Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to respond to gaps in our knowledge about patterns of female gang participation and its causes and consequences. Data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a panel study that overrepresents adolescents at high risk for delinquency, are used to compare gang participation and delinquent involvement of female and male adolescents. We then examine the role of theoretical variables associated with both female and male gang membership. The results lead us to conclude that, for females as well as males, involvement in gangs is associated with substantially increased levels of delinquency and substance use. There is also some similarity in the factors associated with gang membership for both sexes, although lack of school success emerges as a factor of particular salience for female adolescents. The results suggest that theory and intervention need to address the phenomenon of female gang membership as an important component of urban youth problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akers, R. L. (1985).Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.
Biglan, A., Metzler, C. W., Wirt, R., Ary, D., Noell, J., Ochs, L., French, C., and Hood, D. (1990). Social and behavioral factors associated with high-risk sexual behavior among adolescents.J. Behav. Med. 13: 245–261.
Bloch, H. A., and Neiderhoffer, A. (1958).Gang: A Study of Adolescent Behavior, Philosophical Library, New York.
Bobrowski, L. J. (1988).Collecting, Organizing and Reporting Street Gang Crime, Chicago Police Department, Special Functions Group, Chicago.
Bowker, L., and Klein, M. W. (1983). The etiology of female juvenile delinquency and gang membership: A test of psychological and social structural explanations.Adolescence 18: 739–751.
Brown, W. K. (1977). Black female gangs in Philadelphia.Int. J. Offend. Ther. Comp. Criminol. 21: 221–228.
Bryant, D. (1989). Communitywide responses crucial for dealing with youth gangs.Juv. Just. Bull., Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.
Campbell, A. (1981).Girl Delinquents, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Campbell, A. (1984).The Girls in the Gang: A Report from New York City, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Campbell, A. (1987). Self-definition by rejection: The case of gang girls.Soc. Prob. 34: 451–466.
Campbell, A. (1990). Female gang members. In Huff, C. R. (ed.),Gangs in America, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Canter, R. J. (1982). Family correlates of male and female delinquency.Criminology 20: 149–168.
Cartwright, D., Thomson, B., and Schwartz, H. (1975).Gang Delinquency, Brooks/Cole, Monterey, CA.
Cernkovich, S., and Giordano, P. C. (1987). Family relationships and delinquency.Criminology 15: 295–321.
Cloward, R. A., and Ohlin, L. E. (1960).Delinquency and Opportunity, Free Press, New York.
Cohen, A. K. (1955).Delinquent Boys, Free Press, New York.
Covey, H., Menard, S., and Farnzese, R. (1992).Juvenile Gangs, Charles C Thomas, Springfield, IL.
Cowie, J., Cowie, V., and Slater, E. (1968).Delinquency in Girls, Humanities Press, Great Britain.
Curry, G. D., and Spergel, I. A. (1988). Gang homicide, delinquency and community.Criminology 26: 381–405.
Curry, G., and Spergel, I. A. (1992). Gang involvement and delinquency among Hispanic and African American adolescent males.J. Res. Crime Delinq. 29: 273–291.
Elliott, D., Huizinga, D., and Ageton, S. (1985).Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Ensminger, M. E. (1990). Sexual activity and problem behavior among black, urban adolescents.Child Dev. 61: 2032–2046.
Esbensen, F., Thornberry, T. P., and Huizinga, D. (1991). Gangs. In Huizinga, D., Loeber, R., and Thornberry, T. P. (eds.),Urban Delinquency and Substance Abuse: Technical Report, Prepared for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Sept.
Pagan, J. (1989). The social organization of drug use and drug dealing among urban gangs.Criminology 27: 633–666.
Pagan, J. (1990). Social processes of delinquency and drug use among urban gangs. In Huff, C. R. (ed.),Gangs in America, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Farnworth, M., Thornberry, T. P., Lizotte, A. J., and Krohn, M. D. (1990).Technical Report No. 1: Sampling Design and Implementation, Rochester Youth Development Study.
Figueira-McDonough, J., Barton, W. H., and Sarri, R. C. (1981). Normal deviance: Gender similarities in adolescent subcultures. In Warren, M. Q. (ed.),Comparing Female and Male Offenders, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Flanagan, T. J., and Jamieson, K. M. (1988).Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 1987, USGPO, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC.
Friedman, C. J., Mann, F., and Friedman, A. S. (1975). A profile of juvenile street gang members.Adolescence 10: 563–607.
Geismar, L. L., and Wood, K. M. (1986).Family and Delinquency: Resocializing the Young Offender, Human Sciences Press, New York.
Gibbons, D. (1976).Delinquent Behavior, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Giordano, P. (1978). Girls, guys and gangs: The changing social context of female delinquency.J. Crim. Law Criminol. 69: 126.
Giordano, P., Cernkovich, S., and Pugh, M. (1986). Friendships and delinquency.Am. J. Sociol. 91: 1170–1202.
Goldstein, A. (1991).Delinquent Gangs: A Psychological Perspective, Research Press, Champaign, IL.
Gottfredson, G. D. (1987). Peer group interventions to reduce the risk of delinquent behavior: A selective review and a new evaluation.Criminology 25: 671–714.
Hagedorn, J. M. (1988).People and Folks: Gangs, Crime and the Underclass in a Rust Belt City, Lake View Press, Chicago.
Harris, M. G. (1988).Cholas: Latino Girls and Gangs, Amas Press, New York.
Henggeler, S. W. (1989).Delinquency in Adolescence, Vol. 18. Developmental Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Hill, G. D., and Atkinson, M. P. (1988). Gender, familial control and delinquency.Criminology 28: 601–626.
Horowitz, R. (1983).Honor and the American Dream: Culture and Identity in a Chicano Community, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
Horowitz, R. (1990). Sociological perspectives on gangs: Conflicting definitions and concepts. In Huff, C. R. (ed.),Gangs in America, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Hudson, W. (1982).The Clinical Measurement Package: A Field Manual, Dorsey Press, Homewood, IL.
Huff, C. R. (ed.) (1990).Gangs in America, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Huizinga, D. H., Esbensen, F.-A., and Weiher, A. (1991a). Are there multiple paths to delinquency?J. Crim. Law Criminol. 82: 83–118.
Huizinga, D., Loeber, R., and Thornberry, T. P. (eds.) (1991b).Urban Delinquency and Substance Use: Technical Report, Prepared for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Sept.
Jansyn, L. R. (1966). Solidarity and delinquency in a street corner group.Am. Sociol. Rev. 31: 600–614.
Jessor, R., Donovan, J. E., and Costa, F. M. (1991).Beyond Adolescence: Problem Behavior and Young Adult Development, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Klein, M. W., and Maxson, C. L. (1989). Street gang violence. In Weiner, N., and Wolfgang, M. E. (eds.),Violent Crime, Violent Criminals, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Kornhauser, R. R. (1978).Social Sources of Delinquency, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Krohn, M. D., Stern, S. B., Thornberry, T. P., and Jang, S. J. (1992). The measurement of family process variables: The effect of adolescent and parent perceptions of family life on delinquent behavior.J. Quant. Criminol. 8: 287–315.
Maccoby, E. E., and Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parentchild interaction. In Hetherington, E. M. (ed.),Handbook of Child Psychology: Socialization, Personality and Social Development, Wiley, New York.
Maxson, C. L., and Klein, M. W. (1990). Street gang violence: Twice as great or half as great? In Huff, C. R. (ed.),Gangs in America, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Miller, B. C., and Moore, K. A. (1990). Adolescent sexual behavior, pregnancy, and parenting: Research through the 1980's.J. Marriage Family 52: 1025–1044.
Miller, W. B. (1958). Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang delinquency.J. Soc. Issues 14: 5–19.
Miller, W. B. (1975).Violence by Youth Gangs and Youth Gangs as Crime Problem in Major American Cities, USGPO, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
Miller, W. B. (1982).Crime by Youth Gangs and Youth Groups in the United States, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.
Moore, J. (1991).Going Down to the Barrio: Homeboys and Homegirls in Change, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Morash, M. (1983). Gangs, groups and delinquency.Br. J. Criminol. 23: 309–331.
Morris, A. (1987).Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
New York State Division for Youth (1990). Reaffirming Prevention. Report of the Task Force on Juvenile Gangs.
Newcomb, M. D., and Bentler, P. M. (1988).Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Life of Young Adults, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Peterson, T. (1985). A comment on presenting results from logit and probit models.Am. Sociol. Rev. 50, 130–131.
Rice, R. (1963). A report at large: The Persian queens.The New Yorker 39: 153–187.
Rosenberg, M. (1965).Society and the Adolescent Self-Image, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Short, J. F. (1990). New wine in old bottles: Changes and continuity in American gangs. In Huff, C. R. (ed.),Gangs in America, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Short, J. F., and Strodtbeck, F. (1965).Group Process and Gang Delinquency, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Smith, D. A., and Paternoster, R. (1987). The gender gap in theories of deviance: Issues and evidence.J. Res. Crime Delinq. 24: 140–172.
Spergel, I. A. (1966).Street Gang Work: Theory and Practice, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Spergel, I. A. (1986). The violent gang in Chicago: A local community approach.Soc. Serv. Rev. 60: 94–131.
Spergel, I. A. (1990). Youth gangs: Continuity and change. In Tonry, M., and Morris, N. (eds.),Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 12, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Taylor, C. (1990).Dangerous Society, State University Press, East Lansing, MI.
Thornberry, T. P. (1987). Toward an interactional theory of delinquency.Criminology 25: 863–891.
Thornberry, T. P., Bjerregaard, B., and Miles, W. (1993a). The consequences of respondent attrition in panel studies: A simulation based on the Rochester Youth Development Study.J. Quant. Criminol. 9: 127–158.
Thornberry, T. P., Krohn, M. D., Lizotte, A. J., and Chard-Wierschem, D. (1993b). The role of juvenile gangs in facilitating delinquent behavior.J. Res. Crime Deling. 30: 55–87.
Thrasher, F. (1927).The Gang, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Tracy, P. E. (1987). Subcultural delinquency: A comparison of the incidence and severity of gang and nongang member offenses. College of Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1989).Poverty in the United States, Series P-60 No. 163, Current Population Reports, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Vedder, C. B., and Somerville, D. B. (1975).The Delinquent Girl, Charles C Thomas, Springfield, IL.
Vigil, J. (1988).Barrio Gangs: Street Life and Identity in Southern California, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
Warr, M. (1993). Age, peers and delinquency.Criminology 31: 17–40.
Winfree, L. T., Fuller, K., Vigil, T., and Mays, G. L. (1992). The definition and measurement of “gang status”: Policy implications for juvenile justice.Juv. Family Court J. 29–37.
Yablonsky, L. (1962).The Violent Gang, Macmillan, New York.
Zevitz, R., and Takata, S. (1992). Metropolitan gang influences and the emergence of group delinquency in a regional community.J. Crim. Just. 20: 93–106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Authors' names are listed in alphabetical order.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bjerregaard, B., Smith, C. Gender differences in gang participation, delinquency, and substance use. J Quant Criminol 9, 329–355 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064108
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064108