TY - JOUR
T1 - Predictors of Gang Membership
T2 - Variations Across Grade Levels
AU - Farmer, Antoinette Y.
AU - Hairston, Timothy
N1 - Funding Information:
An earlier version of this article was presented at the 16th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research Conference in Washington, DC. We would like to thank Drs. Gary Bowen and David Huizinga for their helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Timothy Hairston, Jr., was supported by an internship from Project L/EARN, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (#60184).
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - The current study examined the predictors of gang membership for adolescents in Grades 6 through 12. A secondary data analysis of the School Success Profile was conducted, using a sample of 19,079 students. The predictors across grade levels varied, with the 6th through 8th graders having the most risk factors and the 9th through 12th graders having the fewest risk factors. The majority of the risk factors for the 6th through 8th graders and the 9th through 12th graders were individual-level risk factors. Additionally, some predictors were consistent across grade levels. These predictors were being African American, being male, having a parent or close family member die within the last year, receiving an in-school suspension, having low self-esteem, receiving free lunch, being rejected by one's peers, perceiving one's neighborhood as unsafe, and repeating a grade. Implications of these results for developing specific grade-level interventions are discussed. Future research should include other variables identified in the literature besides those examined in this investigation to determine if they are associated with gang membership across grade levels.
AB - The current study examined the predictors of gang membership for adolescents in Grades 6 through 12. A secondary data analysis of the School Success Profile was conducted, using a sample of 19,079 students. The predictors across grade levels varied, with the 6th through 8th graders having the most risk factors and the 9th through 12th graders having the fewest risk factors. The majority of the risk factors for the 6th through 8th graders and the 9th through 12th graders were individual-level risk factors. Additionally, some predictors were consistent across grade levels. These predictors were being African American, being male, having a parent or close family member die within the last year, receiving an in-school suspension, having low self-esteem, receiving free lunch, being rejected by one's peers, perceiving one's neighborhood as unsafe, and repeating a grade. Implications of these results for developing specific grade-level interventions are discussed. Future research should include other variables identified in the literature besides those examined in this investigation to determine if they are associated with gang membership across grade levels.
KW - Gang membership
KW - grade levels
KW - predictors
KW - variations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84881669945&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84881669945&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01488376.2013.799112
DO - 10.1080/01488376.2013.799112
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84881669945
SN - 0148-8376
VL - 39
SP - 530
EP - 544
JO - Journal of Social Service Research
JF - Journal of Social Service Research
IS - 4
ER -