Title: Female Gang Members: The Social Dynamics of Female Involvement in Gang Culture - Soapboxie
Headings: Female Gang Members: The Social Dynamics of Female Involvement in Gang Culture
Female Gang Members: The Social Dynamics of Female Involvement in Gang Culture
The Importance of Studying Females in Gangs
Photo of Female Gang Members
Female Gang Involvement
Women in Male Gangs Have More Minor Roles
Reasons For Joining A Gang
Some Statistics
Females and Violence
The Victimization of Gang Members
Conclusion
Poll
For More Reading On Female Gangs
Bibliography
Questions & Answers
© 2015 Casey White
Comments

Content: Female gang members also suffer from conflict within their relationships with males with significant levels of violence occurring within romantic relationships. Female gang members tend to end up in and out of abusive relationships and most females describe boyfriends as possessive, controlling, and violent. This is a contrast to female relationships with other female group members who rarely fight with one another due to group reliance and dependence on one another. Female gang members usually take care of one another when in relationships with abusive males and defend other females during male acts of violence on members (Hunt & Laidler, 1997). The Victimization of Gang Members
Female gang members affiliated with male gangs are also at risk of being victims of violent acts by males in rival gangs. Male members of rival gangs may kidnap, beat, and physically assault female members of their enemies gang. For example, in Los Angeles, female members of the Crips and the Bloods are often caught in the crossfire of group rivalries and it is not uncommon for females to be victims of physical acts of violence by males from rival groups (Schalet, Hunt, & Joe-Laidler, 2003). In studies that have examined victimization in relation to gender differences in gang membership, it has been found that the risk of victimization is not significantly different for male and female gang members. In comparison to males, female gang members do not have higher risks for dating violence or sexual assault. Studies have not determined if gang membership causes victimization but only focus on the association of gang members who have experienced violent victimization (victimization could have occurred before joining a gang or during membership).