Table 1.

Summary of factors associated with youth gang membership

Domain	Risk factors	Protective factors
Individual	Prior delinquency Deviant attitudes Street smartness; toughness Defiant and individualist character Fatalistic view of the world Aggression Proclivity for excitement and trouble Locura (acting in a daring, courageous, and especially crazy fashion in the face of adversity) Higher level of normlessness in the context of family, peer group, and school Social disabilities Illegal gun ownership Early or precocious sexual activity, especially among females Alcohol and drug use Drug trafficking Desire for group rewards such as status, identity, self‐esteem, companionship, and protection Problem behaviours, hyperactivity, externalizing behaviours, drinking, and lack of refusal skills Victimization	High level of personal resources Sense of coherence Positive, culturally relevant identity
Peer group	High commitment to delinquent peers Low commitment to positive peers Street socialization Gang members in class Friends who use drugs or who are gang members Friends who are drug distributors Interaction with delinquent peers	Mixed peer network of gang and non‐gang members Intimate partner attachment to non‐gang affiliate
Family	Family disorganization, including broken homes and parental drug or alcohol abuse Troubled families, including incest, family violence, and drug addiction Family members in a gang Lack of adult male role models Lack of parental role models Low socio‐economic status Extreme economic deprivation, family management problems, parents with violent attitudes, sibling anti‐social behaviour	Family involvement Consistent parental discipline Open family communication
School	Academic failure Low educational aspirations, especially among females Negative labelling by teachers Trouble at school Few teacher role models Educational frustration Low commitment to school, low school attachment, high levels of anti‐social behaviour in school, low achievement test scores, identification as being learning‐disabled	Psychosocial support for teachers Parental involvement in schools
Community	Social disorganization, including poverty and residential mobility Organized lower‐class communities Underclass communities Presence of gangs in the neighbourhood Availability of drugs in the neighbourhood Availability of firearms Barriers to and lack of social and economic opportunities Lack of social capital Cultural norms supporting gang behaviour Feeling unsafe in neighbourhood; high crime Conflict with social control institutions	Short or no history of gang presence Strict formal and informal control of firearms Limited neighbourhood congregation sites of unsupervised youth Absence of drug markets

Source: adapted from Small Arms Survey, 2010, pp.236‐237.