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The nature of gang spawning communities: African American gangs in Compton, CA: 1960-2013
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The nature of gang spawning communities: African American gangs in Compton, CA: 1960-2013
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Content
The Nature of Gang Spawning Communities:
African American Gangs in Compton, CA: 1960 – 2013
by
Aubrey Relf
University of Southern California
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SOL PRICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF POLICY , PLANNING, AND DEVELOPMENT
May 2014
The Nature of Gang Spawning ii
Abstract
African American gangs have existed in Compton since the late 1960s, policy makers, scholars,
and residents have sought to understand why certain communities remain vulnerable to gang
persistence. This study investigated factors that have possibly contributed to this persistence in
Compton, CA during 1960 to 2013. The study used a qualitative research design and facilitated
semi-structured interviews with twelve people, age twenty to seventy, who lived in Compton for
at least 20 years. The analysis revealed that gangs persisted because several youth adopted an
identity that glorified the gangster culture, the influx of drugs which: fractured family structures,
enflamed gang warfare, and provided illegal means of economic growth. Moreover, as gang wars
evolved from fistfights to drive-by shootings, they enhanced community exposure to violence and
elicited retaliation that has contributed to gang persistence. Overall, from a community structural
vantage point, marginalization, poverty, crack cocaine, and a lack of jobs facilitated a place where
gangs and crime may thrive.
The Nature of Gang Spawning iii
Table of Contents
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1
Importance of the Study ............................................................................................................ 2
Purpose ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Central Question ....................................................................................................................... 5
Design ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Participants ................................................................................................................................ 5
Key Concepts ............................................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2: Life Course and Human Development: Conceptual Consierations .............................. 8
Life-Course Perspective .............................................................................................................8
Gangs in Life Course Perspective ............................................................................................. 9
Adolescent Brain Development .............................................................................................. 11
Adolescent Development and the Ecological View.................................................................14
Ecological View .......................................................................................................................14
Chapter 3: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 17
Structure of the Literature Review .......................................................................................... 17
Life-Course Trejectory ........................................................................................................... 17
Antecendant Factors to Gange Joining ................................................................................... 18
Never joining .................................................................................................................... 18
Ecoloical View and African gang joining ......................................................................... 18
Gang Persistance ..................................................................................................................... 19
The Nature of Gang Spawning iv
Gang Persistance: Life – Course, Human Development, and Gang Persistence .................... 19
Rochestor study ................................................................................................................. 19
What Happens Before and During Gang Membership ............................................................23
Individual level behand gang joining and participation .................................................... 23
The Middle Period of Active Gang Membership; Group Procces .......................................... 25
Human Developent Approach to Understand Youth Violence ............................................. 27
Social Disorganization Theory Within Ecological View ....................................................... 28
Human Developmental to Investigate Antecendant Risk Factors .......................................... 34
Individual level ................................................................................................................. 34
Family level ...................................................................................................................... 35
Peer ................................................................................................................................... 35
School ............................................................................................................................... 35
Risk Factor Studies ................................................................................................................. 36
Cumulative Risk Factors ......................................................................................................... 36
Domain Based Model ............................................................................................................. 37
Limitations of Risk Factor Studies ......................................................................................... 38
Protective Factors and Family Level Risk Factors ................................................................. 38
Child Development, Parenting, and Gangs ............................................................................. 39
Family Process as Risk Factors to Gang Joining .................................................................... 39
Family Protective Factors: Why Some Never Join Gangs? .................................................... 40
Resilience .......................................................................................................................... 40
Protective factors .............................................................................................................. 42
Family conformance and deviance ....................................................................................42
The Nature of Gang Spawning v
Community Vulnerability by Social Determinants: Place and Race ...................................... 44
Boys and Men of Color in California ..................................................................................... 44
Disparities Within a Social Determinant Context ................................................................... 47
Community: Why Do Some Neighborhoods Experience More Violance Than Others Do? . 51
Why Do Gangs Persist in Certain Areas: Urbanization, Identity, Econmy ............................ 55
Gangs around the Globe and Urbanization ............................................................................. 55
Resistance Identities ............................................................................................................... 56
The Underground Economy .................................................................................................... 58
Racialization of Gangs ............................................................................................................ 60
Community Structural Factors: Restrictive Covenants .......................................................... 61
Conclusion of Literature Review ............................................................................................ 62
Gap in Literature ..................................................................................................................... 63
Chapter 4: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 64
The Qualitative Research Design ........................................................................................... 64
Setting and Participation ......................................................................................................... 65
Location ............................................................................................................................ 65
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 66
Data Collection ....................................................................................................................... 68
Questions ................................................................................................................................ 68
Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 69
Ethical Consideration .............................................................................................................. 71
Limitation ................................................................................................................................ 72
The Nature of Gang Spawning vi
Chapter 5: Findings: ..................................................................................................................... 73
When Did African American Gangs Emerge in Compton? ................................................... 73
Compton Gangs in 1968-1970 .................................................................................................73
Why Did African American Gangs Emerge in Compton? ..................................................... 74
Protection From White gangs ........................................................................................... 75
A sense of ownership ........................................................................................................ 75
Poverty and lack of jobs .................................................................................................... 75
It did not seem like a bad thing at the outset .................................................................... 76
Why War Against One Another .............................................................................................. 76
Evolution of Gang Fights and Elements of Gang Persistence ................................................ 78
Fist fight to knives ............................................................................................................ 78
Pistols to automatics ......................................................................................................... 79
Experiences Suring 1980-1990s ............................................................................................. 80
Relevant Findings to Explain Gang Persistence ..................................................................... 81
The influx of crack cocaine .............................................................................................. 81
Sense of identity ................................................................................................................ 84
Rebellion ................................................................................................................................. 84
2000-2013: Change in Community and Gang Operations ..................................................... 85
Consequences of Participating in a Gang ............................................................................... 86
Why Did Some Leave the Gang? ........................................................................................... 87
Experiences With Leaving the Gang ...................................................................................... 87
Why some Chose not to Join a Gang? .................................................................................... 88
Sense of Protection, Role Models, and Goal Setting .............................................................. 88
The Nature of Gang Spawning vii
Challenges to the Community Development in 2013 ............................................................. 90
Conclusion and Findings ........................................................................................................ 90
Chapter 6: Discussion ................................................................................................................... 92
Why Did Gangs Persist? ......................................................................................................... 92
Community Structure ...............................................................................................................92
Race ........................................................................................................................................ 93
Drugs ....................................................................................................................................... 94
Community Process ................................................................................................................ 95
Family ..................................................................................................................................... 96
Fatherless homes and gang persistence ............................................................................ 96
Individual Level Psychology .................................................................................................. 97
Most Critical Factors to Gang Persistence ............................................................................ 100
Revenge .......................................................................................................................... 100
Gangsterism and the Media .................................................................................................. 101
Participants’ Recommendations to Youth Living in High-Risk Areas ................................. 102
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................102
Chapter 7: Recommendations ......................................................................................................104
Citywide Planning Effort: Peace, Unity, Youth Development, and Economic Development ....
................................................................................................................................................104
Recommendation Context ..................................................................................................... 104
Recommendations by Domain .............................................................................................. 104
Individual level ............................................................................................................... 104
Adolescent decision-making ........................................................................................... 105
The Nature of Gang Spawning viii
Adressing Exposure to Violence and Retaliation ................................................................. 107
Communty Process Recomendations .................................................................................... 108
Mobilize comunity .......................................................................................................... 108
Community Structure ............................................................................................................ 109
Target specific economic development plan....................................................................109
Analysis for Economic Development Strategy ..................................................................... 113
Minimize the Institutionalization of Criminality .................................................................. 114
Location Quotient Analysis .................................................................................................. 115
Shift Share Analysis .............................................................................................................. 116
Compton Workforce ............................................................................................................. 117
Target Specific Approach ..................................................................................................... 118
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 119
References ............................................................................................................................. 120
The Nature of Gang Spawning ix
List of Tables
Table 1: Life Lost and Cost .............................................................................................................4
Table 2: Disparity among African American Males: Violence versus Incarceration
........................................................................................................................................................50
Table 3: Participants.....................................................................................................................67
Table 4: Example of Initial Coding Process and Rationale for Joining a Gang: .........................70
Table 5: Final Coding ....................................................................................................................71
Table 6: Non-Gang Member and Gang Member Risk Factor ......................................................99
Table 7: Shift Share Analysis ......................................................................................................116
Table 8: Employment by Industry ...............................................................................................117
The Nature of Gang Spawning x
List of Figures
Figure 1: Gang Related Homicide in Los Angeles 1993-2009 .......................................................3
Figure 2: Location Quotient Analysis: Employment in Industries in LA County ......................115
Figure 3: Industrial Economy Zone Map ....................................................................................118
The Nature of Gang Spawning 1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Scholars used psychological theories of human development to understand certain youth
proclivity to join gangs. Researchers investigated those characteristics that place certain children
at risk for negative outcomes, and a multitude of studies exist that identified risk factors for such
behaviors as depression, delinquency, violence, or substance abuse. Other research has
examined characteristics that enabled certain youth to successfully cope with and overcome these
risk factors, (Whitlock, 2004). Scarce literature has focused on youth leaving the gang and even
less research has examined the life-course trajectories of youth joining, during, leaving, and
never joining gangs in areas where gangs thrived over generations. Literature is incomplete
because most gang scholars generally focused on one point in time, the middle point of active
gang membership. A fuller understanding may come from examining a process of gang
persistence that entails youth joining, leaving, while some never joining gangs over generation.
Thornberry focused on a life-course approach that looked at points within the process of
gang activity. The life course perspective describes gangs and gang membership as a trajectory
in which some enter at a young age, others at a later age, while some never enter it. His study
differed from others because it focused on a trajectory through before – during – and after gang
membership as opposed to just the middle period or the period of active gang membership. This
study set a conceptual framework exploring factors contributing to individual gang joining and
helps explain why certain communities remained vulnerable to gang persistence over
generations.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 2
Importance of the Study
Scholars and practitioners criticized past efforts to minimize gang joining in high risk
areas because the programs did not address root causes to gang persistence. Klein (2006) and the
Advancement project (2007) argue that the political solutions failed because they dealt with the
outcome, not the source. For example, “Los Angeles County is said to have some 85,000 gang
members, a staggering figure. If we were to crack down on and put away these 85,000 gang
individuals, within 10 years we’d have another 85,000 to put away,” (Klein, 2006, p. 106).
“After a quarter of a century of a multi-billion dollar war on gangs, there are six times as many
gangs and at least double the number of gang members in the Los Angeles region,”
(Advancement Project, 2007, p. 1). As youth passed the gang culture along generations, further
research should examine risk factors across domains that explain why certain communities
remain vulnerable to this process. Identifying those factors may help minimize future gang
joining and inform preventative policies and programs to build healthier environments where
more youth develop into productive adults.
The research reported here is particularly essential in the field of gang research. Public
and policy interests in the spread of gangs generated much needed attention to the causes and
prevention of gang joining. Approximately 1.4 million active street, prison, and other types of
gang members exist and comprise more than 33,000 gangs in the United States (National Gang
Intelligence Center, 2010). Gang presence is growing in northeast and southeast regions,
although the West and Great Lakes regions contain the highest number of gangs. Gang members
commit an average of 48% of violent crime in most jurisdictions and up to 90% in several others,
i.e., California (NGIC, 2010). Policy researchers sought to understand: why youth join gangs,
The Nature of Gang Spawning 3
why others do not join gangs, why delinquent behavior increase after youth join a gang, and why
gangs become fixtures in certain areas while they come and go in other places.
Gangs caused a major problem in South Los Angeles because they committed thousands
of violent acts on youth and members of the broader communities. Los Angeles gang members
were responsible for roughly 4,489 homicides over a 17-year period, in south Los Angeles, CA.
Figure 1 shows gang-related homicides on an annual basis. Data shows an aggregate narrative of
experiences that shaped youth developmental process over a 17-year period in pocketed areas of
South Los Angeles.
Figure 1. Gang Related Homicide in Los Angeles 1993-2009
Figure 1
In addition to the pain of losing a family member or friend to violence, families and
communities also incur substantial financial costs because violent deaths. For example, gang
members committed 244 homicides during 2005, which equaled $254,935,989 in Life Loss Cost,
which is reflective of multiplying the national average of combined cost of violent death by the
total amount of gang-related homicides that took place in Los Angeles in 2005.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 4
Table 1.
Life Lost and Cost
National Average Los Angeles Cost
Medical $6,265 $1,447,215
Work Lost Cost $1,097,354 $253,488,774
Combined Cost $1,103,619 $256,383,204
Note: Data Source: Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, (in 2005, dollars). Analysis:
Aubrey Relf (Author multiplied national average of violent death life loss costs in 2005 by gang
homicides in Los Angeles in 2005).
Many financial costs are directly and indirectly associated with violent death. A family
incurs economic losses as they: pay for funeral arrangements, miss work due to grievance, pay
for medical expenses, and lose an individual who contributed to finances. Although, this is not
an exhaustive list of costs associated with violent death, it depicts an additional component that
helps understand the magnitude of the problem. Additionally, organizations may also understand
how communities may save money because of a decrease in violent death. Unfortunately, for the
City of Compton, more families incurred such costs as gang-related homicides increased in 2013.
Compton, the town of about 10.1 square miles, has experienced peaks and declines in
violence over the decades and gangs are responsible for a significant portion of these violent
crimes. By July of 2013, gangs were responsible for 100% of killings in the City. After a
decline in gang killing since 2005, gang related homicides spiked again this year. The new
Mayor of Compton declared a state of emergency in efforts to draw awareness to the problem
and strategize about solutions.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand the nature of an environment where African
American gangs thrived over generations and to enhance knowledge about elements that
The Nature of Gang Spawning 5
contributed to gang development in Compton from 1960 - 2013. Essentially, the research
proposed to gather rich detail about residents’: experiences with gangs, insights about risk factors
to gang joining, and recommendations to improve conditions. Concerned residents, community
based organizations, and policy makers can use the information to assist with strategies to reduce
gang development and build a healthier community.
Central Question
The central question is whether and how communities spawn African-American gang
development in Compton. This study explored the phenomenon from the perspective of two
generations of former gang members, current gang members, and non-gang members who lived
in Compton during 1960 – 2013.
Design
The project used semi-structured interviews that lasted for about 45 minutes to an hour
and facilitated time for participants to share rich detail about their perceptions, emotions, and
insights regarding gangs and their neighborhoods. With participants’ permission, the study audio
taped and transcribed responses. The computer software program (Atlas.ti) assisted with the
process of identifying themes and better analyze whether and how communities may contribute
to gang joining over generations.
Participants
Ninety percent of the sample was African American males who lived in Compton at least
20 years. Eighty percent of the men in the sample grew up without their fathers in the house.
All participants lived in Compton at least twenty years and their ages ranged from 25 – 73. Forty
percent of the sample joined a Compton gang, which represents only a minority of the population
actually joins gangs.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 6
The present study explored factors that contributed to gang persistence in Compton by
recording participants’ experiences over generations and analyzing responses within the context
of human developmental and criminological theories of gang joining. Essentially, residents
expounded on why their community was vulnerable to Crip and Blood gangs’ over generations
and the study analyzed their responses from domains such as community structure, community
process, family level, and individual level.
The study begins in Chapter 2 with a discussion of the conceptual framework that guided
this study. The framework consist of, the life-course perspective, adolescent brain development,
and the ecological theory. These three concepts undergird the research with a human
development approach that allowed a broad understanding youth development within a
community where several youth joined, left, and or never joined, a gang. Subsequently, one may
examine the psychological and ecological interactions that explain the nature of gang spawning
communities. Essentially, in this chapter, the review hones into the body of literature pertaining
to (a) joining, (b) during, (c) leaving, or (d) never joining a gang. Last, Chapter 2 reviews the
literature that is most pertinent to understanding what makes certain communities more
vulnerable to gang persistence than others. Chapter 4 reveals the method used for this
dissertation project, including a description of the research design, participants, and analytical
steps. Chapter 5 presents the findings of this qualitative research based on participant’s
responses to questions about their experiences with African American gangs in Compton, gang
emergence in Compton, gang violence, evolution of gang activity, and the participants
experiences with either joining, leaving, or never joining a gang in Compton. This chapter is
displays findings along a timeline that reflect African American gang persistence from 1968 to
2013 in Compton. Chapter 6 provides an analysis of these finding which embeds participants’
The Nature of Gang Spawning 7
responses into a broader discussion about the critical factors that contributed to the persistence of
African American gangs in Compton. This analysis presents these major factors by four
domains: individual level, community process standpoint, and community structural. Lastly,
Chapter 7 provides recommendations to help prevent gang persistence in Compton.
Key Concepts
Human Development, Life-Course Trajectory, Adolescence, Risk factors, Protective
Factors, Structural Conditions, Community Processes
The Nature of Gang Spawning 8
Chapter 2
Life Course and Human Development: Conceptual Considerations
Life-Course Perspective
The life-course perspective emphasizes the importance of treating behavior as constantly
evolving as various demands, opportunities, interests, and events impinge upon actors as they
age (Baltes, 1987; Baltes & Brim, 1982). Elder (1994) explicated that human development is
not completed in childhood or even in adolescence; indeed, behavior that is initiated in
adolescence can have important consequences for transitions to adulthood, and these transitions,
in turn, can shape the course of adult development. Within the life-course perspective, emphasis
shifts from a focus on early socialization to one on the entire life span. Essentially, Elder (1994)
defined the life course as “the interweave of age-graded trajectories such as work careers and
family pathways, subject to changing conditions and future options and to short-term transitions
ranging from leaving school to retirement” (p. 5; emphasis added by Thornberry, 2008, p. 5).
Embedded within this life-course perspective is a focus on human development. Human
development is explicitly multidimensional because people simultaneously move along different
trajectories (e.g., Family and school) as they age. Not everyone enters all developmental
trajectories, however, the pattern and trajectories that people do and do not enter help to
characterize them, (Thornberry, 2003). Additionally, as people enter into certain trajectories,
their activities within one trajectory can affect movement along other trajectories (Elder, 1994).
For example, educational attainment can affect family and career development. Similarly,
trajectories of antisocial behavior can influence a variety of conventional or pro-social
trajectories, such as school, work, and family formation, (Thornberry, 2003).
The Nature of Gang Spawning 9
A central tenet of the life-course perspective is that the timing of transitions into or along
trajectories alters behavior. Off-age transitions (i.e. a high-school aged teenager selling drugs
instead of going to high school), can create disorder in the developmental sequence and lead to
later problems of adjustment because the person is less likely to be socially and psychologically
prepared for the transitions (Elder, 1985). To illustrate further, becoming a teenage parent can
reduce the chances of competing high school and of establishing a stable employment history.
Elder (1985) also emphasized that both the timing of transitions and the interlocking
nature of trajectories can create turning-points, a redirection or change in the life course itself. A
precocious transition in one trajectory that has a ripple effect into others can alter the long-term
prospects of successful adjustment into adulthood. Surprisingly, scarce to no literature has
focused on how these turning points may activate ripple effects that spillover onto the next
generations.
Gangs in Life Course Perspective
Thornberry (2003) explained that the life-course perspective has a number of
implications for the study of gangs and gang members, both theoretically and methodologically.
Thornberry thought of gang joining as a trajectory. He noted that, some people enter that
trajectory while others do not. Some experience an unusually early entry and, based on the
general life-course premise that off-time transitions generate problems of adjustment, gang
membership may be particularly consequential for them. It may be the case that people who join
gangs at unusually late ages may experience serious problems of adjustment as well.
Thornberry (2003) placed the gang discussion into a developmental or life-course
perspective to fill a gap in prior research on gangs. He was interested in identifying the
characteristics of gang members and in examining the social and psychological forces that
The Nature of Gang Spawning 10
attracted some youth to join the gang while others manage to avoid it. He was also interested in
understanding the consequences of gang membership for the developmental adjustment of gang
members. Although, by the time of his research, many had demonstrated that gang members
were heavily involved in delinquency, he argued that gang scholars knew less about the extent to
which gang membership influenced that felonious behavior.
The interesting approach of this study was the investigation of life-course of youth by
following them from 8 years old – 22 years old. Unlike prior classic studies, which primarily
used observational methods to study gangs, Thornberry did not sample gangs and observe their
members. Instead, he embedded the study of gang members in an individual-based longitudinal
study of antisocial behavior, the Rochester Youth Development Study. Some of the Rochester
study subjects became gang members while others did not, and the gang members remained in
the gang for varying lengths of time and at varying ages. A unique function of this study was
that, by following the subjects over time – before, during, and after the period when they were
gang members – they could place the study of gangs in a developmental perspective and address
several issues largely ignored in prior studies. From this vantage point, they complimented prior
work on the phenomenon of street gangs and added to a fuller understanding of the ways in
which gangs influenced the lives of their members.
The life-course perspective provides an integral piece of the conceptual framework for
the dissertation. The overall concept is critical to future studies because it provides a wider view
of youth and gangs by understanding the life-course trajectory that extends through joining-
participating-and leaving a gang and those who never enter the gang trajectory. From this
vantage point, one may identify antecedent factors to gang, and experiences with leaving gangs
and never joining gangs. Furthermore, one might examine how dynamics within a life-course
The Nature of Gang Spawning 11
perspective might affect proceeding life-courses over generations. In other words, one might
explore how youth joining, participating, leaving, and never joining a gang might influence
proceeding generations within the same community.
Subsequently, the dissertation is an investigation about how life course trajectory plays
within a generational standpoint. The study focuses on, how may the social and psychological
forces within a life-course that lead to gang joining influence across decades in places where
gangs have persisted. Similar to past studies, this perspective emphasizes that several domains
are likely to be involved (Thornberry, 2006). For example, “it is unlikely that the origins of gang
membership exist only in social structural position or only in family relationships. Rather, the
broader social ecology-structural position, neighborhood context, and family, school, peer, and
individual characteristics is likely to play a role,” (Thornberry, 2006, p. 7). Examining the nature
of gang persistence through such a broad approach may produce effective recommendations to
help create policy and program development within high-risk areas.
Adolescent Brain Development
Another developmental concept that guides the framework of this dissertation is
information on adolescent brain development. This understanding is relevant to gang studies
because most youth who enter the trajectory of gang participation are around 13 – 16 years of
age. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) reports that between
14 and 30% of adolescents will join a gang at some point (Howell, 1997). A 1995 survey
conducted in 11 diverse cities found that 9% of eighth-graders were currently gang member, and
17% of those surveyed reported having belonged to a gang at some time (Esbensen & Osgood,
1997). Thus, an understanding of what is going on within the dynamic transitional phase of
adolescence is of interest to the study on gang persistence.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 12
Several studies noted that the adolescent brain differs anatomically and neurochemically
from that of the adult (Spear, 2000). Several neurological studies characterized adolescence as a
time when individuals act more impulsively, fail to consider long-term consequences, and
engage in riskier behavior than they do as adults (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005; Scott, 1992;
Steinberg et al., 2008). Studies noted adolescent’s propensity to take risks reflected in the higher
incidences of accidents, suicides, unsafe sexual practices, and criminal activity (Scott, 1992).
In terms of gang joining, these neurological studies may help explain risk taking and
gang joining. The neurological studies on adolescent brain development are relevant for practice
and academia regarding youth developmental processes and gang joining because of information
pertaining to: cognitive capacity, risk taking, and greater incentives. This section on adolescent
development presents a brief and pertinent discussion about youth from a human developmental
standpoint. Note that, an exhaustive review of neurological studies on adolescent development
expands beyond the focus of this paper.
A core component of behavioral development is the ability to suppress inappropriate
actions in favor of goal-oriented ones, especially in the presence of compelling incentives. This
ability is typically referred to as cognitive control (Casey, Galvan, et al., 2005; Casey, Thomas,
et al., 2000; Giedd & Thomas, 2000). Cognitive capacities, such as abstract and
multidimensional thinking, self-reelection, and future-time perspective, work in conjunction with
brain development as the social information processing network (SIPN), (Nelson et al., 2002;
Smith, 2011). This efficiency in cognitive control is dependent on maturation of the prefrontal
cortex based on evidence of imaging (Galvan et al., 2006; Gogtay et al., 2004; Hare et al., 2008;
Sowell et al., 2003), and postmortem studies (Bourgeois, Goldman-Rakic, & Rakic, 1994;
The Nature of Gang Spawning 13
Huttenlocher, 1979; Rakic, 1994) which showed continued structural and functional
development of this region well into young adulthood.
Traditional studies primarily focused on cortical top-down control regions and
demonstrated that cognitive control developed throughout childhood and adolescence (Case,
1972; Flavell, Beach, & Chinksy, 1966; Keating & Bobbitt, 1978; Pascual-Leone, 1970).
However, to explain risk-taking, Casey et al. (2011) argued that one must consider subcortical
and cortical top-down control regions together. He hypothesized that imbalances between the
two systems occur during adolescence due to the earlier maturation of subcortical systems
relative to the less mature top-down prefrontal control systems. He argued that “traditional
neurobiological and cognitive explanations for such suboptimal choices and actions have failed
to account for nonlinear changes in behavior observed during adolescence, relative to childhood
and adulthood” (Casey et al., 2011, p. 21).
Essentially, he hypothesized that the explanation for youth risk is through the dynamic
process of this imbalance that takes place during the transitional developmental period of
adolescence. According to this model, “the individual is biased more by functionally mature
subcortical regions during adolescence (i.e., imbalance of sub cortical and prefrontal) are both
still developing, and compared with adults, for whom these systems are fully mature” (Casey et
al., 2011, p. 22). Thus, risk taking or reward seeking behaviors seem to peak during adolescence
and decline in adulthood (Eaton et al., 2008; Windle et al., 2008) and are associated with puberty
maturation (Dahl, 2004; Martin et al., 2001). With an understanding of youth development, one
may further understand concepts that attempt to explain how youth developmental process
interacts with their environment and may lead to gang joining in some cases. Particularly in
areas where youth face cumulative risk factors over multiple domains. One may be interested in
The Nature of Gang Spawning 14
embedding knowledge about adolescent brain development within the life trajectory to present a
rich analysis of psychological and sociological factors within communities that remain
vulnerable to gang prevalence.
In addition to the neurological developmental process, youth are developing their identity
within a sociological environment. Thus, the interaction between psychological and sociological
forces is critical dynamics to help contextualize human development. This understanding
provides a platform in which to conceptualize a discussion about why some identify with a gang
and others do not within environments where gangs persist.
Adolescent Development and the Ecological View
As youth develop, many are in the pursuit of understanding: Who am I? Where do I
belong? Where am I going? These three questions typify the adolescent’s search for a personal
identity (Ruttenbeck, 1964). Identity, according to Erick Erickson, is the sense of knowing who
one is. The attainment of identity is a developmental process. Development occurs within a
number of contexts, such as family, neighborhood, school, and culture, and within a particular
historical time. This viewpoint is part of a theoretical approach formulated by Urie
Bronfengenner called the ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci,
1994). This theory is relevant to gang joining because many scholars attempted to explain
joining within one or several of these domains. In other words, scholars studied gang joining
from an ecological vantage point.
Ecological View
Lastly, the ecological view informs the conceptual framework in which to examine the
nature of gang spawning communities. The ecological theory focuses on the impact that
environment plays on the growth and development of an individual. Bronfenbrenner (1979,
The Nature of Gang Spawning 15
1993) theorized that there were environmental factors that affected an individual’s growth and
development. The theory consists of four different environmental systems: micro system,
mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.
The micro system consists of the immediate interactions of the persons and the
environment. These face-to-face interactions may occur at home or in school and consists of
what the individual is presently experiencing. The microsystem includes where a child lives, the
people in the home, and the activities they do together. The individual encounters the most
social interactions within this system that includes family members, peers, religious
communities, neighborhoods and others with whom the individual has regular contact. More
psychological and sociological studies focused on correlations between parenting, but more
recently, other gang scholars focused primarily on family structure and gang joining, (Whitlock,
2004).
The mesosystem involves the interrelationships among two or more settings in which the
person actively participates. For example, the mesosystem includes the relation between the
parent and school, parents and the day care center, parents and the peer group. Essentially, the
mesosystem describes the interactions that take place between microsystems. Many
criminological theories revealed evidence to support an association with community
disorganization and gang joining, (Shaw & McKay, 1942).
The exosystem involves settings in which the child is not actively involved but that affect
the family and child, such as the parent’s place of work, a class attended by other siblings, family
network of friends, or the activity of the local school board. Although the individual is not
directly involved, settings within the exosystem may directly affect the child. For example, a
parent losing a job may directly affect the family’s financial state and adversely affect the stress
The Nature of Gang Spawning 16
level in the home. Generally, gang scholars searched within this system to understand how
social forces may exert pressures on youth to join a gang. For example, some explained how
residential migration might lessen trust among neighbors and in turn affect communities’
inability to establish norms that inhibit teenage delinquency and youth gang joining.
The macrosystem is composed of the ideology or belief system inherent in social
institutions and includes ethnic, cultural, religious, economic, and political influences. Many
gang scholars emphasized how networks within communities can control gangs and teenage
delinquency. Generally, many scholars note the importance of norms inhibiting maladaptive
behavior and gang joining.
The Chronosystem reflects the cumulative experiences a person has over the course of
their lifetime. These experiences include environmental events, and major transitions in life.
Some notable transitions include divorce, marriage or the birth of a baby. These transitions are
major experiences in an individual’s lifetime. Some gang scholars focused on racial and cultural
events that took place such as riots, segregation, as events that have radicalized gang joining.
With the previously listed components that culminate the conceptual framework of this
dissertation, one may reach a rich analysis of the community members’ experiences and insights
about the nature of gang spawning communities. Thus, the culmination of human developmental
views: life course, adolescent brain development, and systems within the ecological theory
contextualize this dissertation on gang joining. The following literature review illustrates how
others examined the phenomenon of communities, human development, and gangs.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 17
Chapter 3
Literature Review
Structure of the Literature Review
The review of literature focuses on a discussion about why youth join gangs, what
happens once they join gangs, and what their experiences were with leaving gangs, and why
some youth never join a gang? Additionally, a critical point is to understand about why certain
communities seem more vulnerable to gang persistence than others do. Therefore, the structure
of this literature review reveals studies that focused on each or all of these points in an effort to
guide the dissertation toward a fuller understanding of why gangs persisted over decades among
African American gangs in Compton.
The review of gang literature is broad but this discussion presents those key studies
within the context of joining – participating – leaving – and never joining a gang. Additionally,
the review focuses on how these views tie into the conceptual framework that hinges upon
human development and the life-course orientation across various domains within youth
environment. Additionally, the study reviews environments where African American gangs
persisted in south Los Angeles. The structure of this review consists of:
Life – Course Trajectory
The literature review reveals the life-course trajectory first as one of the most scarce
studies that encompasses several points of gang activity, i.e., why youth join, what happens when
they join, and why they may leave. The Rochester study, which uses the life-course approach,
Hadgedorn, focused on the two periods of joining a gang, participating in a gang, and leaving a
gang. The review explains in brief factors that make it harder for youth to leave while they
joined the gang and may facilitate criminal activity among gangs and gang members.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 18
Additionally, one study focused on Group processes within gangs and argued that it should be a
key component to guide further research and policy development.
Antecedent Factors to Gang Joining
The other studies reviewed in the literature focus on individual points within this broad
phenomenon. The studies, although not inclusive of several points, are critical studies that
helped to shape the knowledge about gangs, particularly, antecedent factors to gang joining. A
criminological theory social disorganization theory applied within an ecological, individual level
impulses to gang joining from a psychological standpoint, risk-factor studies regarding
antecedent factors to gang joining across several ecological domains, the focus and narrows to
family level risk factors based on a relationship between family/parenting as it pertains to child
development and gang joining,
Never joining. Scarce literature focuses on youth experiences with leaving or never
joining a gang. Such information may be critical to inform prevention efforts to gang
development policies and strategist. This, the review takes an interesting turn toward studies
around youth ability to resist gang joining by interactions with resilience and protective factors.
Ecological view and African American gang joining. Critical to the study, is an
understanding of human development within places where several risk factors to gang joining are
present. This knowledge is essential to community development efforts and decision-makers
ability to address possible root causes of gang joining within the hot spot areas. Thus, the review
shifts toward ecological disparities across several domains for youth and boys of color, based on
high violence of certain areas compared to others. Furthermore, another human developmental
study places violence within the context of ecological views, another study theorizes about
The Nature of Gang Spawning 19
African American gangs in Los Angeles, and the final review focuses on community process
theory of collective efficacy that explains the role of communities in preventing gang joining.
Gang Persistence
Throughout the entire discussion, most theories entail human developmental concepts
because the gang problem is primarily a problem with individuals grouping together with an
identity of criminal behavior. Subsequently, at the core of this discussion, is a psychological and
human developmental aspect. The final study helps to embed this gang study into a global
perspective and asks the question, why gangs come and go in certain places yet become fixtures
in other places. The explanations focus on psychological components of: identity and rebellion,
while simultaneously exploring ecological components of marginalization and socioeconomic
elements.
The review concludes by recapping how the conceptual framework of the life-course
trajectory over three periods of, joining, during, and after gang membership and how various
studies explained risk factors to gang joining while scarce to no literature explains leaving and
desistence to gangs in areas where gangs thrived over generations. Then, the proceeding section
describes the methodology that the dissertation utilized to examine gang persistence among
African American gangs in Compton.
Gang Persistence: Life – Course, Human Development, and Gang Persistence
Rochester study. To address these life-course issues, Thornberry stated, the necessity to,
“identify a community sample of adolescents – some of whom will become gang members and
some of whom will not – and trace their growth and development beginning prior to their age of
joining the gangs.” (Thornberry, 2003, p. 9). Doing so allowed them to identify antecedent risk
factors and the causal processes associated with gang membership. Following the sample during
The Nature of Gang Spawning 20
their gang-involved years allowed them to gauge the concurrent impact of gang membership on
behavior, attitudes, and social relations. Finally, by continuing to follow the sample, both gang
members and nonmembers – after the peak years of gang membership, the study assessed longer-
term consequences of gang membership on life-course development and adjustment. In other
words, “the way in which the trajectory of gang membership relates to other trajectories – both
prosocial (e.g., schooling) and antisocial (e.g., drug selling) – can be more properly studied.”
(Thornberry, 2003, p. 9).
The basis of their research was on a long-term project, the Rochester Youth Development
study, which had those design features. It selected a community sample at age 13 and followed
the youths until age 22, spanning the peak ages of gang involvement at least in this study site.
Longitudinal panel studies such as this one have advantages and disadvantages for the study of
gangs and gang members. In panel studies the individual gang members is the unit of analysis;
in contrast, in many previous gang studies the gang was the unit of analysis. Future studies may
also focus on the city as the unit of analysis as it may allow for a broader ecological view of
possible factors over generations.
The life-course orientation that Thornberry adopted had implications for their research
design that differed for this study. Previous studies of gangs and gang members typically relied
on one of two research strategies. Many observational studies existed in which researchers (e.g.,
Hagedorn, 1998) or detached workers (e.g., Short & Strodtbeck, 1965) gather detailed qualitative
information about the activities of gangs and their members. Other studies are comparative
quantitative analysis in which researchers sample gang members and compare their behavior and
attitudes to those of nonmembers (e.g., Esbensen & Winfree, 1998; Klein et al., 1986). Some
studies, of course, blend the use of quantitative and qualitative analyses.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 21
Thornberry (2003) explained that the prior studies formed the bedrock to understand gang
behavior, but they were somewhat limited in their ability to address life-course issues. As noted,
the typical gang study focused on gang members when they were actively involved in the gang.
“Relatively little is known about their pre-gang characteristics, behaviors, and activities, except
via retrospective data or official records,” (Thornberry, 2003). Similarly, as early as 1971, Klein
(1971) noted that “though the need is great there was no careful study of gang members as they
move into adult status” (p. 136), “ a situation that had not changed appreciably over thirty years
later, (Thornberry, 2003).
The study was limited to study group processes and the ways in which group processes
influence the behaviors of gang members because of the panel design. Thornberry explained that
the panel design tends to decontextualize the deviant behavior of gang members and makes it
difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between delinquent acts committed by gang members
as individuals and delinquent acts committed by gang members for the gang, or at least in the
context of gang activities. Thus, addressing some important analytic issues cannot use individual
panel studies.
Another limitation to this study was conducting the study in an emergent gang city. It is
possible that the findings of the studies were unique to emergent gang cities and would not
replicate if the Thornberry conducted the study in traditional gang cities, such as Los Angeles
and Chicago.
Unlike the Rochester report, this dissertation may provide an understanding of the nature
of communities within hot spot areas of Los Angeles County. Thus, one may better assess,
from a life-course perspective and or human developmental perspective, myriad factors
connected with gang persistence over decades. Essentially, it may help shed light on
The Nature of Gang Spawning 22
developmental process within the nature of gang spawning communities. To explain such an
area, one South Los Angeles gang member, “Monster” (1993, p. 69) explained, in his a best-
selling book about gangs.
I was six years old when the Crips were started. No one anticipated its sweep.
The youth of South Central were being gobbled up by an alien power threatening
to attach itself to a multitude of other problems already plaguing them. An almost
“enemy” subculture had arisen, and no one knew from where it came. No one
took its conception seriously. (Sanyeeka Shakur, 1993, p. 69)
As this culture persists for youth in these areas generations after Monster’s experiences, the
Life-course orientation may help to examine core factors to gang persistence within such areas.
Prior to this study, several gang studies were observational. Thornberry (2003) purported
that although observational studies open broad windows into the lives of the gang members they
observed, they did so for very narrow periods, that is to say, only during the person’s period of
active gang membership. “These studies typically contained little, if any, information on the
lives of gang members before or after their time in the gang” (Thornberry, 2003, p. 4) although
there were exceptions (Hagedorn, 1988; Moore, 1978, 1991; Tracy, 1979; Vigil, 1988).
Consequently, the general literature on street gangs often failed to highlight life-course
development, thereby limiting understanding of both the antecedents and the consequences of
gang membership.
Using the life-course perspective, the Rochester study followed a panel of juveniles and
their primary caretakers. The youth participated in interviews every two years while the
caretakers or biological mothers participated in interviews at 6-month intervals from the spring
of 1988 until the spring of 1992. By the end of Wave 12, in 1997, they had interviewed 846
The Nature of Gang Spawning 23
participants. Overall, the study found that many youth joined gangs because of family, friends,
and fun/action.
By tracing participants’ growth and development beginning prior to their age of joining a
gang, this broader view allowed greater understanding of participants – some of whom became
gang members and some of whom did not; however, the study only focused on one life-span as
opposed to generations of life-spans. A generational perspective is critical to understanding
areas where gangs persisted over decades. Expanding the life-course approach over generations
will not only help understand how gang membership affects an individual but also how it affects
the next generation. Thus, this study presents and conceptualizes the human developmental
approach of the life-course perspective while additionally applying this broader view over
generations.
What Happens Before and During Gang Membership
Individual level behind gang joining and participation. A recent study focused on the
youth who joined a gang and their tendency to commit crime prior to and during active gang
membership. The study investigated the unique characteristics of a person who joined a gang,
and why one may commit crime within the group. Melde and Ebensen, (2011) used three
models to conceptualize the psychology of gang members: (a) selection, (b) facilitation, and (c)
enhancement models. Introduced in previous studies, (Thornberry et al., 1993) these three
models provided a framework in which to explain gangs and their members’ tendencies to
commit crime.
The selection models argued that individuals who join gangs have a propensity toward
committing crime and the gang selected these individuals because of their high offending
profiles. According to this view, gang membership does not affect the individual’s involvement
The Nature of Gang Spawning 24
in delinquency because the individual essentially joined the gang with an affinity for deviant
behavior, (Glueck & Glueck, 1950; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Hirschi, 1969).
The facilitation model posits that gang membership socializes an individual toward crime
whereby social learning and opportunity perspectives influence attitudes, norms, and routine
activities associated with delinquent activity. As a result, these individuals increase their activity
subsequent to joining the gang.
Finally, the enhancement model combines the selection and facilitation models in that it
argues that gang members were more deviant or antisocial than non-gang members prior to
joining the gang and after they joined the gang those delinquent criminal propensities were
exacerbated.
Overall, much evidence supports the facilitation model. One study asked the question,
“Are gang members more delinquent because of their gang affiliation or were they predisposed
to delinquent activity prior to their gang affiliation?” (Esbensen & Huizinga, 1993, p. 567).
Esbensen and Huizinga (1993) tested both prevalence and individual offending rates, and
concluded that gang members in Denver displayed higher levels of criminal activity both before
and during the period in which they were gang members. Furthermore, they emphasized that
gang members’ criminal activity increased after they joined the gang. Similarly, another more
recent study supported these conclusions, (Thornberry, 2003).
The study concluded that the enhancement model was most accurate as individuals'
deviance grew because of gang membership. Furthermore, gang members scored significantly
poorer that non-gang members on 10 of 13 personality scales that pertained to aggression,
repression, denial, neuroticism, and extraversion, (LeBlanc & Lanctot, 1998).
The Nature of Gang Spawning 25
Albeit, the findings showed that youth who joined gangs had higher criminal records
prior to joining a gang, they did not explain why so many youth were inclined to commit crimes
or join criminal groups in these areas. Thus, it does not reveal the reasons why certain
communities are vulnerable to young people committing crime or joining criminal based groups.
The Middle Period of Active Gang Membership: Group Processes
Another study focused on the middle part of gang trajectory in a way that was unique
from other gang studies. Klein (2006) focused on the role of group processes on criminal
activity after an individual joins a gang. Klein argued that not all gangs are the same except for
one key fact they are all groups. Thus, he highlighted the importance of understanding group
processes. From this vantage point, one may draw a richer understanding of the middle period of
active gang membership and then utilize the information to inform gang intervention strategies.
This identification process and criminally based group dynamics may present a turning point -
redirection or change in the life course of individual gang members –, which in turn enacts ripple
effects over generations.
Klein further criticized gang programs and policies because many do not understand
these group dynamics. He examined group processes within gangs by utilizing methods of
observation. Over a six-month period of direct street observations and recording of “who was
seen with whom and how often,” the study revealed cliques and types of member’s core and
fringe. The study provided an observation account of the clique structure of 112 male members
of a Latino Gang in Los Angeles. Klein (2006) defined cliques as a group consisting of at least
three members. The study found six cliques ranging in size from three to 26, and the largest
clique could be broken down based into three smaller groups by school attendance, residential
The Nature of Gang Spawning 26
proximity, and criminal orientation. Essentially, the observational study categorized these earlier
African American gangs by cliques
In four large, traditional black gangs, he described 21 subgroups based either on age or
gender; seven out the 21 were female, (Klein, 1971). In all cases, the traditional groups averaged
about 200 members. The study found that, the large groups had moderate levels of cohesiveness
overall, but the tightness was in the cliques or the subgroups, not in the overall gang structure,
which agreed with findings from an earlier study (Decker & Curry, 2000). Albeit, studies
indicated gangs to be unorganized groups, other research explained that some local gangs are
tied to highly organized, internationally based organizations (i.e., cartels) (Hagedorn, 2005).
However, to Klein’s point, certain cliques within the gang may display more tightly knit and
mission-driven group of core individuals.
More recently, research studied group process and cliques within three immigrant gangs
in Oslo, Norway. This research confirmed the clique’s process, (Lein, 2005). The data revealed
that cohesiveness was stronger within cliques than across cliques. The cohesiveness concept is
essential to many gang interventionists, as research indicated that greater cohesion leads to
greater crime involvement and greater resistance to gang control. This resistance to gang control
is another critical piece to inform the basis of strategies to provide more strategic approaches to
gang intervention programs.
Another point of Klein’s (2006) group process study was the identification of core
members. Core members, as nominated by gang workers, were up to two and half times more
active in formal gang activities. Klein found that these core gang members had 70% more
arrests, they were more violent, and their delinquent careers started earlier and lasted longer.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 27
This is also critical for individuals interested in gang research because such knowledge
can help scholars to categorize findings by type. The distinction between core versus fringe
gang members provides a platform to examine turning points in individual gang members’ lives
by comparing the ripple effects on their transition into adult hood. Particularly, one might
investigate how core member’s activity might have a more profound effect on the next
generation of youth within his or her community.
Although the information helps scholars and practitioners understand group processes
within gangs, it inadequately explains the factors of gang involvement and formation nor why
gangs persist over generations in certain areas. It generally focused on the middle point of gang
activity without revealing the antecedent factors to gang joining that contributed to one
becoming a core gang member. Moreover, the study does not explain group process relevant to
gang persistence over proceeding generations in certain areas. This is particularly critical
because some of the gangs that Klein studied nearly thirty years ago continue to thrive today.
Human Development Approach to Understand Youth Violence
These were examples of how criminology and gang researchers used the human
developmental approaches to understand gang joining and crime. Gang scholars also used many
of these human developmental theories to explain risk factors to gang joining. Risk factors are
“individual or environmental hazards that increase an individual’s vulnerability to negative
developmental outcomes” (Small & Luster, 1994; Farrington, 2000; Werner & Smith; 1982).
Gang scholars used the ecological theory as a conceptual framework to test various
theories about gang joining. For example, one empirical sociological gang study used a natural
history model that explained gang formation and articulated an ecological theory, which
suggested that gangs developed from specific conditions and experiences. It also suggested that
The Nature of Gang Spawning 28
gangs filled the gaps where families or schools weakly or ineffectively socialized youngsters. In
other words, gang problems were less likely to develop in places where community members
established strong interpersonal ties between neighbors and established norms that prevent
teenage delinquency or gang joining. The criminological theory of social disorganization is
rooted into an ecological context and demonstrated how community disorganization, informal
friendship networks, and organization participation are associated with teenage delinquency.
Social Disorganization Theory within Ecological View
Social disorganization remained the key theory that explained gang problems and helped
shape gang policy and program development throughout the 1950s (Shaw & McKay, 1942). The
theory expounded upon factors that disorganized communities, (i.e., poverty, heterogeneity,
residential mobility) and argued that “disorganized communities” were unable to establish social
rules or “norms” that deterred teenage delinquent behavior or criminal street gangs (Bursik,
1988; Kornhauser, 1978; McKay, 1942). Gang scholars conducted several studies in efforts to
test this theory.
Social disorganization refers to the inability of a community structure to realize the
common values of its residents and maintain effective social controls (Kornhauser, 1978; Bursik,
1984). Empirically, researchers measured the structural dimensions of community social
disorganization in terms of the prevalence and interdependence of social networks in a
community, both informal (i.e., friendship ties) and formal (e.g., organizational participation)
and in the span of collective supervision that the community directs toward local problems
(Thomas & Znaniecki, 1920, Shaw & McKay, 1942, Kornhauser, 1978).
In the early 1900s, Sociologists at the University of Chicago applied the concept to
explain crime, delinquency and other social problems. Thomas and Znanieki (1918) viewed
The Nature of Gang Spawning 29
rapid growth and change as “disorganizing” or “disintegrative” forces that contributed to a
community’s inability to teach and learn prior “social rules” which had inhibited crime and
delinquency in European peasant society.
Ultimately, theorists suggested that efforts to solve common problems and socialize
youth against delinquency are to a large degree dependent on a community’s organizational base.
A community’s ability to encourage high rates of participation in both formal groups and
voluntary associations is the key to control gang development and delinquency. .
Another, more recent, theory further explains gang joining from a community process
domain or mesosytem level. Collective efficacy is relevant to the discussion because many
noted the importance of community members’ willingness to help one another as a strategy to
prevent gang joining. To provide a better understanding of how the study contextualized its
focus on delinquency within the ecological perspective, the following explains briefly their
methodology and findings.
The study, gathered data from the British Crime Survey (BCS), a nationwide survey of
England and Wales conducted in 1982 under the auspices of the Research and Planning Unit of
the Home Office. The BCS received a favorable 80% response rate from persons 16 and older
randomly selected from 13,702 nonempty households generated the final sample (N = 10,905)
distributed across 238 localities. The study explored three endogenous dimensions of
community social organization, (Sampson, 1989). Within, these ecological systems, Sampson
explained how communities might use three intervening constructs to control gang crime, (a)
ability of a community to supervise and control teenage peer groups, (b) informal local
friendship networks, and (c) rate of local participation in formal and voluntary organizations
The Nature of Gang Spawning 30
The study measured various indicators across systems. It tested three types of
endogenous indicators; friendship networks, organizational participation, and social control and
youth peer groups. Firstly, the study formulated an indicator of local friendship networks by
asking participants how many of their friends (on a five-point scale ranging from none to all)
resided in the local community. The study defined the local community as the area within a 15-
minute walk of the respondent’s home. Sampson, (1989) noted that the 15-minute walk survey
definition meshed well with the relatively compact geographical size of each sampled area. The
empirical definition and community indicator was the mean level of local friendships, intended
to reflect the extent of local ties and friendship networks among community residents.
Additionally, they tested organizational participation. The creation of a macro-level
indicator of organizational participation came from a question in which respondents were asked
about their social and leisure activities for each night of the week, broken down by type of
activity. One of the categories was attendance at the meetings in the week before the interview.
Lastly, Sampson, (1989) tested social control and supervision of youth peer groups. A
direct indicator of the social control and supervision of youth peer groups is typically hard to
come by in macro-level data. However, the BCS provided a straightforward indicator of youth-
supervision patterns that is conceptually and empirically independent of crime itself.
Specifically, the study asked respondents how common it was (on a four-point scale) for groups
of teenagers to hang out in public in the neighborhood and make nuisances of themselves.
Moreover, the study asked subjects questions regarding crime-including common youth crimes
such as vandalism.
The study also examined five exogenous community characteristics SES, residential
stability, heterogeneity, family disruption, and urbanization. “Economic level, mobility, and
The Nature of Gang Spawning 31
heterogeneity are, in that order, the variables assumed to account for variations in the capacity of
sub-communities within a city to generate an effective system of controls,” (Kornhauser, 1978).
Later, another study added two more variables (family disruption and urbanization) as sources
that explain social disorganization (Sampson, 1989). To measure SES, they constructed a scale
by summing z-scores of the major dimensions of social class-education (percentage college
educated), occupation (percentage in professional and managerial positions), and income
(percentage with high incomes). The study measured residential stability as the percentage of
residents brought up in the area within 15-minute walk from home. Race/ethnicity in the BCS
sample had a distribution across five categories: White, West-Indian or African, Black, Pakistani
or Bangladeshi Indian, other non-White, and mixed races. To capture fully the range of
heterogeneity, they used an index employed in research on intergroup relations (Blau, 1977).
The index was (1 − ∑ 𝑝 𝑖 2
) where 𝑝 𝑖 the fraction of the population is in a given group. Note that
the measure takes into account both the relative size and number of groups in the population,
with a score of one reflecting maximum heterogeneity.
Based on their theoretical extension of Shaw and McKay derived from Sampson (1987),
the study included family disruption as a fourth exogenous community characteristic. The
analysis measured family disruption by summing z-scores of two related dimensions, the
proportion of divorced and separated adults among those who had ever married and the
percentage of households with single parents with children.
The most general test of social-disorganization theory concerns its ability to explain total
crime rates. The theory, however spoke not only to the ability of a community to achieve
common values, (e.g., to defend itself against predatory victimization), but also to community
processes that produce offenders. The latter is critical to the overall understanding of how
The Nature of Gang Spawning 32
communities may contribute to gang persistence by understanding factors that may produce
individual level deviance.
A key finding was that communities with elevated levels of family disruption
experienced higher levels of disorderly peer-group behavior by teenagers than do communities
with lower levels of family disruption. Sampson (1989) also found that urbanization and ethnic
heterogeneity significant positive effects on the inability of a community to control its youth.
One unexpected finding was the marginally significant positive effect of residential stability.
The study explained that instable communities may not share the same values, may lack trust,
which decreases organization and residents willingness to help one another. Such dynamics lead
to a society that weakly socializes youth toward positive values. The study results for
organizational participation indicated weaker predictive power of community structural context,
but the pattern of effects was still consistent with the theory. Overall, the data supported the
model and, in the process, the construct validity of key endogenous dimensions of community
social disorganization.
Although, study findings supported the social disorganization theory, some gang scholars
opposed the social disorganization theory primarily because it: (a)failed to explain an
individual’s impulse to commit crime or join a gang, and (b) why some individuals joined while
others did not within the same disorganized community. Essentially, they argued that the theory
was “wholly negative and it, accounted for the presence of delinquency by the absence of
effective constraints” (Cohen, 1955. p. 33). Cohen (1955) explicated further that an adequate
theory had to explain the presence of impulses or dispositions toward delinquency that were
expressed when constraints were absent. Ultimately, detractors encouraged gang scholars to
The Nature of Gang Spawning 33
formulate theories that explained, “Why people break laws and why they do not” (Hirschi, 1973,
p. 165).
Subsequently, criminologists investigated individual’s tendencies to commit crime and to
join gangs. Several theories diverged as scholars’ hypothesized correlations between community
pressures and individual’s impulses. For example, the Illicit means theory hypothesized that the
cultural value system, widely embraced by Americans, emphasized the pursuit of economic
success and this societal pressure in turn motivated crime and gang joining, (Merton, 1957).
Researchers challenged this illicit means theory and argued that frustration in the pursuit
of the good opinions of conventional adults, especially teachers, generated anger, and frustration
as opposed to economic constraints. The study explained that some community members form
oppositional subcultures or “contra cultures,” rejected the conventional system and its values,
and engage in law breaking, (Cohen, 1979). The two theories were termed strain theories
because they associate societal pressures (Cohen, 1979) and economic frustrations (Merton,
1957), as ecological factors that drove crime. Other theories criticized the social disorganization
theory, and both strain theories and argued that certain communities are in fact, organized and it
is not the pursuit of economic gain rather, and crime is related to socialization into a lower class
culture.
The, “lower class culture” consisted of values, norms, and beliefs that encouraged
behaviors that “automatically” violated “certain legal norms.” The theory proposed that lower-
class gang youth “possess to an unusually high degree both the capacity and motivation to
conform to perceived cultural norms” (Miller, 1958). Rather certain communities valued illegal
behavior and that culture contributed to crime.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 34
Human Developmental to Investigate Antecedent Risk Factors
In addition to the myriad theories applied to understand gang joining, gang scholars used
risk-factor studies to examine the phenomenon further. These studies generally focus on the
reasons why youth join gangs across various ecological domains. Gang researchers identified
risk factors by investigating two types of adolescents: those who join gangs and those who do
not. The interesting component to these studies is the domains in which scholars investigate the
risk factors (any characteristic that predicts, or is associated with, gang affiliation). Many studies
assessed risk factors across five domains: individual, family, peer, school, and neighborhood.
Individual level. A common theme within communities and among researchers is that
many gang members are personally inclined to commit crime or in some way are personally
maladjusted devious, but evidence to support this is inconsistent, (Bjerregaard & Smith, 1993).
Some studies found that certain youth had pro-gang attitudes that in turn attracted them to gangs.
The studies showed that gang members had a higher tolerance for deviance and higher levels of
normlessness, (Esbensen et al., 1993; Fagan, 1990; Winfree et al., 1994). Additionally,
researchers studied and found a relation between deviant beliefs and gang joining. Furthermore,
gang members scored significantly poorer that non-gang members on 10 of 13 personality scales
that pertained to aggression, repression, denial, neuroticism, and extraversion, (LeBlanc &
Lanctot, 1998). In opposition to some of the individual level deviance explanation, others found
that negative life events relate to gang joining, (Rand & Davis, 2009) that low self-esteem
indicated gang joining (Cartwright, Tomson, & Rice, 1975; Schwartz, 1963, 1989; Wang 1994).
Furthermore, recent studies found and attributed them to gang joining. Particularly, they found
that chronic stress and trauma had adverse impacts on youth who live within areas of
The Nature of Gang Spawning 35
concentrated disadvantage which have gone untreated and may have led to gang joining, (Rand,
Davis, 2009).
Family level. Other Studies also investigated family characteristics and found that low
family socioeconomic status or poverty is associated with gang membership, (Bowker & Klein,
1983; Moore, 1991; Scwhartz, 1989). Additionally, gangs scholars explored family structure
and arrived at diverging conclusions which explained single-family households contributed to
higher risks of gang joining, (Bowker & Klein, 1983, Vigil, 1988) while another study did not,
(LeBlanc & Lancot, 1988). The latter study investigated adjudicated boys who were non-gang
members and gang members in Quebec. (A presentation about family level risk factor studies
occurs later in the protective factor section of this chapter)
Peer. Most of the studies found that peer networks and negative peer influences are
consistent predictors of joining gangs. However, these studies generally, do not explain the
factors existed before a gang started in one’s community. In other words, many failed to explain
the factors that caused so many of an individual’s peers to have joined the gang in the first place.
Never the less, several studies found that adolescents who hang around or associate with deviant
peers are more likely to join gangs, particularly peers who are gang members, (Curry & Spergel,
1992; Nirdorf, 1988; Winfree et al., 1994). Essentially, most explain that having friends
involved in delinquency as a strong indicator that predicts gang joining.
School. Additionally, scholars separated school attainment from other factors even
though many of the findings may overlap family structure in that they focus on the Parent’s
educational attainment. Studies found that adolescents raised in households where parents have
low educational expectations for them are more likely to join a gang, (Swhwartz, 1989). Some
noted that educational frustration is related to gang joining, (Curry & Spergel, 1992) and that
The Nature of Gang Spawning 36
youth who perform lower and exhibit low commitment in school were at higher risk for joining a
gang, (LeBlanc & Lanctot, 1998).
Risk Factor Studies
The risk factor studies implemented varying methodologies to investigate the correlation
between a risk factor and gang joining within across multiple domains. Several studies
employed a cross-sectional and longitudinal approach. The longitudinal design permitted
assessment of youth characteristics prior to gang membership and established causal order of
risks, (Craig et al., 2002, Esbensen, Huizinga & Weither, 1993; Gatti et al., 2005; Thornberry et
al., 2003). More frequent, other researchers conducted cross-sectional studies, (Bradshaw, 2005;
Esbensen & Weerman, 2005; Miller, 2001).
Cumulative Risk Factors
Many studies agree that, a variety of factors interlace and influence an individual to join a
gang. Thus, researchers studied the cumulative factors that correlate with gang formation.
Researchers used two methods to examine the entwining factors that predicted gang joining.
Most call the two approaches; Variable based Model and Domain-based model. Thornberry used
both approaches and hypothesized that, a youth exposed to several risk factors became more
vulnerable to adverse outcomes than one exposed to less. Essentially, they argued that
experiencing risks in multiple domains should have a larger impact on behavior. In other words,
a person who experienced risk factors in two domains (e.g. family and peer) increased the odds
of engaging in negative behaviors than a youth who experienced a risk factor in one domain (e.g.
family).
To test this, the study first used the Variable based model in which; they counted the
number of risk factors that each participant experienced and listed forty risk factors, thus
The Nature of Gang Spawning 37
participants’ scores were categorized along four groups, i.e., (10 or fewer factors, 11 – 15
factors, 16 – 20 factors, and finally 21 or more factors). The methodology consisted of a
quantitative analysis (Bivariate Analysis) to reach study findings. The analysis found a strong
positive relationship between experiencing multiple risk factors and gang joining. Essentially,
none of the participants with fewer than ten risk factors reported being a gang member.
Domain Based Model
The challenge with the variable based model is that, it shows that an individual with over
ten risk factors may join a gang, but it does not reveal the findings by domain. For example, an
individual may have experienced ten risk factors within the individual level domain and none
within family, peer, school, and or neighborhood. Subsequently, it may not be the best model to
understand or narrow the scope to the core of gang joining. It would be more beneficial to
understand how factors may expand across domains and how those interactions may further
explain gang joining.
Other studies used longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to investigate how an
accumulation of risk factors within certain places may predict individual gang joining. Most
pertinent to gang scholarly literature, Thornberry determined that the risk of joining gangs
increased as risk factors piled upon one another. Five studies found that youth who joined gangs
appeared disproportionately in the highest cumulative risk category (Hill et al., 1999; Huizinga et
al., 1998; Miller, 2001; Thornberry et al., 2003; Whitlock, 2004). For example, one study
calculated a high-risk group that manifested at least 21 of 40 possible characteristics. Among
males, 43.5% fell in the high-risk group were gang members, (Thornberry, 2003).
The Nature of Gang Spawning 38
Limitations of Risk Factor Studies
Overall, the studies on cumulative risk factors presented findings that were relevant to
understanding the reasons why youth joined gangs, but they did not explain why certain
communities remained vulnerable to youth gang joining over time. In other words, why do
youth face cumulative risk factors in certain places more than others do? Subsequently, studies
may try to examine the source of the cumulative risk factors that certain individuals face within
specific communities and whether the cumulative factors persist and continue to spur the
prevalence of gangs within these high risk areas.
Protective Factors and Family Level Risk Factors
Critical concepts generally studied to uncover a reason why some individuals do not join
gangs are protective factors. Two recent studies focused on protective factors. One of the
studies honed on family level risk factors and how some youth who face these factors do not join
gangs. This understanding is essential to a human developmental approach to gang studies as
family disruption is associated with adverse impacts on youth development and with gang
joining. The following presents a brief discussion on parenting styles within the context of child
development, family level risk factors to gang joining, and two studies on protective factors.
As shown before in Sampson’s ecological study on social disorganization theory, they
found that family disruption was a critical factor to explain teenage delinquency. Thus, many
psychologist and some gang scholars focused on the linkages between family structure and gang
joining. Most relevant to gang joining is a, brief discussion on parenting styles, past gang
research on family level risk factors, and a recent study on resilience. This resilience component
adds to the gang literature as it includes a discussion on the youth who do not join gangs in spite
of their having faced risk factors to gang joining.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 39
Child Development, Parenting, and Gangs
For a parent to facilitate a normal healthy development for a child, forming a secure
attachment is extremely beneficial. An attachment is a binding emotional tie that a person forms
with another and that endures over time (Ainsworth, 1974). Infants attach to the primary
caregiver, in most instances the mother, but they also become attached to their fathers, their
grandparents, and day care workers. Knowledge of the importance of attachment has grown
steadily over time. While working in a child guidance clinic, John Bowlby noticed how often the
early histories of adolescents in trouble included severe disruptions in their relationships with
their mothers. He came to believe that these disruptions had a negative influence on children’s
development. Studies revealed that securely attached infants are more socially and cognitively
competent as toddlers (Walters, 1978). Securely attached children also tend to show positive
emotions, high quality of play advanced verbal ability and are cooperative with parents.
The information given can be very beneficial to the healthy normal development of a
child. The concepts presented in this brief discussion are separate but work together perfectly
when used for the development of a child. The conversations regarding parenting style and
positive child development may seem detached from gang joining, but it is not. As noted earlier,
studies demonstrated that family level, risk factors contributed to gang joining. Furthermore,
other researchers conducted studies regarding youth level of attachment to their parents and gang
joining.
Family Process as Risk Factors to Gang Joining
Several studies examined family process and parent-child relationships as risk factors to
gang joining. Some studies have found that a plethora of family structural elements put youth at
risk for becoming gang members. These elements include low family involvement (Friedman,
The Nature of Gang Spawning 40
Mann, 1975; LeBlanc & Lanctot, 1998), inappropriate parental discipline (Winfree et al., 1994),
low parental control or monitoring, (Bowker & Klein, 1983; Campbell, 1990; LeBlanc &
Lanctot, 1998; Moore, 1991), poor affective relationships between parent and child (Campbell,
1990; Moore, 1991), and parental conflict (LeBlanc & Lanctot, 1998).
Studies have also investigated family characteristics and found that low family
socioeconomic status or poverty is associated with gang membership, (Bowker & Klein, 1983;
Moore, 1991; Scwhartz, 1989). Others exploring family structure have arrived at varying
conclusions which explained that single-family households contributed to higher risks of gang
joining, (Bowker & Klein, 1983, Vigil, 1988) while another studies did not, (LeBlanc & Lancot,
1988). The latter study investigated adjudicated boys who were non-gang members and gang
members in Quebec.
These types of family level elements are critical to understand both risk factors and
protective factors to gang joining. To transition from the discussion about risk factors within the
family level, authors recently engaged in an interesting discussion regarding youth resiliency and
protective factors. The discussion has potential to inform policy for preventing gang joining.
Furthermore, it adds to a fuller knowledge in which to explore the trajectory of gang joining as it
is one of the few studies that focus on gang desistence or youth never joining gangs. One of the
two studies focused primarily on youth who faced family level risk factors yet did not succumb
to the lure of gang joining.
Family Protective Factors: Why Some Never Join Gangs?
Resilience. Speaking of a resilient child of an alcoholic, journalist Butler (1997) wrote,
“He was self-righting; he sprang back to his original shape despite the blows of outrageous
fortune,” (p. 24). There is little controversy that some youth face seemingly insurmountable
The Nature of Gang Spawning 41
levels of risk, but manage to ignore – resist – even react to risk in such a way as to avoid getting
into trouble – and even succeed masterfully” (Whitlock, 2004, p. 8).
Broderick (1993) suggested an individual characteristic that, in interaction with one’s
environment, produced what he termed as a transitional character. This transitional character, “is
one who, in the course of a single generation, changes the course of a lineage...who grows up in
an abusive, emotionally destructive environment, [but] somehow finds a way to metabolize the
poison and refuses to pass it on to [the next generations]” (Broderick, 1992, p. 18).
Of fairly recent interest, however, is the concern with identifying those youth that, despite
their increased risk for negative sequelae [conditions resulting from trauma or injury],
nevertheless avoid the outcome for which they are at risk. These protected youth are
thought to negotiate life situations in such a way that their risk does not operate in the
same way as in unprotected youth. Their risk is mediated by these protective factors.
(Whitlock, 2004, p. 1)
An excellent study examined protection as a distinct conceptual and statistical identity
and used the logic of Aldwin (1994), Garmezy and Masten (1986), and Rutter (1993) within the
context of examining the familial contribution to risk and resiliency development among
adolescent males at high risk for joining gangs. Understanding how individuals exposed to
tragic circumstances escape unscathed brings hope for prevention (Rutter 1993). Rutter (1993)
asserted:
If only we knew what it was that enabled people to “escape” damage from serious
adverse experiences, we would have the means at our disposal to enhance everyone’s
resistance to stress and adversity. (p. 626)
The Nature of Gang Spawning 42
Rutter (1993) further suggested that resilience is not the avoidance of risk. He gave the
example of immunity to infections, which comes from controlled exposures to the pathogen, not
through its avoidance. Rutter (1993) emphasized the importance of understanding that a
protective factor is more than just identifying an individual who successfully developed. One
must identify characteristics within the individual that enabled him or her to cope with a risk
factor. “Discovering the processes by which children manage their risk is something very
different than simply measuring a variation in the level of risk exposure. Protection must interact
with risk to develop a level of invulnerability or immunity to risk.” (Whitlock, 2004, p. 10).
Protective factors. Whiltlock’s (2004) objective was to identify protective factors,
which they defined as characteristics that reduced the probability of gang joining, despite the
presence of a risk factor. Their ultimate goal was to inform the development of programs that
could increase protection by buffering risk-laden youth.
Family conformance and deviance. Youth exposed to nonconforming behaviors within
their families – their primary place of valuation and identity development – are likely at greater
odds of choosing deviant activities (Rowe & Farrington 1997; Sampson 1992). This appears to
be especially true for gang joining in Los Angeles, where generations of families have gang
affiliations (Klein 1995; Moore 1978, 1991; Vigil 1988, 2002). This process is at the crux of
understanding the nature of gangs within communities as, in some cases; the behavior passes
along among generations.
Several measures of family deviance correlated with gang joining. Parental substance
abuse (Loeber et al., 1998) and antisocial or criminal behavior increase the likelihood of gang
joining greatly (Curry & Spergel 1992; Loeber et al., 1998; Moore 1991). In the Seattle
longitudinal study, parental attitudes favorable to violence increased the likelihood of gang
The Nature of Gang Spawning 43
joining (Hill et al., 1999). Moore’s ex-gang members reported families that experienced heavy
alcohol use, drug addiction, and arrests (Moore 1991). Ebensen et al. (1993) found that gang
members differed from non-gang members in family normlessness, but gang members reported
similar levels of normlessness to non-gang street offenders. Rutter and Quinton (1984) reviewed
the research in search of possible explanations of the processes linking parental psychopathology
and offspring maladjustment and identified several causal mechanisms: (a) genetic transmission,
(b) direct exposure to parents’ symptoms, and (c) indirect effects, such as marital discord. Thus,
it is particularly the latter two mechanisms through which children receive socialization into
family norms and values that maintain gang affiliation across generations.
The data for Whitlock’s study were from a youth interview project conducted at the
University of Southern California’s Social Science Research Institute under the direction of Drs.
Cheryl Maxson and Malcom Klein. The California Wellness Foundation and the National
Institute of Justice funded the study to investigate factors associated with joining and resistance
to gang membership. This study examined individual, family, school, peer, and neighborhood
factors related to gang joining among African American males and females in San Diego,
California (Mason, Whitlock & Klein 1998).
In all, Whitlock identified just eight pairs of variables that produced significant
interactions from 110 regression equations. Three of these pairs produced reductions of risk only
at the low end of the risk continuum. She identified 10 of the 21 variables tested as risk factors,
and 5 of the risk factors interacted with 7 other family variables to produce reduced probabilities
of joining gangs. For example, a youth at risk for joining gangs due to low parental mentoring is
less likely to join if his parents discipline him consistently (i.e., parents do not punish or punish
for the same things), but discipline consistency has no effect on youth at low risk for joining
The Nature of Gang Spawning 44
gangs due to high parental monitoring. Whitlock identified the same protective pattern for the
reliability of punishment (punishment does not change with parents’ mood) when coupled with
the risk factor of low parental monitoring. Punishment consistency also emerged as a protective
factor, reducing the risk of gang membership for youths whose family members had a history of
incarcerations.
Although, the protective factor research designs and finding were not all conclusive, they
did present strong arguments that helped understand how certain characteristics may interact
with risk factors and protect youth from succumbing to maladaptive behavior, which in turn
adversely affects their transitions across the span of their life-course. Particularly in areas where
gangs persist and certain groups of people face these risk factors at disproportionately higher
rates than do others.
Community Vulnerability by Social Determinants: Place and Race
Recent studies demonstrated racial and ethnic disparities across various ecological
domains. Such studies introduce a more human developmental approach to understanding
factors that contribute to well-being and how boys and young men of color are at greater risk
across several domains. The following reviews the recent studies by, design, methodology,
ecological indicators, and findings pertaining to these racial and ethnic disparities across several
domains.
Boys and Men of Color in California
An increasing body of literature has documented that racial and ethnic disparities exist
across a broad array of domains (Krieger et al., 1993; Williams & Collins, 1995). The literature
also addressed how racial and ethnic disparities developed and persisted over time in the context
of historical and structural racism that shaped policies, practices, and programs in ways creating
The Nature of Gang Spawning 45
disadvantages for certain groups (Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change, 2004;
Hofrichter, 2003). This history and institutionalization of disadvantage has meant, “Inequities
that exist at all levels of society have persistent, profound, and long-lasting effects” (King
County Equity and Social Justice Initiative, 2008, p. 2). Within this context, boys and men of
color are particularly vulnerable. For example, boys and men of color have lower high school
graduation rates, a greater likelihood of going to prison and higher mortality rates from homicide
(Dellums Commission, 2006).
Recently, the California Endowment commissioned a report to examine and document
racial and ethnic disparities for boys and men of color in California, (Rand, 2009). The Rand
corporation worked with the California Endowment to identify four broad outcome domains—
socioeconomic, health, safety, and ready to learn—and to select specific indicators within each
domain from a range of possibilities. The analysis utilized available data to quantify the
magnitude of disparities.
The methodology consisted of a standard metric for capturing disparities for each
indicator in each of the chosen outcome domains. It entailed calculating the odds for boys and
men of color and defined boys and men of color as Latino and African-American boys and men.
Essentially, the study compared these groups with the White boys and men, and calculated the
odds for the various groups. For example, what are the odds that an African-American or Latino
boy will be arrested, relative to a White boy, and how great is the disparity? By expressing the
disparities in terms of odds, they provided a simple way to quantify the increased risk of one
group over another. If one group had higher odds that another, then it meant that a disparity
between the groups existed for that indicator.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 46
The study calculated the odds by dividing the rate or percentage for boys and men of
color by the rate or percentage for white boys and young men. The report focused primarily on
those indicators where the odds were two times greater or more for boys and men of color
relative to their white peers. Specifically, they focused on those indicators for which at least one
of the groups (Latinos or African Americans) met the threshold of 2.0 higher odds than Whites
did.
Although this cut-off point is somewhat arbitrary, we believe
that it serves as a useful starting point to help policymakers prioritize policy
actions. Whenever possible, we provide male-only statistics, in keeping with
the intent of The California Endowment. However, for some indicators, data
by gender are simply not available. Likewise, we provide the odds for California
only, unless only national data are available. In cases where such national
data are available and where the differences provide a meaningful contrast,
we compare California with the rest of the nation. (Rand, 2009, p. 11)
Similar to other community health and well-being research, positive human
developmental tenets, i.e., models based on well-being, underpinned the conceptual framework
of their understanding of disparities in a social determinant context. The Rand, 2009 study
grounded its research within a conceptual framework based on the Northridge, Sclar, and Biswas
(2003) model, which described the contextual factors that interact to promote or inhibit
individual health outcomes. The model described the contextual factors that interact to promote
or inhibit individual health outcomes. It highlighted the multiple pathways by which factors in
the physical, social, economic, and family domains contribute to individual well-being. Rand
The Nature of Gang Spawning 47
corporation modified their framework to include safety and education (or ready to learn)
outcomes at the individual level.
Disparities within a Social Determinant Context
Similar to previously discussed ecological theories, this study examined disparities across
the environment in which the child develops. The study focused on the macro level, community
level, and the micro- level that included interpersonal and individual levels. The following
example, conveys how Rand (2009, p. 11-12) measured social determinants within an ecological
view.
At the macro level, social factors, such as cultural institutions, economic and political
systems and ideologies, interact with inequalities in wealth, employment and educational
opportunities and political influence. These inequalities, in turn, also influence the social
context in which a child develops. At the community level, the build environment
includes such factors as land use, availability of services and transportation, recreational
resources (such as parks), and the type of housing and schools available. A community’s
social context takes into account the quality of education, local policies, political
influence, and the amount of community investment. At the micro/interpersonal level,
stressors can include such factors as violent crime, unsafe housing, financial insecurity,
and unfair treatment. In terms of social support and family assets, neighborhood social
cohesion, family, social support, and parent education are also important contributors to
an individual’s development and well-being. First, individual outcomes and behavior are
not generated in isolation but rather are embedded in a social and economic environment.
Second, the individual-level outcomes are likely to be related, because they are produced
in the same underlying context. Third, this framework captures the complex set of
The Nature of Gang Spawning 48
factors that contribute to disparities in the odds for boys and young men of color. (Rand,
2009, p. 11-12)
Within the four sets of outcomes (macro, community, interpersonal, and individual), they
found that the odds for boys and men of color are far worse (more than two times worse) than
they are for white boys and men across a number of indicators.
Within the socioeconomic domain, they found that African-American and Latino children
in California experience the highest rates of child poverty (each about 27%). These groups are
3.4 times more likely to live in poverty than for White children to live in poverty (Rand, 2009).
Families with a single mother have the highest poverty rates, at 42 %, while married-couple
families have a rate of only 12 %. About half of the poor children in California live in families
in which neither parent finished high school; the rate for these families is 44 % (Public Policy
Institute of California, 2006).
Additionally, in California, African-American mothers are two times more likely than
White mothers are to have less than a high school education, while Latino mothers are more than
ten times more likely than White mothers are to have less than a high school education (Rand,
2009). Research found that strong links between maternal education and a range of child
outcomes (Carneiro, Meghir, & Parey, 2007; Coleman et al., 1966; Leibowitz, 1977;
McLanahan, 2004). These studies generally purported that education may improve children’s
well-being, both because maternal education is highly correlated with other socioeconomic
determinants of children’s outcomes such as family income and neighborhood quality, etc (Desai
& Alva, 1998).
Within the Health domain, the report found very discouraging disparities. Nationally
speaking, the risk of contracting HIV. (Rand, 2009). H IV or AIDS is 6.9 times higher for
The Nature of Gang Spawning 49
African-American male adults and adolescents than for whites. Latinos are 3.1 times more likely
than Whites are to have HIV or AIDS. In this area, the odds of an infant being born to a teenage
mother in California are 3.6 times greater for Latino infants than for white infants. African-
American infants are more than twice as likely as White infants are to be born to a teenage
mother. (Rand, 2009). They noted, “Children born to teenage mothers have a greater chance of
repeating a grade, dropping out of high school and being unemployed as youth adults.” (Rand,
2009, p. 14).
Within the Safety domain, African-American men are 5.5 times more likely to go to
prison than white men go to prison in their lifetime, and the odds for Latino men for this
outcome are 2.9 times higher than for white men, (Rand, 2009). Overall, 1 in 3 African-
American men, 1 in 6 Latino men, and 1 in 17 white men are expected to go to prison during and
the likelihood of African American men going to prison over their lifetimes has increased more
than any other group (Rand, 2009). Nationally, African-American children are almost 9 times
more likely, and Latino children are more than 3 times more likely than White children are to
have a parent in prison, (Rand, 2009). An estimated 856,000 California children—
approximately 1 in 9—have a parent currently involved in the adult criminal justice system
(Simmons, 2000). Travis and Waul (2003) discovered that, children of incarcerated parents are
more likely to exhibit low self-esteem, depression, emotional withdrawal from friends and
family, and inappropriate or disruptive behavior at home and in school, and they are at increased
risk of future delinquency and criminal behavior). Practitioners involved in any aspect of youth,
community, and or economic development must consider such disparities if one is to combat root
conditions to youth delinquency, teenage violence, gang joining, and other forms of maladaptive
behavior.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 50
Additionally, the report observed the greatest disparities for African Americans’
homicide-related death rates. Homicide is the sixth-leading cause of death among African-
American men and the seventh-leading cause of death among Latino men in California (Lee &
McConville, 2007). Young African-American men (between 15 and 24 years) have a homicide
death rate at least 16 times greater than that of young white men, and young Latino men have a
homicide death rate 5 times greater than that of young white men. Table 2 below shows the
staggering disparities among African-Americans boys and young men in terms of violence and
incarceration.
Table 2.
Disparity among African American Males: Violence versus Incarceration
Indicator African-American
Witnessing domestic violence 2.10
Exposure to other forms of violence 3.00
Substantiated child abuse and neglect 2.50
Disproportional representation in foster care 4.05
Lifetime likelihood of ever going to prison 5.50
Disproportional representation in prison population-incarceration rate 6.50
Children with incarcerated parents 8.80
Juvenile arrest rate 5.70
Juvenile custody rate 5.70
Firearms-related death rate 10.10
Homicide-related death rate 16.40
Although, these shocking disparities exist in terms of violence among African American
youth, children and teenage violence in the U.S. is an issue. Children in the United States are
more likely to be exposed to violence and crime than are adults (Finkelhor, 2008; Hashima &
Finkelhor, 1999). In 2005, juveniles and young adults ages 12 to 19 were more than twice as
likely to be victims of violent crimes as the population as a whole (Baum, 2005). Children react
The Nature of Gang Spawning 51
to exposure to violence in different ways, and many children show remarkable resilience. All
too often, however, children exposed to violence undergo lasting physical, mental, and emotional
harm. They suffer from difficulties with attachment, regressive behavior, anxiety and
depression, and aggression and conduct problems, (Office of Juvenile, Justice, and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP), 2009). Moreover, exposure to violence may impair a child’s capacity for
partnering and parenting later in life, continuing the cycle of violence into the next generation
(OJJDP, 2009).
Community: Why Do Some Neighborhoods Experience More Violence Than Others Do?
The finding regarding possible long-lasting consequences of children’s exposure to
violence should inform policies, studies, and programs around gang prevention and or youth
development within high-risk communities. From a developmental perspective, one may
understand the challenges that practitioners, scholars, and policymakers face when attempting to
provide solutions to the gang problems. It also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a
human developmental approach to understanding the challenges in an attempt to address core
issues the nature of these gang-spawning environments. Some studies focused on the
racialization of gang joining (Alonso, 2004) which will be defined more after presenting a study
on human development and violence. This is essential to understand, especially in light of the
disparities of African American youth and violence, and the extreme neighborhood level risk
factors.
The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) investigated
the development of crime and violence in children and adolescents. The PHDCN combines a
longitudinal study of more than 6,000 Chicago children and adolescents with a study of Chicago
The Nature of Gang Spawning 52
neighborhoods. The longitudinal study involved interviews with children, adolescents, and
primary caregivers conducted from 1995 through 2001.
Why some adolescents are more violent than other adolescents are? Why some
neighborhoods are more violent than other neighborhoods? How do disadvantaged
neighborhoods affect the development of resident youth? In addition, what is the relationship
between violent neighborhoods and violent teens?
Questions such as these prompted the creation of the Project on Human Development in
Chicago Neighborhoods (PCDCN). This unique project combined an intensive study of
neighborhoods with a longitudinal study of children and adolescents recruited from 80 specific
neighborhoods. The longitudinal study involved conducting three waves of interviews. The
combination of data from this multilevel design allowed researchers to disentangle the effects of
neighborhood conditions from the characteristics of adolescents.
The study measured violence by gathering youth’s own reports, rather than official
records of arrest or other criminal justice system involvement. The findings suggest that
neighborhoods are strong candidates for policy interventions to reduce violence. Findings from
the PHDCN’s neighborhood study received widespread attention in both the professional and
general media. For example, in a widely cited article published in Science in 1997 and
summarized in an NIJ Research Review, Robert Sampson, Stephen Raudenbush, and Felton
Earls (1997) found that neighborhood social processes had a significant impact on homicide and
violence in the community.
Homicide and violent victimization rates were lower in neighborhoods where residents
shared values, had common expectations that neighbors would intervene in problem behavior,
and trusted each other. The study conceptualized this combination of shared values, trust, and
The Nature of Gang Spawning 53
expectations for social intervention as collective efficacy to control crime and deviance.
Neighborhood conditions, such as the extent of poverty and the lack of residential stability
strongly influenced the level of collective efficacy. Collective efficacy thus seems to be a
mediating link between neighborhood conditions and crime and violence. Equally important,
among neighborhoods with similar conditions, those with greater collective efficacy experienced
less violence. The articles report the following specific findings:
1. Neighborhood conditions differ markedly for youth of different race and ethnicity, and
those differing conditions in turn account for much of the racial and ethnic differences in
youth violence rates.
2. Youth in disadvantaged and unsafe neighborhoods are more likely to carry firearms
illegally; exposure to firearms violence increases the risk that youth will themselves
commit violence.
3. Girls who mature early in disadvantaged neighborhoods are at greater risk for being
involved in adolescent violence.
More recently, scholars introduced another theory that is similar to the social
disorganization theory. The theory argued similar concepts, but did so from a more positive
vantage point. For example, social disorganization theory focused on how a disorganized
community increased the level of crime while, Collective efficacy theory examined an organized
community’s ability to reduce crime, (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997; Sampson, 2002).
Essentially, “The willingness of local residents to intervene for the common good depends in
large part on conditions of mutual trust and solidarity among neighbors. Indeed, one is unlikely
to intervene in a neighborhood context in which the rules are unclear and people mistrust or fear
one another,” (Sampson, 1997, p. 919). Correlates of collective efficacy range from individual
The Nature of Gang Spawning 54
perceptions and characteristics to neighborhood-level measures of ethnic segregation and
poverty.
In the study on collective efficacy, Sampson et al., (1997) hypothesized a relationship
between collective efficacy and community levels of violence. To test their connection, they
surveyed 8,782 residents of 343 neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. The study measured
collective efficacy at the individual respondent level with a ten-item scale. Five of the items
dealt with the stated willingness of a resident to act to constrain neighborhood disruptions. The
remaining items focused on the residents’ beliefs that neighbors would act similarly.
Furthermore, the analysis measured violence by three separate indicators, (a) residents’ self-
reports of violent events in their neighborhoods; (b) residents’ self-reports of violent
victimization, and (c) official criminal justice data on homicides for each neighborhood.
The study concluded that collective efficacy was negatively associated with violence
when other individual and neighborhood factors were statistically controlled. It also found that
relationship between poverty and residential instability and violent crime diminished by the
presence of higher levels of collective efficacy. The collective efficacy study contained an
interesting point in the “discussion and implications section.” It stated that, “The image of local
residents working collectively to solve their own problems is not the whole picture. What
happens within neighborhoods is in part shaped by socioeconomic and housing factors linked to
the wider political economy,” (Sampson, 1997, p. 923). It further stated that, “strategies to
address the social and ecological changes that beset many inner-city communities need to be
considered. Recognizing that collective efficacy matters does not imply that inequalities at the
neighborhood level can be neglected,” (Samson, 1997, p. 923). The study stated that racial
composition was associated with concentrated disadvantage and that housing discrimination
The Nature of Gang Spawning 55
differentially exposed African American’s to neighborhood conditions of extreme poverty
(Sampson, 1997).
Why Do Gangs Persist in Certain Areas: Urbanization, Identity, Economy
Such findings point the discussion toward a deeper understanding about the topic of
place, race, and gang joining. For example, one might wonder, how did certain places and
people within them become more violent and what are the root causes of gang persistence within
them. Two studies focused on this topic from a global and local perspective to shed light on
other views pertaining to why certain places and people institutionalized criminality and violence
and gang joining. Hagedorn discussed the reason why gangs come and go in certain areas while
gangs become fixtures in other areas. Furthermore, Alonso discusses African American gangs in
South Los Angeles. The two studies uncover and present three concepts that are relevant to
understand gang persistence over generations. The concepts are 1) urbanization 2) Identity 3)
and the underground economy.
Gangs around the Globe and Urbanization
Hagedorn opposed Klein’s localized viewpoint of gangs, emphasized that gangs are a
global issue, and blamed urbanization in part for the growth of gangs. He noted that did not
originate in the United States, and they are not only a local issue. He listed a few points that
aligned with past studies to record gangs outside of the U.S. For example, London gangs existed
long before their American gangs, (Pearson, 1983). Female gang members may have roamed
Manchester in the 19
th
century (Davies, 1998). Developing countries, such as South Africa had
gangs for most of the 20
th
century (Pinnock, 1984). In the wake of post-World War II
urbanization, gangs, such as the Rarry Boys in Sierra Leone (Abdullah, 2002), were formed by
the children of urban migrants. In New Zealand, Maori gangs have built a national network
The Nature of Gang Spawning 56
since the mid-20
th
century (Hazelhurst, in press). In addition, Yasser Arafat, learned guerrilla
tactics as a street gang leader in Cairo in 1940s (Aburish, 1998).
Hagedorn (2005) agreed with other studies, which generally blame urbanization and
slumming conditions for gang expansion around the world. In 2004, three quarters of Latin
America’s half billion people lived in cities, and nearly one-third of them lived in slum
neighborhoods. Of the three hundred million urban dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa, more than
70 % live in shantytowns or other dilapidated urban areas. In Asia, more than a half billion
people live in desperate urban conditions. Ultimately, the study argues that urbanization has had
as far-reaching effects on youth in the third world as it did on second-generation Polish youth in
1920s Chicago.
Resistance Identities
Additionally, the report emphasized the role of resistance identities in the formation and
persistence of gangs. Hagedorn agreed with Castells (1997) in that globalization and the retreat
of the state have meant more than a loss of social control. Furthermore that, the failure of
modern institutions and the lack of faith in the certainty of a better future have strengthened
resistance identities – identities formed in opposition to the dominant culture and the
uncertainties of an unstable modernity (Castells, 1997). Toruraine (1995) further explicates this
phenomenon as a clash between the unfettered power of the market and the resistance of
national, ethnic, and religious identities. Hagedorn expounds upon the discussion by linking
resistance identities between local and global locations as he explained that, within poor
communities, resistance identities include a wide assortment of people including gangs and other
groups of armed youth. Nationalist, religious, and ethnic cultures have grown strong by resisting
The Nature of Gang Spawning 57
the homogenizing influences of westernization. These resistance identities in part might
galvanize youth against mainstream society and bolster formation of groups based on rebellion.
Additionally, Hagedorn discussed the power that rap music has to influence a more
complex culture of resistance. He conveyed the broad ranging impact of rap music has on the
world through the dominance of U.S. media. In Nigeria, gangs of Muslim youth enforce Sharia
for the state, while wearing gold chains, using and selling drugs, and listening to rap music
(Casey, 2002).
Hagedorn argued that the culture of rap-music is not the same rebellious identity that led
to African American gangs, which Cohen described in 1955. Opposed to Cohen’s view of
African American sub-cultures of working class people who rebelled against oppression from
white authority, Hagedorn explicates that African American based gangsta rap music reflects a
more destructive identity. An identity that is counterintuitive to founders of hip-hop, who were
former gang members, such as Afrika Bambata in the South Bronx, who consciously saw hip-
hop as a way to pull youth away from gangs (Kitwana, 1994, 2002).
Hagedorn (2005) stated that, “rap now contains conflicting ideals of violence and anti-
violence, consumerism and anti-consumerism, religion and antagonism to religion, and
misogyny and feminism only attests to its overall power in identifying the locus of the struggle”
(p. 159), and that, “ Gangsta rap is also nihilistic, worshiping destruction and violence in a way
more extreme than Cohen’s reaction formation, a paean to Black survival and a violent response
to the no-way-out life of the ghetto.” (p. 160).
In terms of the power of rap music to influence an identity broadly across geographic
locations and over decades, Hagedorn argued that rap music presents a resistance identity that
represents an outlook of millions of socially excluded. He stated that “this contested resistance
The Nature of Gang Spawning 58
identity is no longer a transient subculture of alienated youth but a permanent oppositional and
racialized culture arising in the wake of the retreat of the state and the parallel strengthening of
cultural identities” (Hagedorn, 2005, p. 160). This is possibly one of the extreme versions of rap
music relative to its influence on resistance identities and gang persistence. Rap music has
become a very lucrative business and for some and subsequently might be a way out of the
ghetto. This, ironically, might align with Cohen’s view of a subculture where working class
people are looking for a way out. This brings the discussion to a more economical element that
might spur gang persistence.
The Underground Economy
The literature on gangs and the underground economy in the United States is extensive
(Moore, 1991; Taylor, 1989; Venkatesh & Leavitt, 2000). The criminal economy, in the
estimation of the U. N., grosses more than $400 billion annually, which would make it the largest
market in the world, including oil (Hagedorn, 2005). Peter Reuter’s (1996) more conservative
estimates (his low-ball figure of $150 billion in annual drug sales) are nevertheless breathtaking
But these are local studies and their emphasis, as in his prior work, is not the insular world of
drug dealing in a single city. These studies describe the importance of the drug market to both
young gang members and to the community (Patillo, 1998; Venkatesh, 2000). Hagedorn (2001)
also describe drug-dealing gangs as the main street-level employer of youth in the poorest areas
of cities, forsaken by industrial jobs.
From an economic development point of view, the prominent urban planner Jane Jacobs
sheds light on the process of development in her book The Economy of Cities. She explained
that when the formal economy falters the informal steps in.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 59
In American Cities, new immigrant groups other than those coming from Protestant
North Europe have always found it hard to get initial capital for enterprises of their own.
One way of breaking through this obstacle was to develop sources of capital other than
banks and the various other organization selling financial goods and services. However,
alternate sources have frequently been either illegal or disreputable. That is to say, the
division of capital was from extortionate slumlords (building very little money into
considerable money), organized crime, and profits derived from political graft. Many a
respectable American citizen of today got his education, and many a legitimate and
constructive enterprise got its initial capital, from precisely these activities. Without
them, the education was impossible, nor the laudable enterprises. This is one reason, I
think-perhaps even the principal reason-for the extraordinary tolerance of organized
crime and graft in American society. Certainly, it is often the direct reason for covert
cooperation with crime on the part of persons who are industrious and, in most things,
law abiding. (Jacobs, 1969, p. 222)
Jacobs’s view of, when the formal economy falters, the informal steps in, helps further
understand, from an economical point of view, possible conditions that underlie the nature of
gang spawning communities.
Overall, Hagedorn emphasized the importance of recognizing gangs as a global issue he
purported that urbanization, resistant identities, and the underground economy have influenced
gang persistence. Most relevant to understanding gangs, he described a view of gang persistence
in certain areas. Essentially, he expounded upon the term institutionalized gangs.
“Institutionalized is to say that it persists despite changes in leadership (e.g., killed, incarcerated,
or “matured out”), has organization complex enough to sustain multiple roles of its members
The Nature of Gang Spawning 60
(including roles for women and children), can adapt to changing environments without
dissolving (e.g., as a result of police repression), fulfills some needs of its community (economic,
security, services), and organizes a distinct outlook of its members (rituals, symbols, and rules.
(Hagedorn, 2005, p. 162).
Racialization of Gangs
One study linked early African American gang formation in Los Angeles in the 1940s to
processes of: residential segregation, police brutality, racially motivated violence, and the
aftermath of the civil rights period in the 1960s, (Alonso, 2004). Restrictive covenants, legalized
in the 1920s, maintained social and racial homogeneity of neighborhoods by denying non-whites
access to property ownership,” (Bunch, 1990), and such exclusionary practices had rendered
much of LA off-limits to most minorities,” (Bond, 1936; Davis, 1990; Dymski & Veitch, 1996).
The study purported that gangs formed in the aftermath of the civil rights period,
followed by the assassination of many national and local activists.
The incident that had the most profound impact on African Americans in LA and truly marked
the beginning of the end of the Black Panther Party era in Southern California and the end of
civil rights movement in LA was the assassination of BPP leaders Bunchy Carter and John
Huggins at UCLA’s campus in 1969 (Alonso, 2004, p. 667; Drummond & Reich, 1969).
Essentially, the study argued that, African American youth formed tight neighborhood groups, or
gangs to protect themselves from discrimination, family disintegration and rival White gangs or
clubs.
Although the study focused on the emergence of African American gangs in Los
Angeles, it did not explore why they persisted over generations as demographics shifted from
White, to largely African American and Latino in these areas. Essentially, the questions
The Nature of Gang Spawning 61
remained, are the same factors that were associated with the emergence of Black Gangs still
contributing to persistence of these gangs? In other words, why do African America Gangs still
exist today and why have communities, such as Compton, South central, and Watts, been so
vulnerable to gang persistence?
In a study report prepared for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Harder
Company Community Research (2010) noted that, “The best way to frame this issue of gang
activity is to acknowledge that there is continuity from 1965 in civil rights, and there is the whole
issue of lack of trust because of immigrant status,” (Harding Company Community Research,
2010, p. 13). Additionally, the study indicated that gangs in the South Los Angeles community
are complex and it would be impossible to identify a single cause for their existence. However,
the study noted that the primary reasons for gangs, according to most participants, were race and
poverty.
Further complicating race relations, the 1992 civil unrest occurred after the judge found
police not guilty after beating Rodney King despite videotaped footage of the beating. Thirteen
days afterward, a storeowner, Soon Da Ju, shot and killed a 15-year-old African American girl,
Latasha Harding. The owner paid a fine and completed community service without jail time.
These among other instances may exacerbate marginalization and cultivate the identity of
resistance.
Community Structural Factors: Restrictive Covenants
Racially restrictive covenants evolved as a reaction to the Great Migration of Southern
blacks and in response to the 1917 Court ruling which declared municipally mandated racial
zoning unconstitutional.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 62
…hereafter no part of said property or any portion thereof shall be…occupied by any
person not of the Caucasian race, it being intended hereby to restrict the use of said
property…against occupancy as owners or tenants of any portion of said property for
resident or other purposes by people of the Negro or Mongolian race. The practice of
using racial covenants became so socially acceptable that in 1937 a leading magazine of
nationwide circulation awarded 10 communities a ‘shield of honor’ for an umbrella of
restrictions against the ‘wrong kind of people.’ The practice was so widespread that by
1940, 80% of property in Chicago and Los Angeles carried restrictive covenants barring
black families. (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1973, p. 4)
Overall, assessing gang development from a race and ethnicity vantage point is essential
because one may uncover core issues that vary by place and by groups. Thus, instead of using
one size fit all approaches to reduce gang violence, practitioners can use findings to formulate
suitable strategies that are target specific.
Conclusion of Literature Review
In conclusion, this review of gang literature from a developmental approach informs this
study. Particularly, the life-course perspective informs most heavily as it guides the conceptual
framework in which to understand gangs over the trajectory of joining – during – never joining.
The ecological theory, risk factors, and protective-factor concepts provides a broad perspective
in which to explore the various factors across several domains. Furthermore, since most
individuals join gangs during their adolescence, recent neurological studies regarding youth risk-
taking and immature cognitive abilities allow another vantage point in which to dissect findings.
Lastly, the various criminological theories of social disorganization, collective efficacy, illicit
means, and Hagedorns global studies allow a conglomerate of perspectives that culminate the
The Nature of Gang Spawning 63
lenses in which to explore the persistence of African-American Gangs in Compton from 1960 –
2013.
Gap in Literature
Generally, some factors remain uncovered that may have overlapped across several
domains and how the youth’s developmental experience and perceptions may have changed over
the course of them joining, participating, leaving, or never joining a gang. This presented
unexplored experiences in the past because many researchers only focused on the middle point of
active membership as opposed to an individual’s experiences within the trajectory of: joining –
participating in – and leaving a gang. For example, one researcher stated that, “Surprisingly little
research has been conducted on gang desistance and the processes of leaving gangs.” (Klein,
2006, p. 154). Ultimately, this research design facilitated a deeper understanding of factors that
may have contributed to gang persistence among African American youth in Compton.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 64
Chapter 4
Methodology
This project is exploratory. It involves an application o f a method of Understanding
possible core community issues that contributed to gang persistence. Based on the scarcity of
research findings about the persistence of African American gangs in Compton, this study sought
to explore the nature of this community and factors that may explain gang persistence over
decades. The findings reflect the experience and insights of residents who lived in Compton for
over twenty years. Additionally, the design of the study was an effort to analyze themes that
persisted over the trajectory of individual’s experiences while having joined, participated in, left,
and never joined gangs. The study tests the findings against key concepts about community
process, community structures, risk factors and protective factors, and human developmental
concepts based on a review of scholarly literature that pertains to gangs and communities.
The Qualitative Research Design
Thus, the study used a qualitative research design with a semi-structured interview
approach. The unit of study was individuals who have lived in Compton, an area, where the
Crips and Bloods (African American gangs) have existed over generations. The dissertation
selected a qualitative approach because it allowed a more exploratory approach to understanding
an individual’s perceptions of Compton and their experiences with gangs over an extended
period.
The intent of qualitative research is to understand a particular social situation, event, role,
group, or interaction (Locke, Sperduso, & Silverman, 2007), which is largely an investigative
process where the study gradually makes sense of a social phenomenon by contrasting,
comparing, replicating, cataloguing, and classifying the object of study (Miles & Hubberman,
The Nature of Gang Spawning 65
1984). The dissertation used a semi-structured approach that facilitated a space for participants
to explain rich detail that pertained to their interactions with factors that may have attracted them
to gangs or deterred them from gangs.
Vandkatesh (2008) gained rich detail on gang operations in Chicago through a qualitative
research design used to explore gang life and stated,
I found it particularly curious that most of the researchers didn’t seem interested
in meeting the people they wrote about. It wasn’t necessarily out of an animosity,
nearly all of them were well intentioned, but because the act of actually talking to
research subjects was seen as messy, unscientific, and a potential source of bias.
(Vandkatesh, 2008, p. 3)
Essentially, the perception of individuals who lived in, the “gang capital of the nation,”
over three generations may offer rich information that is too complex and too multi-layered to
glean from gang statistics alone. For example, policy makers expressed that killings have
decreased this month. From a statistical standpoint, that is good news. From a qualitative
perspective, it may not mean as much to those whose mother, brother, sister, cousin,
granddaughter, grandmother, or friend killed last month. Thus, the feelings, emotion, and or
experiences are critical to understand as they may uncover motives behind gang persistence over
generations.
Setting and Participation
Location. The study chose Compton as the site for this investigation because the role it
played in the emergence of the African American Crip, Blood and Piru gangs. Bloods became
particularly strong in the black communities in South Central Los Angeles—especially in places
on its periphery such as Compton—and in outlying communities such as Pacoima, Pasadena, and
The Nature of Gang Spawning 66
Pomona (Alonso, 2004; Vigil, 2002), and the Pirus formed from the street named Piru in
Compton. Additionally, Compton was an appropriate geographic choice because of its
concentration of over thirty African American gangs within 10.1 square miles, (Alonso, 1993).
Lastly this location was chosen because of its mainstream notoriety based on the gang culture
through rap music which has continued over decades from, i.e., NWA “straight outta Compton”
to the present date with rappers such as “The Game” and “YG (young gangster.”
Participants. All of the participants lived in Compton over twenty years and their ages
ranged from 25 to 73 years old. The participant’s age range benefited the study because it
allowed me to understand community member’s experiences over generations in efforts to
explore reasons why gangs may have formed and why they persisted over time. Ninety percent
of the participants were men, which aligns with previous gang research that suggests that a high
proportion of gang members are young men. Additionally, much research points to the
disproportionate rate whereby African American males represent homicide victims and inmates.
Nationally, homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans, between 10 and 24
years old. It is the second leading cause of death for Hispanics and Asian/ Pacific Islanders, and
the third leading cause of death for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Among 10 to 24
years-old, 86% (4,901) of homicide victims were male in 2006. In 2006, more than 720,000
young people ages 10 to 24 went to emergency departments for treatment of injuries sustained
from violence. (CDC, 2008)
Thus, the representation of African American males in the study may yield responses that
benefit understanding this phenomenon. On the other hand, the sample’s high percentage of
male population may limit understanding about community experiences as the community
represents a high portion of women. Thirty-three percent of the participants had joined a gang
The Nature of Gang Spawning 67
before which accurately represented most literature that explains that only a minority of youth in
a neighborhood actually join a gang. Finally, 33% of the participants lived without a father.
Although the study did not entail an instrument that reflected these differences, these points
helped to put the responses into a broader context of scholarly literature on gangs.
This study focused on African Americans in Compton because of the reputation of Crips
and Bloods and their roots in Compton. All participants were African Americans who are from
and most still live in Compton. All participants went to middle school, high school, and even
lived as adults in Compton. Essentially, they all lived at least 20 years in Compton.
Table 3.
Participants
Participant Age Gender Parents Gang Affiliation
1 34 Male Father Non- Gang Member
2 50 Male Father Former-Gang Member
3 58 Female No Father Non- Gang Member
4 60 Male No Father Non- Gang Member
5 45 Male No Father Former-Gang Member
6 34 Male Father Non- Gang Member
7 35 Male Father Non- Gang Member
8 25 Male Father Non- Gang Member
9 25 Male Father Former- Gang Member
10 37 Male No Father Non- Gang Member
11 37 Male Father Former-Gang Member
12 73 Male Non-Gang Member
Note: Some stated that they were non-active gang members because they no longer actively
participate in gang activity, but they did not consider themselves as one who left the gang
entirely.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 68
Data Collection
The dissertation interviewed twelve participants and each interview lasted between 45
minutes to an hour. The Compton residents gave their permission to record the interviews.
Transcription of the data and uploading of the data to computer files commenced at the
conclusion of the interviews. The participants received assurance that they and the place of their
work would not be identifiable in any subsequent report. Destruction of the interview tapes
followed the writing of the final research report.
The design for the instrument used to gather information came from reviewing previous
qualitative and quantitative studies that examined the relationships between community factors
and gang joining. The inspiration for the creation of the instruments was from the review of
research on gangs and communities. The semi-structured interview guide encouraged
interviewer flexibility and enabled participants to raise issues, describe experiences, and share
stories that were relevant to them. This included the use of standard probes to elicit more detail,
such as, tell me about what happened, what happened next, and can you tell me more about that,
(Charmaz, 2006; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). The questions that guided the interviews pertaining
to African American gangs in Compton and participants’ experiences within the community are
shown below:
Questions
1. When did African American Gangs start in Compton?
2. Why did African American Gangs start in Compton?
3. Why did you join a gang?
4. Why did you leave a gang?
5. Why did you decide not to join a gang?
The Nature of Gang Spawning 69
6. When did African American gangs start warring against one another?
7. Have you or your family been victims of gang violence?
8. What would you recommend to minimize gang violence?
9. What are your recommendations to youth who want to grow into successful adults and
currently live in an area with high gang violence?
10. If there is a problem in this neighborhood, how likely is it that people who live here can
get it solved?
11. People in this neighborhood generally do not get along with each other; People in this
neighborhood do not share the same values.
12. The police in my neighborhood can be trusted; the police in my neighborhood treat
people fairly; the police in my neighborhood are respectful of people
Data Analysis
The conventional qualitative content analysis guided the analysis (Hsieh & Shannon,
2005). Utilizing an inductive approach, the qualitative content analysis uses a systematic process
of open coding, category creation, and abstraction to condense and interpret raw data. The study
transcribed audio recordings and coded data using the computer based qualitative analysis tool
Atlas ti. The analysis consisted of two phases: (a) Initial coding phase, and (b) final coding
phase. Table 4 describes an initial coding process for the question, why did you join a gang.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 70
Table 4.
Example of Initial Coding Process and Rationale for Joining a Gang
Interview Transcript Initial Coding Framework
Participant: I was confused, and because others were
doing It and I wanted to be a part of something…My
brothers were involved and started getting into fights
and chased, and I wanted to be a part of stopping what
happened to them…Others within the neighborhood
would call you a punk if you didn’t retaliate for your
family.
· Confused
· Others doing it
· Brothers in gang
· Protect brothers
· Peer pressure
After reduction of the categories in the initial coding framework, the study categorized
key words into groups based on pertinent themes pertaining to the participant’s experiences and
insights about gang persistence. Additionally, the analysis categorized themes that flowed from
responses by major concepts based on prior gang studies. For example, the study align natural
themes from respondents answers to questions such as Why did you join a gang. The study
categorized a response such as my brother was in a gang as a risk factor within the family level
domain. Last, the study aligned findings with past research by comparing and contrasting
participant responses to the wider body of scholarly literature on gangs. Table 5 depicts the final
coding phase.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 71
Table 5.
Final Coding
Final Coding Framework Initial Coding Framework
Key words Confused
Others doing it
Brothers in gang
Protect brothers
Peer pressure
Risk Factors across domains Individual
Family
Peer
School
Neighborhood
Community process and structure Economy
Poverty
Crime
Trust
Police
Willingness to help
Community solutions
Did any factors associate with gang emergence
and persistence and how may they align with
or detract from previous literature?
Revenge after victimized
Family structural
Community process
Community structure
Ethical Consideration
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Southern California reviewed
and approved this research design. The study informed all participants of their rights during data
collection:
1. The study provided the participants an information sheet and verbally articulated the
research objectives so that they clearly understood how the data will be used
The Nature of Gang Spawning 72
2. Since all information was anonymous, The study did not collect any signed documents
from participants as this may have risked names associated with data
3. The participants understood and agreed with all data collection devices, audio recording,
and laptop for transcription for accuracy.
4. All participants remain anonymous throughout the report and the study reports subjects
by number, i.e. Participant 1, Participant 2, etc.
Limitation
This small study sample will not be the basis for generalizing the findings about gangs.
Additionally, the study sought to explore the experiences and insights of community members
raised in Compton as opposed to individuals who may have lived only a short time in Compton.
Subsequently, the selection of participants occurred through a process of personal solicitation as
the study informed organizations and members of the community about the study. All
participants lived, played, went to school, and immersed in the culture of Compton for over 20
years.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 73
Chapter 5
Findings
Compton residents responded to 12 questions based on their experiences with gangs in
Compton over generations. This section presents finding pertaining to: When African American
gangs started in Compton, why African American gangs emerged in Compton, why African
American gangs have warred against one another in Compton, how African American gangs
have changed over the years, why did some youth join while others did not, and how to minimize
gangs and gang violence. These responses helped explain why African American gangs
persisted over decades in Compton from 1960 – 2013. Overall, the study gathered information
based on these topics to analyze factors across several domains that may have contributed to
gang persistence in Compton from 1960 - 2013.
When did African American Gangs Emerge in Compton?
The media and rappers have characterized the City of Compton as one where gangs
dominate the culture. Several rap groups, NWA, DJ Quick, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, The Game, YG,
Kendrick Lamar and several others, have sold music around the globe that personifies and/or
articulates their perception about the gang culture within the 10.1 square mile City of Compton,
CA. Songs such as “Straight out a Compton,” “Born and Raised in Compton,” “Compton,”
among several others, are titles of songs which associate the gang lifestyle with the city.
Ironically, little to no research exists to understand the why they have persisted for decades in
this area.
Compton Gangs in 1968 - 1970
The study simply asked residents, “When did African American gangs emerge in
Compton? The study relied heavily on the experiences of those participants who were old
The Nature of Gang Spawning 74
enough to have experienced the emergence of these gangs. Four of the twelve participants lived
during the approximate period of the genesis of African American Gangs in Compton.
The older participants shared their experiences regarding the genesis of African
American gangs in Compton during 1968 to 1970. One fifty eight year old woman who was
born, raised and still lives in Compton, explained that her first experience with gangs took place
in 1971. Her then boyfriend, now husband, went to a concert and Crip gang members attacked
him and tried to take his leather coat. When asked, “How did you know that they were gang
members,” she explained, “many Crip gang members went through a phase of taking people’s
leather coats in the seventies.” Other research on African American gangs in south Los Angeles
also noted that early Crips wore leather jackets influenced by the black-panther party who wore
black leather jackets, berets, and black leather gloves.
Participant 4 supported this claim about Crips taking leather coats and their emergence
around 1968. He stated that he became aware of gang members when, “Crips would take
people’s coats, shoes, and other belongings at concerts during the early seventies.” Figure 2
illustrates the participant’s responses to the question, “when did African American Gangs start in
Compton?”
Why did African American Gangs Emerge in Compton?
To understand the emergence of these groups, the study asked, “Why did African
American Gangs start in Compton?” Once again, the research relied heavily upon the 4 out of 12
participants who lived in Compton during the onset of African American gangs. The participants
responded that people formed gangs based on a need for, protection, a sense of ownership, issues
related to poverty and or lack of jobs. Interesting to the findings, there were discrepancies as to
The Nature of Gang Spawning 75
the magnitude of harm that earlier gang members caused as some stated that they did not seem
like a bad thing during the onset.
Protection from White gangs. Participant 12 stated that, his was among the earliest
black families to move into Compton. He further stated that Black gangs started in efforts to
protect themselves from a White gang called the “Spook hunters.” Although other participants
(whether in a gang or not), did not call spook hunters by name, they did describe how blacks
were not allowed in certain areas of Compton during the 1960s. Other researchers have also
described this phenomenon in South Los Angeles during the early 1960s.
A sense of ownership. Two participants explained that gangs formed because they
wanted a sense of ownership, i.e., they wanted to say, “This is my hood.” Most participants in
the study explained that their respective neighborhood street gangs formed and stayed within a
street where the founders lived. Essentially, the respective gangs emerged from youth within the
neighborhood as they claimed that geographic location as their own turf. Additionally, this
bonding around a neighborhood provided a sense of family/community for some youth.
Poverty and lack of jobs. Finally, poverty and lack of jobs seemed to be a factor. All of
the older participants mentioned that jobs or poverty influenced gang formation. As many
African American moved into the city, several jobs left the city. Most researchers have noted
that poverty and urbanization have influenced gang emergence even on a global scale, (i.e.,
Brazil, China, UK), and earlier gangs during 1920 slumming conditions in Chicago.
The poverty in Compton may not have matched the conditions in developing countries,
but the frustration associated with poverty or inability to provide or meet one’s basic needs may
have influenced gang emergence. Essentially, lack of jobs may be a key ingredient necessary to
The Nature of Gang Spawning 76
create the type of deviance, criminal activity, and pro-gang attitudes that other scholars have
noted to be antecedent individual-level risk factors to youth gang joining
It did not seem like a bad thing at the outset. Ironically, to the two participants who
joined gangs during the seventies, did not perceive gangs as a bad thing during their emergence.
“It was more like a fraternity and it mainly comprised of people who were raised over there. So
it was more about our family and not so much around being an organized crime ring.” Another
participant who joined a gang during this time explained that: “My block had already started the
Crip gang before I got into high school. It wasn’t until I got into high school when I realized
really what was going on. My gang had light action (fist fights) before then. During high school
is the time when we started “getting into it” with other neighborhoods. But at first it wasn’t a
bad thing.” Ultimately, no one knew how he or she might evolve into something more sinister
that would leave many youth murdered or incarcerated for life.
On the other hand, participants who were non-gang members opposed the view that Crip
gangs were not a bad thing during the seventies. As stated earlier, three participants who lived in
Compton during the early phases of Crip gangs, presented experiences where gang members
victimized residents as Crips stole leather jackets and other belongings from community
members. Although, participants possessed divergent views of gang activity during this period,
all participants agreed that methods of gang violence exacerbated over time.
Why War Against one Another?
Based on responses about why these gangs started, one may ask, why did African
American gangs war against one another? To understand this phenomenon, the study asked,
“Why African American Gangs began fighting against one another in Compton?” Thirty-three
percent of the participants actually joined a gang; however, the two older gang members spoke
The Nature of Gang Spawning 77
more about the beginning of African American gang fights. Although, the study findings
regarding the start of African American gang fighting was limited to the experiences of the two
oldest gang members, 100 % of the participants provided their insight and experiences with the
evolution of gangs within their communities as they lived in Compton over twenty years. One
gang member also described how gang fights exacerbated over generations as he, and other
participants, witnessed the heightened level of violence from fistfights to drive by shootings.
One of the two early oldest Compton gang members in the study explained that, fighting
was possibly an inherent function of gangs during their emergence and some of the early gang
was a culmination of individuals who liked to fight. He stated, “African American gangs always
fought against one another.” Utilizing the semi-structured interviewing format, the interviewer
followed up with the question; what do you mean by, they always fought? Participant 2
explained that the gangs in his neighborhood, “fought in order to get what they lacked. They
fought for respect, turf, material things, and sometimes just over small stuff like somebody took
my girl, my chain, my weedsack, etc. Those individual disputes would sometime escalate to one
group against another group.” Essentially, the fighting component was inherent within the early
gang culture as they fought for protection, turf, and economic needs. Essentially, early gang
members were fighters.
An interesting finding was the factors that possibly stimulated an individual gang
member’s impulse to fight. The participant who joined his neighborhood gang when he was
fourteen years old (around 1976) explained that, his classmates made fun of him because he
could not read well. Feeling inferior and ashamed, he later found that he could gain respect and
even control over others through his ability to fight. Essentially, at a young age, he sought to
fight in an effort to gain respect. Additionally, participant 4 explained that his parents raised him
The Nature of Gang Spawning 78
to fight. His parents told him, “If I hear of you losing or running from a fight, you are going to
get your butt whipped when you get home.” He further stated that they would also make him go
back out to fight if he lost or ran from one.
Participant 5 also shared his family situation that enhanced his proclivity to fight. As a
young boy in the sixth grade, his dad left him to be the protector of the house, and as a result, he
grew angry and fought more frequently. He then cliqued up with his gang composed of several
fatherless, angry, and frustrated youth. (Particularly the core or most active members of his gang
did not have fathers in the house). Participant 5, being part of the second generation of gangsters
in Compton, explained how methods of fighting (or war) between African American gangs
evolved over time in his neighborhood.
Evolution of Gang Fights and Elements of Gang Persistence
Fist fight to knives. Gang members engaged in fistfights during the early phases of
African American Gangs in Compton. Participants in the study agreed that the fights started
over “small things:” “a weed sack was stolen, a chain was stolen, a girlfriend was taken, a small
disagreement incurred, etc.” (Participant 2, 5, 6). Participant 5 explained further that gang
members distinguished themselves from other gang members by their ability to fight. “If a dude
had good squabbles, - (older slang term used for fighting), then the next phase in life in Compton
was ram packing. You would have five to ten dudes rush one dude. So by ram packing taking
place that caused everybody to start carrying skrew drivers. So to keep ten dudes off of you, you
keep a screwdriver in your pocket.” (Participant, 5). Essentially, violence exacerbated conditions
as gang members retaliated and used elevated methods of revenge. As a result, members
introduced pistols to the gang fights.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 79
Pistols to automatics. Participant 5 explained further that, “so after people were using
screwdriver, it walked it right up to the 22s – (small pistols). People started carrying small
pistols. For a while it was like a stalemate because everybody had these little pistols but nobody
was really popping on each other. Then the unthinkable happened, somebody got murdered.
Once somebody got killed it just planted a seed and it just took off. It was like nobody could
control it because when you murder somebody it’s like so much hatred deep rooted in you. And
we were kids and kids without daddy’s that is teaching us how to cope. So you got teenagers
with all of this happening.”
Participant 4, a 60 year old non-gang member, explained his first experience with gang
violence. “I got shot in the leg by a gang member back in 1971. I was sitting in a chair and the
guy came in with his gun, everybody ran except me. The guy shot me in the leg. The bullet
traveled through the desk that I was sitting in and then went through my leg.” The study
followed up with the question, “how did you know that this person was a gang member,” and
Participant 4 replied, “Because he told me that he was a gang member and I knew about him.
We had words on Friday and he told me that he would return and get me on Monday and he did.”
Participant 4, after graduating from high school, went to the armed forces. While in the
U.S. Armed Services, he explained that on one occasion, he went to a hotel room in Mississippi
and the concierge denied him a room because of the color of his skin. Participant 4 explained,
“It was a rainy night and I was wearing my uniform with medals and they still didn’t give me a
room…all because I was Black.” Participant 4 faced blatant discrimination in the South but also
expressed his sadness over gang violence Among African American gangs in Compton. After a
discussion pertaining to experiences with gang violence, the study inquired about his feelings
The Nature of Gang Spawning 80
regarding African American youth killing one another. He slowly shook his head from left to
right a few times and simply said, “It’s sad.”
Experiences during 1980 – 1990s
Community members who were not involved in gangs also noted the changes in gang
violence. Participant 3, who first experienced gang violence when her boyfriend had to fight for
his leather coat in the 1970s, explained that, by the mid-eighties, numerous young men were
killed. I asked her to share an experience with gang violence and she explained that. Participant
3 stated that, “there are so many experiences but there is one that stays on my mind and I will
never forget. There was a young man who came out of the store and he was not a gang member
but there was a gang initiation so as the man came out the store gang members shot him in his
head, he fell, and his brains were out on the ground” As a follow up question, I asked “how do
you know that the shooters were going through an initiation process,” and she stated that, “
someone saw it first hand and other community members were around who knew the person and
said that it was a gang initiation.” Additionally, Participant 3 exclaimed, “I constantly worried
about my children.”
Participant 6, another non-gang member shared his experiences with gang
violence. “My experience was constantly loosing friends. It seemed like after the first
friend passed, it didn’t stop after that. I became numb…it made me cut off my real
feelings. It kind of had me on defense so much…I didn’t care as much and I didn’t think
positive as much about how to resolve it. I became angry, frustrated, you didn’t see any
forward progress; it was like nobody cared so why should I. That wasn’t how my mind-
frame stayed it was just certain moments or maybe years and I couldn’t really feel as
much pain or sorrow toward something that really did affect somebody’s life, like… this
The Nature of Gang Spawning 81
is my friend and he died but I can’t even really waste a tear over it because it’s been a
repeated cycle and I love you but you’re gone and man whose next… you know?...
you’re always looking forward to what will happen next and nothing would surprise me.
Moreover, transitioning from junior high school and gradually the community took a toll
on everybody in different ways and how they dealt with their situation it’s like everybody
was a ticking time bomb. You don’t know what to say to people if you want to be
respectful and courteous but it wasn’t like that for everybody. Honestly you do and you
say what you want and you deal with the consequences later. It was the life of a cowboy
if you wanted it to be. The focus for me wasn’t getting good grades…I set my goals
aside because I felt this isn’t a good time for goals…I didn’t look at my city like I want to
own a business here naw I’m wondering how I’m gonna get out of this place.”
Relevant Findings to Explain Gang Persistence
Participant 6’s response about “getting out of this place,” hones the dialogue on the
central focus of understanding conditions that make a community vulnerable to gang persistence.
The most salient topics relevant to understanding the nature of this community where
participants experienced prominent gang culture and violence over decades were, 1) the influx of
crack cocaine, 2) retaliation, 3) and a continual rebellious identity.
The influx of crack cocaine. One of the factors that affected the heightened level of
violence during the 1980s and the early 1990s, and possibly perpetuated gang persistence for
proceeding generations was the influx of crack cocaine. Gang operations changed as some
became involved in dealing crack cocaine. Gangs who sold drugs around the early 1980s were
able to finance their goals and ramp up their ammunition, buy cars, etc.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 82
Continuing with an explanation about how violence evolved, Participant 5 explained how
the influx of Crack Cocaine changed gang operations and elevated levels of violence within his
neighborhood.
“During 1980 and 1981 is when the drug game was really profitable, so the gangs
involved in it then got a head start because not even many of the police knew too much
about Crack. So they were making money without worries. Once everybody got on that
late train and started making money. It created more separation because they could
finance what they wanted…like Aks and all those guns and with that money and weapons
it changed who they were. But around 84 to 88 people drug profit started going down
and things even became even more territorial.” (Participant 5).
With money involved, some gangs and their members gained powerful and influential within
their neighborhoods and were better able to enforce their dominance within their “turf.”
Gangsters with money possibly attracted more youth as they were able to present youth with an
alternative to impoverished lifestyles that loomed over several households within the community.
As violence exacerbated and Compton experienced the influx of crack cocaine, the type
of gang members changed. Opposed to original gangsters, who attempted to retaliate against an
initial perpetrator of an attack, some of the younger gangsters (YGs) “don’t care who they get
when they retaliate.”(Participant 5) To explain, Participant 5 shared the following story. “On
one occasion, I drove through my neighborhood and saw one of the homies sittin in his front
yard with a young lady. My senses were up already because we were beefin heavy (at war) with
a rival gang. I walked over to my homie, greeted him, and told him you need to watch out while
you hangin out here like that. The girl responded that if anybody comes over here and shoots, I
am going to dive behind the car. So on the next day I came back to the same spot and as I drove
The Nature of Gang Spawning 83
up, I saw the girl who said that she would hide behind the car, dead on the ground with blood
gushing out of her stomach. She got shot three times from an AK 47. So as a result, my homie
who was with her got two of the other homies and retaliated that same night, without a plan and
entirely out of emotion. They went to the enemy hood and saw a people standing out and they
shot up the neighborhood to let the enemies know that they came by. Sadly, they killed a little
girl. The three shooters were caught and locked up for life.”
The participant shared this story to explain how retaliation helped to change gang activity
and the type of members who were involved. Many became more disconnected morally as they
became numbed by death and killing. Particularly, once murder became a part of gang activity,
things became more deep seated and gang youth focused more on retaliation as opposed to being
attached to any community causes as some stated earlier gangs were.
For example, one participant explained that, “gang members these days don’t have sense
of code that earlier gang members did.” He explained that when OGs in his hood would see a
neighborhood Mother walking with her groceries:
The OG’s would hide their drinks, stash their “straps” (guns) and go help her with
her groceries, and they would go in her house and they would even protect her
house, they wouldn’t break in her house. I grew up under that kind of
code….They don’t have a code these days, they breakin in people parents’
houses, victimizing their own community. We had things that if you got out of
bounds like that, you was gonna get dealt with. (Participant 5)
He further stated that, “it is no way that we would have allowed a thirteen to fifteen year old
smoke something like Crack, on our block back in those days.”
The Nature of Gang Spawning 84
Sense of identity. During the previously discussed evolution of gang fighting and the
influx of crack cocaine, participants presented insight that further explains why gangs persisted
during this time. By the 1990s the gangsta culture possibly permeated several aspects of life and
many youth adopted a gangster identity. Youth during this time joined a gang because, “It was
normal, or it was the thing to do.” The gang culture immersed the community. In one
conversation, a participant characterized the gangster identity which is synonymous with “being
hard” or calloused. Participant 2 stated that, “A real gangster always had to be on the defense or
on top of things. You had to be packing (have a gun), or have squabbles (ability to fight well),
able to get away, able to shoot, able to retaliate, always prepared, people weren’t able to get over
on you, you could read through situations, everybody couldn’t do those things. Those skills set
some apart from others.”
Ultimately, these types of gangstas embodied an image that attached itself to a
mainstream identity for the City of Compton and many of its youth. An additional element that
contributed to further gang joining was that, some youth during the 1980s and 1990s modeled
themselves after the OG’s. The original gangsters embodied what a gangster looked like and
who they should be. One participant stated that” the OGs were like superheroes:” “In combat
they were gladiators they were loved by females, they had notoriety and respect, everybody
knew who they were and what they were about, some were good athletes, one was in the band
and was good with his hands (could fight well).” Participant 5.
Rebellion
The third and probably most influential factor behind gang joining over generation is the
introduction of “Gangsta Rap.” Niggas Wit Attitudez (NWA) came out with, “straight outta
Compton” and “Fuck da Police” and eventually sold millions of records. After NWA several
The Nature of Gang Spawning 85
gangsta rappers promoted the gangster image, rebellious culture, and promoted their Compton
neighborhood gangs to the world.
The rebellious attitude was a factor that may have made it easier for youth to join gangs
because many gang members embodied and glorified this element. Carrying on from the
continuity of emotions from the 1960 watts riot and civil rights era (Harding Company
Community Research, 2010, p. 13), the 1992 riots sparked out of race relations between the
police and the African American community. This also aligns with the global perspective behind
gang joining as scholars postulated that global gangs started in part because residents within
marginalized communities became rebellious and institutionalized a rebellious culture that lead
to gang development. In other words, communities who have experienced isolation from
mainstream cultures may find it harder to identify mainstream cultures.
2000 – 2013: Change in Community and Gang Operations
By 2000, gang killings had declined and many gang members incarcerated. By 2000,
some gangs had changed as they have adapted to decades of killing and incarceration. For
example, as gangs lost members due to violence and incarceration, some individual gangs linked
with other gangs to increase their numbers. Participant 2 was part of a gang that linked with a
neighboring gang and Participant 5 explained his neighborhood experience with merging with
other gangs over time. “Some gangs were on the verge of being extinct because many people
were incarcerated or killed, by the time I was 21 I had 28 friends killed and many incarcerated,
so as a result of this deterioration some gangs linked together, for example: you had three gangs
link up to form one individual gang. You also got people who did the ultimate sacrifice for their
hood and threw their life away and doing 25 to life in prison and now their neighborhood has a
peace treaty with the neighborhood that they shot up and on the other hand you got gangs who
The Nature of Gang Spawning 86
used to get along with one another now are beefin. At this point, if you look at Compton gangs
on a map and show who has beef and who is cool, it don’t make no sense at all.”
By 2013, participants in this study have lived in Compton over twenty years and have
gained experiences joining a gang, leaving a gang, or never joined a gang in Compton. Gang
operations have evolved and so have the members. Many gang members have learned hard
lessons and many non-gang members possibly learned valuable lessons. Practitioners might tap
into the lessons learned from resilient individuals and create potential protective factors for
future generations. One participant spoke about the hard lessons that many gang members
learned about loyalty within the gang.
“One of my friends who was one of the richest drug dealers around our neighborhood got
caught and spent twenty five years behind bars and just came back home. Now he lives
with his parents and he told me that he can count on one hand how many so called friends
from the hood wrote me, checked on me, or came to visit me. He told me that he don’t
have to wonder who his real friends are and he sees things clearer.” Furthermore, this
participant stated, “Now I see how stupid it was because we don’t own anything. We are
dying and we don’t own nothing.”
Consequences of Participating in a Gang
All of the participants in the study who joined a gang shared negative consequences from
joining a gang. All of the former gang members in this study obtained a criminal record that has
had long lasting effects on their ability to thrive in this society. Participant 2 spent a huge
portion of his young adult life behind bars. He could not enjoy a nice: conversation, walk, party,
etc. without looking over his shoulder. He is no longer active in the gang life but cannot really
The Nature of Gang Spawning 87
say that he left it because of his past activities. He stated that, “there are certain places that I will
not go… not unless I want to do something to someone or I want something done to me.”
Why did some Leave the Gang?
Four participants who were Compton gang members ranged from 25 to 50 years old. All
Participants who joined gangs remained with their respective gangs for over five years. While
some were more actively involved than others were, they all experienced negative consequences
because of joining a Compton street gang. Most participants who joined a gang, did not formally
leave the gang, rather, they are no longer active gang members. Most became less active as they
matured and their goals in life changed (most joined around thirteen / fourteen years old). As
they grew, the organizations’ missions conflicted with their own goals and they outgrew the
confinement of their hood’s limited geographic space. One left because he “lost too many good
people in vain.”
Experiences with Leaving the Gang
Participant 9 stated, “It is hard to leave a gang when someone around the corner wants to
kill you.” For some, the gang provides protection from other gangs or criminals who live within
their immediate neighborhoods. Once an individual leaves the gang, that protection may not
exist even though the threats of enemy attacks may remain. Furthermore, former gang members
generally cannot spread the word that, I am no longer a gang member as a corporation may
rebrand itself through sophisticated marketing campaigns. Subsequently, when a person leaves a
gang is not relevant when people in the neighborhood continue to identify that person as gang
members. For example, Participant 11 said, “I grew older, had kids, my vision in life changed. I
surrounded myself with different people, but no matter what I do in life or where I move to, I am
labeled as that guy from that Hood.”
The Nature of Gang Spawning 88
Additionally, some individual’s prior actions within the gang entrapped them into the
gang culture. Many stated that, one’s ability to leave the gang hinged on how deeply he/she was
involved in the gang. Participant 2 explained that, “If you made a name for yourself, you were a
leader, second in command, put in a lot of work, or if you chased people, shot people, ran people
over with cars, beat people, nobody will let you forget that…even people within your own gang.”
Participant 5, at 45 years old, stated, “The addiction to that life is deep. Once you
witness so much death and wrongdoing on a certain level. It is nothing to roll with an AK on a
hunt, you get numb to it. Even when I got a good job, it was hard to keep away from my hood
because I had a deep addiction to that lifestyle.”
Why some Chose not to Join a Gang?
A misconception about Compton is that gangs overrun the city and the majority of youth
are involved. In fact, many successful individuals emerge from Compton, the minority of youth
are involved with gangs, and not all gang members are shooters or killers. Based on this study,
many youth raised in the 1980s and early 1990s experienced the influx of crack, the growth of
gangs, and much violence. Essentially, many youth faced cumulative risk factors that were
associated with gang joining. However, some did not join a gang. This section first discusses
some of the cumulative risk factors that youth who did not join gangs faced. It then presents
their insights about why they did not to join a gang.
Sense of Protection, Role Models, and Goal Setting
Although a small portion of youth join gangs in Compton, several youth do not. Each
participant who did not join a gang in this study expressed a combination of unique protective
factors that possibly prevented them from joining a gang. Since these participants faced different
risk factors, unique protective factors may explain why they, as individuals, did not join a gang.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 89
All of the participants who did not join a gang during the 1980s in this study witnessed the
negative side of gangs at an early age. Beside that common theme, reasons why these youth did
not join a gang varied. For example: (a) one participant stated that he did not join a gang
because he had a sense of protection,(b) two specifically spoke about having positive influences,
and (c) 90% of all participants state that having goals outside of gang life can prevent gang
joining.
One participant explained that his older brothers who were gang members provided a
sense of protection for him. “I am the youngest of several boys and all my other brothers did the
gang thing. I saw what gangs brought to our home and to them personally, they ended up in jail,
they had teeth knocked out. They had all sorts of bad situations. I saw this from five years old
on up and I saw all the negative and no positive. I also took to basketball.”
“I also did not have the pressures because my brothers covered me. They had a strong
negative reputation that served positive for me as some people feared my brothers for the
negative that they did. So I did not have too many problems going through the several different
neighborhoods as I went to middle school and high school. So my brothers protected me and I
didn’t have to worry about those type of problems. I also had a good family where my parents
were there and even my brothers were close with me. That close knit family protected me so I
was able to do what I wanted to do which was basketball.” Furthermore, he stated that, “my
brothers did not want me to join a gang because they knew it was too much negativity associated
with gang life. My brother who was most deeply rooted in the gang encouraged me not to join.
He shared the negative stories such as: the killings, beatings, going to jail it just kept you down.
I am glad that I took heed.” Participant 7.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 90
Another participant explained that positive role models within his community steered him
away from gangs. “I did not join a gang mainly because I had really good friends who were not
a part of gangs…I had strong role models and people who had expectations for me…mostly
outside of my immediate family… I also saw and heard a lot of bad stories about gang life at an
early age.” (Participant 10).
Challenges to the Community Development in 2013
In 2013, gang killings spiked and the major concerns from the new Mayor are gang
killings in addition, is human trafficking. Although, human trafficking seems like a very
different topic than gang persistence, it is indirectly related. Essentially, such activities might
help shape the environment within and in turn affect how residents feel about their environment.
For example, one interview took place in a private setting within a building across the street from
a liquor store. In an effort to understand collective efficacy and community process relative to
resident’s and community leaders’ ability to minimize gang problems. Participant 4 felt that no
one cares enough to change the situation. Participant 4 explained that, “I can take you across the
street to the liquor store, we can buy alcohol, then we can go outside to the parking lot and by
weed and crack, and then we can go across the street and get a prostitute….and nobody cares.”
From a community process standpoint, this perception of this resident is a concern.
Conclusion of Findings
The data revealed that African American gangs emerged in Compton around 1968 – 1972
and that youth started the gangs to gain protection, deal with poverty, cope with fatherless
homes, and gain a sense of ownership. Additionally, the findings revealed that, African
American gangs fought against one another even at the outset because fighting was a core part of
gang membership at the time. Most critical to the study, the findings revealed that gangs
The Nature of Gang Spawning 91
persisted because several youth adopted an identity that glorified the gangster culture, the influx
of drugs which: fractured family structures, enflamed gang warfare, and the groups provided
illegal means of economic growth. Moreover, the findings showed how gang violence evolved
and contributed to persistence over decades. Essentially, as gang wars evolved from fistfights to
drive-by shootings, retaliation contributed to gang persistence. Although the basic findings
progress from African American gang emergence around 1968 up to their persistence up to 2013,
the findings do not concretely explain why African American Gangs have existed over these
generations. To extract possible factors from the findings, I conducted an analysis across four
domains.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 92
Chapter 6
Discussion
Why did Gangs Persist?
Some gangs become permanent actors in communities, rather than fading away after
generations. African American gangs emerged in Compton around 1968 and have existed in this
area since then. The reasons why gangs emerged are not the same as the reasons why they
persisted over generations. Gangs emerged in Compton because of: a need for protection against
white gangs in the late sixties, a need to build an “identity” or sense of ownership within a
neighborhood, and a need for respect. On the other hand, gangs persisted over generations
because of: fatherless homes, drugs, revenge, and glorification of the gang culture. This section
explains why gangs have persisted from four perspectives: (a) community structure, (b)
community process, (c) family-level, and (d) individual-level. The purpose of this section is to
place the analysis into the context of what others have said about gangs in the past.
Community Structure
From 1960 – 2013, Compton has: grown its population, developed physically-especially
since 1992 civil unrest, shifted demographics from majority white to black to now Hispanic, and
gang killings have decreased. However, unemployment still exceeds the county and the state
(American Community Survey, 2012), education rates are lower within the City (American
Community Survey, 2012), crime is higher than surrounding cities (LASD), and gangs still exist.
In terms of public safety, current concerns are with prostitution and a recent spike in gang
killings in 2013. These conditions may continue to foster gang development for future
generations of youth if not met with more social intervention approaches to deal with gangs
rather than simply, incarcerating young men and releasing them back into the same environment.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 93
Race
One participant in this study stated that, African American Gangs started in part to
protect themselves from white gangs or clubs. However, since demographics have shifted, the
role of white clubs in the persistence of African American gangs over decades is not possible.
However, the effects of segregation in many African American communities may have blocked
earlier development that may have developed these groups for the future, (Jacobs, 1969). This
marginalization may have snowballed into rebellious identities among youth, which contributes
to gang joining. Furthermore, youth may adopt illegal methods or for economic development
and establish a subculture of crime as a means of survival, (i.e., illicit means theory). (Merton,
1957).
One excerpt explains an experience of an African American woman who moved to
Compton during the 1960s
“Marie Hollis, an Oklahoma native who in 1967 moved west to a quiet block in Compton
with nearby flower gardens to escape the crime and density of the slums. At the time
Compton was predominately White and, for a time, Blacks peacefully coexisted with
their white neighbors. But soon the white residents began to feel that too many Blacks
were moving in – a perceived threat to their property values – and thus began a
devastating transformation in the area.” (Simpson, 2012, “A Southern California Dream
Deferred: Racial Covenants in Los Angeles,” (para. 2).
These racially motivated structural issues tend to foster rebellious identities and criminal
activity. Gang scholars who studied gangs as a global problem blamed, ethnic cleansing on gang
emergence. “The wealth of the global economy has led to the re-division of space in cities all
across the globe. ‘Economic development,’ ‘making the city safe,’ ethnic cleansing’ are among
The Nature of Gang Spawning 94
the reasons given for the clearing out of ‘the other’ from urban spaces desired by dominant
ethnic or religious majorities,” (Hagedorn, 2005, p. 154). The strategic marginalization of
certain groups played a role in the structural make up of communities that may have contributed
to the emergence of black gangs during their onset.
Other gang scholars further described this phenomenon. “Globalization’s valorization”
of some areas and ‘marginalization” of others meant flourishing of underground economy for
survival and as profitable, internationally connected enterprises run by gangs, cartels, and similar
groups. The gangs sometimes replace, “demoralized political groups” and play often destructive,
social, economic, and political roles in the city, (Hagedorn, 2005). African American gangs
replaced the Black Panther Party and other civic groups, (Alonso, 2004). As a result, gangs
became fixtures in certain areas partly because these dynamics have evolved as one generation
may pass on these survival skills to the next generation of youth.
Drugs
An additional structural problem that adversely affected the community and possible
motivated gang persistence was drugs. Drug operations have also helped to institutionalize the
gang and crime culture that had already embedded itself within pocketed areas. With more
money, gang members grew more influential as money, cars, the “American Dream” attracted
other youth. Overall, the influx of drugs added an additional risk factor to gang joining in
neighborhoods where youth lived below the poverty line, lived in families where parents became
addicted to crack, and lived in neighborhoods where gang wars intensified because of drug
operations. Subsequently, drugs may have also contributed to the reason why gangs have
persisted over generations in Compton.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 95
Community Process
Another factor that may have allowed gangs to continue for decades is the community’s
inability to mobilize against youth delinquency. One study that took place in Chicago described
how community process works to prevent gang joining and youth delinquency. The findings
told a story about Alberta Gordon who lived in a Chicago neighborhood within the study. The
story conveyed how social relationships among community residents exerted informal social
control with neighborhood youth:
It was a respect and extended family [kind of thing]. So there are a lot of young people
that I do know that call me Mama G. And I have no problem in telling them that they’re
wrong about doing something. And no problem in going to their parents because I know
their parents…[And I] have told their parents in return, if [my son] Michael is doing
something and you know it’s wrong, correct him and then let me know so that I can deal
with it, (Pattillo, 1998, p. 762).
Unfortunately, participants in the findings of this dissertation expressed a lack of
collective efficacy. Essentially, most stated that community members generally, mind their own
business and do not participate in solving gang problems outside of their own houses and do not
trust police. The lack of willingness to work with neighbors and with police, are challenges that
minimize a communities’ ability to prevent gang joining. Most comprehensive strategies to
reduce gang problems emphasized the need for community mobilization, (OJJDP, 2009).
Furthermore, the willingness to help one another conceptualizes the collective efficacy
theory and researchers have found elsewhere that gangs often persist in areas where community
members are unwilling to intervene when youth are getting into trouble. All participants lived in
Compton over 20 years and described similar stories that explained a lack of collective efficacy.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 96
Ninety percent of the participants expressed that the community has a lack of collective efficacy.
Although, Participant 3 stated that community members share similar values, she further stated
that they are not willing to help one another. After further discussion with Participant 3, she
explained that, “many community members have tried to fix these problems and have grown
tired.” Other participants explained how, people, “don’t care anymore,” “they mind their own
business,” they “don’t get involved unless something happens to their own family.” Most
participants used similar phrases to describe community processes such as; many community
members, “are not willing to help one another,” they generally, “mind their own business,” they
“don’t want to get involved,” and people have, “become numb.”
A community’s ability to work together probably relies heavily on healthy families. In
other words, one may not expect neighbors to work together if families are not internally
working together. Scholars have noted that youth who live in houses with a lack of supervision
are at higher risk of joining a gang. Subsequently, family structure is the key to preventing gang
joining and plausibly working more effectively with community members. For example, one
may not expect a community member to supervise a child effectively when the parent cannot or
will not supervise the child.
Family
Fatherless homes and gang persistence. One participant who joined gangs explained
how they displaced their anger for not having a father into the negative gang lifestyle because it
enabled aggressive behavior through fighting and other violent behavior. Additionally,
participants across all age ranges blamed a lack of guidance that results in part from fatherless
homes as a reason why youth joined gangs during their respective generations. Fatherless homes
The Nature of Gang Spawning 97
present significant challenges to the community’s ability to prevent young men and women from
joining gangs.
Many youth in these areas needed guidance unique to the circumstances that they face in
high gang areas, as youth may encounter more police officers because of gang injunctions and
increased gang task forces, harassment from gang members, and violence. Youth need access to
information about the best practices to navigate through their environment. Ideally, two parents
may be able to assist to some extent, but without a father in the home, many youth search among
gang members for an alternative family.
Conversely, many youth who live with their fathers in the house still join gangs while
some youth who live without their fathers in the house do not join gangs. Thus, one should
consider the individual level factors that may be associated with gang persistence. In other
words, how did individuals’ psychology contribute to gang persistence in Compton?
Individual Level Psychology
Previous studies showed that gang joining youth possessed more deviant behavior (before
they joined a gang) than non-gang joining youth. Scholars based those findings on police reports
and responses from middle-school aged youth that measured their prior criminal history.
Researchers used those findings to support the claim that youth who joined gangs did so because
of their: pro-gang attitudes, criminal tendencies, and other deviant individual-level antecedent
risk factors to gang joining. Those studies, however, did not explain why so many youth adopted
pro-gang attitudes in some areas more than others did over the generations.
This dissertation suggests that societal factors may exert pressures on the youth’s
developmental processes and lead to individual level impulses to join gangs. For example, the
influx of drugs in the eighties has fragmented families that in turn probably disrupted child
The Nature of Gang Spawning 98
development. Additionally, a lack of youth jobs may inspire criminal mentality to pursue
economic gain. Essentially, youth may respond to these cumulative risk factors by joining to
gain protection, self-esteem by association, economic stability, brother/sisterhood, and a sense of
ownership. For example, all participants in this dissertation experienced risk factors within the
family and neighborhood domains in Compton during 1960 – 2010.
Participant 10, a non-gang member shared that, he, lived in most every part of Compton
at one time or another as a child. “My home was not very stable; we moved quite often but I
spent most of my teen years at my friends house….as a youth, “my sister was shot several times
and survived, his mother was shot but survived, and my bolder brothers were in and out of jail
because of gangs.” He on the other hand, decided not to join a gang and is now a successful
businessperson, father, and husband.
The non-gang members in this study experienced individual level-level risk factors such
as witnessing violence, anger, or frustration with cumulative risk factors. They also experience
family-level risk factors such as no father in the house and family members in gangs.
Additionally, participants who did not join a gang experienced peer-level risk factors such as
many of their friends were involved in gangs. Moreover, these participants also expressed
school-level risk factors as gang territories surrounded their schools and one stated that he set
aside and lacked educational aspirations. Lastly, this category of participants experienced
neighborhood-level risk factors within an environment where gang joining was the thing to do,
high crime and poverty levels, and some expressed an environment with drugs, prostitution, and
mistrust for police and other community members. Overall, all participants faced several types
of factors across all domains. Subsequently, explanations as to why youth join a gang may be
The Nature of Gang Spawning 99
more complex than that some have more pro-gang attitudes than did others. Identifying factors
that may inspire these, pro-gang attitudes are critical to understanding why gangs persistence.
Table 6 depicts how both groups faced similar risk factors across several domains.
Additionally, participants expressed similar insights about community processes within this area.
Table 6.
Non-Gang Member and Gang Member Risk Factor
Domain Non-Gang Member Gang Member
Individual
Anger Anger
Frustration Frustration
Shot in the leg
Violence at a young age
Family
Lack of Fathers
Lack of Father
Parent on Drugs
Mother was shot
Sister was shot
Peer
Many Friends in Gangs Many Friends in Gangs
Family Members in Gangs Family Members in Gangs
School Disinterest in school and goal
setting Low educational achievement
Neighborhood
Crime
Below Poverty line
Drugs
Prostitution
Essentially, many youth faced with cumulative risk factors, meaning that they have
engaged in a decision-making process at age 13 – 15 and many chose to join gangs as a coping
mechanism.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 100
From the trauma-informed perspective, youth who exposed to such negative factors in
daily life constitutes a form of trauma. Chronic stress is characterized by ongoing activation of
the, fight or flight system that is normally activated only under acute self-protective stress and is
further exacerbated by poverty (Marmot, 2004). Most of these youth lived below the poverty
line and faced several factors across the multiple domains of families, peers, school, and
neighborhood.
To build recommendations to inform policy, one must consider the most critical barriers
to gang prevention that currently exist. These two barriers reside within the individual level.
Participants felt that revenge, and glorified gang culture, are two elements that most saliently
perpetuate gang persistence in 2014.
Most Critical Factors to Gang Persistence
Revenge. One of the main barriers is a need to avenge fallen gang members or family
members. When I asked one participant, how to minimize gang joining he replied, “it would
have to be something spiritual, you have beefs out here that ain’t goin nowhere, I am talking
about mothers have been killed.” To explain this relationship between retaliation and gang
persistence further, before an interview, the interviewer found a letter written over a vigil or for a
slain blood gang member. Part of the letter said, “You killed my cousin like it was nothing, now
50 gotta pay.” This letter is an example of the deep seeded need for retaliation that spurs the
cycle of violence and influences more gang activity.
Two participants who were former gang members also explained how revenge might
perpetuate gang activity. Participant 9 stated that, “it is hard to leave when someone around the
corner wants to kill you.” Additionally, society might seek a more subtle form of retaliation
against former gang members. Participant 2 explained difficulties with finding a job because of a
The Nature of Gang Spawning 101
criminal conviction and felt that he could not get a second chance at living a productive life in
society. Essentially, individuals who formerly entered the gang life-course trajectory during
adolescence might face consequences that span into adulthood and possibly across decades.
Ultimately, revenge is a critical consequence of gang activity it is also a critical element that
might perpetuate gang persistence.
Gangsterism and the Media
Ironically, Participant 9 argued that the glorification of hood life is a more powerful
influence on gang persistence than retaliation is. The study suspected at the outset that revenge
would be the main factor to gang persistence, but to the contrary, Participant 9 explained that,
“most people say revenge is why gangs last but it is not.” He explained a process of retaliation.
“The pain hits hard when it happens, but it generally passes and most do not continue to retaliate
because they do not want to risk the consequences, especially, when the pain leaves as time
passes. The next generation might not continue retaliating based on that pain either.” He
explained on the other hand that, “gangs persist because people glorify that lifestyle and the next
generation picks it up and for some people that is all they know and all some of their parents
know.”
Unfortunately, for Participant 9, he suffered severe damage from a gunshot wound to his
back. Ironically, he stated that, “I had stopped gang banging by the time I got shot. I was at the
grocery store, somebody was shooting, and the bullet hit me in the back. I was just in the wrong
place at the wrong time.”
Sadly, too many youth have been in the, wrong place at the wrong time. Additionally,
youth face cumulative risk factors within certain neighborhoods and engage in decisions to cope
within these environments. Subsequently, this study also asked participants about their
The Nature of Gang Spawning 102
recommendations to youth who want to enter successful life-course trajectories while living
within high-risk areas. Participants recommended that youth set goals and resiliently pursue
those goals in spite of various odds stacked against them.
Participants’ Recommendations to Youth Living in High-Risk Areas.
Particpant 3 recommended that youth, “stay in school. Find a passion, hang around
people with that same passion, and build relationships with those positive people. Don’t hang
out with violent friends.”
Participant 2, a former gang member who lived within a family of gang members and
focused his recommendations on youth who live in situations where people within their
immediate environment are highly involved with gang activity. Participant 2 recommended that
youth, “set goal and do what you want to do in life… emulate someone other than who you see
in your immediate environment.”
Participant 6, never joined a gang but experienced several first had encounters with gang
killings. He advised, “Set your goals and there is no way you shouldn’t be able to take care of
them. Be discipline and take care of your business. Everything else will always be there, the fun
the trouble but you can take yourself out of that by focusing. Do what you have to do and get it
done. That’s pretty much it.”
Surprisingly, a recurring theme throughout responses pertained to goal setting. Many left
the gang because their goals in life changed, many did not join a gang because they set their
goals on other activities, and when asked, how to minimized gang violence? Ninety percent of
participants used the word goal within their response.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 103
Conclusion
The reasons why gangs emerged are not the same as the reasons why they persisted over
generations. African American gangs emerged in Compton because youth wanted protection
against White gangs in the late 1960s, a sense of ownership within a neighborhood, and respect.
On the other hand, gangs persisted over generations because of: fatherless homes, drugs,
revenge, and glorification of the gang culture. The findings aligned with previous researchers’
conclusions about gang emergence. Gang scholars found that racialization (Alonso, 2004),
rebellious identities, (Hagedorn & Davis, 2008) and pride in one’s turf, are related to gang
joining. However, because of the scarcity of research that explains why gangs persist over
generations, this study built on the knowledge about African American gangs in Compton.
Essentially, the glorification of the gangster culture, unemployment, and revenge are elements
that will probably perpetuate gang development.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 104
Chapter 7
Recommendations
Citywide Planning Effort: Peace, Unity, Youth Development and Economic Development
Recommendation Context
Findings from the semi-structured interviews and analysis revealed a number of
consistent themes, insight, and perspectives from long-time residents of Compton California.
According to this analysis, the most critical risk factors to gang persistence exist across four
domains: Community Process, Community Structure, Family level, and Individual level. These
recommendations are a three-fold effort to (a) develop youth decision-making processes, (b)
mobilize the community against youth violence, and (c) and to create an economic development
strategy unique to Compton.
Essentially, the recommendations within the individual level focus on approaches to
prevent further institutionalization of criminal behavior and rebellion that contributes to
maladaptive behaviors passed down and rewarded over generations. Additionally, the
recommendations address the most critical problems within the Community process level, which
is resident’ lack of trust for one another, unwillingness to work together, and their ability to
establish positive values that prevent gang joining. The focus is to mobilize community
members against gang development. Lastly, the recommendations within the community
structural level approach issues such as: unemployment, poverty, crime rate, and negative
branding of Compton.
Recommendations by Domain
Individual level. Within this domain, the recommendations focus to develop youth. The
critical risk factors to gang persistence within this domain are Mindset of Gangsterism, revenge,
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and that most individuals who join gangs, do so during their adolescence (13 – 15 years old).
Moreover, many adolescents engage in complex decision-making processes to cope with
cumulative risk factors within their environment. Subsequently, literature around brain
development of adolescence emanates the core of each strategy within this domain in efforts to
develop youth and prevent gang joining in the City of Compton.
Adolescent decision-making. Programs should focus on decision-making, controlling
impulses, and positive goal setting. The adolescent brain differs anatomically and
neurochemically from that of the adult (Spear, 2000). A core component of behavioral
development is the ability to suppress inappropriate actions in favor of goal-directed ones,
especially in the presence of compelling incentives. Studies typically refer to this ability as
cognitive control. (Casey, Galvan, et al., 2005; Casey, Giedd & Thomas, 2000; Casey, Thomas,
et al., 2000). This propensity to take risks is reflected in higher indices of accidents, suicides,
unsafe sexual practices, and criminal activity, (Scott, 1992). Juveniles 15 years old and younger
act more impulsively than do older adolescents, but even 16- and 17- year-old youth fail to
exhibit adult levels of self-control. (Casey, et al., 2011, p. 1; Feld, 2008). This dissertation also
found that participants who were former gang members became less active in the gang once they
matured.
Furthermore, all of the participants in this study who joined gangs did so during the ages
between 13 and 15, which is a common finding among gang research. Similarly, most scholarly
gang research found that cumulative risk factors explain gang joining which means that youth
within these areas are making decisions to cope with cumulative risk factors during a time when
their cognitive abilities have not developed and on the other hand, their impulsive side has
peaked. Scarce literature examines the impact of this imbalance on youth risk taking by gang
The Nature of Gang Spawning 106
joining in these neighborhoods where the gang culture was established. Similarly, gang
interventionists should empower youth with cognitive skills, which might enhance youth ability
to approach cumulative risk factors with goal-oriented strategies and with resilience.
Middle schools, families, and community organizations should inundate this community
with programs that will keep adolescents busy with positive activities. Organization leaders may
research evidence-based programs that yield positive outcomes in this area. Parks and
Recreation Department, Churches, Community Based organizations, and after school programs,
may use resources to share ideas and venues to keep youth busy.
An example of a program that focuses on youth developing prosaically behaviors is
Aggression Replacement Training, (ART). ART is a program with a focus on enabling juvenile
offenders to reduce antisocial behaviors and increase pro-social behaviors. Its three components
include anger control, skill-streaming, and moral reasoning. Anger control helps participants
identify triggers that generate anger and teaches them how to control or redirect their responses.
Skill-streaming uses a series of interactive exercises to help offenders learn appropriate pro-
social behaviors. Moral reasoning involves intensive discussions about how to handle dilemmas,
young offenders talk through the best ways to resolve situations that present moral challenges.
Some have noted how such preventative approaches can yield benefits to society. The
Washington State institute for Public Policy gauged the program’s cost-effectiveness based on
program costs and the benefits to society implied by evaluation findings. The result: Taxpayers
saved, $8,287 per participant, including avoided crime costs and improved future outcomes for
the youth, was $33,143. The program cost only $738 per participant, (Aos et al., 2001, p. 8;
Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2001).
The Nature of Gang Spawning 107
Addressing Exposure to Violence and Retaliation
Another challenge within the individual level is youth exposure to violence. The findings
of the NatSCEV study confirm that for many children in the United States, violence is a frequent
occurrence. Of the nationally representative sample of United States youth who participated in
the study, more than 60 % reported that they were victims of direct or indirect violence in the
past year. (OJJDP, 2009). Children’s exposure to violence can have consequences for their
normal development. Children exposed to violence are more likely to have internalizing and
externalizing behavior problems, (Peled, Jaffe, & Edleson, 1995). Children who witness
violence are at increased risk for becoming victims themselves, suffering from PTSD, abusing
alcohol or drugs…and engaging in criminal activity, (Family Violence Prevention Fund, 2002).
Policies should be informed by such studies and therefore reflect healing approaches to gang
prevention which may in turn stifle ongoing retaliation.
This is important because, one participant expressed the reality of the situation as he
stated that, “we are talking about mothers have been killed.” Additionally, two participants in
the study (one former gang member and one non gang member) were victims of gun violence,
another non-gang member’s mother, and sister were shot, and all participants witnessed gun
violence. One mother saw a young man’s brains blown out and she said that she constantly
worried about her own children. Subsequently, this study recommends healing approaches to
reduce retaliation and adverse impacts that result from youth exposure to violence.
One organization in Compton, Project Cry No More, founded by mothers who sons were
killed by gang violence, focuses strictly on gang violence and consists of workers who were
former gang members. The city should support organizations that may have a better rapport with
The Nature of Gang Spawning 108
current gang members and other neighborhood youth and can work with them to prevent
retaliation.
Community Process Recommendations
Mobilize community. Organized communities are better equipped to solve complex
problems. Collective efficacy, defined as social cohesion among neighbors combined with their
willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good, is linked to reduced violence. The goals
within this area are to create Unity and Peace. The challenge within this domain points to the
community not working together in efforts to prevent gang development. The alternatives along
these lines focus to mobilize communities toward preventing gang prevention. The strategies
attempt to create and facilitate legitimate public participation around gang prevention.
The strategy focus should ultimately build networks and mobilize community action
plans. The city should involve community members heavily within this process. Healthy
City.org is a potential strategy for this effort. Healthy City is an information action resource that
unites community voices, rigorous research, and innovative technologies to solve the root causes
of social inequity. Compton should collaborate with such organizations to empower residents
with technical skills and opportunities to strategize about combating risk factors to gang joining
and promoting community development.
Decision-makers can collaborate with Healthycity.org to provide workshops for
community members that put data and technology into the hands of the community and to build
capacity so that community members themselves can be the drivers of change. Healthy City
provides trainings and video tutorials that are free and open to all. Lack of English-language
proficiency can be a barrier to services. It can also be a barrier to accessing data and technology.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 109
This effort can build better relationships between the local government and their community
by facilitating legitimate participation processes where residents can provide their input into the
decisions that affect their lives. Organizations who are involved may also identify where they
are duplicating efforts and as a result, work together and save costs.
Moreover, the City of Compton should align their current community policing task force
with efforts to identify resources that may address core issues behind gang prevalence in
Compton. Essentially, the city should involve community members in asset mapping efforts to
identify strengths within the community that promote the four goals of peace, unity, youth
development, and economic development.
Community Structure
Target specific economic development plan. The critical risk factors across this domain
have possibly institutionalized the criminal mentality that aligns with other research on gang
development. Theories have long associated Socio Economic Status with crime and gang
joining. Some say that the alienation, exploitation, and dependency wrought by resource
deprivation act as a centrifugal force that stymies collective efficacy, (Sampson, Raudenbush, &
Earls, 1997). Others explain that community members grow frustrated as they pursue the
“American dream of prosperity” while facing limited resources. This pursuit poses an economic
strain that exerts pressure on individuals to engage in criminal behavior, (Merton, 1957).
The essential goal within this domain is economic development. Economic development is
essential to the vitality of a city and can enhance the quality of life for its families. Economic
developers must understand the demographics and promote upward mobility for all. The current
economic strategies evidence the value that the city places on upward mobility and financial
The Nature of Gang Spawning 110
empowerment of the citizens of Compton. This research supports the efforts of the current
economic strategies and offers points of opportunities for continuous improvement.
The city’s motto for 2008 was Birthing a New Compton. The goal of this
recommendation is to address the city from its current state and nurture the attainment of its full
socioeconomic potential. Foundational efforts should approach this birthing with efforts of
unslumming to attract newcomers by choice, building human capital to create a middle class, and
offering opportunities for clusters that can ultimately inspire the creative class. These are all
feasible and realizable efforts but only through the city’s current economic strategies along with
creative suggestions of continuous improvement.
Compton has a unique safety issue that might prohibit various aspects of development. The
various entities should note and address these issues through collaboration. In 2006, the Morgan
Quitno Corporation rated Compton as the most dangerous city in the United States with a
population of 75,000 to 99,999, and third in 2013. The city became notorious for gang violence,
primarily caused by the Crips, Bloods, and Hispanic street gangs. Compton’s violent reputation
was popularized in the late 1980s by the rise to prominence of local gangsta rap groups
Compton’s Most Wanted, Eazy-E and Niggas Wit Attitudes (N.W.A.) Currently, youth have
access to social media more rapidly than ever before. Many gangs have created videos that
promulgate violence. Communities must attempt to channel these creative efforts toward more
positive outcomes by identifying talented youth who are interested in creating videos and the
arts. Essentially, Compton needs a mass media push of positive messages and images to offset
the negative stereotypes and realities of gang violence that bombards mainstream media about
Compton.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 111
In terms of economic development, efforts of Birthing a new Compton entail demolishing
the negative stigma’s that have plagued the city and creating opportunities to capitalize on the
positive aspects of Hip-Hop, Movie Production, and Various professions of creative arts to
promote innovative clusters within the city. Utilizing these sectors, Compton must engage in
media approaches to create awareness of every good program and stress the importance of the
four goals of unity, peace, youth development, and economic development. Subsequently, the
benefits of this approach can be two-fold in that youth can build marketable skills and help to
influence a positive culture through the arts and technology.
The recent economic development strategies were the Gateway Towne Center, Willow
Walk Project, first time homebuyers program, and development of the enterprise Zone. Each
economic strategy focuses on foundational efforts of: unslumming to attract newcomers by
choice, building human capital to broaden the middle class, and offering opportunities for
clusters that can ultimately inspire a creative class.
The Gateway Towne Center Project is a mixed-use commercial power center and
residential development on Alameda Street and the 91 Freeway in the City of Compton. The
commercial component will include approximately 589,500 square feet of retail use and the
residential component will ranges from 36 to 256 units. The development projected to generate
as much as $640,000 per year in property taxes and $1.5 million per year in retail sales tax. The
proposed tenants for the retail center included Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, 24 Hour Fitness
and Shoe Pavilion. The gateway town center was an essential economic strategy that addressed
issues of unslumming by offering new jobs.
The “Willow Walk Project” redeveloped an approximately 6.5 acre site for the
development of 136 for sale residential townhomes, including live-work units allowing a home
The Nature of Gang Spawning 112
office, with tandem garages; interior park space; and approximately 4,000 square feet of
neighborhood serving retail space. The development of live-work units is a necessary tool to the
economic development of the city that may facilitate entrepreneurship. The 4,000 square feet of
neighborhood serving retail space has a positive two-pronged effect on the community. First, the
development provides more economic opportunities in the pursuit of upward mobility. Second,
the developed strip attracts more eyes on the street to provide an urban planning approach to
community policing efforts.
Recommendations for these areas are that the Willow Walk Project should use some
space for more high-tech job development in efforts to increase and create viable jobs for the
community. Twenty-two percent of Compton residents possess a bachelor’s degree or higher
and El Camino College Compton Center is continuously producing individuals who attain their
Associates Degree and pursue higher educations. The recommendations are to ensure that these
individuals can return home and fulfill their expectations of deserved entry-level position and
expectations for upward mobility.
Another economic development strategy is the First Time Home-buyers Program. This
strategy provides an eligible household with second mortgage assistance up to $100,000.
However, the amount awarded is based on the need for each household on a case-by-case basis.
The need for affordable housing and low-cost living is essential to economically developing and
birthing a new Compton. Although it is important to facilitate the creative class, the goals for
birthing a new Compton must focus on decreasing poverty and building a strong middle class.
Hence, these recommendations support the First Time Homebuyers Program.
On November 3, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the
City of Compton was one of 23 communities to receive a State Enterprise Zone Program. The
The Nature of Gang Spawning 113
state awarded the Enterprise Zone designations on a competitive basis and Compton’s
application ranked eighth of the 25 applications approved for a California Enterprise Zone.
An enterprise Zone is a geographical area in which companies are eligible to receive
lucrative tax benefits (i.e., tax expenses deductions, credits etc.), and exclusive contracting point
preferences when bidding on California procurement contracts. Enterprise employees with low-
incomes may also receive a state tax deduction for working at an Enterprise Zone Business.
Unfortunately, Assembly Bill 93 passed and enacted into law eliminating the enterprise
zone program effective, January 1, 2014. This means that companies within Compton are no
longer eligible to receive lucrative tax benefits (i.e., tax expense deductions, credits, etc.) and
exclusive contracting point preferences when bidding on California procurement contracts.
Additionally, companies within those zones will no longer be able to offer new employees with
low-incomes state tax deduction for working at an Enterprise Zone Business.
Subsequently, Compton must look within its borders and identify existing resources to
build marketable skills among residents to increase and create viable jobs. Educational facilities
and non-profit museums such as Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum may help youth learn
marketable technological skills.
Analysis for Economic Development Strategy
“New approaches must recognize that people do not live in silos, but in communities where
everything – the economic, the social, the physical, and the environmental – is all connected,”
(The California Endowment, 2010, p. 4). This section incorporated findings from the research
project, a market analysis that consisted of a demographic analysis, location quotient, and shift
analysis. These efforts may help to inform basic economic development goals unique to the City
of Compton relative to preventing gang joining. The overall findings suggest that the city should
The Nature of Gang Spawning 114
invest in media and entertainment, transportation, grocery store, and manufacturing - textile mills
and or clothing leather in efforts to: provide job skills, create jobs, and retain dollars currently
leaking out of the community. This section illustrates these findings through more visual data to
make a more target specific recommendations within Compton’s Zoning areas.
Minimize the Institutionalization of Criminality
Create jobs around technology, manufacturing, transportation, and media. These
industries align well with economic strengths of this area and may align with all categories of the
workforce within Compton. In efforts to build viable strategies that focus on a more
comprehensive approach to remedy the core risk factors across several domains within this
study, the developed target specific approaches. Essentially, the analysis entailed a: location
quotient analysis, shift-share analysis in efforts to identify core economic strengths within Los
Angeles County whereby Compton may guide future job creation. Additionally, this section
gathered data around occupational employment of Compton residents to understand skill sets and
possible opportunities to build marketable skills for youth. Finally, the analysis visualized
strategy recommendations by illustrating the City of Compton by current zoning to create more
place based approaches to community development and also illustrated the provided a list of
current organizations that may assist in the City wide planning effort to minimize gang
development and violence.
Location Quotient Analysis
The location quotient (LQ) analysis helps to identify industries in which the local area
does particularly well. It is a technique used to identify the concentration of an industrial sector
in a local economy relative to a larger reference economy. In other words, an industry share of
The Nature of Gang Spawning 115
the local economy is compared with the same share that industry has in the reference economy.
In this case, the analysis compared LA County industry shares with California industry shares.
The location quotient is a ratio between the percentages of employment in an industry
within LA County to the percentage of employment of in the same industry within California. If
the ratio of LA County is greater than one, it means that the industry is concentrated in the local
area compared to the State. A location quotient of 1.0 means that LA County and California are
on par with employment generations in the same sector. Generally, the location quotient is
useful for describing the parts of the local economic base where a strong concentration of
employment and economic activity. The industries that are concentrated most in LA County are
at the bottom of Figure 2, i.e., Motion picture and sound recording industries, with a LQ of 3.08.
The following, Figure 2, shows a list of the top 20 industries concentrated within Los Angeles
County.
Figure 2. Source: American Community Survey 2010, analysis conducted by author.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 116
Shift Share Analysis
Unlike the location quotient, shift-share analysis deals with the changing economy, not
just the way it is at one period. The shift-share analysis is a powerful technique for analyzing
changes in the structure of the local economy in reference to the state. The shift-share analysis is
useful to identify the industries in which a local area has a competitive advantage and that are
growing faster than would be expected if they were just average. Water Transportation has the
highest competitive shift with 0.9. The following (Table 7) conveys sectors that are growing
faster in Los Angeles County. This is helpful for strategizing around building youth skill sets,
jobs that may be realistic for people with criminal records, while also identifying those jobs that
can build the economy within the City of Compton.
Table 7.
Shift Share Analysis
SIC Name
Jobs
2011
LQ
2011
Competitive
NAICS 512 Motion picture and sound recording
industries
120,133 3.1 0.1
NAICS 315 Apparel manufacturing 45,539 3.0 0.0
NAICS 313 Textile mills 6,879 2.8 0.0
NAICS 316 Leather and allied product
manufacturing
2,207 2.4 0.1
NAICS 483 Water transportation 3,010 2.1 0.9
NAICS 711 Performing arts and spectator sports 29,542 1.8 0.0
NAICS 314 Textile product mills 3,921 1.7 0.0
NAICS 336 Transportation equipment manufacturing 46,440 1.7 0.0
NAICS 51 Information 191,261 1.7 0.2
The Nature of Gang Spawning 117
Compton Workforce
The analysis now focuses on Compton. Table 8 shows employment by industry within
Compton. This illustrates the type of industries where Compton residents work. By doing this,
one may identify certain skill sets within Compton in efforts to plan for job creation that aligns
within LA County area. Most residents work within education services, healthcare, and social
assistance and next is manufacturing. A small portion of the employed population work within
the arts and entertainment industry, which is huge in Los Angeles County. Thus, Compton may
focus on developing more jobs that can connect the city with the entertainment industry in efforts
to rebrand the city and build viable jobs within this area.
Table 8.
Employment by Industry
Employment by Industry Total Percent
Educational services, health care and social assistance 6,666 19.10%
Manufacturing 6,511 18.60%
Retail trade 3,960 11.30%
Transportation and warehousing, and utilities 3,081 8.80%
Professional, scientific, management, administrative, waste
management services
3,054 8.70%
Construction 2,406 6.90%
Other services, except public administration 2,236 6.40%
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation,
and food services
2,183 6.20%
Wholesale trade 1,493 4.30%
Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and
leasing
1,372 3.90%
Public administration 1,200 3.40%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining 219 0.60%
Note. Source: American Community Survey 2010, U.S. Business of Labor and Statistics, 2010.
Analysis conducted by author.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 118
Target Specific Approach
Compton has an industrial zoning area that can be used to promote jobs that align with
trades that can easily be learned and taught to stimulate the economy and increase local
productivity during a time where much was globalized while many in this city are unemployed
(Figure 3).
Figure 3. Source: Esri Business Geographic Information System tool. The analysis replicated
zones based in information retrieved from Comptoncity.org/planning and Zoning department.
Website. (12/17/2013).
Using these areas to connect residents with opportunities to build trade skills and add
value to the City of Compton. Job creation, job training should be around Motion picture and
sound recording industries, manufacturing, transportation, performing arts and sports, and
technology or information. Identify opportunities within manufacturing zoning areas with vacant
The Nature of Gang Spawning 119
property or possibilities to start businesses. Identify vacant buildings and loss businesses to
attract and or develop entrepreneurs to start business in these areas.
Conclusion
The recommendations sought to minimize the institutionalization of criminal behavior by
ingraining youth in a positive path toward goal setting, decision-making, skill building, and
economic development during early childhood through adolescence until adulthood. Compton
has an industrial area, an airport, a community college, and transportation connecting the city to
a broader economy. Compton should use all of its resources to build marketable skills within
youth, empower youth with knowledge about economically developing and cognitive skill
building as early as possible. Overall, community members, policy makers, organizations, and
institutes should galvanize efforts toward minimizing potential risk-factors and empowering
youth with decision-making techniques that enhance their capacity to set goals, be resilient, and
be engaged in prosperous life-course trajectories.
The Nature of Gang Spawning 120
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Abstract (if available)
Abstract
African American gangs have existed in Compton since the late 1960s, policy makers, scholars, and residents have sought to understand why certain communities remain vulnerable to gang persistence. This study investigated factors that have possibly contributed to this persistence in Compton, CA during 1960 to 2013. The study used a qualitative research design and facilitated semi‐structured interviews with twelve people, age twenty to seventy, who lived in Compton for at least 20 years. The analysis revealed that gangs persisted because several youth adopted an identity that glorified the gangster culture, the influx of drugs which: fractured family structures, enflamed gang warfare, and provided illegal means of economic growth. Moreover, as gang wars evolved from fistfights to drive‐by shootings, they enhanced community exposure to violence and elicited retaliation that has contributed to gang persistence. Overall, from a community structural vantage point, marginalization, poverty, crack cocaine, and a lack of jobs facilitated a place where gangs and crime may thrive.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Relf, Aubrey
(author)
Core Title
The nature of gang spawning communities: African American gangs in Compton, CA: 1960-2013
School
School of Policy, Planning and Development
Degree
Doctor of Policy, Planning & Development
Degree Program
Policy, Planning, and Development
Publication Date
04/28/2014
Defense Date
04/27/2014
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
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Tag
adolescent development,Gangs,human development,life-course trajectory,OAI-PMH Harvest,protective factor,risk factor
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Language
English
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Electronically uploaded by the author
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Mitchell, Leonard (
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), McCroskey, Jacquelyn (
committee member
), Natoli, Deborah (
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)
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aubreyrelf@gmail.com,relf@usc.edu
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https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-404817
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Tags
adolescent development
human development
life-course trajectory
protective factor
risk factor