Gang Involvement - Subject Release
This measure appears in the following time-points: Release.
Related Construct
Description of Measure
This measure includes a series of questions that assess the youth's gang involvement both within the institution/program and prior to coming to placement. The questions are taken mainly from Thornberry, Lizotte, Krohn, Farnworth, and Jang, (1994) and Elliott (1990). If gang involvement prior to coming to placement is endorsed, additional items explore the presence and the subject's continued participation of that gang within the institution/program.
The following individual items are available:
- Any gangs at the institution/program [R0Gng01]
- Number of residents NOT in a gang [R0Gng02]
- Was subject member of a gang before coming to the institution/program [R0Gng03]
- Unique ID associated with prior gang (associated with gang from R0Gng03) [R0GangCode03]
- Does subject still belong to prior gang (associated with gang from R0GangCode03) [R0Gng05]
- Is prior gang active at the institution/program (associated with gang from R0GangCode03) [R0Gng06]
- Does subject expect to become a member again after release (associated with gang from R0GangCode03) [R0Gng08]
- Did the subject join a gang while at the release facility/program [R0Gng10]
- Unique ID associated with release gang (associated with gang from R0Gng10) [R0GangCode10]
- Does subject expect to stay a member of gang after release (associated with gang from R0GangCode10) [R0Gng13]
One item in this measure ("any gangs at the institution/program") was used in the development of the eight dimensions of organizational functioning. A full description of the dimensions can be found in the "Dimensions of Organizational Functioning" codebook section.
Data Issues
In order to protect the confidential nature of the subject responses, the specific gang names have been converted to a unique number. In instances where the same gang name appears in both sites (e.g., Bloods), the same unique number is assigned to the gang, with PA codes ending with a 1, and AZ codes ending with a 2 to distinguish the sites.
References
- Thornberry, T.P., Lizotte, A.J., Krohn, M.D., Farnworth, M. & Jang, S.J. (1994). Delinquent peers, beliefs, and delinquent behavior: A longitudinal test of interactional theory. Criminology, 32: 47-83.
- Esbensen, F.A. and Huizinga, D. (1993). Gangs, Drugs, and Delinquency in a Survey of Urban Youth. Criminology, 31(4): 565-89.