Gangs in America’s Communities
Second Edition
SAGE Journal Articles
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- Esbensen, F., Peterson, D., Taylor, T. J., & Freng, A. (2009). Similarities and differences in risk factors for violent offending and gang membership. The Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 42, 1-26.
- Abstract: Prior research has established that there is a cumulative effect of risk factors on both youth violence and gang membership and that risk factors in multiple domains increase the probability of youth violence and gang involvement. In this article we expand upon this risk factor approach to the study of youth violence by addressing two questions concerning youth violence: (1) What are the effects of cumulative risk, including risk in multiple domains, on youth violence and gang membership and to what extent are the patterns similar or different for youth violence and gang membership? (2) To what extent do risk factors exert independent effects when other factors are controlled in multivariate analyses, and are the risk factors for youth violence similar to or different from those for gang membership? We utilise survey data from a sample of 5,395 8th grade students in 11 cities across the United States to examine these issues.
- Abstract: Prior research has established that there is a cumulative effect of risk factors on both youth violence and gang membership and that risk factors in multiple domains increase the probability of youth violence and gang involvement. In this article we expand upon this risk factor approach to the study of youth violence by addressing two questions concerning youth violence: (1) What are the effects of cumulative risk, including risk in multiple domains, on youth violence and gang membership and to what extent are the patterns similar or different for youth violence and gang membership? (2) To what extent do risk factors exert independent effects when other factors are controlled in multivariate analyses, and are the risk factors for youth violence similar to or different from those for gang membership? We utilise survey data from a sample of 5,395 8th grade students in 11 cities across the United States to examine these issues.
- DeCamp, W & Newby, B. (2015). From bullied to deviant: The victim-offender overlap among bullying victims. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 13, 1-17.
- Abstract: Although much research has explored bullies and bullying victims, little has been done to explore the long-term effects on those who have been bullied. Separately, a growing body of evidence suggests that there is a victim–offender overlap, in which many victims are or become offenders themselves. Taken together, this suggests that bullying victims may themselves be at elevated risk of involvement in deviance or crime. The present study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to explore this issue, utilizing propensity score matching to control for the shared predictors of offending and victimization. Given that bullying experiences can vary dramatically by gender, gender-specific analyses are performed. Results indicate that controlling for the propensity to be bullied reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect on later criminality.
- Abstract: Although much research has explored bullies and bullying victims, little has been done to explore the long-term effects on those who have been bullied. Separately, a growing body of evidence suggests that there is a victim–offender overlap, in which many victims are or become offenders themselves. Taken together, this suggests that bullying victims may themselves be at elevated risk of involvement in deviance or crime. The present study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to explore this issue, utilizing propensity score matching to control for the shared predictors of offending and victimization. Given that bullying experiences can vary dramatically by gender, gender-specific analyses are performed. Results indicate that controlling for the propensity to be bullied reduces, but does not eliminate, the effect on later criminality.
- Theriot, M.T. & Orme, J. G. (2014). School resource officers and students’ feelings of safety at school. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1, 1-17.
- Abstract: The number of school resource officers (SROs) placed at schools has increased dramatically. These officers are tasked with making schools safer, yet the effect of interacting with SROs on students’ feelings of safety needs more investigation. To address this need, 1,956 middle and high school students were surveyed. Latent class analysis identified two groups of students, one who felt safe and another who did not. Regression showed that interacting with SROs was unrelated to these feelings of safety; instead, African American students and victimized students felt less safe while males, students with more school connectedness, and students with more positive attitudes about SROs felt safer.