Seattle Social Development Project - Methods

To determine whether gang membership contributes to delinquency above and beyond associating with delinquent peers, the SSDP sample was divided into the following three groups:

	Gang members: Respondents who self-reported membership in a gang in the past year and who identified the gang by name.
	Youth with delinquent peers: Respondents who were not members of a gang in the survey year but who reported that at least two of their three best friends had been arrested or done things that could get them in trouble with the police.
	Youth with nondelinquent peers: Respondents who were not members of a gang in the survey year and who reported that only one or none of their three best friends had been arrested or done things that could get them in trouble with the police.

These three groups were compared according to various measures of delinquency and substance use to determine whether there were significant differences in their rates of offending. The respondent's individual offense rate (IOR), which is the actual frequency of committing the offenses listed in table 1, was used as the measure of delinquency and substance use.

Gang Membership, Delinquent Peers, and Delinquent Behavior	Juvenile Justice Bulletin   ·  October 1998