Shannon E. Reid

The (Anti)Social Network: Egocentric Friendship Networks of Incarcerated Youth

ABSTRACT The present study uses egocentric networks collected from youth (aged 14–24) incarcerated with California’s Division of Juvenile Justice to examine the composition and structure of youth’s friendship networks during periods of incarceration and to test the relationship between friendship and institutional misconduct. Tests of network homophily reveal that youth networks report more diversity across both racial/ethnic categories and gang membership than expected from non-network research about inmate organization. Regression results indicate that youth who stated they had no close friendships within the facility had a lower rate of institutional misconduct post-interview compared to those who nominated peer friendships. The current study demonstrates that incarcerated youth are capable of building close friendships and highlights the potential of these friendships to affect a youth’s level of institutional misconduct.

Barriocide: Investigating the Temporal and Spatial Influence of Neighborhood Structural Characteristics on Gang and Non-Gang Homicides in East Los Angeles:

This study explored how changes in neighborhood structural characteristics predicted variation in gang versus non-gang homicides in a policing division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Longitudinal negative binomial models were examined to test the relationship between-neighborhood structural covariates with gang and non-gang homicides over a 35-year period. This study highlights the potential to estimate temporal effects not captured by cross-sectional analyses alone. The results underscore a unique feature that distinguishes gang homicides from other forms of non-gang violence, its tenacious clustering, and spatial dependence over time.

Ctrl+ALT-RIGHT: reinterpreting our knowledge of white supremacy groups through the lens of street gangs

ABSTRACT For the last 30 years, gang scholars have explicitly disregarded white youth who are active in groups with overt or implicit ties to neo-Nazi/skinhead or white power ideologies from street gang research. This article argues that this decision to keep these two groups separate stems from a misinterpretation of the realities of these groups and this decision has had a long-standing impact on how researchers, law enforcement and policymakers understand and interact with youth active in these groups. The coining of the term ‘Alt-Right,’ and the re-emergence of white power youth in the international dialogue, underscores how the lack of systematic research severely limits our knowledge about youth involved in gangs with white power leanings. Based on these concerns, this article challenges the current understanding of both skinheads and their troublesome youth groups/gangs. By orienting the limited research on skinhead gangs within key street gang domains, this article draws attention to disconnects in the literature that have influenced how researchers approach the study of skinhead youth. This study’s conclusions support the purposeful inclusion of skinhead youth in future street gang research.

CRASH and burn: abatement of a specialised gang unit

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the temporary disbandment of a gang unit on collecting gang intelligence and arresting gang members in one of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Community Policing Areas. Design/methodology/approach – An interrupted time series methodology (ARIMA) is utilised to examine 1,429 field interview cards and 1,174 arrests of gang members that occurred from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011 within one police division. Findings – Results indicated that the dismantling of the gang unit negatively impacted the collection of intelligence on gang members by officers, regardless of whether the officers were officially serving in the gang unit. Suppression efforts by gang unit officers also resulted in a sustained decline. Originality/value – Given that many urban centres have specialised gang units, this study demonstrates how organisational turnover or disbandment of a gang unit negatively impacts a department’s ability to deal with local gang issues. Furthermore, these finding suggest that police organisations should consider such ramifications on intelligence-based policing activities.

Managing the Threat of Violence: Coping Strategies Among Juvenile Inmates:

This article reports findings on violence, safety, and coping strategies from interviews conducted with 281 male youth incarcerated in California’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Descriptive analyses revealed that youth report that violence is a common occurrence and that some locations, such as school or housing units, were particularly dangerous. Analysis of how youth avoid violence revealed three distinct precautionary or coping strategies. These three categories highlight a range of conflict management techniques from avoidance to aggression. Those youth who were younger, sex offenders, or newer to the facility used more passive avoidance techniques while gang members and those more active in violent misconduct used more aggressive techniques. A third group, those youth proactively navigating their interactions, had spent more time in their current institution and were marginally more likely to be adult court commitments. Intervention and policy implications of this study are also discussed.

The Schrödinger’s Cat of Gang Groups: Can Street Gangs Inform Our Comprehension of Skinheads and Alt-Right Groups?

ABSTRACT Given the current political climate, the mainstreaming of Alt-Right groups, and growing public concern, this paper argues that gang scholars are well situated to investigate these Alt-Right groups and their members. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from youth incarcerated within California’s Division of Juvenile Justice are used to examine the differences and similarities between a range of individual-level risk factors and group-level descriptors to better understand the overlap between members of racist skinhead/Alt-Right groups and street gangs. Findings highlight how closely aligned these two groups are across domains.

Recidivism and Reentry: The Role of Individual Coping Styles

The high rate of recidivism among those reentering the community post incarceration can be partially attributed to various barriers to reentry, including unemployment, financial difficulties, and mental illness. Learning to cope with these barriers is demanding and stressful for many people. The current article examines whether individual coping styles could act as a significant predictor of recidivism. Utilizing a cross-sectional data set collected from previously incarcerated individuals, this study examines the relationship between individual coping styles and arrest or reincarceration. Results from this study indicate a relationship between coping and arrest. Implications from this study are noteworthy given that our understanding of coping can increase the ability of the correctional staff to reduce later recidivism in the community.

The curious case of loners: Social isolation and juvenile incarceration

Purpose The current study examines a subset of youth incarcerated within Californias Division of Juvenile Justice who stated they had no close friends during their current period of confinement. As social isolation and peer rejection can have behavioural and developmental issues associated with it, this study examines this concept among an understudied population, incarcerated male youth. Method Utilizing official and interview data from 213 male youth who responded to an egocentric friendship prompt, this study analyses the correlates of self-identifying as a ‘loner’ during periods of incarceration. The final logistic regression model uses a multiple imputation model to account for missing data. Results Findings from this study indicate that loner status is influenced by a youths vulnerable commitment status and commitment offence. Youth sentenced through the adult court and older youth were more likely to state they had no close friends in the institution, while those with a sex offence and those who reported involvement with gang violence were more likely to state they had at least one close friend. Conclusion The self-reporting incarcerated loner offers a unique area of study as it examines social isolation among a highly delinquent group of juveniles. This study has important implications for correctional psychologists, staff, and researchers as a youths removal from the larger social network may be at odds with the rehabilitative goals of the institution.

Gang Youth and Friendship Networks in California Correctional Facilities: Examining Friendship Structure and Composition for Incarcerated Gang and Non-Gang Youth

This chapter examines the potential differences across egocentric friendship networks of gang and non-gang youth incarcerated in California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). This study is a first step in beginning to understand the relationship between peers and institutional misconduct for gang-involved youth since it asks whether or not gang and non-gang youth build different types of friendship groups while incarcerated. These differences highlight the potential for intervention and programming that targets peer group dynamics that may vary between gang and non-gang youth.