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0000004931 00000 n Understanding why and how gang members leave their gang has important consequences for policymakers, law enforcement, and the juvenile justice system. 0000202323 00000 n Imagine two children, both with the exact same risk factors for joining a gang. 0000100648 00000 n 0000124335 00000 n They were also half as likely to graduate from high school.Gilman hopes the study will motivate schools and communities to develop and implement research-based strategies to prevent children from joining gangs, in the hopes of not only reducing crime, but increasing graduation rates and reducing physical and mental health costs.Hill said everyone can be involved in gang prevention in their own way, by reducing the 23 variables shown to be risk factors. 0000058856 00000 n If you’re a community member, be involved in kids’ lives.

0000004037 00000 n < 0000018868 00000 n 0000000016 00000 n As teenagers, one joins a gang, the other doesn’t. A member may attempt to leave the gang but be unable to do so when threatened by rival gangs, who may not know or care about the youth's attempt to end his gang involvement. The average age of joining a gang was just under 15 years old. Increases in gang ties is increases risk for both victimization and offending Implications for policy: It is not just length of time since leaving the gang, it is reduced ties – social and emotional – to gang networks that reduces victimization Leaving a Gang.

0000210525 00000 n 0000002300 00000 n Even though the first teen eventually leaves the gang, years later he or she is not only at significantly higher risk of being incarcerated and receiving illegal income, but is also less likely to have finished high school and more likely to be in poor health, receiving government assistance or struggling with drug abuse.University of Washington researchers have found that joining a gang in adolescence has significant consequences in adulthood beyond criminal behavior, even after a person leaves the gang. Reducing the length of time individuals are in a gang would result in lower rates of offending and victimization, not to mention both the collateral and direct costs of imprisonment ( Clear, Rose, & Ryder, … %PDF-1.4 %âãÏÓ Researchers measured three areas of adult functioning at age 33: illegal behavior, education and occupational attainment, and physical and mental health.Those who joined a gang in adolescence were nearly three times more likely between ages 27 and 33 to report committing a crime, more than three times more likely to receive income from illegal sources, and more than twice as likely to have been incarcerated in the previous year.Former gang members also were nearly three times more likely to have drug-abuse issues, were almost twice as likely to say they were in poor health, and twice as likely to be receiving public assistance. 0000112642 00000 n 0000082008 00000 n xref 0000059705 00000 n The research is published in … In the worst cases, though, gang members are threatened with death if they leave the gang.

We can’t solve all of the risks kids are exposed to alone, but we can if we work together,” he said.This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant numbers R01DA003721, R01DA009679 and R01DA024411-03-04), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant 21548), and the National Institute on Mental Health (grant 5 T32 MH20010).If you're trying to subscribe with a non-UW email address, please email Negative effects of joining a gang last long after gang membership ends 0000208182 00000 n 0000058287 00000 n 0000143217 00000 n trailer 0000047720 00000 n 0000057666 00000 n 0000003826 00000 n 0000011268 00000 n 0000059083 00000 n 0000136847 00000 n 0000142571 00000 n 0000037735 00000 n 0000004149 00000 n 340 0 obj <> endobj The vast majority had left a long time ago, but the consequences stuck with them long-term,” Gilman said.Researchers used 23 risk factors to calculate a child’s propensity for joining a gang, and then compared 173 youth who had joined a gang with 173 who did not but showed a similar propensity for doing so, so that the only difference between the two groups was gang membership. 0000059963 00000 n 0000038065 00000 n

340 52 0000001362 00000 n 0000037361 00000 n 0000149760 00000 n 0000071832 00000 n The research is published in the “It turns out that, like violence, gang membership is as much a public health problem as a criminal justice problem,” said “Very few of them reported still being in a gang at age 27. It also has been acted upon by street gangs, and in some cases, gang members who attempted to leave the gang have been threatened, assaulted, and even killed. 0000149499 00000 n Former gang members have shared a number of reasons for wanting to leave a gang, including fear of personal injury, imprisonment, or death; anticipation of sibling involvement; and the birth of a child. No one in this study reported joining a gang after the age of 19, and the majority (60 percent) were in a gang for three years or less.The 23 variables used to match the groups included individual factors such as antisocial beliefs, alcohol and marijuana use, violent behavior and hyperactivity; family factors such as poverty, family structure, sibling behavior and parent pro-violent attitudes; school factors such as academic aspiration and achievement; neighborhood factors such as the availability of marijuana and neighborhood kids in trouble; and whether the child associated with friends who engaged in problem behaviors. 0000001971 00000 n 0000060599 00000 n 0000155313 00000 n