What’s Sex (Composition) Got to Do with It? The Importance of Sex Composition of Gangs for Female and Male Members’ Offending and Victimization

Abstract

Sex composition of groups has been theorized in organizational sociology and found in prior work to structure female and male members' behaviors and experiences. Peer group and gang literature similarly finds that the sex gap in offending varies across groups of differing sex ratios. Drawing on this and other research linking gang membership, offending, and victimization, we examine whether sex composition of gangs is linked to sex differences in offending in this sample, further assess whether sex composition similarly structures females' and males' victimization experiences, and if so, why. Self-report data from gang members in a multi-site, longitudinal study of 3,820 youths are employed. Results support previous findings about variations in member delinquency by both sex and sex composition of the gang and also indicate parallel variations in members' victimization. These results are further considered within the context of facilitating effects such as gender dynamics, gang characteristics, and normative orientation.

Co-offending Group Composition and Violence: The Impact of Sex, Age, and Group Size on Co-offending Violence

“…Women in gangs that are predominantly male, however, are more likely to emphasize the delinquent aspects of the gang. Following this, Peterson and colleagues (2001) found that, in majority male gangs, participation in delinquency is similar for both females and males (see also Peterson & Carson, 2012), whereas Peterson, Carson, and Fowler (2018) found that females in female gangs had the lowest rates of violence participation. Research on peer networks has also demonstrated the important role of sex composition in structuring behavior: Haynie, Steffensmeier, and Bell (2007) examined the role of friendship sex composition in adolescence on involvement in violence and found that gender had a balancing effect, such that exposure to male friends increased the odds of female participation in serious violence, whereas exposure to female friends decreased the odds of male participation in serious violence (see also Haynie, Doogan, & Soller, 2014).…”

Pathways to Recidivism: Do Behavioral Disorders Explain the Gang-Recidivism Relationship during Reentry?

“…For example, Peterson et al (2001) conducted a multi-site analysis of male and female gang members and found that sex composition is an important factor in shaping gang-related activities. Females account for 20% to 46% of youth in gangs, with the majority reporting participation in “mixed-sex” gangs rather than female-only gangs, the latter of which stresses friendship and “sisterhood” with the other girls (Peterson et al, 2018).…”

“…In gangs with the majority of members identifying as male, a small number of girls poses little threat to the boys’ power and the girls may come to view themselves as “one of the guys” (Peterson et al, 2001). As a result, girls may engage in more deviant behavior at levels matching boys in majority-male gangs—levels that are even higher than males in all-male gangs (Peterson et al, 2001) as well as non-gang males (Peterson et al, 2018). However, while rates of deviant behavior may be similar, male gang-involved youth are nevertheless involved in more serious criminal activity than their female counterparts and that females in gangs may function more so at the margins of the group (Curry et al, 2014).…”

Femme Fatales: Girl Gangsters and Violent Street Culture in Cape Town

“…For one, female gangsters assert personal and collective autonomy by establishing criminal gang economies (Lauderback et al, 1992; Venkatesh, 1998). They are also involved in gang-related violence (Esbensen et al, 1999; Huizinga et al, 1998; Peterson et al, 2001, 2018), including serious violent acts (Molidor, 1996), for many of the same reasons as men (Batchelor, 2011). 6 Like men, women might gain status and reputation by getting into fights (Fishman, 1999), drawing on conflict as part of “a necessary survival strategy” (Maher, 1997, p. 95).…”