang groups as a result of poverty due to lack of employment. The second findings are that women are the ones who suffer mostly when it comes to gang violence that is inflicted in them through physical abuse and sexual abuse. The third finding is that men are considered more superior than women within gang groups. This study has drawn from feminist criminology as well as role exit theory for examining whether the consequences and catalysts of disengagement from gangs differ between males and females. This is because it is always perceived that women often suffer from adverse effects when trying to disengage from gang members. Besides, it appears that gender differences play significant roles towards disengaging from the gang. For instance, most females reported continuous concerns about how their families are being threatened, while men reporting continued harassment from the police after exiting the gang ( O’Neal, Decker, Moule & Pyrooz, 2016). The mixed-method study design was utilized through the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods to ascertain the originality of this issue. Besides, it also included in-depth interviews together with the selected baseline participants’ survey. The study outcome has revealed that group processes have significantly helped in shaping the experiences of gang disengagement irrespective of gender. The second crucial finding is that women do exit the game as a result of being prompted by different experiences. Finally, the article has determined that the process of exiting the gang can be complicated as a result of beliefs surrounding the self and identity concept. These two articles have something in common. For instance, they all talk about how women are involved in various gang groups and the impact this has on their psychological well-being as a result of violence in the form of physical and sexual abuse. Besides, they all mention that women are often the ones who experience the post-traumatic effects of disengaging from any gang group ( Trickett, 2016). These articles also observe that violence against women associated with gang groups is a significant issue as it affects women within the age bracket of 15-49 years. This age cohort of women has always experienced sexual or physical violence within these gangs, of which 56 percent of women who are currently justifying the existence of gang violence in at least one occurrence. Both articles also provide considerable worldwide evidence concerning gang violence implications for both the well-being and health of women. On the other hand, the differences between these two articles lie in their methods of study. The method of study for the first article was based on the extensive theoretical and empirical work. It implies that the research was entirely based on both the observed and measured phenomena, which helped in developing knowledge from real experiences instead of theory. On the other hand, the second article was based on a mixed-method design approach since it involved the collection, analysis, and integration of both qualitative and quantitative research. For example, it focused on interviews, focus groups, surveys, and experiments ( O’Neal, Decker, Moule & Pyrooz, 2016). The mixed-method approach was significantly useful in understanding the contradictions between the qualitative findings and the quantitative results, thereby reflecting on the participants’ perceptions. It also ensured that the research findings were grounded in the experiences of participants.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I feel that there are future areas in which more knowledge is needed that future researchers should emphasize. For instance, future research should focus on determining whether men also experience the effects of gang violence or disengagement from gang groups, or it only happens to women. It is because most studies always have focused on how women experience gang violence rather than focusing on how men are also affected by the same. Therefore, to avoid bias, future research should consider using men as study participants to gain knowledge on whether they experience gang violence the same way as women, and how they deal with it.
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References
O’Neal, E. N., Decker, S. H., Moule Jr, R. K., & Pyrooz, D. C. (2016). Girls, gangs, and getting out: Gender differences and similarities in leaving the gang. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice , 14 (1), 43-60
Trickett, L. (2016). Birds and sluts: Views on young women from boys in the gang. International review of victimology , 22 (1), 25-44.
