One of the least understood aspects of the American gang scene is the role of females in them. Most available research on the subject concludes that most gangs are male-dominated but that the presence of females in the world of gangs is increasing.

In surveys of youth in a wide range of cities ... 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. (Moore and Hagedorn, 2001, page)  

In a study of 5,935 eighth graders in 42 schools located in 11 different cities, 617 youths self-reported themselves gang members - 38% of them were females. The researchers reported "Female gang members committed the same variety of offenses as male gang members, but at a slightly lower frequency." (Esbensen and Winfree, 1998)

The role of girls in gangs is changing - they are younger, tougher, and are just as violent, sometimes more, than their male counterparts.  More troubling, their children are immersed in the chaos and violence of gangs from birth, passing down the gang legacy to yet another generation. Although still a fraction of overall gang membership - the CCC [Chicago Crime Commission] estimates between 16,000 and 20,000 female gang members and associates in Chicago.  (Chicago Crime Commission, 1999, page)

Field Note: One police gang unit supervisor said that, "In this city, it's getting to be that there are as many females involved in gangs as there are males."

"Agencies responding to the 1998 National Youth Gang Survey reported that ... females accounted for 8 percent of gang members (see table 14 below)." (1998 National Youth Gang Survey, 2000,  page)  Using the Survey's estimate that there were 840,500 gang members in the United States in 1998, this means there may be as many as 67,240 females involved in gangs. Looking at that number, and the Chicago Crime Commission's estimate of 16,000 to 20,000 female gang members in Chicago alone, the 67,240 estimate may be conservative.

(1998 National Youth Gang Survey, 2000, page)

There is growing interest in female gang members among gang researchers and those who want to provide prevention and intervention programs for them. Their concern is well taken as the participation of females in gang activity appears to be increasing in some jurisdictions. Much of the evidence for this is anecdotal since collection of data from the police is somewhat skewed. Police, and the courts, are less likely to attribute gang membership to females which may result in an under reporting of their participation in gangs.

Contrary to previous studies, a large percentage of female gang members reported sharing equal status in their gangs with male members. (Lurigio, et al., 1998)  Female gang members were significantly more likely than males to have experienced bullying [in school] and to have subsequently engaged in bullying behavior. (Holmes and Brandenburg-Ayres, 1998)

Are female gang members simply an addendum to male gangs or do they have a significant role to play in male-dominated gangs? Are there all-female gangs? It has been estimated that "less than 2 percent (1.76 percent) of all gangs in the United States in 1998 were female dominated." (1998 National Youth Gang Survey, 2000, page)

Field Note:  The director of a community-based alternative sentencing program for delinquent youth noted that most of his gang clients are males, however, "There are lots of girls in town who claim being a Blood or a Crip. But they don't exhibit gang behavior in our program. Many of them are pregnant - little girls being used by the male gang members. They're fourteen, fifteen years old. We have a sixteen year old girl who is pregnant and already has two children."

Jody Miller (Miller, 2001) conducted her gang research in St. Louis and found, of the 22 gangs she studied, 14% had a membership in which females were a majority. Their level of participation in a gang varies, sometimes significantly, from one community to another. The National Youth Gang Survey ( 2000) indicated less than 2 percent of all gangs are female dominated but Miller found a community in which 7 times that many were female dominated. (Miller, 2001)  This is yet another reason why communities wishing to address their own gang situation must use current local data. National data can be misleading when designing programs to deal with the gang situation in one's own community.

Over the past several decades the role of females in gangs has become only slightly clearer as research continues on this subject. Using a sample of 51 female and 106 male gang members, Moore and Hagedorn (1996) found that, in their later lives, females who joined a gang came from "different kinds of families than boys." They found that "boys were more likely to come from conventional working-class families, whereas girls were more likely to come from 'underclass' families and also from abusive families."

In its 1998 survey of gangs, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (2000) learned females make up a larger percentage of all gang members in small cities and in suburban and rural settings (see Table 14 above). Females may form "sister" gangs which are auxiliary to male-dominated gangs, become members of mixed-sex gangs, or form their own female-dominated gangs.

Walter Miller classified female gangs into three types: (1) female auxiliary gangs affiliated with male gangs, (2) mixed-sex gangs with both male and female members, and (3) independent or autonomous female gangs ... Without doubt, the rarest of gangs involving females were independent, autonomous female gangs. (Curry and Decker, 1998, p. 99)

On an individual basis, many females become involved in gangs through relationships with boyfriends or brothers ... female members of mixed-sex gangs become involved in delinquent or criminal activity through their association with the males in the gang. (ibid., 1998, p. 108)

The same report reveals females are a larger proportion of the gang population in the Northeast region of the United States than anywhere else in the nation (see Table 15 below). (ibid, page)

(ibid, page)

We need to be concerned about young girls and gangs. Since they serve a purpose in male-dominated gangs, they will be sought out for membership or association in a gang. And there are young girls forming their own gangs - for profit, for protection, and for other reasons as well. Once in a gang, their behavior becomes more like the male gang members' behavior.

Dana Nurge, an assistant professor at Northeastern University's College of Criminal Justice, has interviewed school administrators, street workers, law-enforcement officials, and female gang members about the growth of girl gangs. Today's female gangs, Nurge reports, may evolve from informal cliques -- whose criminal activity is limited to petty theft and assault -- to more-structured organizations that adopt traditional male-gang attributes such as colors, tattoos, hand signals, initiation rituals, oaths, and regulations. Although girl gangs shy away from such male-gang trademarks as graffiti and gunplay, police say, they do deal drugs, beat people up, and carry weapons -- especially knives, razors, and bleach spray bottles, which they use like mace.

'Make no mistake, these girls are not girl scouts,' says Lieutenant Gary French, commander of the Boston Police's Youth Violence Strike Force. 'They are not as organized as established male gangs, but they are getting close.' (McNaught, 1999, page)

While only a minority of gangs are female dominated, most male-dominated gangs have some role for women to play. They may be used as sex objects by the male members and/or as accomplices in crimes the males commit. As sex objects, they are used to satisfy the sexual urges of male gang members and as a means for proving one's manhood. Initiation ceremonies for some females include being "sexed in" - a process which requires the female to have intercourse with one or more of the male gang members. The use of the females as sexual objects varies according to the type or ethnicity of the gang.

Using female gang members as accomplices in crime was clarified for me as I observed females carrying drugs for male gang members in the process of selling those drugs. Once the male gang member and the drug buyer had negotiated a deal, the female brought the drugs to the transaction and handed them to the buyer. The male gang members involved in these transactions did not touch the drugs. This was done so that, if caught, the male gang member could disavow any wrongdoing. The reasoning for this behavior is that if a female is caught in a drug deal, she will not be dealt with as harshly by the police or courts as would a male caught in the same situation. The same scenario was revealed when it came to carrying guns.

The crimes in which most female gang members participate are either violent crimes or drug offenses. According to Moore and Hagedorn (2001):

Many, but not all, female gang members are involved in some kind of delinquency or criminality. Youth surveys consistently show that delinquency rates of female gang members are lower than those of male gang members but higher than those of non-gang females and even non-gang males.

In general, female gang members commit fewer violent crimes than male gang members and are more inclined to property crimes and status offenses.

Some might conclude from these data that female gang members are not violent enough to be of concern. However, an 11-city survey of eighth graders undertaken in the mid-1990’s found that more than 90 percent of both male and female gang members reported having engaged in one or more violent acts in the previous 12 months.

The researchers found that 78 percent of female gang members reported being involved in gang fights, 65 percent reported carrying a weapon for protection, and 39 percent reported attacking someone with a weapon. These and similar findings prompted the authors of this study to recommend that gang prevention and intervention efforts be directed specifically at females. (Moore and Hagedorn, 2001, page)

Male Gang Members' Perceptions of Females in Gangs

One of the clearest statements about how male gang members perceive of females in gangs was written by Moore and Hagedorn (Moore and Hagedorn, 2001, page). 

In Los Angeles, a large random sample of male and female Mexican American gang members was asked about the role of women in the gang. Half of the male members claimed that female members were 'possessions.'  This response not only referred to the females’ sexual exploitation but also reflected the males’ general need to be in charge. The other half of the male members felt that female members were respected and treated like family. (About two-thirds of the female members vehemently denied that they were treated like possessions.)

In San Antonio, where there are many Mexican American gangs but few female gangs or gang members, most females who associate with male gang members are respected. But 'hoodrats' - females involved in 'frequent partying, drug using, participation in illegal activities and multiple sexual encounters' - are not deemed worthy of respect.

Although male gang members may exaggerate their sexual domination over female members, there are reports from females that they have been sexually exploited by males within the gang.  In San Francisco, females from an immigrant Salvadoran gang reportedly often were sexually victimized by male gang members, although this rarely happened in a nearby Mexican American gang.

Sexual abuse and exploitation by male gang members were also reported by some subsets of female gang members in Columbus, OH; Phoenix, AZ ; Chicago; and Los Angeles. (All of these studies involved African American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican females.)  Some of these reports may have been from females who were only marginal to the gang. 

In Milwaukee, for example, females controlled admission to their gang (a female auxiliary to the male gang), but female “wannabes” seeking to become members thought that males controlled admission.  The male members tricked some female wannabes into group sex by telling them it was an initiation ritual.  It was not, and females who participated in the group sex did not become members of the gang.  A similar situation existed in Phoenix.

Evidence of sexual exploitation of female gang members at home and within their gangs is one reason for considering female gang membership a serious social concern."

This brings us to a consideration of the racial and ethnic composition of gangs.

Next

Read about a girl's life in a gang  (scroll down the page to which you are taken)

Additional Resources: Women and Criminal Justice has posted a number of useful links to additional information on girls/women and delinquency, crime and gangs.

Read an online book entitled The Invisible Boy: Revisioning The Victimization of Male Children and Teens. It's a fascinating book by Frederick Mathews, Community Psychologist, Central Toronto Youth Services and prepared for The National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Canada.

George W. Knox, Director of the National Gang Research Center, wrote a report in 2001 entitled Female Gang Members and the Rights of Children.

Mark Fleisher is one of the most recognized gang researchers in America today. You can read a review of his 1998 book Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know. From the Center for the study of Criminology at the University of Toronto, see a bibliography of books, chapters, websites, and articles on girls and gangs. 

For more data on female gangs see Female Gangs: A Focus on Research or a number of articles on female juvenile delinquency offered by National Criminal Justice Reference Service. The American Diabetes Association has a very interesting article on the increase in the number of girls joining gangs and their increasingly powerful role in gangs.

Read about female gangs in America or visit the Web site of Robert Walker, gang specialist. He offers several interesting links to information on girls and gangs on his site at GangsOrUs. If you'd like to learn more about girls and violence, read "An Overview of Research on Girls and Violence."

For an up-close look at four female gangs, read Eight Ball Chicks, by Gini Sikes. And for a closer look at girls and violence, see an article by the same name written by Jeanne Weiler for the Institute for Urban and Minority Education.

From An Urban Ethnography of Latino Street Gangs in Los Angeles and Ventura County (CA) you can learn more about Hispanic girl gang members.

If you'd like to learn more about 4H, you can visit their Web site.

© 2002 Michael K. Carlie
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author and copyright holder - Michael K. Carlie.