Gang Women

For many years women have tried to find out how to succeed in a man's world. It's harder for women to take a leadership role than men, because we are living in a man's world. By forming girl gangs, gave them a since of feeling loved and taking control of their own lives.

Gangs have always been thought of to be a bad group of kids looking to destroy many lives; whether male or female everyone wants to feel a since of love. Girl gangs are on the rise and have been for many years now. The members are now breaking into cars, stealing, threatening, and even killing people. How do the sweet little girls turn out to be the thugs and criminals? This question has popped in many people's heads. There are many girls (especially teenage girls) who have kids hanging on the streets with them while they protect their turf. It all starts with a wanting to feel like you belong.

Gangs now come in many origins, denominations, shapes, and from many sides of town. Women are becoming more violent now more than ever. Gini Sikes went into female prisons on both coasts interviewing inmates convicted of homicide. It didn’t care if they were white, black, and poor, rich, old or young, all of the stories were similar. One of the women that she interviewed said that she committed her crimes dressed as a boy. She said that women were just as violent and criminal as boys. From the FBI she learned that women accounted for 12 to 15 percent of all homicides, this figure hasn’t changed in three decades. (Sikes, 1992)

The problem that women have in the world is feeling that they can do every thing that men do. Many girls have grown up in tough parts of town and basically had to fend for themselves while growing up. The easiest ways to make money by not having a regular job is to sell drugs or sell your body. When there is group of girls with the same actions they tend to come in groups. These groups are separated form the more education and hard working. They basically have to act the same as men do or they will find themselves dead.

Some women lose self -confidence and the life of drugs and violence is were they ending up. Sikes said that she went with LASD’s gang unit one night. They had a call out at a bad area of housing apartments, where a woman had shot herself in the head after a domestic dispute (Vasoo, 1998). Men are part of the reason women turn to violent lives. Many women live in fear of being hurt and they have nowhere else to turn.

There were gangs in the early Sixties called the Butterfly and Rose gangs. Now they have names like that resemble their characteristics. The Xiao Ding Dang’s and the Xiao Tian Tian gangs (named after Japanese cartoon characters), operate with 15 and 20 members. Girl gangs pick on other girl gangs and have disagreements to the point that they fight each other and threaten each other’s lives. Most parents can’t control their daughter’s that are in gangs. There was also a study that found that most girls who are in gangs come from homes of abuse (Vasoo, 1998).

There are ways that we as citizens can cut down on girls’ gangs and violence in America. We first have to tackle the problem while the girl is young. Girl Scouts teach girls have to do many things while growing up, maybe not how to be a women but how to have respect for your women-hood. (Girl Scouts can provide an educational unit on at-risk girls, girls and gangs, and female delinquents to existing scouts). Girls really get a chance to speak out about their feelings and get to do ordinary things that girls do. They learn to cook, clean, crochet, wash, clothes and basically raise a family.

There are functions such as Women’s Fellowship’s at churches to help the young, teen and adult women how to be a good person. It is very hard to turn a bad person good, but once a good person is turned bad, there isn’t much that you can do to help until they see that it is a problem.

Offense	1997	1998	1999	2000
Violent	46.9	51.4	43.5	39.6
Homicide	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.0
Simple battery	18.7	17.2	15.2	6.8
Mob action	10.8	7.4	13.2	3.9
Other	12.6	11.2	10.7	9.8
Drug	37.5	10.7	44.4	4.8
Prostitution	0.8	1.5	4.1	9.8
Property	5.1	3.4	4.4	2.8
Weapons	3.7	4.3	2.5	2.8
Liquor	5.6	10.7	2.7	2.3

Much of the research on gangs has ignored females or trivialized female gangs. Influential early studies of gangs, which for years shaped the research agenda, concentrated almost exclusively on males (Spergel, 1995, p. 90). Even within the past decade an expert commented, "The notion seems to be that female gangs and their members are 'pale imitators' of male gangs" (Spergel, 1995, p. 90).

Gangs are studied because they are of social concern. That concern stems from typically "masculine" acts of vandalism, violence, and other serious threats (Spergel, 1995, p. 90). Researchers and journalists saw gangs as a male phenomenon (Campbell, 1990, p.166). Most early reports focused on whether female gangs were "real" gangs of merely satellites of male groups. One review concluded that in these early studies, "girls were defined solely in terms of their relations to male gang members" (Campbell, 1990, p. 166).

Most girls get their ideas form boys and therefore have a tomboy attitude. Even when describing female gang members as tomboys, researchers emphasized that the females' motivations were focused on males (Campbell, 1990, p. 166). Miller (1973, p. 34), for instance, explained that " the behavior of the girls appeared to be predicted on the assumption that the way to get boys to like you was to be like them and rather than sexually accessible to them". Campbell points out that "sex objects" and "tomboy" are both variants of the "bad girl" role. Most people would say that good girls are clean and bad girls are dirty.

Both male and female gangs proliferated in the 1980's and 1990 (Spergel, 1995). The percentage of gangs also skyrocketed and now they are well known. There were surveys conducted in the mid-1970's that estimated that 10 percent of all gang members were female (Miller, 1975). Some 20 years later, in 1992, another nationwide survey found that only 3.7 percent of the surveyed jurisdictions did not, "as a matter of policy," identify females as gang members (Curry and Decker, 1998, estimated that 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively, of all gang members were female (Moore and Terrett, 1998; National Youth Gang Center, 2000).

In surveys of youth in a wide range of cities, for example, the proportion of self-identified gang members who were female ranged from 8 to 38 percent, and the proportion of females surveyed who claimed gang membership ranged from 9 to 22 percent (Bjerregard and Smith, 1993; Cohen et al., 1994; Esbensen and Huizinga, 1993; Esbensen and Deschenes, 1998; Esbensen and Osgood, 1997; Fagan, 1990). The high number of female gang members recorded in self-report studies may reflect the younger ages of survey respondents compared with the ages of youth on police rosters: females tend to drop out of gang life at earlier ages than males, often because of pregnancy (cf. Moore, 1991). Most of the time when pregnancy occurs the female still involve themselves with gang activities.

Many people join gangs for many different reasons. Most join in their youthful years and later try to get out. There is much poverty, sickness, disease, divorce, and many other problems in the world to change one's lifestyle. Female gang members have been affected not only by these economic shifts but also, by recent changes in the welfare system (Hagedorn, 1998). Welfare has been an important economic resource for many of them. In Los Angeles, CA, for example, Mexican American gang members active in the 1950's and 1970's became pregnant, on average, at age 18 (Hagedorn, 1998). They tend to rely on welfare, combined with work and help form their families, to survive (Moore and Long, 1987).

Ethnic marginality often lies behind economic marginality (Thrasher, 1927). In the 1920's, members were children of European immigrants (Thrasher, 1927). There are a large number of black gangs, the most common are the "Bloods" and "Crips" out of LA. There also white gangs and many other races, but Mexicans out number them all.

There is one aspect of female gang life that does not seem to be changing- the gang as a refuge for young women who have been victimized at home (Moore, 1991, 1994). Most females who join gangs have been sexually abused at home. In Los Angeles, for example, 29 percent of a large representative sample of Mexican American female gang members had been sexually abused at home, and their homes were more likely than those of male gang members to include drug users and persons arrested for crimes (Moore, 1991, 1994). Another study found that almost two-thirds of female gang members interviewed in Hawaii had been sexually abused at home. Many had run away and had joined gangs to obtain protection from abusive families (Joe and Chesney-Lind, 1995; Chesney-Lind, Sheldon, and Joe, 1996). A recent report sums up young women's reasons for joining a gang: "The vast majority noted family problems as contributing factors," citing drug addiction and abuse as the most common problems (Miller, 2000).

"Sex object" was one of the early stereotypes of female gang members, and the interest in the sex lives of female gang members still persists. Early reports about the easy sexual availability of female gang members came almost exclusively from male gang members (e.g., Short and Strodtbeck, 1965). Even some recent reports present similar male perceptions as fact, with no attempt at verification (Sanchez-Jankowski, 1991). However male, gang members told researchers that group sex was an initiation ritual for female gang members, but female gang members dismissed the idea as ludicrous (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996). Most female gang members like to party, drink, and do other things as well as the male gang members.

Although male gang members may exaggerate their sexual domination over female members, there are reports from females that males within the gang have sexually exploited them. In San Francisco, females from important form an immigrant Salvador gang reportedly often were sexually victimized by male gang members, although this abuse and exploitation by male gang members were also reported by some subsets of female gang members in Columbus, OH (Miller, 1998); Milwaukee (Hagedorn, 1998); Phoenix, AZ (Portillos, 1999); Chicago (Venkatesh, 1998); Los Angeles (Moore, 1991).

Law enforcement reports on arrests of female gang members have been compiled for several large cities. Only one nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies (conducted in 1992) asked about the criminality of female gang members (Curry, Ball, and Fox, 1994) and, as noted previously, that survey probably underestimated the problem because, "as a matter of policy," many jurisdictions did not count females as gang members (Curry and Decker, 1998).

There are many female gang members who get arrested every year. In general, female gang members commit fewer violent crimes than male gang members and are more inclined to property crimes and status offenses. There was a field study done in Chicago to show that there are many crimes that females do. Special tabulations from Chicago show that between 1997and 2000 either drug offenses or violent offenses were the most common cause for arrest of female gang members.

A 1990's study (Moore and Hagedorn, 1996) of African American and Latina female gang members in Milwaukee documents different situations than others. Many more females were dealing drugs, although they were less likely to do so than were males. By the 1990's, drug dealing was much more common among female gang members in Milwaukee than it had been anywhere else. Female members became so dissatisfied with the income they were receiving from male dealers that they withdrew from, the gang and went into business for themselves (Waldorf, 1992).

Most female gangs are either African American or Latino, although there are small but increasing numbers of Asian and white female gangs. Autonomy and male dominance, which are ongoing issues for all female gangs, tend to vary with ethnicity. For example, gender expectations in each ethnic group might suggest that African American and white female gang members would be more autonomous and Latinos more subordinate to males. There are some factors related to female autonomy and male dominance that affect gang members regardless of ethnicity. Male unemployment and the incarceration of the many males who are convicted of illegal economic activities remove males from both Latino and African American households. As a result, women must rely on their own resources to support themselves and their children.

One of the first researchers to investigate African American female gangs was Laura Fishman, who was on a team studying an African American female gang in Chicago in the early 1960’s. Later in a reanalysis of her field notes, Fishman argued that although the women in this gang were likely to play subordinate roles, they also showed elements of autonomy, committing “male crimes” and invading rival gang territory (Fishman, 1988, 1998). Autonomy was the keynote in a study of African American female gang members in Philadelphia, PA, in the 1970’s. Taylor, studying Detroit gang (1993) concurs. Former female gang members reported that even though police ignored them, they were just as involved in gang warfare, drinking, and sex as the male members of their gangs. Taylor also found females in all types of gangs-from rowdy neighborhood groups to corporate, drug-dealing enterprises.

Further evidence of autonomy among African American female gangs was found in a substantial field study comparing African American and Latino (mostly Puerto Rican) gangs in Milwaukee in the 1990’s. African American females were more likely than Latinos to feel that they, not the male gang members, controlled their gangs. By the time they had reached their late twenties, most of the African American and Latino females had ceased to participate in their gangs. African Americans were more likely than Latinos to be employed, less likely to be on warfare, more likely to have moved away from their old gang neighborhoods, and less likely to use cocaine (Hagedorn and Devitt, 19999; Hagedorn, Torres, and Giglio, 1998).

Most people who are in a gang have a very low chance of being successful in the future. They have a hard time getting a job and a hard time getting along with other people. Some authors studying Mexican American gangs in Los Angeles imply that once a female leaves a gang, the gang’s influence on her life ends (Quicker, 1983; Harris, 1988), but others disagree (Moore and Hagedorn, 1996; Moore 1991). In the 1990’s most African American female gang members in Milwaukee regarded their gang involvement as an adolescent episode, but for Puerto Ricans in Milwaukee, as for Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, gang membership had long-term consequences. In Los Angeles, Mexican Americans who joined a gang were likely to be from families that were already stigmatized by conventional community residents. Joining a gang and wearing its conspicuous clothes further labeled them as unacceptable to the wider community. Many had joined the gang to escape abusive families, but gang membership actually constricted their futures.

Female gang formation

As discussed previously, several studies have shown that gang formation (for both males and females) is related to deteriorating inner-city economic conditions. However, research has been conducted in the many cities where economic conditions improved during the 1990’s to determine whether there has been a decline in gang formation or in the persistence of gang membership into adulthood. General economic conditions influence male and female gangs alike, but a related issue applies specifically to women: how welfare reform and the elimination of Aid to Families With Dependent Children affect female gang formation and gang persistence.

As most studies show friendship, solidarity, self-affirmation, and a sense of new possibilities were found to motivate young inner-city females to join and remain in gangs. Several studies found that the female gang may be a refuge form physical and sexual abuse at home. Although sexual victimization is difficult to study, an understanding of it is relevant to programs designed to intervene with or provide safe havens for female gang members once they are in gangs. Additional research that provides a better understanding of why females join gangs may help communities develop prevention programs to deter female gang membership.

Because it bears so heavily on gender roles, ethnicity is important in understanding how female gangs function and is also relevant to program design. More research is needed on this topic, particularly with regard to Latino and Asian immigrant gangs, white gangs, and multiethnic gangs.

Additional research is needed to the roles of females in drug gangs. Field research is also needed on female gang members’ involvement in other economic activities-legal-and illegal-and their participation in violence. This research should focus on the gender structure of gangs. In ways male and female gangs are alike and in ways they are different.

Despite acknowledged problems of police underreporting and of varying local definitions of what constitutes a gang-related offense, surveys of law enforcement agencies provide a valuable look at changes over time. Use existing law enforcement data sets. Drawing on local reports, two State agencies have compiled valuable data on female gang members’ offense patterns: the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority analyzed the annual offense patterns of male and female gang members in Chicago and the California Department of Justice analyzed the lifetime arrest records of female gang members in Los Angeles. These data sets could be used as models for other States with gang problems.

Studies using systemic samples of former female gang members could identify factors associated with their success or failure in later life. Such studies would be useful for understanding the long-term consequences of female gang membership. In particular, research is needed on the incarceration experiences of female gang members and the role of female gangs in jails and prisons. More information is also needed about drug use and access to drug rehabilitation among female gang members. It is also important to know whether certain families have developed a tradition of gang membership and whether female gang members are more likely than male gang members to transmit that tradition to their children. There is no research to date on the children of female gang members.

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