Using Propensity Score Matching to Understand the Relationship between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization: A Research Note

Abstract

Due to methodological limitations, such as unmatched gang samples and a lack of longitudinal investigations, it remains unresolved whether joining a gang leads to future violent victimization or both share a set of common causes. Guided by selection, facilitation, and enhancement perspectives, the current study applied Propensity Score Matching on data from the Gang Resistance Education and Training longitudinal study to investigate the nature of the gang-violent

Internationalizing the Study of Gang Membership: Validation Issues from Latin America

“…Similarly, Decker et al (2014) reported that self-nomination as a current or former gang member is a strong predictor of 'embeddedness' in gangs, as measured by other survey items. In general, these findings support Thornberry et al's (2003: 22) claim that '[US] Adolescents appear to know what gangs are and whether they are a member of a gang' (Esbensen et al 2001;Gibson et al 2009). …”

Uncovering the Pathways Between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization

“…Part of what makes this line of inquiry-the direct and indirect pathways-criminologically compelling are the mixed findings in the literature, which is perhaps best exemplified by contradictory results produced by Gibson et al (2009) and Ozer and Engel (2011) using the same source of data (the first evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training program) and similar counterfactual methodology. Gibson et al (2009: 639) concluded ''In sum, our results showed support for the selection perspective because the relationship between joining a gang and becoming violently victimized was explained by pre-existing differences that perhaps lead gang members to join a gang in the first place.''…”

“…In a recent review of this literature, Fox (2013Fox ( : 1035 argued that the ''analysis of the gang-victimization link should include examinations of longitudinal data and controls for delinquency/ crime.'' Longitudinal studies, alternatively, have focused on the contemporaneous and prospective direct effects of gang membership on victimization (Barnes et al 2012;DeLisi et al 2009;Gibson et al 2009;Ousey et al 2011;Ozer and Engel 2011;Spano et al 2008;Sweeten et al 2013), leaving the specific mechanisms that bring about this relationship unresolved, which Fox (2013Fox ( : 1016 identified as a key direction in her commentary on the literature.…”

“…A growing list of empirical studies have established a link between gang membership and violent victimization (Barnes et al 2012;Childs et al 2009;Decker and Pyrooz 2010;DeLisi et al 2009;Fox et al 2013;Gibson et al 2009;Gover et al 2009;Katz et al 2011;Ozer and Engel 2011;Pyrooz et al 2014;Rufino et al 2012;Sweeten et al 2013;Spano et al 2008;Taylor et al 2007Taylor et al , 2008Zavala and Spohn 2013). Drawn from wide and diverse research designs that span a range of demographic groups and sampling frames, this body of evidence is large enough that few would dispute the fact that gang members are victims of violence at a rate that is much higher than their peers who are not in gangs.…”

“…Even after accounting for selection bias using counterfactual methods, DeLisi et al (2009) found evidence of a positive link between gang membership and violent victimization. Yet serious questions were raised about the theoretical and empirical basis of this relationship in an exchange between Gibson et al (2009Gibson et al ( , 2012 and Ozer and Engel (2011), where conflicting findings were observed-selection for the former, facilitation for the latterusing the same source of data (the first evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training program). Accordingly, two recent reviews of the literature emphasized key directions forward, with Fox (2013Fox ( : 1016 holding that it is necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying ''how and why gang members are victimized at higher rates than their non-gang counterparts'' and Gibson et al (2012) highlighting a series of methodological requirements for future research, notably, the need for longitudinal data, proper time order, and appropriate extraneous controls.…”