Kristy N. Matsuda

Gang Membership and Adherence to the “Code of the Street”

Gang members have been found to engage in more delinquent behaviors than comparable nongang youth. Few empirical attempts have been made to identify the group processes associated with the gang experience that lead to such noteworthy behavioral outcomes. While not developed to explain gang behavior, Elijah Andersons “code of the street” framework may prove insightful. Utilizing data from a diverse school-based sample of 2,216 youth, we examine the efficacy of street code-related variables to explain gang members’ heightened involvement in violent offending. Utilizing methods based on a potential outcomes framework, results suggest that joining a gang facilitates greater ascription to street code-related attitudes and emotions, and these constructs partially mediate the relationship between gang joining and the increased frequency of violent offending.

Putting the “Gang” in “Eurogang”: Characteristics of Delinquent Youth Groups by Different Definitional Approaches

The purpose of this chapter was to explore the validity of different definitional approaches to identify gang members. We applied three definitions (i.e., self-nomination, friends are gang, and the Eurogang definition) to the same diverse sample of American youth. We conclude that the use of any or all of the three definitions reveals a subsample of youth that are behaviorally and attitudinally distinct from non-gang youth. However, we found a lack of definitional convergence. Less than 10% of the sample of gang youth was classified as gang members by all three definitions. The majority of youth were only considered gang members by one definition. Further investigation showed that while different youth were captured by each definition, the attitudes and behaviors of all groups were relatively similar. A series of multivariate logistic regressions showed that the strongest correlates associated with gang membership were common to all three definitions.

Evaluation and Evolution of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program

The Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program is a gang- and delinquency-prevention program delivered by law enforcement officers within a school setting. Originally designed in 1991 by Phoenix-area law enforcement agencies to address local needs, the program quickly spread across the United States. In this article, we describe the evolution of the program and its responsiveness to two independent national evaluations funded by the U.S. National Institute of Justice. The first evaluation revealed little program effect and contributed to a critical review and substantial revision of the G.R.E.A.T. “core” or middle-school curriculum. Preliminary findings from the ongoing second evaluation give an initial indication of the extent to which these changes have resulted in the achievement of G.R.E.A.T. program goals of helping youths to (a) avoid gang membership, violence, and criminal activity; and (b) develop a positive relationship with law enforcement.

Accomplishing the Difficult but Not Impossible: Collecting Self-Report Data on Inmate-on-Inmate Sexual Assault in Prison

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) increases opportunities for scholars to conduct research in carceral settings to determine the prevalence and contours of sexual assault. However, researchers face many challenges, including working cooperatively with state agencies while maintaining independence; gaining access to prisons and prisoners; securing necessary institutional approvals; and collecting generalizable data on a highly sensitive topic, sexual assault in prisons. This article reports our responses to these challenges in a study of inmate-on-inmate sexual assault in California. We describe our research procedures and provide an assessment of interviewer effects and threats to the generalizability of our sample. Our experience should be instructive to other researchers undertaking similar efforts at a moment in time in which others have rightfully decried the decline of in-prison research.

“Deterrability” Among Gang and Nongang Juvenile Offenders: Are Gang Members More (or Less) Deterrable Than Other Juvenile Offenders?

This study investigates the effect of the threat of legal sanctions on intentions to commit three types of offenses with a representative sample of 744 officially adjudicated youth with varying histories of offenses and gang involvement. In a departure from previous research, the authors find small severity effects for property crimes that are not negated by past offending experience, morality, or anticipated loss of respect from adults or peers. Gang members appear to be vulnerable to the effects of certainty of punishment for vehicle theft. These results challenge the current crime policy of increased reliance on punishment to deter gang crime but suggest that increasing gang members’ certainty of apprehension might hold some promise for reduction of some gang crime.