Gang involvement moderates the effectiveness of evidence-based intervention for justice-involved youth

Boxer, Paul; Kubik, Joanna; Ostermann, Michael; Veysey, Bonita M.

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.02.012

Cited by 55 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…All of these programs have gang members in their typical client base, but there is not adequate evidence about their effectiveness for this important subpopulation. Indeed, we have somewhat conflicting results for this issue; Boxer and colleagues () reported that gang‐involved youth had low successful completion rates for MST, whereas we found that FFT‐G can be delivered equally well to youth at low and high risk for gang membership and is effective for the high‐gang‐risk population. Finding out whether basic EB programs are effective when offered specifically to gang‐involved youth should be a high priority.…”

Section: Future Researchcontrasting

confidence: 58%

“…One exception is the work of Boxer () who examined whether Multisystemic Therapy (MST), a Blueprints model program in which a community‐based treatment program for serious delinquents is provided (Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, and Cunningham, ), was effective for the subset of clients who were gang involved. Boxer, Kubik, Ostermann, and Veysey () found that gang‐involved youth were more likely to fail to complete treatment, either through a lack of engagement with the program or through rearrest. This outcome was particularly strong for active gang members where only 38% of the cases closed successfully, as compared with 78% of the other cases (Boxer et al., ).…”

Section: Strategies To Develop Evidence‐based Gang Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reducing Crime Among Youth at Risk for Gang Involvement

Thornberry

Kearley

Gottfredson

et al. 2018

Criminology & Public Policy

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Research Summary No gang prevention or intervention programs meet the standards for effectiveness promulgated by Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development. This randomized controlled trial of a well‐known program—Functional Family Therapy—that was modified to address the needs of gang‐involved adolescents yields two main findings. First, youth at high risk for gang membership and their families engaged with and successfully completed the program at the same level as low‐gang‐risk youth. Second, the effectiveness results varied by gang‐risk status. For youth at high risk for gang membership, the treatment group had significantly lower recidivism rates at the 18‐month follow‐up as compared with a “treatment as usual” control group. For youth at low risk for gang membership, however, no consistent differences were found between the treated and control groups. Policy Implications Modifying and extending evidence‐based delinquency programs to gang‐involved youth seems to be a reasonable strategy for developing a wider array of effective programs to respond to the challenge of street gangs. The differential findings by gang‐risk status suggests that the juvenile justice system should expand the use of evidence‐based community programs to higher risk youth, including those identified as being “at risk” because of their gang involvement.

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Section: Future Researchcontrasting

confidence: 58%

Section: Strategies To Develop Evidence‐based Gang Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Crime Among Youth at Risk for Gang Involvement

Thornberry

Kearley

Gottfredson

et al. 2018

Criminology & Public Policy

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“…Consequently, subsequent model tests in samples from other geographic areas or time periods is needed. Second, while self-reported gang membership is commonly used (Boxer et al, 2015; Bjerregaard & Smith, 1993; Dishion et al, 2005; Esbensen et al, 2001; Fox et al, 2010; Klein, 1995; Tapia, 2011; Thornberry, Krohn et al, 2003) and empirically supported as a valid measure (Esbensen et al, 2010), there are risks with self-reported data including the possibility or over- or under-reporting. Finally, because gang membership in the sample was measured, in part, during the same time period (7 th through 10 th grades, when the respondents were 12 – 15 years old) as the items that comprised the SDM constructs, questions regarding temporal ordering cannot be definitively resolved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the rapid growth of research examining why youth join gangs, the translation of this research into effective gang prevention programs has been significantly slower (for a notable exception, see Esbensen, Peterson, Taylor, & Osgood, 2011; Esbensen, Osgood, Peterson, Taylor, & Carson, 2013). Consequently, prevention efforts are increasingly emphasizing the need for more research that can have direct implications for programming to help youth who are gang-involved or at-risk of involvement (Boxer, Kubik, Ostermann, & Veysey, 2015; Howell & Griffiths, 2016). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental pathways of youth gang membership: a structural test of the social development model

Bishop

Hill

Gilman³

et al. 2017

Journal of Crime and Justice

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As a result of nearly 40 years of research using a risk and protective factor approach, much is known about the predictors of gang onset. Little theoretical work, however, has been done to situate this approach to studying gang membership within a more comprehensive developmental model. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the current study is the first to test the capacity of the social development model (SDM) to predict the developmental pathways that increase and decrease the likelihood of gang membership. Results suggest that the SDM provides a good accounting of the social developmental processes at age 13 that are predictive of later gang membership. These findings support the promotion of a theoretical understanding of gang membership that specifies both pro- and antisocial developmental pathways. Additionally, as the SDM is intended as a model that can guide preventive intervention, results also hold practical utility for designing strategies that can be implemented in early adolescence to address the likelihood of later gang involvement. Three key preventive intervention points to address gang membership are discussed, including promoting efforts to enhance social skills, increasing the availability of prosocial opportunities and rewarding engagement in these opportunities, and reducing antisocial socialization experiences throughout the middle- and high school years.

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“…In general, gang-involved youth report higher rates of both violent and non-violent antisocial behavior, as well as victimization by violence, relative to their counterparts who are not involved with gangs (Barnes et al, 2010;Taylor et al, 2007). Gang-involved youth also tend to experience a broad range of personal and contextual risk factors at substantially higher rates relative to other antisocial youth who are not gang-involved (Barnes et al, 2010;Boxer et al, 2015). One of the more problematic correlates of gang involvement is the experience of violent victimization, which has long been acknowledged as a critical driver of gang affiliation while also serving as a significant risk factor for a wide array of mental health difficulties including depression, anxiety, substance use, and problem behavior (Barnes et al, 2010;Boxer and Sloan-Power, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the moderating role of gang involvement on the context and impact of victimization

Kubik

Docherty

Boxer

et al. 2016

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Research suggests that gang-involved youth are more likely than non-gang youth to experience victimization. However, very little research has addressed the issue of whether the relationship between gang involvement and victimization depends on the context in which victimization takes place. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the relation between gang involvement and violent victimization in both street and school contexts. Design/methodology/approach -Data were provided by youth (n ¼ 421; ages 11-18; 70 percent male; 66 percent non-white) referred by the justice system for intensive home and community-based treatment of problem behavior. At intake, youth reported on their experiences of violent victimization, mental health status, problem behavior, and substance use. Youth and therapist reports were utilized to indicate gang involvement.Findings -Approximately 62 percent of gang-involved youth in the sample were victimized across both contexts. Linear and censored regression models found that on average, gang-involved youth experienced a greater frequency of victimization than non-gang youth (p o0.001). Importantly, results also show that gang involvement amplifies the impact of victimization on key behavioral and mental health outcomes. Victimization in both street and school contexts increases the risk of serious problem behavior for gang-involved youth (po0.001). Victimization experiences in schools in particular also may increase alcohol use among ganginvolved youth (p ¼ 0.006). Originality/value -These findings emanating from a unique sample of youth in treatment demonstrate the value of considering victimization in context for intervention programming.

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Gang involvement moderates the effectiveness of evidence-based intervention for justice-involved youth

Cited by 55 publications

References 34 publications

Reducing Crime Among Youth at Risk for Gang Involvement

Reducing Crime Among Youth at Risk for Gang Involvement

Developmental pathways of youth gang membership: a structural test of the social development model

Examining the moderating role of gang involvement on the context and impact of victimization

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