Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2005. / Thesis advisor: Stephen M. Cox. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-53). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Tübingen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2002. / Dateien in unterschiedlichen Formaten.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Colorado, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 268-298). Also available online (viewed 2/18/08).

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Past, current and future military endeavors will invariably involve conflict at the sub-state level. A recurring problem in the study of insurgent conflict is a lack of data that has the breadth, depth, and historical accuracy to provide insight as to why, at the individual level, people participate in insurgency. Accessibility to street gangs provides a comprehensive source of data not seen in insurgencies. Street gangs provide a "ground truth", to the interaction between the state and organized substate group in a competition for control. The individuals who fuel both sides of this competition for control are basing decisions to participate in insurgency on a framework founded in rational actor theory, but modified by their perspective of the world. Groups who wish to recruit individuals into their insurgency apply incentives and disincentives selectively to individuals to compel membership. As a group gains more members it can apply more incentives, increasing the rate or future recruitment and level of control over a community. A comprehensive and effective strategy cannot be developed to counter these insurgent forces without answering the fundamental questions behind individual participation first. This thesis examines insurgency from the individual level and proposes concepts that must accompany any attempt to combat rebel groups. / US Army (USA) author.

Civil gang injunctions (CGIs) are bans on nuisance behavior that have been enacted against gang members. Numerous studies conducted on the efficacy of CGIs have proven that they have little to no long-term effects on the communities in which they are implemented, nor on the gang members enjoined under them and their gang activities. The purpose of this empirical, phenomenological interpretative analysis study was to (a) determine the sociofamilial effects of CGIs on community residents; (b) determine the effects of CGIs on the behaviors and activities of enjoined gang members; and (c) determine the overall efficacy of CGIs based on the perspectives of community residents and enjoined gang members, with the goal of creating avenues to improve CGIs or eliminate them, if necessary. The theoretical framework for this study was Berger and Luckmann's social construction theory. A total of 7 anonymous phone interviews were conducted with community residents, enjoined gang members, and local law enforcement living and/or working in the enjoined neighborhood during the implementation of the first gang injunction in Memphis, TN. Data from these interviews were coded for thematic analysis and constant comparison. The findings were mixed in that some participants expressed that the injunction had positive results for a while and others expressed that it had a negative effect on the community. It was found that the injunction was positively effective, but only on a short-term basis, and that consistent introduction of community resources to address underlying issues that lead to crime would have been a better solution.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massey University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in an electronic version via the Internet. Address as of 13/02/2003: http://www.psychologist.net.nz/phd%20contents.htm.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010. / Prepared for: Dept. of Educational Studies. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 167-171.

Thèse confidentielle / Confidential PhD thesis

The public acts of violence during the summer of 2012 in Toronto brought the theme of gangs back to the forefront in Canadian media coverage. As renewed debates argued old subject matters, our understanding of gangs was not able to diverge from its endless roundabout. This paper inverts the study of gangs that has classically looked towards the gang as a collective to explain its sub-cultural delinquent and sometimes violent tendencies, and explores the individualized interpretation of gang membership from the perspective of four Latin-Canadian males from the Greater Toronto Area. This study takes on the challenge of observing the trajectory of gang membership based on the first hand experiences of self-proclaimed ex-gang members and through an in-depth dialogue with these participants, ventures through the turning points that led these individual actors through the process of onset; commitment and desistance. This exploration into the lived experiences of gang membership is seen through a Symbolic Interactionist lens and views gang membership as one of many identities that can actively be portrayed by the social being. In this perspective, the concepts of gangs and gang membership are described as a subjective experience completely open to interpretation, but guided by the flow of unique interactions that these individuals encountered within a variety of complex situations and environments. That which is being observed herein is the process of how the participants interacted with their existing environments and the circumstances produced by them, highlighting the momentous events that continuously defined the individuals understanding of their own self concept as a gang member up until the point of non-membership. What was observed by a dissection of the interviewee’s accounts was that the onset of gang membership was influenced primarily by a feeling of disassociation and alienation which the participants actively sought to suppress, whereby the idea of belonging to a gang offered the remedy. The aspect of commitment was shown to be focused more towards upholding the identity of gang membership and their reputation than towards the gang itself. Reinforcing the identity maintained the individual’s social status and relevance amongst their peers, solidifying the aspired identity of gang membership. Finally, the process of desistance surfaced once the gang member identity no longer seemed beneficial. Life threats, a re-emergence of the feeling of solidarity, the experience of disloyalty and the acceptance of another identity as being more imperative were factors that separately influenced the move for the discontinuance for the projection of the gang member identity. Although the participants admit to and self proclaim ex-membership, they do nonetheless acknowledge that the gang mask could once again be put back on.