Groups, gangs, and delinquency: Does organization matter?

PurposeA consistent finding of research on delinquency has been that gang members show higher levels of delinquent behavior than non-gang members. However, research attempting to understand the mechanisms underlying this finding is lacking. The basic premise of the current article is that the level of organization found in delinquent groups and gangs matters in clarifying the relationship between membership and delinquency.MethodsThis article examined the association between organization and delinquency in a sample of 523 self-reported juvenile offenders from a high school survey conducted in the province of Quebec, Canada.ResultsThe results showed that 1) there is clearly something special about membership in a gang that influences delinquency beyond the more general membership in a delinquent group; 2) the key to understanding finding lies, in part, in the level of organization found in gangs. Organization emerged as the most important factor associated with general delinquency, involvement in violence, and in drug supply offences, significantly (but not completely) reducing the effect of gang membership on delinquency.ConclusionsEven if most delinquent associations show little signs of formal structure and organization, this study demonstrates the importance of organization as a key mechanism to understand the gang effect on delinquency.

Research Highlights► The study creates a measure of “organization” in the context of delinquent groups and gangs ► It proposes that the “gang effect” on delinquency may be explained by the level of organization ► Results show that organization is a key mechanism to understand delinquency ► Much of the gang effect can be attributed to the higher organization found in gangs ► The gang effect is still present, but more so for violence than for drug dealing.