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Youth Gangs in International Perspective pp 127–149Cite as

Gang Dynamics Through the Lens of Social Identity Theory

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Abstract

Based on the tenets of social identity theory, we interpret criminal and violent behavior among gang members as a group-based phenomenon, not in terms of engaging in these behaviors together at the same time (which may or may not happen), but rather in terms of one’s motivation to act. We examined intragroup dynamics of gangs and other peer groups that contribute to delinquency and violence. We found that group cohesion and group identification are associated with criminal and violent behavior among gang members, but not among members of other kinds of peer groups in the same neighborhoods. In the SEM models with gang-involved respondents, the relationship between gang cohesion with crime and violence was fully mediated by strength of social identity. These relationships were not found among nongang respondents where deterrence-related concepts were more important than group cohesion or social identity. We maintain that this difference is due to different normative expectations within street gangs versus within nongang peer groups. The stronger one’s identification with the gang, the stronger the individual is focused on the gang’s normative expectations (i.e., behavior at the group end of Tajfel’s continuum), regardless of individual concerns.

The data used for this work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0550228, Karen Hennigan principal investigator and David Sloane co-principal investigator. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The authors wish to thank Malcolm Klein, David Sloane, Cheryl Maxson, and Finn-Aage Esbensen for their encouragement and helpful comments on this work. This chapter is based in part on a presentation given at Eurogang Workshop X in Neustadt, Germany, in July 2010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Karen Hennigan & Marija Spanovic

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  1. Karen Hennigan
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  2. Marija Spanovic
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Correspondence to Karen Hennigan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Criminology and Criminal J, University of Missouri- St. Louis, University Blvd 1, St. Louis, 63121, Missouri, USA

    Finn-Aage Esbensen

  2. , Department of Criminology, Law, and Soci, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, 92697-7080, California, USA

    Cheryl L. Maxson

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Hennigan, K., Spanovic, M. (2012). Gang Dynamics Through the Lens of Social Identity Theory. In: Esbensen, FA., Maxson, C. (eds) Youth Gangs in International Perspective. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1659-3_8

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