Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective

This book examines how membership in adolescent street gangs influences human development.

Terence P. Thornberry (Author), Marvin D. Krohn (Author), Alan J. Lizotte (Author), Carolyn A. Smith (Author), Kimberly Tobin (Author)

9780521891295, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 December 2002

262 pages, 20 b/w illus. 55 tables
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.364 kg

'I would predict that this book will be cited frequently in future research on gangs, for the authors have provided a rich variety of data on the subject.' Urban Studies

Gang membership has long been understood to have a disruptive influence on adolescent development and to contribute disproportionately to the rate of delinquent crime. The nature of the impact, and the long-term effects on individuals, have not been well understood. This book uses longitudinal data to examine the developmental consequences of gang membership, and its longer term influence on the life course. This longitudinal approach is made possible by data from a study of antisocial behavior, The Rochester Youth Development Study, which followed one thousand adolescents through their early adult years. The subjects include delinquents who were gang members and others who were not, allowing the authors to compare motives, patterns of behavior, and recurring problems with caregivers and the law, education, peer relations, and career paths. The findings indicate that multiple developmental deficits lead to gang membership and that membership leads to an increase in delinquency.

1. A life-course orientation to the study of gang membership
2. Research procedures: the sample and the data
3. Characteristics of gang members
4. The antecedents of gang membership
5. The origins of gang membership
6. Gangs as a facilitating context for delinquent behavior
7. Gangs, guns, and crime
8. Gangs and other law violating youth groups
9. Long-term consequences of gang membership
10. Gangs in life-course perspective.

Subject Areas: Crime & criminology [JKV]