gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years

Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment. In a study on gangs it was concluded that the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalized communities. Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighborhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be p

Girls? Violence? It almost seems as if those two words do not belong together. But a recent study shows that girls affected and associated with violence is bigger than anyone thought and growing. Why? What are the causes? Why are women turning to assault and attack more and more?

Violent behavior by girls is something that has not really been looked at thoroughly until the last five or six years. The reason for this lack of research could be that the topic is a new phenomenon but is more likely because an overwhelming majority of violence is committed by men. It is well established that males account for most violence, most homicides, most violent assaults, as well as most forms of violent victimization. This lack of research means there is little or no information on female pathways into violence; the manner in which they are violent; how they use or manage violence; how they deal with potentially violent encounters; and how they desist from using violence.

The research did find that the interviewed girls views on what counts as violence differs from the adult or legal view. A common understanding of violence is of an intentionally harmful, interpersonal physical act. However some girls believed that verbal abuse or intimidation is more harmful than that of physical violence. I think that verbal stuff hurts you longer. Physical Violence, well, that is going to go away. The girls also look at the context in which the fighting occurs in deciding if it is counted as violent. In “The Myth of Girl Gangs” study 59% of the violence reported was between siblings and this was not seen as violent in the same way as fighting a non-sibling would be. The study explains that newspapers focus on girl violence because it is atypical and a lot of the crime news is the same and quite boring. The papers often spice up the stories by misquoting such studies or by not giving all of the information. Batchelor looks at the official figures from 1987-1997 for the number of women convicted of violent offending in Scotland and shows that it has risen by 15% but this is only 38 additional cases, the figures for men is an increase of 26% or 818 cases.

This report not only argues that gangs exists but gives examples of girl gangs dating back to the 1950s. Walter Millers study is mentioned which described two female gangs called the Molls and the Queens that were active in the middle part of the 20th century. Waln Brown studied African American female gang members in Philadelphia in 1978 and Joan Moore, young women active in street gangs during the 1950s and 1970s. Moore’s research also shows that females participation was similar to that of men’s being actively involved in violence, mostly fighting and occupying about a third of the gang. This early research of girls in gangs highlights the inaccuracy of claims of “new violent female offenders” that can be seen in newspapers and on the news. Miller states that there has been both continuity and change in young women’s participation in gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years

Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment. In a study on gangs it was concluded that the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalized communities. Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighborhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be pa

tle or no information on female pathways into violence; the manner in which they are violent; how they use or manage violence; how they deal with potentially violent encounters; and how they desist from using violence.

The research did find that the interviewed girls views on what counts as violence differs from the adult or legal view. A common understanding of violence is of an intentionally harmful, interpersonal physical act. However some girls believed that verbal abuse or intimidation is more harmful than that of physical violence. I think that verbal stuff hurts you longer. Physical Violence, well, that is going to go away. The girls also look at the context in which the fighting occurs in deciding if it is counted as violent. In “The Myth of Girl Gangs” study 59% of the violence reported was between siblings and this was not seen as violent in the same way as fighting a non-sibling would be. The study explains that newspapers focus on girl violence because it is atypical and a lot of the crime news is the same and quite boring. The papers often spice up the stories by misquoting such studies or by not giving all of the information. Batchelor looks at the official figures from 1987-1997 for the number of women convicted of violent offending in Scotland and shows that it has risen by 15% but this is only 38 additional cases, the figures for men is an increase of 26% or 818 cases.

This report not only argues that gangs exists but gives examples of girl gangs dating back to the 1950s. Walter Millers study is mentioned which described two female gangs called the Molls and the Queens that were active in the middle part of the 20th century. Waln Brown studied African American female gang members in Philadelphia in 1978 and Joan Moore, young women active in street gangs during the 1950s and 1970s. Moore’s research also shows that females participation was similar to that of men’s being actively involved in violence, mostly fighting and occupying about a third of the gang. This early research of girls in gangs highlights the inaccuracy of claims of “new violent female offenders” that can be seen in newspapers and on the news. Miller states that there has been both continuity and change in young women’s participation in gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years

Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment. In a study on gangs it was concluded that the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalized communities. Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighborhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be p

Myth of Girl Gangs” study 59% of the violence reported was between siblings and this was not seen as violent in the same way as fighting a non-sibling would be. The study explains that newspapers focus on girl violence because it is atypical and a lot of the crime news is the same and quite boring. The papers often spice up the stories by misquoting such studies or by not giving all of the information. Batchelor looks at the official figures from 1987-1997 for the number of women convicted of violent offending in Scotland and shows that it has risen by 15% but this is only 38 additional cases, the figures for men is an increase of 26% or 818 cases.

This report not only argues that gangs exists but gives examples of girl gangs dating back to the 1950s. Walter Millers study is mentioned which described two female gangs called the Molls and the Queens that were active in the middle part of the 20th century. Waln Brown studied African American female gang members in Philadelphia in 1978 and Joan Moore, young women active in street gangs during the 1950s and 1970s. Moore’s research also shows that females participation was similar to that of men’s being actively involved in violence, mostly fighting and occupying about a third of the gang. This early research of girls in gangs highlights the inaccuracy of claims of “new violent female offenders” that can be seen in newspapers and on the news. Miller states that there has been both continuity and change in young women’s participation in gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years

Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment. In a study on gangs it was concluded that the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalized communities. Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighborhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be p

the 1950s. Walter Millers study is mentioned which described two female gangs called the Molls and the Queens that were active in the middle part of the 20th century. Waln Brown studied African American female gang members in Philadelphia in 1978 and Joan Moore, young women active in street gangs during the 1950s and 1970s. Moore’s research also shows that females participation was similar to that of men’s being actively involved in violence, mostly fighting and occupying about a third of the gang. This early research of girls in gangs highlights the inaccuracy of claims of “new violent female offenders” that can be seen in newspapers and on the news. Miller states that there has been both continuity and change in young women’s participation in gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years

Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment. In a study on gangs it was concluded that the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalized communities. Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighborhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be p

gangs. But overall the proportion of gang members who are girls, and the nature of girls’ gang involvement, does not appear to have shifted substantially over the years

Some scholars believe that gang numbers have soared because of hopelessness and a lack of alternatives for these mostly impoverished young kids. They use the gang to adapt to oppressive living conditions imposed by their environment. In a study on gangs it was concluded that the gang assists [both] young women and men in coping with there lives in chaotic, violent and economically marginalized communities. Both these studies suggest that a poor and dangerous neighborhood is one reason why young girls join gangs but the people who live in these areas and do not claim to be part of a gang are still the majority. Millers study explains that a number of family problems contribute to the likelihood of gang involvement. Problems such as childhood abuse and neglect, wife abuse, alcohol and drug addiction in the family make it more likely that a young girl will become involved in a gang.

A study of Chicana gang members found that girls are also drawn to gangs to escape the male dominated environment at home. In fact Miller found that 60% of gang girls described having three or more of the family problems stated above. The gang can be seen as a second family to the members in it. A place where they can talk about the problems they face at home with other people in the same situation. They are part of a group which brings a sense of belonging and the gang colors and territorial nature would enforce this.

It is evident that there are some girls involved in gangs but with problems like childhood abuse and neglect, wife abuse, alcohol and drug addiction at home it’s quite understandable that a child would want to get out of the house and escape these problems. The gang seems to be more a form of escapism than wanting to commit crime and become involved in violence. The girls involved just want to be part of a group. Some may want to join a gang to rebel against the traditional views of femininity. For some the participation in the gang offers an avenue for challenging and testing normative gender roles but for most it is nothing more than a stage that will be grown out of. The question was should we be concerned about increasing girls violence and their participation in gangs. I feel think the answer is no, we should be concerned for them. Anybody either male or female, especially juveniles who experience problems such as the majority of the people studied in the gang research do, should receive help and not persecution