The relationship between dimensional self-concept and juvenile gang involvement: implications for prevention, intervention, and court referred diversion programs
✍ Scribed by D. Scott Herrmann; J. Jeffries McWhirter; Athanasia Sipsas-Herrmann
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 132 KB
- Volume
- 15
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0735-3936
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
In this investigation we assessed 427 youths from an area with considerable gang activity to determine the way in which selfconcept is related to gang involvement, and to assess how gang involvement fluctuates as a function of gender and grade level. Product moment correlations revealed a significant negative association between gang involvement and the selfconcept dimensions of competence, affect, academic, family, and global; however, only the relationship with competence self-concept remained significant after adjusting for alpha inflation. Discriminant analysis revealed a significant predictive relationship between self-concept and classification into high or low gang-involved groups. Males were found to be significantly more gang involved than females, but no differences were found by grade level (although a significant gender by grade interaction was present). Implications for field-based prevention/intervention efforts and court referred diversion programs are discussed.