Revisiting Roxbury: Crime, Gang Membership and the Life Course

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal is designed to learn about what happens to individuals who were involved in crime and gangs as young people as they age into their seventies. Consistent with life course theory, this research examines changes in people's lives as they age. This study is based on a population of individuals from the first federally funded gang intervention, the Boston Special Youth Group, which was funded from 1953-1958 by the National Institute of Mental Health. Little is known about how and why involvement in crime declines over the life course. Even less is known about the long term consequences of gang membership. These research questions will be addressed with three sources of data. First, the research team will investigate the criminal records of 532 gang-involved individuals to assess how their involvement in crime has changed over the life course. Second, interviews with sixty or more of these former gang members will be conducted to understand how joining and leaving the gang influenced future behaviors such as marriage, educational attainment, employment, and criminal histories. Third, the research team will evaluate more than 78,000 contact cards completed by case workers that provide details on interactions between gang members. The researchers hypothesize that desistance from crime and a gang is related to significant life events such as marriage, employment and military service. They will examine the impact of such events for men and women, whites and African-Americans. There is a large gap in our understanding of the long term impact of involvement in crime and gangs by youth. As such, this research may assist with the development of effective policies and programming in the criminal justice system.