The Consequences of Adolescent Gang Membership On Adult Functioning

Background and Purpose: The National Youth Gang Center (2009) found that the number of large cities reporting gang problems increased by 12% from 2002 to 2007. Almost half of the law enforcement agencies surveyed in the National Youth Gang Survey reported that the gang problem in their jurisdiction was getting worse. According to the most recent estimates, there are more than 27,000 gangs and 788,000 gang members in America. While studies have shown that there are numerous adverse proximal outcomes for gang members, such as increased engagement in criminal behavior and violent victimization (Howell, 2006; Peterson, Taylor, & Esbensen, 2004), there is surprisingly scant research on long-term consequences of gang membership (Thornberry et al., 2003). This study explores whether, and to what extent, gang members differ from non-gang members in central areas of adult functioning, such as educational attainment, poverty, alcohol and drug abuse and dependence, mental health and persistent crime in adulthood. Methods: Data are drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP), a longitudinal study of the development of positive and problem outcomes that has followed prospectively a panel of Seattle public school children, from age 10 to 30 with over 91% sample retention. The paper examines the consequences of gang membership (assessed prospectively at ages 13-18) on measures of successful functioning in adulthood. Gang membership was assessed prospectively through annual interviews from age 13 to 18 through the use of self-identification, as is common in the literature (Sullivan, 2006). Adult functioning was assessed at ages 21, 24 and 27 through face-to-face interviews including assessment of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The long-term consequences of gang membership on adult outcomes are examined using t-tests, correlation, regression, and structural equation models. Results: Fifteen percent of the SSDP panel study joined a gain during adolescence. Adult follow-ups at ages 21, 24 and 27 showed that youths who had participated in gang membership during adolescence were less likely to complete high school or continue in their education, more likely to persist in crime in adulthood, to experience persistent poverty and welfare receipt, to have persistent alcohol abuse and dependence and drug abuse and dependence diagnosis criteria, and to have persistent depression and anxiety diagnosis criteria through age 27. These effects remained after controlling for childhood socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. Conclusions and Implications: Results from this longitudinal study indicate that gang membership is predictive of multiple negative outcomes for young adults. This evidence of long-term consequences of gang membership substantiate the need for concentrated preventive interventions for at-risk youth. While the short-term costs of gang membership in terms of crime and incarceration costs are clear, the present study illustrates the long-term personal and social costs of gang membership, even after leaving the gang, as the individual transitions into adulthood.