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MSU research: Despite increased danger, youth gang members feel safe
June 04, 2009EAST LANSING, Mich. - Children who join gangs feel safer despite a greater risk of being assaulted or killed, according to federally funded research led by a Michigan State University criminologist.
The findings by MSU's Chris Melde, which appear in the online edition of the journal Criminology, may help explain why youth continue to join street gangs despite the well-established danger.
"It's a paradox," said Melde, assistant professor of criminal justice. "Gang members essentially are not allowed to show fear and this can have a profound impact on adolescents. Their quest for acceptance, along with their immersion into this culture steeped in violence, may ultimately numb their reaction to violence, including their fear of victimization."
While many researchers look at the downside of gang membership, Melde's research explores the potential benefits - or at least the perceived benefits. The current research is part of a larger project led by professor Finn-Aage Esbensen at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and funded by the National Institute of Justice, a department of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The project is believed to be the first long-term analysis of its kind. Melde and his colleagues studied 1,450 public school students in the sixth through ninth grades during a two-year period. The students came from 15 schools in four states: Arizona, New Mexico, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
The students who joined gangs said they had higher levels of victimization, but also reported a relatively large decrease in fear at the same time. Victimization ranged from the fear of home invasion to being attacked.
The study also highlights a possible intervention point. Because fear, which affects decision-making, generally peaks immediately following a violent action - and before the gang can organize a response - Melde said that might be the best time to try convincing gang members to quit.
"Intervening in their lives right then may impact their decision whether they stay in a gang or not," he said.
Michigan State University
While many researchers look at the downside of gang membership, Melde's research explores the potential benefits - or at least the perceived benefits. The current research is part of a larger project led by professor Finn-Aage Esbensen at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and funded by the National Institute of Justice, a department of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The project is believed to be the first long-term analysis of its kind. Melde and his colleagues studied 1,450 public school students in the sixth through ninth grades during a two-year period. The students came from 15 schools in four states: Arizona, New Mexico, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
The students who joined gangs said they had higher levels of victimization, but also reported a relatively large decrease in fear at the same time. Victimization ranged from the fear of home invasion to being attacked.
The study also highlights a possible intervention point. Because fear, which affects decision-making, generally peaks immediately following a violent action - and before the gang can organize a response - Melde said that might be the best time to try convincing gang members to quit.
"Intervening in their lives right then may impact their decision whether they stay in a gang or not," he said.
Michigan State University
Gangs Current Events and Gangs News RSSCaltech and IBM scientists use self-assembled DNA scaffolding to build tiny circuit boards
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and IBM's Almaden Research Center have developed a new technique to orient and position self-assembled DNA shapes and patterns-or "DNA origami"-on surfaces that are compatible with today's semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Bizarre bird behavior predicted by game theory
A team of scientists, led by the University of Exeter, has used game theory to explain the bizarre behaviour of a group of ravens. Juvenile birds from a roost in North Wales have been observed adopting the unusual strategy of foraging for food in 'gangs'.
Stopping germs from ganging up on humans
Keeping germs from cooperating can delay the evolution of drug resistance more effectively than killing germs one by one with traditional drugs such as antibiotics, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.
Extinct sabertooth cats were social, found strength in numbers, study shows
The sabertooth cat (Smilodon fatalis), one of the most iconic extinct mammal species, was likely to be a social animal, living and hunting like lions today, according to new scientific research. The species is famous for its extremely long canine teeth, which reached up to seven inches in length and extended below the lower jaw.
Curbing teen drinking difficult in urban areas
Keeping middle schoolers from alcohol is a tougher task in the inner city than in rural areas, even for experts armed with the best prevention programs, a new University of Florida study shows.
Tibetan antelope slowly recovering, WCS says
Returning from a recent 1,000-mile expedition across Tibet's remote Chang Tang region, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) biologist George Schaller reports that the Tibetan antelope — once the target of rampant poaching — may be increasing in numbers due to a combination of better enforcement and a growing conservation ethic in local communities.
Keeping up with the chavs at Christmas
Using the latest catch-phrase or - even more importantly - knowing when to stop using it, can help you to be accepted as one of the in-crowd. Getting it wrong will dismiss you as a sad case.
New Brain Test to Monitor Alzheimer's Disease
A new test that taps brain records so accurately it caught out a serial killer, could soon be used by pharmaceutical companies to speed up approval of drugs for Alzheimer's and other brain diseases, reports Marina Murphy in Chemistry & Industry Magazine. 'Brain Fingerprinting' is the patented technology that can measure objectively, for the first time, how memory and cognitive functioning of Alzheimer sufferers are affected by medications. First generation tests have proven to be more accurate than other routinely used tests, and could be commercially available in 18-24 months. The 30 minute test involves wearing a headband with built-in electrodes; technicians then present words, phrases an
Young offenders and victims of crime are often the same people
Programmes aiming to change young offenders and those that support victims need to be re-thought because they are often the same people, according to new research sponsored by the Economic & Social Research Council. This latest in a series of reports tracking 4,300 young people who started secondary school in Edinburgh in August 1998, shows that victimisation and offending are closely linked. The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, led by Professor David Smith and Dr Lesley McAra, School of Law, Edinburgh University, shows that boys offend only slightly more often than girls at the ages of 13-15, if every kind of offending is included. Girls are more likely to smoke and drink tha
Reference
These were the findings of a study published today, Thursday, 9 September 1999, in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology , by Dr Jon Sutton, Professor Peter Smith and Dr John Swettenham of Goldsmiths College, University of London.
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