s (1998) reported that the nature and extent of female gang membership has been a neglected area of study, due to tendencies for male researchers focused on male gang members. Even descriptions of female gang members have been based on male gang member comments that are interpreted by male researchers. Females in gangs have been described as tomboys or sex objects that instigate fights between rival gangs. While there are an increasing number of female criminologists that are studying female gangs, most rely on one geographic area and yield inconsistent findings.
Thus, research findings point to the possibility that female gang membership is increasing, but current statistics are lacking. Conflicting information states that juvenile crime is decreasing. However, despite this decrease there is an increase in the number of females carrying weapons. In addition, there are multiple theories used separately to explain gang membership, yielding a lack of consensus. There is a gap of knowledge related to possible increases in female gang membership and reasons for this affiliation.
The problem is that a study is needed to determine if indeed there is an increase in female gang membership in Georgia public middle schools and possible reasons for this increase. While studies show an increase in gangs and an increase in female gang membership, few researchers have investigated this phenomenon. Research statistics have demonstrated that, overall, juvenile crime has decreased, however it also pointed out that there is an increase in female use of weapons. While it remains unclear whether female gang membership is actually increasing or decreasing, it is predicted that it is increasing since studies lean in this direction. Further, since there are several theories used to explain gang membership and in particular female gang membership, but these theories have not been combined, reasons for this affiliation remain unclear. A ...