The relationship between gender identity and psychological adjustment has long been investigated, but it is only in the 21st century that gender identity has been examined as a multi-faceted construct. According to Egan and Perry (2001), there are five dimensions comprising a person’s gender identity and they have demonstrated a significant relationship between these dimensions and youth’s psychological adjustment. Three of their gender identity constructs are pertinent to this study: gender typicality, gender contentedness, and felt pressure. While subsequent studies have had similar significant results (Carver, Yunger, & Perry, 2003; Yunger, Carver, & Perry, 2004), one study found that felt pressure was not negatively correlated with adjustment in minority youth, including Latinos, as it was with majority White samples from the previous studies (Corby, Hodges, & Perry, 2007). Minority youth face more pressure to conform to gender stereotypes (Corby et al., 2007) and Latinos in particular face more rigid gender stereotypes than European American cultures (Corona, Gonzalez, Cohen, Edwards, & Edmonds, 2009). While having a strong ethnic identity has been significantly correlated with self-esteem in Latinos (Umaña-Taylor, 2004), the relationship between ethnic identity, gender identity, and self-esteem in Latino youth have been underrepresented in the literature (Mora, 2012). Since Latino male youth in particular are at-risk for low-self esteem (Twenge & Crocker, 2000) and self-esteem is a protective factor in adolescents (Hosogi, Okada, Fujii, Noguchi, & Watanabe, 2012), it is important to pinpoint variables that are related to high self-esteem. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between ethnic identity, gender identity, and self-esteem in an understudied population in the literature. The sample consisted of 55 males, aged 10-14, who are members of a school-based intervention program for boys at-risk of gang membership. The majority of boys were of Latino heritage. It was hypothesized that gender typicality and gender contentedness would be significantly correlated with self-esteem, and that ethnic identity would mediate the relationship between felt pressure and self-esteem. Statistical analysis yielded partial support for the hypothesis. Implications and future directions are discussed.

This study investigated the perceptions of Hmong youth gang members and professional workers related to the following research questions: How does a Hmong youth become a gang member? Why are Hmong youth involved in gangs? What are the benefits of being in a gang? What are the activities that Hmong youths do in a gang? How does a gang member get out of the gang? An open-ended survey questionnaire was used for the Hmong youth gang members. A standardized open-ended interview approach was used for the professional workers. Twenty-eight youth gang members and ten professional workers participated in this study. The data collected from this study were analyzed using description, classification, and interpretation techniques. The findings show that a Hmong youth can become a gang member by forming a gang, jumping in (being beaten), or committing a criminal activity. It was found that the youth gang members joined the gang for a variety of reasons, such as having siblings or friends who were in the gang, intimidation, discrimination, fun and excitement, family problems, or school problems. The most frequently stated reasons were gang friends and intimidation. The findings show that the gang provides the gang member friendship, social bonding, belonging, economic gain, respect, support, protection, fun and excitement. The activities that the youth gang members engage in include smoking, drinking, partying, dealing drugs, stealing, fighting, drive-by shootings, and home invasions. The study indicates that jumping out (being beaten), moving away, or getting married are the different ways that a Hmong youth gang member can get out of the gang.

yes / The proliferation of irregular armed actors which defy simplistic definition has caught public and academic attention alike, not least in the pages of this journal. To move the debate on non-state armed groups (NSAGs) forward, this article seeks to enhance our conceptual understanding of parochial armed groups which are not primarily driven by ideological or religious objectives. Thus, this article clarifies similarities as well as differences between subtypes of community-based armed groups (CBAGs) on the one hand, and between CBAGs and other NSAGs, on the other hand. By doing so, a typology is developed that classifies militias, gangs and vigilantes on the basis of their political, economic and security-related dimensions. The resulting ideal types are discussed through the lenses of different explanatory frameworks and policy debates in the field of contemporary security studies. A major typological issue is the tendency for CBAGs to ‘turn bad’ and become threats to the stability they were expected to transform, becoming a serious problem in countries where they operate. It is concluded that the challenge of CBAGs ultimately needs to be addressed by putting in place a functioning state that can tackle the underlying woes that led to their proliferation in the first place.

This study aims to explore the perceptions of Anti-gang Initiative IV of Danish practitioners working within crime prevention in different Danish municipalities. The anti-gang initiative was voted through in November 2023 and is the latest in a series of anti-gang initiatives aimed at reducing gangs and gang crime in Denmark. Through qualitative interviews and thematic analysis, this study captures the insight of practitioners, emphasizing the importance of their role in evaluation work, especially when translating policy intro practice. Despite already existing initiatives, practitioners expressed uncertainty about the effectiveness and implementation and stressed a need for more evidence-based research and practical evaluations. The findings of this study show gang crime as an intractable problem, where there is a need for crime prevention policies, such as Anti-gang Initiative IV, to be grounded in empirical evidence and more locally context- specific.

Based upon two years of ethnographic fieldwork in London, England, which incorporated nearly 200 interviews with gang members, gang associates, and police officers, among others, this thesis addresses three questions presently unresolved in the street gangs literature: What is the business of gangs? How are gangs organised? And how do gangs recruit? With regard the business of gangs, this thesis illustrates how recreation, crime, enterprise, and extra-legal governance represent sequential stages in the evolutionary cycle of London’s street gangs. Gang member testimony emphasises how gangs typically begin life as neighbourhood-based peer groups, but also how, in response to external threats and financial commitments, gangs grow to incorporate street-level drugs distribution businesses that very much resemble the multi-level marketing structure of direct-sales companies. People join gangs to make money, achieve status, and obtain protection. Gangs engage in turf wars, acquire violent resources, and develop hierarchical structures in order to maintain provision of these desirable goods and services. Gang organisation, in turn, becomes a function of gang business. To better understand the nature and extent of gang organisation, this thesis moves on to discuss the presence of subgroups, hierarchy and leadership, pecuniary and non-pecuniary incentives, rules, responsibilities, and restrictions, and consequences for absconding within gangs. It further presents how, in order to convey reputation and achieve intimidation, gangs seek association with elements of popular culture that help promote their image. Finally, through the novel application of signalling theory to the gang recruitment process, this thesis demonstrates how gangs face a primary trust dilemma in their uncertainty over the quality of recruits. Given that none of the trust-warranting properties for gang membership can be readily discovered from observation, gangs look for observable signs correlated with these properties. Gangs face a secondary trust dilemma in their uncertainty over the reliability of signs because certain agents (e.g., police informants, rival gang members, and adventure-seekers) have incentives to mimic them. To overcome their informational asymmetry gangs thus screen for signs that are too costly for mimics to fake but affordable for the genuine article. The thesis concludes with a discussion of gang desistance and intervention in the context of escalating youth violence in London.

This thesis explores the ways in which discourses of citizenship are circulated and incorporated into the practice of non-formal educational filmmaking initiatives for young people in London. I utilise an ethnographic approach focusing on young participants, adult facilitators and funders to demonstrate how youth filmmaking facilitates an exploration of abstract conceptions of citizenship with the on-the-ground reality of young peoples’ “practice” as citizens. To provide context for this material, I present both a theoretical overview of the heady yet labile term “citizenship” and a historical narrative of youth filmmaking, particularly in its relationship to wider political economies of funding and youth policy. Although discourses of citizenship in youth filmmaking have changed subtly over time, the youth filmmaking programmes considered here marshal three central conceptions of citizenship; “engagement,” “empowerment” and “belonging.” To explore each of these notions, I draw on case studies to show how these citizenship discourses become operationalised. First, I consider the Reelhood project for young Muslims, which aimed at encouraging “political engagement.” I demonstrate how young people challenge notions of “disengagement” and operate as “justice-oriented” citizens, in contradistinction to the premise of the funding source itself. Second, I use the example of the This is My Story project, amongst other films that dealt with youth violence, to explore discourses of “empowerment.” Using the metaphor of the “shot/reverse shot” sequence, I demonstrate how youth filmmaking projects situate themselves as an alternative to the representation of young people in mainstream press. Finally, I describe the River Lea project in which the sensory and technological processes of filmmaking became a means for young people to “focus in” and attune their sensory and perceptive faculties to the experience of “place-making.” Each of these case studies exhibits how the creative, social and technical processes of filmmaking provide a challenge to or re-interpretation of citizenship discourse.

This dissertation compares the activities of street gangs operating in Brazil's favelas and the barrios of El Salvador to determine the extent of the threat they pose to national security and state legitimacy. In analyzing the conditions of inequality and violence plaguing these marginal urban agglomerations we suggest that the gangs have effectively taken control of the territory by filling the void left by an absentee state. In response to the impact of organized street gangs that disrupt social order and the rule of law, the governments have respectively applied radical solutions that serve only to exacerbate the situation and do not lead to the expected results. Finally, the evolution of MS-13 in the Americas and the police interventions in the favelas of Rio in preparation for the World Cup have situated the power struggle between gangs and state at the heart of political debate. / Ce mémoire compare les activités des gangs de rues opérant dans les favelas du Brésil et les barrios du Salvador afin de déterminer l’ampleur de la menace qu’elles représentent pour la sécurité nationale et la légitimité étatique. En analysant les conditions d’inégalité qui sévissent au sein de ces zones urbaines marginales et la violence sociale qui y prolifère, nous proposons que les gangs ont pris contrôle du territoire en remplissant le vide étatique. En réponse à l’impact des gangs de rue organisés qui perturbent l’ordre social et l’état de droit, les gouvernements à l’étude proposent des solutions radicales qui, comme nous l’observerons, ne font qu’exacerber la situation et n’entrainent pas les résultats escomptés. Finalement, l’évolution du MS-13 en Amérique et les interventions policières dans les favelas de Rio en préparation à la coupe du monde, font de la lutte de pouvoir entre gangs et État un sujet incontournable d’actualité politique.

This dissertation compares the activities of street gangs operating in Brazil's favelas and the barrios of El Salvador to determine the extent of the threat they pose to national security and state legitimacy. In analyzing the conditions of inequality and violence plaguing these marginal urban agglomerations we suggest that the gangs have effectively taken control of the territory by filling the void left by an absentee state. In response to the impact of organized street gangs that disrupt social order and the rule of law, the governments have respectively applied radical solutions that serve only to exacerbate the situation and do not lead to the expected results. Finally, the evolution of MS-13 in the Americas and the police interventions in the favelas of Rio in preparation for the World Cup have situated the power struggle between gangs and state at the heart of political debate. / Ce mémoire compare les activités des gangs de rues opérant dans les favelas du Brésil et les barrios du Salvador afin de déterminer l’ampleur de la menace qu’elles représentent pour la sécurité nationale et la légitimité étatique. En analysant les conditions d’inégalité qui sévissent au sein de ces zones urbaines marginales et la violence sociale qui y prolifère, nous proposons que les gangs ont pris contrôle du territoire en remplissant le vide étatique. En réponse à l’impact des gangs de rue organisés qui perturbent l’ordre social et l’état de droit, les gouvernements à l’étude proposent des solutions radicales qui, comme nous l’observerons, ne font qu’exacerber la situation et n’entrainent pas les résultats escomptés. Finalement, l’évolution du MS-13 en Amérique et les interventions policières dans les favelas de Rio en préparation à la coupe du monde, font de la lutte de pouvoir entre gangs et État un sujet incontournable d’actualité politique.

No abstract available.

The state of California has one of the largest and most violent gang populations in the United States. Although there have been a variety of anti-gang measures and policies enacted by local and state governments, none have been more effective than the Civil Gang Injunction (CGI). This civil action prohibits certain street gangs, and their members, from participating in activities that would otherwise be considered lawful. In order to obtain an injunction a prosecutor must demonstrate to the court that the gang is engaged in ongoing criminal conduct and represents a public nuisance to a geographically defined area. When a neighborhood is under an injunction, not only is police presence in the area increased but officers are also given more freedom to investigate and apprehend gang members who are suspected to be in violation of the terms. As this thesis will argue, injunctions, when used correctly, have proven to be an effective weapon in diminishing the influence of territorial street gangs on community well-being. When used incorrectly, however, they often only provide a temporary fix to a long-lasting problem. They also have been known to contribute to an increase in crime in neighboring areas, an increased number of wrongful arrests, and in some cases they have promoted criminality amongst young people. To explore the efficacy of injunctions, this thesis will focus on three empirical studies that cover a period from 1993 to 2003, when the rates of gang-related violence were at an all-time high and injunctions became the primary tool for City and District Attorneys to combat the nuisance. Two of these studies argue that injunctions have a positive impact on violent crime statistics, whereas the third concludes that they do not. By comparing these conflicting pieces of quantitative evidence, this thesis aims to gauge the actual effect of injunctions on crime rates and weigh the perceived benefits of this measure against its unintended negative effects.