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Internet banging (i.e. social media combative exchanges between rival gang members) research has primarily focused on gang members’ use of violent rhetoric. We shift this focus to a discussion of gang members’ use of social media to promote a particular type of internet banging masculinity. Building from C.J. Pascoe’s concept of “fag discourse” utilized among young men chastising one another (e.g., “Dude, you’re a fag!”), we demonstrate how “bitch discourse” on social media operates as an accessible tool that gang members use to participate in expressions of internet banging masculinity that demonizes effeminacy and gayness via the use of the slang term “bitch.” Specifically, we utilize a Facebook dataset compiled from 24,403 comments on a page that was primarily used by Chicago-based Latino gang members and a mixed methods approach comprised of structural topic modeling and qualitative thematic analysis to understand gang members’ internet banging bitch discourse. Our findings demonstrate two main themes: “bitch” as common vernacular and “bitch” as internet banging masculinity. Overall, we highlight the complexities of dialogue in gang interactions and contribute to the existing landscape of gang literature, social media analysis, and most broadly, scholarly efforts to deconstruct misogyny and anti-gay sentiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Datasets of offender attributes, both pre-custody and in-custody, were provided by the Correctional Service of Canada with the goal of exploring whether Security Threat Group (STG) offenders (informally, gang members of various kinds) differ in any systematic way from other offenders. For pre-custody attributes, we show that the entire offender population varies along two almost independent axes, one associated with affinity for violence, and the other with affinity for substance abuse. Within this structure, STG offenders are characteristically less extreme, in either direction, than the general offender population. For approximately two dozen attributes, STG offenders, as a group, tend to have higher values; for a few, they tend to have lower values. For in-custody attributes, the entire offender population forms a triangular structure whose vertices represent: passivity; violence and troublemaking; and involvement in programs leading to partial release. The differences between the STG offender population and the general offender population are small. An offender who is placed at the high end of the propensity for violence axis and/or the high end of the substance abuse axis based on pre-custody attributes is much more likely to be involved in incidents, grievances, and violence while in custody. This may have implications for risk stratification of incoming offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of two learner-related factors on English as a first language (L1E) (n = 20) and English as a foreign language (EFL) (n = 20) learners' incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading an authentic novel. Central to the study was the participants' reading of the novel: A Clockwork Orange by British novelist Anthony Burgess. The novel contains slovos, which are words from nadsat, a foreignized argot used by the teenage gang members in the novel. Two unannounced tests followed the reading to measure the participants' word meaning recall and recognition of target words. Regression analyses revealed that reading speed was a robust factor that affected both the L1E and the EFL learners' acquisition of both word meaning recall and recognition; apparently, the faster the reading, the more words the readers acquired. However, positive affect, measured as reading enjoyment, did not turn out to be a factor in word acquisition. The findings indicate that the cognitive factor, i.e., reading speed, overrides the positive affect of reading enjoyment in determining L1E and EFL learners' incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading. This research concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of repeated and extensive reading, which promote the development of reading speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The correction notice for the article "Survey research with gang and non-gang members in prison: operational lessons from the LoneStar project" in Trends in Organized Crime addresses an error in Table 2 regarding the percentage of multi-racial non-gang members in the sample. The corrected data show that multi-racial non-gang members comprised 7.62% of the sample, not 3.23% as previously stated. The article provides demographic, socioeconomic, and criminal history information for gang and non-gang members based on official classifications, with statistical significance determined through weighted sample statistics and regression analysis. [Extracted from the article]

The prevalence and influence of gangs on adolescents and young adults remain a concern in Western Cape, South Africa—particularly as they have one of the largest gang presence. While less attention has been focused on young women, there is a need to elucidate the relationship between gang exposure and health behaviors, such substance use, in addition to understanding whether becoming a caregiver impacts this relationship. This study uses baseline data from 496 participants enrolled in a NIDA-funded R01 trial that recruited young women aged 16 to 19 who were out of school and reported recent alcohol or other drug use and sexual risk behavior. At enrollment, a risk behavior survey was administered, and urine drug screening was conducted. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine baseline associations between childbirth, a gang exposure index based on eight items, and positive drug screens of the most prevalent drugs in the Western Cape (marijuana, methaqualone, and methamphetamine). At enrollment, approximately 39% of the sample had a positive urine screen for marijuana, 17% for methaqualone, and 11% for methamphetamine. Additionally, 28% had ever given birth. While only 6% reported ever being a member of a gang, most reported exposure to gangs through their physical and social environments. For all three drugs, gang exposure was associated with statistically significantly higher odds of a positive screen. Every one-point increase in the gang exposure index was associated with a 31% increase in the odds of a positive marijuana screen (p <.001), a 26% increase for methaqualone (p = 0.005) and a 37% increase in the odds of a positive methamphetamine screen (p <.001). Ever given birth was associated with lower odds of marijuana use (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.42–0.96), but it was not associated with methaqualone or methamphetamine use. The findings suggest that exposure to gangs through young women's social and physical environment is positively associated with drug use. Childbirth was also protective for marijuana use, indicating there may be something unique about this type of drug, such as one's ability to more easily stop use. Although very few young women reported gang membership, a majority reported some exposure, indicating the need to address how pervasive this exposure is and the potential risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spring of 2023, a series of back-to-back shootings shook the nation. A Black teenager in Missouri trying to pick up his two younger siblings went to the wrong door and rang the doorbell. The homeowner came to the door with a gun and, without saying a word, fired two shots at the Black teenager, hitting him in the face and the arm. A few days later, a Caucasian woman and her friends in upstate New York, looking for a party, drove up the wrong driveway. The homeowner came out of his house with a shotgun and fired two shots at the car; one of those shots killed the woman. That same day in South Florida, two Instacart delivery shoppers were having trouble finding a customer's home and mistakenly pulled up onto the wrong property. As they were trying to leave, the homeowner came out of his house and fired three shots at them, hitting the car. A few nights later, a cheerleader got into a car in a supermarket parking lot in Texas, thinking it was her own. Startled when she saw a man she didn't know in the passenger seat, she went back to her friend's car, then realized she had gotten into the wrong car. The man who was in that car shot the cheerleader and one of her friends as she was trying to apologize to him. When we think of gun violence, we usually think about mass shootings or drive-by shootings by gang members. We don't expect to get shot if we knock on the wrong door or get into the wrong car. Recently, the United States has seen a marked increase in gun violence initiated by homeowners and other individuals attempting to protect their property. Regardless of whether these tragic events were the result of ringing the wrong doorbell or driving up the wrong driveway, many people may be surprised to learn that the individuals pulling the trigger may not be held criminally liable for their actions if they are in a state with a relaxed form of a little-studied criminal law defense called the defense of habitation that allows homeowners and others to use deadly force in defense of their homes, cars, and workplaces, even if they are not being threatened with deadly force. This Article examines the defense of habitation and issues of accountability arising from the use of deadly force by homeowners and others who can utilize this defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a breadth of U.S. scholarship on gangs/gang violence exists, there is currently scant research about the psychological/indoctrination processes used to transform civilians into gang members, especially from a Canadian perspective. To address this gap in the literature this article draws on the military scholarship relating to intense indoctrination to (a) inform our understanding of how youth are psychologically transformed/indoctrinated into a street/gang life, (b) the psychological/traumatic impact of such indoctrination, and (c) the role street indoctrination plays in young people's capacity to survive a gang life. This article draws on autoethnography to enable the author, a former gang/justice-involved person, to provide an up-close, reflexive, and intimate perspective into "street indoctrination." Such a perspective is often missing from the extant gang scholarship as few formerly gang-involved persons are able to speak about their experiences from the privileged space of academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, Humaniora dan Politik (JIHHP) is the property of Dinasti Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There has been an increased focus on the factors that influence gang continuity given the short- and long-term consequences associated with gang membership. Despite this, Asian gangs—notably the Hmong—have rarely been at the center of these academic inquiries. This is especially troubling given that their cultural and historical profile provides a unique vantage point for assessing how culture, diaspora, and immigration affect social deviance and crime. Considering these empirical gaps, the current study examines the motivations associated with gang persistence by analyzing life history interviews and ethnographic observations among a sample of 34 current and former Hmong gang members in the United States. Emergent themes suggest that brother love, perceptions of power, and a sense of obligation ensnare individuals in gang life for extended periods of time, with notable geographic and cultural distinctions. These findings highlight important avenues for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the online behavior of Canadian street gang members on X (formerly known as "Twitter"), Facebook, and YouTube. As scholarly Western inquiries have predominantly focused on American and British street gangs, their presentation of online recruitment often differs. Law enforcement and journalists claim that street gangs have begun using social media platforms explicitly to search for and recruit new members. Certain scholarly publications have also suggested that a small minority of street gangs utilize social media to recruit new participants; however, they do not provide ample context to describe what this looks like online. Others argue that while cyberbanging – online gang content and propaganda – can be found online, some of this content can act as indirect recruitment, as it promotes gang lifestyles to the outside observer. To examine the use of cyberbanging and the indirect recruitment it inspires, the present study examines 59 social media user profiles linked to Canadian street gang members (23 Twitter users and 36 Facebook users), along with 10 YouTube rap videos produced by street gang members, to assess the online behavior of these particular social media users. The results suggest that the most prominent type of cyberbanging content is the promotion of gang ideologies, with a clear presence of indirect recruitment techniques observed, such as displaying drugs, weapons, money, and illegal gains, boasting of facets of gang lifestyles, and other propaganda. This content, while considered cyberbanging, blurs the line between content defined as cyberbanging and that of online recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious groups and street gangs typically exhibit contrasting cultural systems that produce different behavioral consequences, especially relating to crime and violence. This study introduces and develops the isolated and integrated affiliation models to explain the potential intersection of gang membership and religious affiliation. The isolated affiliation model predicts that gang membership and personal religiosity are incompatible affiliations and will not overlap. The integrated affiliation model predicts that individuals can simultaneously embrace and negotiate gang and religious affiliations even when they seem opposed to each other. Using Add Health data, this study examines the intersection between religiosity, youth gang membership, and violence. Findings indicate that gang members do report being religious, although they are significantly less religious than non-gang peers on three of the four individual measures of religiosity, with a marginally significant difference on the overall religiosity scale. Among the full sample, religiosity is inversely associated with violence while gang membership is positively associated with violence. Among a gang-only subsample, personal religiosity is inversely related to the prevalence but not the extent of violence. These findings provide insight into potential role and identity conflicts experienced by religious youth gang members. Seemingly oppositional affiliations can overlap with religious life, influencing some forms of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the lived experiences of former gang members in Cebu City. Specifically, it determined the following: experiences of the informants as former gang members, including the reasons why they join, stay and leave the group and the impact of gang membership of the informants as former gang members. This study employed a qualitative method of research employing a phenomenological approach that involves qualitative analysis and assessment of themes derived from semistructured interviews and follow up questions has been made and with an aid with interview guide, observation and exploring the lived experiences of former gang members. The study was conducted in highly urbanized cities, namely Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City and Talisay City. A purposive convenient sampling was employed to select the informants. There were fourteen (14) informants in the study. Fifteen (6) emergent themes were created. For the experiences of former gang members on reasons why they join the gang, three themes emerged, namely: Personal Safety, Peer pressure, and lastly, Broken Homes. For the reasons why they stay in the gang, two themes emerged, namely: Give and Earn Money, The Thug Lifestyle, and More Fun and Happiness. For the reasons why they leave the group, three themes emerged, namely: Family and Job Responsibilities, Realization to Have a Happy and Peaceful life; and In-group Rivalry. Regarding the impact of gang membership and the positive experiences of the informants as former gang members, three themes emerged: A sense of Belongingness, Develop Respect and Trust, and School Achiever. Regarding the negative experiences, three themes emerged: Gang War and Violence, Crime Involvement, and Incarceration. The community must create and sustain a collaborative process for working toward a community free of gang membership and violence. This includes providing a clearinghouse for information on resources, strategies, services, best practices, and funding to prevent, intervene and suppress gang violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We applied Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to responses to items from the Activism and Radicalism Intentions Scales (ARIS). In two studies (undergraduates n = 530) and prisoners (n = 670), item profiles identified four groups – Inert, Moderate Activists, Strong Activists, Radicals, and Mixed – that confirm and extend the levels of the Action Pyramid of the Two Pyramids Model of Radicalization. Radicals were a higher proportion of prisoners than undergraduate respondents (20% vs. 12%), and, among prisoners, Radicals were more likely than other groups to be gang members. The distinction between Moderate and Strong Activists is a surprising addition to the literature of political radicalization, and we suggest in the Discussion that the study of Activists, and comparison of Activists and Radicals for the same cause, deserve more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a change in the Danish gang milieu in 2008, where ethnic minority street gangs challenged the established outlaw motorcycle gangs, the Danish government has formulated three anti-gang policy 'packages'. To unfold the development they represent to Nordic penology, this article analyses elements of both penal exceptionalism and excess. In this article, it is shown how the packages are based on the notion of gang membership as a choice, which legitimated the development of a parallel justice system for gang members. This foundation is built upon a gang-specific subsection that allows for the doubling of gang-related sentences and for restricting prisoner rights and traditional rehabilitative treatment for gang-related convicts. The packages, however, maintained 'a way out' for gang members who voluntarily entered a formal EXIT program, and thus gained access to traditional penal treatment and also support for leaving the gang milieu. It is argued that the packages represent a development of intended bifurcation based on status differentiation between citizen groups, a process also observed in regard to Danish anti-ghetto policies. Thus, rather than resembling a general turn to punitiveness, the packages indicate a penological development based on penal differentiation, which raises questions about access to justice for those found wanting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What happens to the gang ties of people when they leave prison and return to the community? There is much speculation but little empirical research concerning carceral gang spillover, which refers to the reproduction of prison gang associations, identities, politics, and structures in communities. This study examined continuity and change in gang embeddedness in a representative sample of 802 men in Texas interviewed in prison and reinterviewed twice upon release. Based on a series of multilevel models this study arrived at four main conclusions. First, prisons are a vector of gang activity. Embeddedness in gangs dropped markedly after release from prison and continued to recede with temporal distance from prison. Second, the residue of imprisonment was moderated by pre-release gang status. Negative linear trends were stronger for active gang members and weaker for former and never gang members. Third, a temporary surge in gang identification occurred for active and former gang members despite continued declines in gang associations, reflecting a behavioral-cognitive decoupling. Finally, the types of groups with which prisoners affiliated contoured trajectories of gang embeddedness. The declining significance of gangs with prisoner reentry opens productive lines of inquiry on carceral gang spillover and offers policy and practice guidance concerning reentering populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala), gang violence, particularly against women, girls, and LGBTQ+ persons, results in gross violations of human rights and is a major driver of forced displacement Gang members systematically use gender-based violence, including rape, femicide, kidnapping, sexual slavery, and persecution of LGBTQ+ persons, to exert territorial control over the local population. However, the international community has failed to recognize both the severity and systemic nature Of gender-based violence by gang members. This Note-whichfocuseson El Salvador, but has implications for the rest of the Northern Triangle countries-argues that gender-based violence by transnational gangs should be considered crimes against humanity under international criminal law because it constitutes a widespread systematic attack against the civilian population. Furthermore, this Note identifies concrete steps the international community can take to hold gang leaders individually responsible for gender-based violence not only in El Salvador, but in Honduras and Guatemala as well. The International Criminal Court should individually prosecute gang leaders for crimes against humanity. In addition, the UN Human Rights Council should establish an independent international fact-finding mission on gender-based violence by gang members in the Northern Triangle countries. Finally, this Note considers the potential ramifications under the Draft articles on Prevention and Punishment Of Crimes Against Humanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a keynote address that honors the life and work of John Hagedorn, a prominent figure in critical criminology. The speaker discusses Hagedorn's contributions to critical gang studies and shares personal anecdotes about their relationship. Hagedorn's work focused on challenging stereotypes and examining the social, economic, and political contexts of gang subcultures. He emphasized the importance of understanding and addressing the prevailing conditions in marginalized communities, and advocated for collaborative research methodologies. The document also highlights Hagedorn's commitment to humanism and his critique of the criminalizing projections of the social control industry. The text discusses John's work as a criminologist, including his critique of welfare services and his role as an expert witness in court cases. John believes that the criminal justice system can be improved through solid social scientific evidence and empathetic interviews. His work also focuses on the global impact of capitalism and neoliberal policies on marginalized communities, particularly in relation to gangs and crime. The text emphasizes the importance of continuing John's work and advocating for social justice. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Although California school discipline policy changes over the past decade have resulted in significant drops in suspension rates, scholars have found that racial disproportionality in punitive discipline persists for Black, Indigenous, and at times Latinx students. This study utilizes racial capitalism as an analytical framework to examine the mechanisms and justifications for racially disproportionate discipline across three distinct California political economies. Research Methods/Approach: Drawing on a subset of qualitative comparative case study data of five schools taken from a larger 5-year study of 31 schools in 17 California districts with distinct racial and economic composition, we investigate the phenomena of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx student disposability—those who continue to experience exclusion in a time of progressive school discipline reform. Findings: We find that (1) student disposability through discipline was not only intertwined with dominant local narratives about racial groups but also tied to a larger system of racial capitalism reliant on the racialized differentiation of students within every geographical location, and (2) when progressive alternative approaches to discipline fail, these reforms uncover rooted antiblackness, anti-indigeneity, and a gang imaginary such that students who fail or refuse to assimilate to the underlying labor-sorting function of US schools are considered disposable. Implications: Our findings highlight the need to center and elevate disposable youth brilliance in decision making, the importance of building collective movements against racial capitalism's grip on schools, and the obligation to build education beyond racial capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is it possible to disengage from street gangs in communities and districts where gang organizations rule? We argue that disengagement is possible when this process does not alter the social order that allows street gangs to continue controlling and establishing the rules that govern economic activities and relationships in the barrios they control. We explore the process of gang disengagement under criminal governance in El Salvador, a country plagued by the powerful MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs. We conducted a survey with nearly 1,200 people with a history of gang membership and 25 in-depth interviews with former gang members. We find that disengagement through religious conversion allows the gang to continue exerting power over the deserters, while at the same time enforcing religious commitment to the congregation. The religious community provides the normative framework that reassures the gang that its former associates will not act against it, consolidating its local authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer aggression is a multifactorial problem and brings several consequences, among the above is school dropout. The family, community and school are related to the perception of violence and rol that students assume in an episode of violence, though bystander rol is one that has not been studied from its act, which is very important to take into account because there are different types of bystanders and that they can be contradictory in their actions, for example, encouraging bystander who helps the aggressor in an episode of violence, and defender bystander who helps the victim stopping the episode of violence. The aim was to analyze the effect of family cohesion, community attachment and school democracy on the perception of violence according to the bystander role, taking a count encouraging bystander and defender bystander. The present study is non-experimental, cross-sectional and quantitative with an explanatory scope. A sample of 1695 high school students was formed by random cluster technique. Of the sample, 873 (51.5 %) were women and 822 (48.5 %) were men and the age range between 13 and 15 years old. Six instruments were applied: general data questionnaire, FACES III, school life, neighborhood assets, prosocial behavior and school violence perception. About the results, Pearson's correlation analyzes were performed. as well as descriptive analyzes with mean and standard deviation. To get the encouraging bystander role and defender bystander role, cluster analyzes were performed taking into account the bystander, aggressor and prosocial behavior variables. Three moderation models were carried out with independent variable as family cohesion, community attachment and school democracy; dependent variable as school violence perception; and moderator variable as the type of bystander. The results showed that there is no moderation effect in the family cohesion model (β = -.04; p = .46), but the effects suggested that there is an important difference between encouraging bystander and defender bystander. The models of attachment to the community and school democracy obtained a relevant moderation effect (β = -.19; p < .00 and β = -. 15; p < .00), though the conditional effect of community attachment (β = -.07; p = .00) reflected that while the value of said variable increases, the value of encouraging bystander also increases, thus another moderation model was carried out to clarify the results of the community attachment model where the independent variable was the question "¿Do any of your friends belong to a gang?"; dependent variable was community attachment; and moderator variable remained the type of bystander. The results of the last moderation model showed a very strong moderation effect (β = -.27; p < .04) and the conditional effect (β = .24; p = .04) suggested that, for encouraging bystanders, if they have friends who belong to a gang, they increase their community attachment level, clarifying the previous results. Based on the difference found, it was concluded that the family is a relevant factor to explain peer aggression. Some findings were obtained from the obtained results. Firstly, the difference that may exist between the bystanders was verified as well as the difference effects that each socialization context can have on the type of bystander that this is, nevertheless the family cohesion is equally important regardless of the type of role, since this variable decreases the level of perception of violence in schools, regardless of the role assumed by a student. Another thing to note was the community factor, it should be studied in greater depth, since gang activity is an ambivalent factor that predicts the aggressor or encouraging bystander, but also attachment to the community is a factor that is related to the bystander defender, that is because the gang activity is related with the attachment between gang members generating affective cohesion and identifying a place as one's own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article details a cutting-edge Knowledge Exchange initiative which advanced the ongoing partnership between the University of Hull and HMP Hull, and stemmed from the annual BAAS conference, held in Hull in April 2022. The purpose of the article is to explore the value of critiquing US culture in a nonacademic setting and the extent to which a prison reading group presents a productive opportunity for so doing. Our research analyses the reception of a number of texts discussed in an American-themed book club hosted in HMP Hull, with a particular focus upon the responses of prison learners to the literary works of gang-member-turned-best-selling-author Luis J. Rodriguez. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited understanding of how socioeconomic status, gang membership, and their interaction predicts the development of firearm carrying. The Pathways to Desistance data were analyzed. Group-based trajectory modeling identified heterogeneity in patterns of firearm carrying. Multinomial logistic regression examined socioeconomic status and gang membership as predictive of development. A seven-group firearm carrying model best fit the data. Gang membership predicted increased risk of assignment to the Low Chronic, Adolescence Limited, and High Chronic groups. Socioeconomic status did not exert a significant direct effect on group assignment. The interaction between socioeconomic status and gang membership was significant and negative for the High Chronic group. Gang members with higher socioeconomic status presented the highest risk of high chronic firearm carrying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the case of female senior high school gang members of T. National Agricultural School. The study involved eight (8) identified participants using Snowball sampling. Inductive Thematic Analysis was used in the study to analyze responses from the participants. The research aims to understand why female senior high school students join gangs, how their membership affects their lives, and the valuable lessons they get from the experience. With the use of thematic analysis, three themes were generated, namely: (1) Reasons for Joining a Gang, (2) Effects of Joining a Gang, and (3) Life Lessons and Reflections. Theme 1 generated two (2) sub-themes, which are: "peer influence and peer pressure" and "lack of psychosocial and emotional support from family." For theme 2, the following two (2) sub-themes were generated: "distraction to studies" and "putting life in danger." Lastly, for theme 3, generated one (1) sub-theme, which is "learning it the hard way." It is highly recommended that schools, community leaders, and parents work hand-in-hand in solving societal issues such as the involvement of female students in gang-related activities, which lead them to a disadvantageous situation in their lives and studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spurred by the success of public health violence interventions, and accelerated by policy pressure to reduce violence without exacerbating overpolicing and mass incarceration, streetwork programs—those that provide anti‐violence services by neighborhood‐based workers who perform their work beyond the walls of parochial institutions—have positioned themselves as the most important non–law‐enforcement violence prevention option available to urban policy makers. Yet despite their importance, the state of the field seems difficult to interpret for academics and practitioners alike. In this article, we make several contributions that bring forth new findings and deliver new perspectives on streetwork as a violence reduction strategy. First, we offer an extended analytic review of the streetwork evaluation literature that connects the study of contemporary public health violence interventions to a preceding tradition of criminologically inspired streetwork studies. Second, we present the results of an impact evaluation of StreetSafe Boston (SSB)—a multiyear streetwork intervention that served 20 Boston gangs. We find that the SSB intervention had no detectable effect on violence among the gangs that it served. We conclude by offering a framework for understanding a field at multiple crossroads: past and present, proclaimed successes and failures, help and harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutionalized gangs are youth groups that have developed the ability to persist, expand, and restructure organizationally around criminal activities and have imposed their norms and behavioral prescriptions on the communities where they operate. So how does a gang member manage to leave these groups and abandon violent crime? This article proposes a new theoretical model of gang disengagement based on a comparative case study with MS‐13 and Barrio 18 gangs in Central America. It is based on 112 in‐depth interviews with former gang members in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The article identifies three forms of gang disengagement: religious conversion, secular pass, and walking away. Two factors, the gang's organizational structure and its territorial reach, mediate in the choices gang members have when leaving an institutionalized gang. The specific combination of these factors makes some disengagement modes more likely than others. The article underscores the role of gang governance in shaping gang members' disengagement processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gangs are widely considered major contributors to the high levels of violence afflicting Latin America, including in particular Central America. At the same time, however, the vast majority of individuals who join a gang will also leave it and, it is assumed, become less violent. Having said this, the mechanisms underlying this 'desistance' process are not well understood, and nor are the determinants of individuals' post-gang trajectories, partly because gang desistance tends to be seen as an event rather than a process. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research carried out in barrio Luis Fanor Hernández, a poor neighbourhood in Nicaragua's capital city Managua, and more specifically a set of 'archetypal' gang member life histories that illustrate the occupational options open to former gang members, this article offers a longitudinal perspective on desistance and its consequences, with specific reference to the determinants of individuals' continued engagement with violence (or not). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that gang-associated youth are less likely to complete high school and earn a postsecondary educational credential. However, scholars have not determined "why" gang youth do not persist into higher education. This ethnographic study aims to focus on the narratives of 13 Latino high school young men to understand what college knowledge they possess. We found the students have aspirations to pursue postsecondary education degrees or credentials; however, they receive minimal information and support from school personnel to build the needed college-going behaviors and information to plan and prepare for higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the nexus between crime and Islamic State (ISIS) terrorism in America. It highlights trends in the criminal history of all federal ISIS defendants and deceased perpetrators in America, and evaluates whether crime was integral to a plot's funding or logistics. While less pronounced than in Europe, a prevalence of prior violent crimes is evident, although plot-relevant crime was generally perpetrated by those without criminal history. It explores how gangs and prison impact defendant radicalization and mobilization, finding that gang members often left gang life upon radicalization, and while rare, prison inmates were radicalized by non-isolated terrorist inmates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some ethnographic research suggests that the criminogenic effect of gang membership may not be invariant over time, yet this possibility has gone untested despite the expansive body of research on potential moderators of gang involvement. This research used nine years of self-report data from high school students in Massachusetts (N = 22,120) to explore whether the effect of gang membership on delinquency was moderated over the survey period: 2001 to 2017. The dependent variables included physical fighting, weapon and gun carrying, and drug use and access. The findings suggest that the effect of gang membership on physical fighting and weapon carrying significantly weakened toward the end of the survey period, although this dissipation was not gradual or linear over the survey period. The implications of these findings are discussed with the aim of identifying future avenues of research that could be completed to further examine the role of time period on gang membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with a history of gang membership face unique difficulties when transitioning out of gang participation and to alternative work. This transition can be of personal and social benefit but requires support to ensure that it is successful. Unfortunately, vocational supports for former gang members often overlook the psychological perspectives that are necessary for their career well-being. Our aim is to shed light on the common barriers former gang members face during their career transition, exploring the socio-environmental factors, identity development, and discrimination that many former gang members must overcome in a North American context. We also review major theories that promote the career well-being of former gang members and provide recommendations for counselling interventions to support their career transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "gang" label has been so highly racialized that white people who selfidentify as gang members are almost never categorized as "gang members" by law enforcement, while Black and Latino people who are not gang members are routinely labeled and targeted as if they were. Different rules attach to people under criminal law once they are labeled gang members, yet this two-track system is justified under the guise that the racially disparate treatment is legitimate because of gang association. This Article takes one concrete example--culturally specific tattoos--and unmasks how racial markers are used to attach the gang label. Specifically, I describe examples of how tattoos symbolizing Chicano cultural identity are used to categorize people as gang members. I discuss four types of tattoos that represent important aspects of Mexican-American identity, but that are regularly used to define people as gang members. Specifically, I discuss how tattoos and symbols of people's racial identities or places of origin, such as "Mexicano" or "Brown Pride," have been used as evidence of gang membership. I also describe the use of tattoos that depict Aztec or Mayan imagery, as well as tattoos of Catholic religious symbolism. The Article then builds on scholarship in the field of Critical Race Studies to criticize the current construction of the law, which keeps racially disparate treatment entrenched. Here, I rely on academic literature about tattoos to explain how central tattoos are to people's identities, and to argue that the law should evolve to acknowledge disparate impact claims in the absence of evidence of discriminatory intent, and to recognize discriminatory intent when it is masked behind language that legitimizes discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks afresh at the notion of the British–Indian colonial state as an 'ethnographic state', as formulated by Nicholas Dirks. It does so through a case study of gangs of 'foreign Asiatic vagrants' whose forays into British India during the last decades of the nineteenth century created panic among colonial officials and further argues that such panic was due to the difficulty of identifying the members of these gangs. Ethnography proved of little help in the process, as the people involved did not easily fit into the disciplinary grid of colonial ethnography, with its preference for settled communities neatly divided into discrete castes over semi-nomadic groups with shifting habits and habitats. The resulting uncertainties translated themselves into a kind of bureaucratic anarchy, as various officials took different views of the nature and composition of these groups. Eventually, their mobilities were controlled through police measures, with no significant contribution from ethnographic knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a strong consensus among scholars that modern society is elite-driven. However, the pattern of migration from the non-political elite class to achieving elitism is chaotically fragmented, distorted, and lacks uniformity across societies. Therefore, this study is an attempt towards redefining and rethinking the patterns of the emergence and operation of the political elite class in a corrupt, underdeveloped, and poverty-stricken society. 'Criminal government gang theory of governance' was conceived and developed as a theory for the explanation, analysis, and prediction of how politicoadministrative leaders emerge and consolidate power and wealth in a corrupt Nigerian state through elite gang-ups. A qualitative survey was adopted to demonstrate the patterns of the emergence and operation of the structure of the criminal leadership network that was discovered to operate under four models used as a descriptive-analytical framework for the study. The findings revealed among other things that criminal government gang theory of governance is often the basis for recruitment into sensitive and juicy elective posts/appointments in Nigeria. This is because merit, character, competence, and capacity to deliver based on good track records are jettisoned, and thus, elections are mere gimmicks to ratify the already preselected members of the elite gangs through a criminalized backdoor process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gang involvement and delinquency are prominent issues frequently examined in criminal justice scholarship. Research has revealed that gang involvement increases the likelihood of delinquency/crime, and that youth participate in gangs for a variety of reasons including protection, status, and a sense of belonging. Although research has found that various social and familial factors increase the probability of gang involvement, it primarily focuses on males, and little work has compared how a youth's primary caregiver influences the likelihood of gang involvement among both male and female gang members. The current study uses school level data to examine gang involvement and primary caregiver type among male and female youth. The results identify significant differences in gang involvement among boys and girls when examining primary caretaker. The findings have implications for theory and programming in connection with youth gang involvement for both boys and girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]