Читать книгу The Invisible Woman - Joanne Belknap - Страница 102

Being in a gang is not a crime, but gang membership is typically associated with delinquent and criminal activities. Indeed, regardless of gender, “involvement in delinquent behaviors” is the “strongest predictor of gang membership” (Bjerregaard & Cochran, 2012, p. 45). A study using national data from the United States reported that of delinquent girls, 6% are gang members, while 11% of delinquent boys are gang members (H. N. Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Research consistently reports delinquency and criminal behavior are more prevalent in young men’s than young women’s gangs (Bjerregaard & Smith, 1993; A. Campbell, 1991; Esbensen & Winfree, 1998; Joe & Chesney-Lind, 1995; J. Miller, 2001, 2002; J. Miller & Brunson, 2000; Morash, 1983; Watkins & Melde, 2018), with the exception of a study reporting equal levels of drug use (Esbensen & Winfree, 1998). One study found 90% of boys and 75% of girls had been arrested (Joe & Chesney-Lind, 1995), and others that young men were more likely than young women gang members to carry guns (J. Miller, 2001; J. Miller & Brunson, 2000: Watkins & Melde, 2018). However, a recent study found being in a gang (“gang membership”) increased girls’ more than boys’ likelihood of serious offending, violent victimization, and carrying a weapon (although girls’ offending was still significantly lower) (Watkins & Melde, 2018).

For both girls and boys, peer influence/pressure is the motivation for committing offenses (Joe & Chesney-Lind, 1995). As expected, the more time girls spend with delinquent girls, particularly girl gang members, the more likely they are to commit delinquent acts (Giordano, 1999). Notably, although girl gang members’ offending is influenced by boy gang members, research indicates that these girls are more influenced by the other girls in their gangs (A. Campbell, 1991; Giordano, 1999). Significantly, some girl gang scholars identify their violence (when they use it) as a way of doing femininity (Laidler & Hunt, 2001; Messerschmidt, 1999). Messerschmidt (1999) claims that girl gang members’ use of violence can actually be used positively to portray their power, and can be considered feminine in certain cases where, for example, it is to defend their neighborhood or gang. Laidler and Hunt (2001) believe the girl gang members work to maintain not only their femininity but also their autonomy from others, particularly boys and men: “In their eyes, a man has to have respect for her as a woman and as an individual” (p. 674).

Hagedorn and Devitt’s (1999) study of primarily Latina gangs in Milwaukee found they were evenly divided between the gang members who “liked to fight” and those who fought to maintain solidarity with their gang members. The few women who reported that they were “not fighters” were frowned upon by their gang peers for violating the gang norms. Notably, the women who “liked to fight” had less of a male-centered outlook on life (e.g., were less likely to agree that all women “need” a man to order their lives), whereas the women who fought for gang solidarity were more likely to be in a current intimate relationship with a man. Latina gangs were most likely to fight because of turf battles or a rival gang “representing,” whereas fights with other gangs constituted less than half of African American women gang members’ fights. African American women gang members’ fights were more likely over “respect” and “jealousy” issues than were the Latina women’s gang fights.

A gender difference in gang members’ fighting is that compared with boys, girls are more likely to fight when their personal, often sexual, reputation has been challenged, whereas boys are more likely than girls to fight when the reputation of the gang has been challenged (which is never sexual) (A. Campbell, 1984; J. Miller, 2002). A. Campbell’s (1999b) study of Puerto Rican girl gang members in New York City from 1979 to 1981 found that the gang girls “took pride in their ability to fight” and “stress[ed] their aggressiveness and work[ed] hard at developing a reputation as a fighter” (p. 115). Campbell concluded, “More than winning a fight, it was important to be ready to enter one” (p. 116). A study of Los Angeles gangs reported that twice as many male (24%) as female (13%) gang members reported they would kill someone if asked to do so by the gang (Felkenes & Becker, 1995, p. 8). Finally, as expected, pregnancy often decreases the amount of fighting for girls in gangs (Fleisher & Krienert, 2004).