باندهای جوانان، استفاده از مواد مخدر و بزهکاری

Abstract This study addressed the relationship among youth gangs, drug use, and delinquency by focusing on: (1) the effects of prior drug use and delinquency on gang membership; (2) the effect of gang membership on drug use and delinquency; and (3) the interaction effects of prior drug use and delinquency with gang membership on drug use and delinquency. Using data from the first two waves of the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men, the present study assessed these three models. The data indicate that prior delinquency significantly affects gang membership, while prior drug use has no effect on gang membership. Gang membership has an effect on subsequent delinquency and drug use, although its effect on subsequent delinquency is fairly modest. Finally, there are interaction effects between gang membership and prior delinquency/drug use on subsequent delinquency/drug use. The nature of these interaction effects indicate that gang membership has a stronger effect on youths who have not committed delinquency and facilitates drug use only for those who have not used.

Introduction It has been long recognized that gang membership is related to delinquent involvement. Since the pioneering work of Thrasher (1927) in Chicago, observational studies and studies relying on official data and using survey data consistently indicate that gang members are more likely to commit crime and, more recently, to be involved in drug use and trafficking (see Spergel 1990:193–9, for a detailed review of these studies). There are consistent findings, though there is little research to address the causal mechanisms by which both are related Esbensen and Huizinga 1993 and Thornberry et al. 1993. Thornberry et al. (1993) identified and specified, based on social control theory Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990 and Hirschi 1969, group pressure perspective (Short and Strodbeck, 1965), and some other typical studies of youth gangs (e.g., Sarnecki 1990 and Yablonsky 1962), three somewhat competing models that could account for the relationship between gang membership and delinquent involvement. These three models were called: selection or kind of person model; social facilitation or kind of group model; and enhancement model, respectively. Thornberry et al. tested for these three models with use of data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, though the analysis leaves room for further research on the three models. The present study attempted to extend that study by further specifying these three models and testing them with use of a different data set from the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men (BLSYM).

Results Before turning to multiple regression analysis, the study presented a simple bivariate analysis for demographic characteristics of gang membership. Table 3 reports the results of this analysis. First, for the current sample, aged sixteen through nineteen years old, current gang membership peaked at seventeen (9.4 percent) in comparison with 7.3 percent at sixteen, 4.5 percent at eighteen, and 3.8 percent at nineteen. This age peak of gang membership is similar to previous findings Miller 1982, Spergel 1983 and Spergel 1986. Second, non-White youths had slightly higher involvement in gangs for current gang membership (7.5 percent) than White youths (5.2 percent), which is also consistent with previous studies (e.g., Esbensen and Huizinga, 1993). Finally, youths with low family SES were slightly more likely to be current gang members (7.7 percent) than youths with high family SES (5.3 percent). Table 3. Gang Membership by Age, Race, and Family SESlegend Gang Membership No Before Current Age 16 73.7 (132) 19.0 (34) 7.3 (13) 17 68.6 (109) 22.0 (35) 9.4 (15) 18 72.1 (111) 23.4 (36) 4.5 (7) 19 71.0 (93) 25.2 (33) 3.8 (5) Race White 81.7 (237) 13.1 (38) 5.2 (15) Non-White 62.5 (208) 30.0 (100) 7.5 (25) Family SES Low 62.8 (130) 29.5 (61) 7.7 (16) Medium 70.5 (146) 23.2 (48) 6.3 (13) High 81.3 (169) 13.5 (28) 5.3 (11) legend Note: The measure of family Socioeconomic Status (SES) is statistically collapsed into three categories for a parsimonious presentation. Percentages are reported, with actual N = s reported in parentheses. Table options Next, the study presented multiple regression analysis of the relationship between gang membership and delinquency/drug use (for a correlation matrix among variables included in the present study, see Table 4). First, using logistic regression, the study examined the effects of prior delinquency and drug use on gang membership (see Table 5). The results in Table 5 indicate that prior delinquency significantly and positively affected current gang membership (b = .07). As the extent of prior delinquency increased, the likelihood that the young male would join a gang increased. This finding was consistent with the selection model. Prior drug use, however, had no significant effect on current gang membership, which is at odds with the selection model. Table 4. Zero-Order Correlation Matrix for Variableslegend Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 GM — DEL1 .43** — DEL2 .31** .62* — DRUG1 .29** .47** .37** — DRUG2 .26** .37** .44** .55** — RACE −.18** −.02 −.03 .09* −.01 — AGE −.02 −.06 −.12** .16 .05 .05 — SES −.13** −.05 −.02 −.04 −.02 .18** .10* — NEID .23** .40** .22** .25** .16** −.20* −.02 −.21** — legend Note: GM: Gang membership; DEL1: Prior delinquency; DEL2: Delinquency; DRUG1: Prior drug use; DRUG2: Drug use; SES: Family SES; NEID: Neighborhood deviance and crime. * p < .05. ** p < .01. Table options Table 5. Logistic Regressions of the Effects of Prior Delinquency and Drug Use on Gang Membership along with Control Variableslegendlegend Independent Variable b t-ratio Prior delinquency .07 5.03* Prior drug use .15 1.27 Age −.14 −.84 Race −.43 −1.12 Family socioeconomic status −.07 −.54 Neighborhood deviance/crime .20 −.55 legend N = 622. legend Model χ2 = 56.19; significant at p < .01. * p < .01. Table options Table 6 presents the independent and interaction effects of gang membership on delinquency and drug use. It includes four equations: the first two equations for the independent and interaction effects of gang membership on delinquency; and the other two for the independent and interaction effects of gang membership on drug use. The results in Equation 1 for delinquency indicate that current gang membership has a fairly modest effect on delinquency net of prior delinquency and prior drug use (β = .07; significance level = .055), while prior gang membership has no effect. In contrast, prior delinquency and prior drug use have strong and positive effects on delinquency (β = .56 for prior delinquency and .13 for prior drug use), as found in previous studies (Gibbons and Krohn, 1991). In addition, the results also indicate that age is significantly and negatively associated with delinquency; the younger males are more likely to be delinquent. The results in Equation 2 for delinquency indicate a significant and negative interaction between current gang membership and prior delinquency (b = −.21). To clarify the nature of this interaction effect, the study conducted separate regressions of delinquency on current gang membership at different levels of prior delinquency. The study collapsed the measure of prior delinquency into three categories: low, moderate, and high. Respondents who at wave one reported they never committed delinquency fell in the low category. These separate regressions indicate that current gang membership had a relatively stronger effect on delinquency for youths who were classified in the low level of prior delinquency (actually, not committing delinquency) at wave one than those who were classified in the moderate and high levels of prior delinquency. These findings indicate that current gang membership had more effect on delinquency for those who had not committed delinquency, but had less effect for those who had already. There was an interaction effect between current gang membership and prior delinquency, although the nature of this effect is not consistent with the prediction of the enhancement model. The enhancement model predicts that gang membership enhances the effect of prior delinquency on subsequent delinquency. Table 6. Regressions of the Effects of Gang Membership on Delinquency and Drug Use along with Control Variableslegend Dependent Variable Delinquency Drug Use Equation (1) Equation (2) Equation (1) Equation (2) Independent Variable Beta t-ratio b t-ratio Beta t-ratio b t-ratio Current gang membership .07 1.92 — — .11 3.01** — — Prior gang membership −.03 −.99 — — −.04 −.97 — — Prior delinquency .56 13.92** — — .12 2.71** — — Prior drug use .13 3.48** — — .49 12.24** — — Age −.11 −3.33** — — −.01 −.18 — — Race −.03 −.88 — — −.04 −1.22 — — Family socioeconomic status .03 1.07 — — .02 .48 — — Neighborhood deviance and crime −.03 −.75 — — −.01 −.33 — — Prior delinquency × current gang membership — — −.21 −2.23* — — — — Prior delinquency × prior gang membership — — −.11 −1.50 — — — — Prior drug use × current gang membership — — — — — — −.45 −3.76** Prior drug use × prior gang membership — — — — — — −.13 −1.44 R2 .42 .43 .33 .35 N 594 594 594 594 legend Note: Beta = standardized regression coefficient; b = unstandardized regression coefficient. Equation (2) only presents interaction effect, although main effects were included in the analysis. * p < .05. ** p < .01. Table options Consistent with the social facilitation model, the results in Equation 1 of Table 6 for drug use indicate a significant effect of current gang membership on drug use when the effects of prior drug use and delinquency were held constant (β = .11). In contrast, prior gang membership has no effect on drug use. Prior drug use and prior delinquency exhibited significant effects on drug use (β = .49 for prior drug use and .12 for prior delinquency), which are consistent with this study’s results for delinquency. An interesting finding is indicated in Equation 2 for drug use. Current gang membership and prior drug use had a significant and negative interaction effect on drug use (b = −.45). To clarify the nature of this interaction effect, the study also conducted separate regressions of drug use on gang membership at different levels of prior drug use. The study collapsed the measure of prior drug use into three categories: low, moderate, and high. Respondents who, at wave one, reported they never used drugs fell in the low category. These separate regressions indicate that current gang membership had a significant effect on drug use only for youths who were classified in the low level of prior drug use (actually, no use) at wave one. The standardized regression coefficient is .24, significant at the .01 level. In contrast, current gang membership had no significant effect on drug use at either the moderate or high level of prior drug use (β = .14 for the moderate level and .05 for the high level). These findings indicate that current gang membership has a significant effect on drug use only for those who have not used, but has no effect for those who have already used. There was an interaction effect between gang membership and prior drug use, although the nature of this effect is also inconsistent with the prediction of the enhancement model.