Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Youth Gangs: An Overview Of Key Findings And Directions For The Future, Terrance J. Taylor, J. Michael Vecchio

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

Youth gangs have received considerable attention for many decades. Undoubtedly, their disproportionate involvement in violence is one main reason for this attention. While gang members spend most of their lives engaging in the same types of behaviors as other youth (sleeping, eating, playing video games, going to school), they are also much more likely than non-gang members to be involved in violence and other criminal activity. Indeed, scholars have often highlighted the functional nature of violence as it pertains to gangs.

Gangs come in a variety of forms: prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, extremist groups, and drug trafficking organizations, among …

The Role Of Violence Within And Across Self-Identified Gang Youth, J. Michael Vecchio

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

Within the field of criminology, increased attention has been afforded to the influence and importance of individual exposure to violence and victimization. Research has demonstrated that violence – whether actual or anticipated – is not distributed evenly across individuals, but is amplified during the period of adolescence and is strongly influenced by individual risky behavior. Perhaps for no other group has the role of violence been more pronounced than in the lives of gang affiliated youth. Whether actual (i.e., direct and vicarious victimization) or anticipated (i.e., fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization) violence, gang youth commonly discuss violence …