Female Gang Membership

The youth gang problem has become increasingly seen in many areas of America no matter the size of the city, large or small. Extensive research through many decades has focused upon gangs and everything regarding their formation, criminal acts, and age range in the gang. Society and the criminal justice system focus on gangs as a male dominated area. Females are underrepresented by these individuals although they represent themselves in a vast number of gangs in America. Females represent “as many as half of all gang members in general samples of youth” (Esbensen, Carson, 75). Regarding females being present in gangs their involvement and treatment inside of the gang is not compared to the involvement and treatment of a youth male in the gang. Due to females being underrepresented their life in the gang is typically not focused upon. Gender inside of a male dominated group is extremely evident and differences in their lifestyles are present. Female gang experience is not represented thus researchers have focused upon females primarily to allow for extensive research that can help the gang problem in different locations. Concerns about gang problems are focused upon in many cities and by the society itself. Thus, how and why do females join gangs, and what experiences do they go through being a young girl in a gang?

As females go through life, certain factors and experiences that they may go through regarding their environment, and family can contribute to their involvement with a gang. Why do females join gangs? Backed by extensive research, females can join gangs due to the neighborhood they live in. This means the females may live in an area in which exposure to gangs is prevalent in their immediate space and through their peer networks. The females gang membership does not occur out of the blue, it takes time. “Researchers show that youths typically hang out with gang members for some time-often as much as a year-before making a commitment to join” (Miller, 86). This increased amount of time before joining will allow the female to acknowledge the gang as regular, by the time they join they would have time prior that they have already been surrounded by the aspects of a gang. These environments and neighborhoods the females may be living in are poverty ridden. High rates of poverty is evident thus, the area is economically devastated. Also, the neighborhoods the females are growing up in are extremely segregated, for example all black neighborhoods. “Two-thirds of the gang members in St. Louis lived in neighborhoods that were 80 percent or more African-American” (Miller, 88). Lastly, these areas have high crime thus more gang activity is present exposing the females to violence. If a female gang member mentions neighborhood exposure as a reason in which they have joined the gang they mean that gang members were present on their street, in their neighborhoods. Even half of the non gang females looked at in the Miller study reported gang activity in their neighborhoods, although they did not join (Miller, 2014). They will join the gang to “adapt to the oppressive living conditions imposed by their environments” (Miller, 88). The gang will help the individual cope with the chaos, violence, inequalities surrounding them. If a female is constantly surrounded by gang members and violence, joining the gang would be a regular thing they may do. It is seen as normal due to the areas they are living in. This can be supported by the social learning theory which states that an individual will learn through the observation of individuals around them. For example, an older brother who is gang involved may sway the females perception of joining a gang. Or amongst females who may have relationships with gang members. Found by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, “82% had dated a gang member, either prior to or while participating in a gang. Some females expressed that in order to keep their partners, they decided to participate in or were forced to join the gang” (NCCD, 10). The females see people in which they care for involved. They may even see the gang as fun by their friends and if they did not join they may feel as though they would be missing out on things their friends are involved in. “To be in a gang is to be part of something. It means having a place to go, friends to talk with, and parties to attend” (Miller, 89). This can be evident with females who may move around a lot, “Leslie had run away from home, and became friends with a gang girl she met at a local shelter for teen runaways” (Miller, 90). It is hard to make friends and thus they turn to the streets for socialization. Dependent upon the neighborhood a gang will provide a family and friendship network to the young female, residential instability (Miller, 2014). Females may turn to gangs due to their interactions and the environment they have lived in all their lives.

Another factor in which females may join gangs is due to their family. This can be supported by weak supervision, lack of attachment to parents, family violence, and drug and alcohol abuse (Miller, 2014). If a young females living circumstances do not feel safe they will seek protection elsewhere. Females felt like the protection factor in gangs was a major reason for their involvement and them joining the gang. Family can also have a big impact on the female if their mother, father, aunt, uncle, siblings are involved in a gang, stated previously. Family problems can allow for the young individual to begin to distance themselves from home to combat the violence or disruption. “Gang members were significantly more likely to come from homes with numerous problems than were young women who were not in gangs” (Miller, 92). In these individuals homes they may have witnessed violence between adults, for example domestic abuse between their mother and father or abuse against them. Females may have witnessed significant sexual abuse amongst their family members or sexual abuse to them by someone in their family. They may begin to feel more protected by the males in the gang than they felt at home. In Miller’s Study, “52% of the gang members in my study reported having been sexually assaulted, and described a total of 35 instances of sexual assault, Of these 35 incidents, 23 of them were commited by family members or men whom young women were exposed to through their families” (Miller, 92). In the NCCD research, “participants often described their gang as providing a sense of family and a place where they felt accepted. “Things were just bad at home and I was trying to find people in the same situation I was in. They don’t judge. We all come from nothing,” one said” (NCCD, 10). For many females such as the one who was just stated, home was not a safe place for these young individuals to be all the time.

Some of their family members may have had drug addictions or alcohol addictions. This can create parental figures to become distant and create chaos in the house by not being around to support the children, spending the money on drugs instead of bills. The lack of supervision stems from the parent being high on drugs, not caring about what decisions their children may be making. They can also be missing while they look for drugs. “58 percent of the gang members described regular drug use in their homes, 21 percent explicitly discussed the impact of their mothers’ crack or heroin addiction (Miller, 93). The mothers abandonment of the child can cause the young female to become mentally unstable, they may begin to think their mother does not care for them thus, turning to a group of individuals who would protect them no matter what. Also, if family members are not providing food and clothing for the young female they will get these needs through the gang. The gang has money due to their deviant behavior such as drug dealing and will support the female with a place to stay, food, and clothing. “Impressionable young women who join gangs can access new clothes, jewellery, the cars of their boyfriends and gang bosses, and much that they could not afford they remained unconnected and at home (Shaw & Skywalker, 3). Other females may feel close to gang members and bond with them creating strong relationships. Young females may join a gang due to unstable family support and family dynamics lending them to act in deviant ways and join a gang, a place they are protected.

Gang involvement for males and females may be different depending upon the individuals themselves and their life experiences. Regarding gang involvement, female experience in male dominated gangs are different than what a young male will go through. Gender perception in today’s society becomes evident even in a gang. The experiences females go through in a gang can be violent and cause them to be victimized due to individuals perceptions of females. “Male gang members are involved more frequently than their female counterparts (Miller, 283). Although, “young women in gangs are more involved in serious criminal activity than was previously believed and are more involved than non gang youths- male or female” (Miller, 283). This explains how the gang influences individuals behaviors and actions due to their involvement.

Females in gangs are extremely gendered and looked at as different than the males. In society females are regularly gendered and females may become self conscious or adhere to “labels slut and ho” (Miller, 283). They cannot do the same things a male in the gang does. Thus, females in gangs may change themselves to fit in more, such as adhering to masculine attributes (Miller, 2014). A gang presents “a shift from the relatively asexual gender system of childhood to the overly sexualized gender systems of adolescence and adulthood” (Miller, 283). Gangs will increase a female’s acknowledgment of her feminine characteristics and embrace masculine traits. When in a gang the risk of being targeted is increasingly high thus females feel extremely protected having men around them, 15 year old Heather states, “you feel more secure when, you know, a guy’s around protectin’ you, you know, than you would a girl” (Miller, 286). Gang members can be targeted by rival gang members due to the gang they are involved in. The females in Miller’s study express a rule that if you are in a gang you have to true to the gang and you have to be able to have the gangs back no matter if you are a female or a male, Cathy says “Like, uh, if you’re a Blood, you be a Blood. You wear your rag even when you’re by yourself” (Miller, 287).

Gender inequality is also noticed in gangs similar to societies perception of both males and females. Only males can be leaders of the gang due to the qualities needed to be a leader which has to do with being a masculine dominant individual (Miller, 2014). This emphasizes that females and males in terms of the gang are definitely not seen as equal and their treatment is different. Also, females in the gangs were found to have fewer expectations versus young men who had to prove their masculinity everyday constantly. Due to females having fewer expectations in the gangs this factor decreases their risk of victimization. Although, males have a high risk of victimization due to the ways in which they act such as fighting, drug sales, etc. Females can gain a higher status by acting more like a male, tough and hard (Miller, 2014). Diane states, “people look up to Janeen cause she’s so crazy. People just look up to her cause she don’t care about nothin. She don’t even care about makin’ money. Her thing is, Oh, you’re a slob (Blood)? You’re a Slob? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ shit to me? Pow, pow!And that’s it. That’s it” (Miller, 288). Although found by Miller that females could increase their status by being close with other male gang members such as being the cousin, sister or family member to a gang member or the girlfriend of a gang member. These connections allow for the young female to gain recognition, protection, and respect (Miller, 2014).

The gang members also were found to protect the females in the gangs. They tried to decrease the risk of these young females to be at the hands of violence, although if the gang had an issue with another female they would allow the females to deal with that. Male to female violence between rival gangs was regularly not evident. Another way in which they protected the females was through exclusion. “In particular, the two types of crime mentioned most frequently as “off-limits” for girls were drug sales and drive-by shootings” (Miller, 289). The protection aspect comes into play due to gang members allowing themselves to be at risk for jail time and harm although they do not allow females to be put at the same risk. Although this treatment allows for females to be seen as less than the men in the gang. “It served to perpetuate the devaluation of female members as less significant to the gang- not as tough, true, or down for the gang as male members” (Miller, 290).

On a negative note, females to become initiated into the gang may have to be “sexed in”. The young males initiation is usually being jumped in which means they are beat up to become a member of the gang. Being sexed in for females reestablishes the sexuality regarding females femininity and them being looked at as sexual objects. When a female is sexed into the gang it is assumed that the female is “sexually available and promiscuous” (Miller, 290). Also found by The Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime, “the common currency of the engagement between female gang members and other members of the gang is “sexual”.While it could perhaps be too crude to argue that “sex is exchanged” for membership and belonging, sex provides a direct utility for female gang members to offer – or to be forced to provide” (Shaw & Skywalker, 3). This devalues female gender and the young females trying to find protection and family through the gang. They may have no other places to turn and have to allow their bodies to be taken advantage of. These females who are sexed in or act in sexual ways are seen as lesser members of the gang. Female experiences in gangs will never be the same as a young males due to the gender divide in a mixed gender gang.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of gang is the experience a female in a gang will go through. The understanding of females being present in gangs is also majorly underrepresented. Gangs are seen as a male only, masculine group although with these findings, this is proven to be not true. With these findings, individuals, researchers, and law enforcement are able to understand why females may join a gang and certain factors that will create young adolescent females to turn to the gang. Also the gender divide of the sexes allows for different treatment based on certain attributes a male versus a female has. If these young females did not have all of these factors such as living in high crime racially segregated areas, or family issues with a lack of support would they join gangs? Many questions arise when taking a closer look into these issues and conflicts present in these locations filled with gang activity and gang problems.