The protective influence of gangs: Can schools compensate?

Gangs have risen to the level of a broad social problem, yet, to date, research has neglected the influence of school factors on gang membership. Although gang involvement leads to many negative outcomes, such as incarceration, drug and alcohol use, injury, and death, gangs may also serve a protective influence to those who join them. For this reason, it is important to take a risk and resilience framework to understanding and ultimately preventing gang involvement. By examining various theories of gang involvement, as well as the risk and protective factors identified in current literature, a model to explain gang involvement and inform school-based prevention efforts was conceptualized. We suggest that schools can compensate for the attraction of gangs by addressing the hierarchical needs of at-risk youth. Our discussion includes a focus on three critical policy issues regarding schools' ability to implement the interventions necessary to protect youth from gang involvement: resource allocation, zero tolerance policies, and tracking.

Research Highlights
► There are significant gaps in understanding how to prevent gang involvement.
► Gang involvement meets basic hierarchical needs of at-risk youth.
► Schools can draw youth away from gangs by addressing unmet needs.
► Resource, zero tolerance, and tracking policies impede student engagement.