Female Gang Activity in Georgia

This study examines the female gang activity in Georgia's public middle schools. Gordon, Lahey, Kawai, and Loeber (2004) reported that gang membership is a social problem that has increased in the last decade along with associated delinquency. For example, gang-related homicides have become a larger proportion of the total population of homicides. Gangs have also expanded to include more geographical locations. At one time gangs were restricted to only a few of the largest cities, but gangs are now found in mid-size cities and non-metropolitan areas as well. Even a brief membership in a gang can expose a youth to a heightened risk of delinquency.

Hunt, Joe-Laidler, and Evans (2002) reported national estimates of 28,700 youth gangs and 780,200 gang members in the United States (according to latest estimates of the National Youth Gang Survey). Young women are now involved in gangs in increasingly large numbers. It is estimated that females now represent between 20% and 46% of gang membership. Females are becoming more visible in their actions and represent the challenge to traditional gender roles. Relative to the information known about male gang membership, findings related to female gang membership are lacking.

Earlier studies (Molidor, 1996) pointed out that criminal behavior by female gang members increased over the prior two decades and had become more common. These statistics were based on teenage crime com

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ns such as a female being faced with a violent environment, their feelings of lack of control, their success and failure regarding attempts to protect themselves, and the impact of their abilities. According to this theory, the female who lives in poverty in a dangerous neighborhood, who is unable to protect herself, would be more inclined toward gang membership. A fourth theory used to explain female gang membership in particular is the bad girl femininity theory (Joe-Laidler & Hunt, 2001). This theory states that female gang membership is an effort to challenge normative gender roles, which are typically feminine. According to this theory females are not attempting to become more masculine, they are trying to construct a new type of femininity. Female gang membership and violence displays a kind of feminine toughness. In this case gang status and a bad street reputation would equal power for girls, which would overcome that found in the patriarchal society in which they reside (Joe-Laidler & Hunt, 2001). According to the bad girl femininity theory, female gang members continue to participate in feminine activities such as talking and pride in appearance, and they typically work in jobs that are feminine such as babysi

Category: Psychology - F