line Age

Past research on the age of gang members has produced differing results. Some researchers contend that gang members are becoming younger; others argue that they are becoming older. Klein pointed out that the earliest known age of entry into gangs for juveniles was about 11, which left "little room for change downward" (Klein, 1995). Irving Spergel (1995) emphasized the high number of adult gang members involved in gang crime.

Results of the current survey, weighted for the number of gang members reported in each jurisdiction, indicated that, in 1996, the members of groups considered to be "youth gangs" were evenly split between juveniles and adults. As figure 8 illustrates, 16 percent of youth gang members were younger than 15; 34 percent were between the ages of 15 and 17; 37 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24; and 13 percent were older than 24.

Figure 8

To evaluate differences in age across jurisdictions, the reported percentages also were averaged without taking into account the number of gang members reported in each jurisdiction. Table 11 shows the weighted and unweighted averages for area types and the total for all area types combined. When the number of gang members reported in each jurisdiction was not controlled for, the unweighted average proportion of gang members under the age of 18 was much higher (68 percent) than the weighted proportion (50 percent) for all area types because there were a large percentage of adult gang members reported by fewer agencies and a small percentage of adult gang members reported by a greater number of agencies.

Table 11

Table 12 shows the age ranges of gang members by area type and region based on unweighted averages. There appears to be an association between area type and the age of gang members. The average proportion of juvenile gang members was high in all four area types, but especially in small cities and rural counties. Conversely, agencies in large cities and suburban counties reported a higher average proportion of adult gang members. When area type is considered, the variation in the age of gang members was found to be statistically significant for all age ranges except "under 15."

Table 12

The relation of the age of gang members to the region of the country, irrespective of area type, was statistically significant only in the "over 24" age category. Even within this age range, there were no large differences between regions. There appeared to be more variation between regions when area types were examined separately. Respondents in the Midwest and West reported a greater average proportion of adult gang members in large cities and suburban counties. Agencies in the South reported a greater average proportion of adult gang members in large cities and rural counties. There were too few observations available for estimates in the Northeast.

Population size appears to be a significant correlate of the age of gang members. As table 13 shows, the average percentage of adult gang members reported by respondents increased substantially as population size increased (see Appendix J for an illustration of all age ranges in smaller population increments). The differences in age by population size were found to be statistically significant.

Table 13

The survey results suggest that adult gang members are more prevalent in cities that have a long history of gang problems. As Klein (1995) points out, "Older members seem more common in cities that have developed gang traditions over a decade or more." He also observed that newer gang cities do not have many gang members in the upper age ranges.

For this Summary, agencies experiencing gang problems before 1990 were considered "older" gang jurisdictions. Those first reporting gang problems after 1990 were classified as "newer" gang jurisdictions. The average proportion of adult gang members reported by agencies in older large cities was 7 percent higher than in newer large cities (see table 14). Compared with their counterparts in newer suburban counties, agencies in older suburban counties reported 5 percent more adult gang members. There were too few reports from agencies in older small cities and rural counties to make comparisons; the small number of reports was likely due to the relatively recent emergence of gangs in these area types.

Table 14


line

1996 National Youth Gang Survey   July 1999