This study examines the female gang activity in Georgia's public middle schools. Gordon, Lahey, Kawai,áand Loeberá(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 committed by girls, which implies female gang membership. Although female teenage crime increased more than 50 percent from 1968 to 1974, little research into female gang membership took place. More recently, violence in schools has decreased, however there was an increase in the percentage of female students who carried a weapon to school from 1999 to 2001 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003), implying the continued need to empirically study female gang membership.
Esbensen and Deschene...