The Adolescent Girl Gang Involvement Phenomenon

As of 2000 there were than more than 24,500 gangs in America and over 772,500 gang members; 46,350 of which were female (6%) (Egley, 2002). Half of all gang members are juveniles and 39% of youth gangs have female members (Egley, 2002). Girls have been joining gangs sense the 1920's (Barnes and Mason, 2001) and are "...often used as 'punching bags,' impregnated, poorly treated, and abandoned" (St Cyr and Decker, 2003: 426). Girls are the fastest growing group in the juvenile justice system (Bloom, Owen, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003). However, the system was designed to handle boy offenders and is not sufficiently prepared to deal with the increasing number of girl offenders (Bloom, Owen, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003). The juvenile justice system is lacking in the knowledge, resources and programs necessary to specifically deal with prevention and intervention of adolescent girl gang members. This is despite that fact that "...gang membership has more long-term harmful effects on females that on male gang members" (St. Cyr and Decker, 2003: 425). A community oriented gang prevention program if properly designed would have a significant impact in preventing adolescent girls from becoming involved in gangs (Monette, 2007).

For the purposes of this proposal adolescent girls will reefer to girls in the 12-17 age rang, specifically American girls of all ethnicities. A gang will be defined as an organized peer group with common interests including territory control and/or illegal/ delinquent activity, including status offenses. Girls involved in gangs will be defined as girls who identify themselves as gang members or girls who regularly associate with a gang and have had any part other than victim in any illegal/delinquent behavior associated with that gang.

In order to prevent adolescent girls from becoming involved in gangs I plan to create a community oriented gang prevention program in the form of a structured after school program for girls determined by specific criteria to be at high risk for becoming involved in a gang. The program will include mentoring, tutoring, job placement, sex counseling and drug and alcohol counseling among other services. There will be incentives/ rewards for girls who do well in the program. The goal will be to prevent females from joining gangs by offering within the program all of the perceived benefits or gang membership and more with out the risk and dangers involved in the gang lifestyle.

II. TheoryLiterature Review

There has not been a lot of research done on girl gang members; why girls join or how to prevent their involvement in gangs. However, the majority of the research that has been done shows that reasons girls join gangs are not the same reasons boys join. Therefore, gang prevention of girls most be approached in a way that is specific to girls and addresses the reasons why girls join gangs and what the risk factors are that make some girls more susceptible to gang involvement than their peers.

In an attempt to learn more about girl gang members Walker-Barnes and Mason (2001) collected qualitative and quantitative data through semi-structured interviews with girls ages 12-17 in an attempt to discover what African American and Hispanic girls 2

believe to be the reasons girls join gangs and to determine what risk factors may lead to girl gang involvement. The focus was on the perspective of girls who were not yet gang members, but who were familiar with the gang lifestyle.

Participants were taken from an alternative school for girls who are considered at high risk for delinquency, teenage pregnancy and/or gang membership. Respondents were asked what they believed to be the issues that drawl them to gangs and whether or not they thought there was a difference between the reasons that girls joined gangs and then boys and what had the strongest influence on males.

The participants ranked the order of influential categories as 1) friends, 2) neighborhood, 3) family and 4) self. Under the category of friends, peer pressure was believed to play a large role in female gang membership. Participants expressed a belief that when a close friend joins a gang there is a sense of obligation to join with them. Also, girls may join in order to become popular and make more friends or fit in. Even those who resist at first, given enough time, would give in and join.

In regard to neighborhood, 70% said that gang members provide protection for one another and that for this reason those girls who lived in high crime areas would be more enticed to join a gang. However, 73.7% also believed that gang girls were emulating criminal activity that they had grown up around. It was also expressed that girls who live in neighborhood with gangs would want to join a gang in order to be protected from the other gangs.

The third ranked category was family. Many participants felt that girls join gangs because their parents do not love them or pay attention to them and so the girls look to 3

the gang for the attention and affection which they were not receiving at home. Others felt that girls joined to get away from their family or because they felt that gang members made better role models than their parents. Others were emulating the lifestyle of their criminal parents. Some thought that girls might join in order to rebel against their strict parents but as many believed that strict parents are good and discipline shows love. Regarding the self category, girls join in an attempt to gain the respect of peers through fear and intimidation; to feel important. In general, however, the self category and its related risk factors were ranked very low.

The girls felt that, when it came to boy gang members, the desire to make friends, family problems and the lack of a father in the home were considered much less influential than for girl gang members. The desire for protection in high crime neighborhoods, however, was ranked much higher for boys and poverty was ranked much lower. This shows that the reasons boys join gangs and girls join gangs are not the same and that girl and boy gang involvement cannot be handled in an identical manor.

According to research by St. Cyr and Decker many gang girls have boyfriends or brothers who are also gang members (2003). They suggest that girls who have relationships with male gang members or older sisters who are involved in gangs are more likely to become involved in gangs themselves. They also asserted that younger gang members are more likely to party, drink and get high than their non gang peers. Family problems are more a factor in joining gangs for girls than for boys; 75% had run away from home, "...45% grew up with a heroine addict at home compared to 20% of the males. 82% of the females compared to 57% of the males, reported that a member of 4

the family had been arrested during their childhood" (2003, 425).

They also found that gang girls have higher rates of delinquency and violence than non gang boys and 2 to 5 times more than non gang girls and commit as much property and drug offenses as gang boys. Of the girl gang members they surveyed 100% said that girl gang members sell drugs and engage in gang fights and property crimes and 86% said that gang girls use guns, hold guns for males and set up rival gangs . This reinforces that female gang members are involved serious delinquent and criminal behavior that puts themselves and the community in serious danger (Monette, 2007).

John Z Wang found that gang involvement usually begins in middle school (2000). After surveying 500 female middle school students Wang discovered that "...the majority of students agreed that peer pressure (71%), protection of status (70%), acceptance (68%) , and problems at home (66%) were the leading factors that resulted in gang affiliation" (2000, 622). Wang claims that girls join a gang in order to replace the love, affection and support that is lacking in her home life. He also discovered that the majority of gang girls have problems at school and with truancy and that loneliness, financial need and availability of drugs and alcohol also play a significant role in the a girls decision to join a gang.

The second part of Wang's study revealed that the roles girls play in gangs include helping to commit crime, providing sex to male gang members, selling drugs, holding weapons, and partaking in drugs and alcohol. The girls surveyed also reported that if she wanted to leave a gang she would face being beat, killed or raped (Wang 5

2000). Because it is so difficult and dangerous for girl to get out of gang we must focus on gang prevention instead of waiting until the join and attempting intervention (Monette, 2007). Respondents were asked what should be done to prevent gang involvement and "...according to this survey, what will work will be in the areas of parental education, extra-curricular activities, quality of our schooling and job opportunities" (Wang, 2000: 625). Wang concludes that family and school are the most important factors in gang prevention.

As part of a study for the California Office of Criminal Justice Planning group interviews were conducted with probation officers, program staff and girls about female juvenile and young adult delinquency (Bloom, Own, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003). According to this article between 1988 and 1997 girl delinquency cases rose 83% and accounted for 24% of juvenile arrests, but only 16% of felony arrests. The most common felony committed by females was burglary followed by assault.

"Family issues, problems that lead to conflict with parents, and running away were seen as the primary reasons for trouble...Most participants believed that programs must be designed specifically to address the problems, issues and needs girls and young women present to the system" (Bloom, Own, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003: 124).

Other factors in delinquent behavior were sexual, physical and emotional abuse, substance abuse, fighting, school issues and early sexual activity. The respondents also noted a need for academic and job assistance to curb delinquency (Bloom, Own, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003). 6

In a poor black community in Champaign, Illinois data were collected over several years on 74 adolescent and young adult gang women (Fleisher and Krienert, 2004). Almost none of the girls in the sample belonged to any community organizations and most said they never got offers for job assistance, child care, health care or any other community assistance even though they were in poverty. The majority of women also reported a history of being physically abused at home and family drug abuse and criminal involvement. As a result, "The gang becomes a coping mechanism forming around shared abuse and other early life trauma" (Fleisher and Krienert, 2004: 611). 85% of respondents said they did not join the gang for protection but many reported being coerced into joining a gang by a boyfriend or male relatives. They also reported that the most common cause of violence was jealousy among the girl gang members, usually over a boyfriend.

Another issue addressed in this research was teenage pregnancy. The main reported reason for becoming inactive in the gang was pregnancy. Once the women had children they almost always stopped their active gang involvement. When the women became pregnant they finally had access to community resources. One former gang girl said, "When I wasn't pregnant, nobody cared about me. When I got pregnancy
In 1991the Phoenix Police Department began implementing G.R.E.A.T or Gang 7

Resistance Education and Training in middle schools. In this nine week program uniformed police officers taught students about crime, victim impact, cultural sensitivity, conflict resolution, how to meet basic needs without gangs, drugs, responsibility and goal setting among other things with the purpose of gang prevention. Those students who participated in the program by the end had more favorable attitudes about police and less about gangs than students who did not participate in the program. However, G.R.E.A.T did not have an effect on gang membership or delinquency rates (Esbensen, Osgood, Taylor, Peterson and Freng, 2001). Solution

It is my belief that the solution to the problem of girl gang involvement is a structured community oriented program in the form of an after school program.

"Teens who participate in activities between the hours of 3:00-7:00 p.m. are more likely to abstain from drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. Research also reflects that teen who are supervised or involved in structured activities during after school hours are less likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as abusing drugs and alcohol, and carrying weapons, than youth who are unsupervised during those hours" (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007:3)

All girls in this program will be between that ages of 12-17 and considered at high risk for gang involvement and be refereed their school, probation or another community organization. For the purpose of this study "high risk" will be classified as runaways, girls with a criminal and or gang history in their family, with a record of delinquency with their school or local police department, with boyfriends who are gang affiliated or 8

those who regularly associate with gang members.

The program will be run as a collaborative effort of the local police, juvenile probation and volunteer criminal justice students at the university level. The volunteer staff is key to the success of this program. "Volunteer are usually perceived differently than correctional staff and are often thought of as wanting to help the population without monetary compensation or particular political agendas" (Pertersen, 2000: 143). However, the student volunteers will receive 3 units of upper division credit for their participation.

This program has six main components, the first of which is mentoring. Each girl will have a female mentor to whom she is assigned. The mentor will monitor her truancy's and school performance as well as serving as an informal counselor. The mentors will also assist the girls in setting goals for themselves and helping them create plans of action to achieve those goals. Peer pressure to become involved in gangs will be countered with a positive pressure to do well in school and the program. They will also serve as positive adult roles model for the girls, especially for those with criminal parents (Walker-Barnes and Mason, 2001). The key component to this relationship is building a rapport (Pertersen, 2000). It is essential that the girls have a trusting relationship with their mentors where they feel comfortable to talk with them about the issues facing them at home, school and in their everyday life. Part of building this relationship will include the mentor being readily available to the girls by allowing them to call them at home or on their cell. The mentors will also work to help the girls bond with one another and 9

support one another with their goals. In the same way that gang girls work together to commit crime these girls will to taught to work to together to help one another reach positive goals such as doing well in school.

The second part of the program will be making tutoring available in all subjects. The girls will submit weekly progress reports to the program leaders in order to insure that the program is aware of the needs of the girls as well as aware of their successes in the academic setting. Making passing grades in all classes will be emphasized on a daily basis; the goal being that as the girls become more focused on academic endeavors they will be less concerned with what is going on in the streets and less enticed by delinquent behavior.

The third component is substance abuse counseling. Instead of refereeing the girls to substance abuse counseling, specialized counselors will come to the program once a week and conduct meetings for those girls with substance abuse problems. Attendance of these meetings will be optional but highly encouraged and parents will be encouraged to attend with their daughters.

The fourth component is sex education, specifically abstinence. Because girls who engage in sex at a young age are more likely to become involved in gangs the sexual education of the program will consist of abstinence teaching. Due to the fact that the girls have not reached the age of consent any other form of sex education would be unethical.

Parent classes for the girls' mothers will make up the fifth component of the program. The mothers or female guardians of the girls will be encouraged to attend 10

weekly parenting classes at the program where they will learn skills for parenting girls and how to reinforce what the girls are learning in the program. The mothers will also be encouraged to support their daughters in achieving the goals that they set for themselves with their mentors. The reason for offering these services to the mothers as opposed to fathers is the most girls feel that the mothers are more influential on their lives than the fathers are (Bloom, Owen, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003).

The final major component will be job placement. For those girls who are doing well in school and consistently working toward their goal their will be opportunities for job placement. The goal of the job placement component is to counteract the perceived benefit of joining gangs to get money (Walker-Barnes and Mason, 2001) as well as to provide the girls a chance to learn job skills and an incentive to do well in the program (Bloom, Own, Rosenbaum and Deschenes, 2003).

In addition to the opportunity for job placement other forms of incentive will be used. For example, gift card will be available for staff to give girls as a reward for meeting goals and especially for academic achievements and school attendance. In an attempt to increase school attendance the program participants will have free meals provided for them on school days. Local business will be solicited to donate food and gift cards to the program in order to minimize the cost and to show the girls that the community is supporting them in their efforts to better themselves and to stay away for gang activity.

The goal is that girls who participate in this program will have lower rates of gang 11

involvement than their peer who do not participate in the program. The components together will minimize the girls' perceived need to join a gang by provided her with the perceived benefits of gangs in a productive after school program.

III. Conclusion

If girls are busy during the after school hours they are less likely to become involved in delinquent behavior. While girls who have family problems, do poorly in school, have relationships with male gang members, have poor role models, feel rejected, engage in sex at an early age and use drugs (among other things) are more likely to become involved in gangs. This after school gang prevention program will address the main issues that cause girls to join gangs and give them alternative ways of bettering themselves and meeting their needs. The services offered by this program will take away the attractiveness of the gang life to at risk girls by offering them mentoring, tutoring, sex education, drug and alcohol counseling and job placement, as well as parenting classes for their mothers. The incentives offered will prompt the girls to do well in the program and contribute to gang prevention.

At risk girls who participate in this program will be the experimental group. Another group of at risk girls who do not participate in the program will be the control group. After one year of the program both groups will be issued a self report survey in which they will be asked about gang involvement, desirability of gangs and other delinquently behavior in order to collect qualitative and quantitative date from both groups. The responses of the experimental group will be compared to those of the control 12

group to see if there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The expectation being that the experimental group will have significantly less involvement with gangs. 13
REFERENCES

Deschenes, Elizabeth Piper, Barbara Bloom, Barbara Owen and Jill Rosenbaum (2003) "Focusing on Girls and Young Women: A Gendered Perspective on Female Delinquency", Women and Criminal Justice, 14(2/3): 117-136

Ebbensen, Finn_aage, D. Wayne Osgood, Terrance J. Taylor, Dana Peterson and Adrienne Freng, (2001) "How Great is G.R.E.A.T? Results from a Longitudinal Quasi-Eperimental Design", Criminology and Public Policy, 1/1 (November): 87- 118

Egley Jr., Arlen (2002) "National Youth Gang Survey Trends From 1996-2000", OJJDP Fact Sheet, (February) #3

Fleisher, Mark S and Jessie L. Krienert (2004) "Life-Course Events, Social Networks, and the Emergence of Violence Among Female Gang Members", Journal of Community Psychology, 32/5: 607-622

Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States, Teen Drugs and Violence: A Special Report, June 2007

Pertersen, Rebecca D ( 2000) "Definitions of a Gang and Impacts on Public Policy", Journal of Criminal Justice, 28: 139-149

St. Cyr, Jenna L. and Scott H Decker (2003) "Girls, Guys, and Gangs: Convergence or Divergence in the Gendered Construction of Gangs and Groups", Journal of Criminal Justice, 31: 423-433

Walker-Barnes, Chanequa J. and Craig A. Mason (2001) "Perceptions of Risk Factors for Female Gang Involvement among African American and Hispanic Women", Youth and Society, 32/3: 303-334

Wang, John Z (2000) "Female Gang Affiliation: Knowledge and Perceptions of At-Risk Girls", International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 44/5: 618-635

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SACRAMENTODivision of Criminal JusticeSacramento, California THE ADOLESCENT GIRL GANG INVOLVEMENT PHENOMENON:Why Teenage Girls Join Gangs and a Proposed Prevention ProgramMethodsMethods Section12, 2007

THE ADOLESCENT GIRL GANG INVOLVEMENT PHENOMENON

IVMonetteCRJSection

A. Introduction

The pMethodsDecemberscent girls becoming involved in gangs can be resolved with more community oriented gang prevention programs in the form of a structured gender-specific after school program for girls determined by specific criteria to be at high risk for becoming involved in a gang. The program will include mentoring, tutoring, job placement, sex counseling and drug and alcohol counseling among other services. There will be incentives/ rewards for girls who do well in the program. The goal will be to prevent females from joining gangs by offering within the program all of the perceived benefits of gang membership and more with out the risk and dangers involved in the gang lifestyle.

At risk girls who participate in this program will be the experimental group. Another group of at risk girls who do not participate in the program will be the control group. After one year of the program both groups will be issued a self report survey in which they will be asked about gang involvement, desirability of gangs and other delinquent behavior in order to collect qualitative and quantitative date from both groups. The responses of the experimental group will be compared to those of the control group to see if there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The expectation being that the experimental group will have significantly less involvement with gangs.

B. Population and Sample

The units of analysis for this study are the high risk adolescent girls who are refereed to the program. The girls are from Vallejo High School and Springtown Middle School in Vallejo, Ca. Vallejo High School is the largest high school in Vallejo with 1945 students 49% of which are female. Springtown Middle School is the largest middle school in Vallejo with 1024 students 44% of which are female (www.publicschoolreview.com: 2007). Vallejo is an ideal location for this study because it is an urban environment which is conducive to the cultivation of gang activity. As previously defined at risk girls are classified as runaways, girls with a criminal and or gang history in their family, with a record of delinquency with their school or local police department, with boyfriends who are gang affiliated or those who regularly associate with gang members.

Of the at risk girl who meet the program criteria and are refereed to the program half will be randomly selected to participate. The selection will be based on their student identification numbers using a random numbers chart. The random probability sampling will be used to ensure that there is no bias in selecting which girls will be allowed to participate in the program and that the group of girls who participate (the experimental group) and those who are not chosen to participate (the control group) are comparable.

All of the girls who meet the criteria and are refereed to the program, including those who were no randomly chosen to participate, will be distributed a self-report questionnaire. The exception will be those girls who started but did not 2

complete the entire year in the program. The survey will be distributed via first class mail and accompanied by an explanatory letter and a parental consent form (Babbie,2007). Also included will be a self-addressed envelope with a postage stamp. The purpose of using a postage stamp instead of a business-reply postage stamp is to portray authenticity and make it appear more personal. The surveys being distributed to the respondents who did not participate in the program will be printed on light green paper and the surveys distributed to those who did participate in the program will be printed on salmon colored paper. This will allow the research team to differentiate between the surveys that were completed by those who participated in the program from those who did not. Respondents will not be informed that the survey is related to the after school program in order to reduce the likelihood of the Hawthorne effect taking place.

A return rate graph will be employed in order to track the rise or drop in return rates (Babbie, 2007). After two-three weeks have passed based on the return rate graph the respondents who have not yet returned their survey will be sent a follow-up letter asking them to please complete their survey. This will also including another copy of the survey. After an additional two weeks those who have not responded will be contacted via telephone, once again asking them to please complete the questionnaire. Two weeks after the phone calls are made it will be assumed that those who are going to complete the survey will have done so. Any surveys received after this time will not be used in the data analysis.

The goal of surveying these two groups of girls who are at risk for gang 3

involvement is determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the those girls who participated in the gender-specific after school gang prevention program and those who were refereed to the program but did not participate, in regards to gang involvement. In essence after one year did the program have any significant effect on the participants; did the program work.

C. Your Survey (Treatment, Test, Questionnaire)

The self report survey is comprised of a socio-demographic section followed by 71 questions. The first 21 questions are meant to collect data about the respondents participation in delinquent behavior by asking how many times the girl has participated in various delinquent behavior in the past 12 months by using precise quantitative data. The first of 18 of the 21 questions were taken directly from a survey used by Esbensen, Osgood, Taylor, Peterson and Freng in their 2001 analysis of the G.R.E.A.T program (p. 118).

Questions 22-26 collect data about the respondent's frequency of alcohol and or drug use over the last 12 months. These questions were taken from the same survey as the first 18 questions. They inquire about the girl's use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, household chemicals used to get high and other illegal drugs. This section is also intended to acquire precise quantitative data.

Questions 27-26 are a series of statements and are intended to collect data about the desirability of gangs to the respondent, her participation in gang related activities and the overall success of the program. This questions use a five point likert scale. Respondents are instructed to answer based on there feelings about the 4

statements. They specifically ask about the respondents friendships with gang affiliated peers, their relationship with their mother and other adults, there views on school, their views on delinquency, criminality and drugs, and their overall feeling about gangs and gang activities.

Questions 69-71 are open-ended questions designed to collect qualitative data. Question 69 is designed to collect data on the perceived desirability of gangs. Question 70 is designed to how the program has shaped to participants view of what a gang is. Question 71 is designed to find out if the reasons that girl is or is not involved in a gang are related to the program itself or outside and unrelated factors. The open-ended questions are also aimed to allow respondents an opportunity to give unexpected or unforeseen responses or other insightful but related information.

Once the surveys have been collected the data will be complied and a comparison will made between the experimental group and the control group to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between their responses

V. Hypotheses/Conclusions

The null hypothesis for this study is thatgender-specific community oriented after school programs have no significant impact on adolescent at risk girls and their subsequent gang involvement. After collected an analyzing the data collected through this self-report questionnaire I anticipate that I will be able to reject the null hypothesis. The expectation being that the data will show that the girls who participated in the after school program will have a lower rates of gang 5

involvement. The prevalence of delinquency will be significantly less than that of their at risk peers who were not randomly selected to participate in the program and they will also view gangs as less desirable.

If girls are busy during the after school hours they are less likely to become involved in delinquent behavior. While girls who have family problems, do poorly in school, have relationships with male gang members, have poor role models, feel rejected, engage in sex at an early age and use drugs (among other things) are more likely to become involved in gangs. The research will show that this after school gang prevention program will address the main issues that cause girls to join gangs and give them alternative ways of bettering themselves and meeting their needs. The services offered by this program will take away the attractiveness of the gang life to at risk girls by offering them mentoring, tutoring, sex education, drug and alcohol counseling and job placement, as well as parenting classes for their mothers. The incentives offered will prompt the girls to do well in the program and contribute to gang prevention.

6
Appendix I: Self-Report Survey

Your answers are confidential and cannot be linked back to you. Please answer all questions as honestly as possible. Your participation is completely voluntary but greatly appreciated.

Date of Birth _ _/_ _/ _ _ _ _

Gender:

Male

Female

Other

Race:

White (not Hispanic)

Hispanic/ Latino

Black/ African Decent

Native American

Asian/ Pacific Islander

Middle Eastern

East Indian

Other

7

Studies have found that everyone breaks rules and laws sometimes. Please indicate how many times in the past 12 months you have done each thing. If you have not done these things, write 0.

1. Skipped classes without an excuse. ___

2. Lied about your age to get into some place or to buy something. ___

3. Avoided paying for things such as movies, bus or subway rides. ___

4. Purposely damaged or destroyed property that did not belong to you. ___

5. Carried a hidden weapon for protection. ___

6. Illegally spray painted a wall or building. ___

7. Stolen or tried to steal something worth less than $50. ___

8. Stolen or tried to steal something worth more than $50. ___

9. Gone into or tried to go into a building to steal something. ___

10. Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle. ___

11. Hit someone with the idea of hurting them. ___

12. Attacked someone with a weapon. ___

13. Used a weapon or force to get money or things from people.___

14. Been involved in gang fights. ___

15. Shot at someone because you were told to by someone else. ___

16. Sold marijuana. ___

17. Sold other illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, crack or LSD. ___

18. Runaway from home. ___

19. Had sexual intercourse. ___8

20. Had oral sex. ___

21. Got a new tattoo. ___

Please indicate how many times in the past 12 months you have used each thing. If you have not used these things, write 0.

22. Tobacco products.

23. Alcohol.

24. Marijuana.

25. Paint, glue or other things you inhale to get high.

26. Other illegal drugs.

Circle the number that best describes how you feel about the following statements.

1- Strongly Agree, 2- Agree, 3- Somewhat Agree, 4- Disagree, 5- Strongly Disagree

27. Most of my friends are gang members. 1...2...3...4...5

28. I regularly associate with gang members. 1...2...3...4...5

29. My mother does not understand me. 1...2...3...4...5

30. My life would be easier if were involved in a gang. 1...2...3...4...5

31. My friends and I never break to law together. 1...2...3...4...5

32. When I am at school I feel like I am wasting my time. 1...2...3...4...5

33. I often admire girls who are involved in gangs. 1...2...3...4...5

34. I am too young to have sexual relationships. 1...2...3...4...5

35. It is okay to use drugs because it doesn't hurt anyone else. 1...2...3...4...5

36. It is okay to break laws that I do not agree with or that do not make sense to me. 1...2...3...4...59

37. It would be difficult to for me to find a job. 1...2...3...4...5

38. I would rather steal something than work for it. 1...2...3...4...5

39. My group of friends has rivalry with other groups of friends. 1...2...3...4...5

40. Gangs offer things to girls that they need but can't get anywhere else. 1...2...3...4...5

41. My parents rarely pay attention to me. 1...2...3...4...5

42. Most of my friends are involved in gangs. 1...2...3...4...5

43. I am less likely than most of peers to join a gang. 1...2...3...4...5

44. Gangs really are not any different than other groups of friends. 1...2...3...4...5

45. It doesn't matter if I do well in school because no one pays attention to my grades anyway. 1...2...3...4...5

46. It doesn't matter if you do something illegal as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. 1...2...3...4...5

47. I have adults in my life other than my parents who care about me. 1...2...3...4...5

48. I have friends who are on probation. 1...2...3...4...5

49. I am not really working towards anything. 1...2...3...4...5

50. If I need help I always have an adult who I can get to help me. 1...2...3...4...5

51. My friends and I drink together at parties. 1...2...3...4...5

52. My friends and I control our neighborhood. 1...2...3...4...5

53. My mom usually knows where I am and what I am doing. 1...2...3...4...5

54. Passing all of my classes is important to me. 1...2...3...4...5

10

55. It is okay to take something from someone if you need it more than them. 1...2...3...4...5

56. I often think that if I runaway my life will be better. 1...2...3...4...5

57. If I ran away my family's life would be better. 1...2...3...4...5

58. I would not date someone who is involved in a gang. 1...2...3...4...5

59. I look to my friends for protection. 1...2...3...4...5

60. I sometimes get into trouble because I have nothing better to do. 1...2...3...4...5

61. My friends care more about me than my family. 1...2...3...4...5

62. My parents are good role models. 1...2...3...4...5

63. Other people are afraid of my friends. 1...2...3...4...5

64. My goals are important to me. 1...2...3...4...5

65. Gang members protect one another more than families protect one another. 1...2...3...4...5

66. I look up to my peers who are in gangs. 1...2...3...4...5

67. I find boys in gangs attractive. 1...2...3...4...5

68. My mother supports me in achieving my goals. 1...2...3...4...5

Answer the following 3 questions openly. If you need more space use the back of the page.

69. Are there any benefits to joining a gang? Explain? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________11

________________________________________________________________________

70. How would you define gang involvement? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

71. Why are you or why are you not involved in a gang? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your voluntary completion of this survey.

12

REFERENCES

Babbie, Earl (2007) The Practice of Social Research. Belmont: Thompson Waldworth

Ebbensen, Finn_aage, D. Wayne Osgood, Terrance J. Taylor, Dana Peterson and Adrienne Freng, (2001) "How Great is G.R.E.A.T? Results from a Longitudinal Quasi-Eperimental Design", Criminology and Public Policy, 1/1 (November): 87- 118

www.publicschoolreview.com, December 11, 2007