Female Gang Subculture

Historically gangs have been a male dominate subculture with females being viewed and described only as sex objects and or having secondary roles in gangs. As it turns out the presence of females in gangs has increased considerably in recent years. Female members have evolved and are very similar to male members in various aspects including the types of illegal acts they commit and reasons for joining a gang. But for every similarity there is an underlying difference between the two genders. There is a very large misrepresentation of studies done on the participation of female members in gangs and therefore, a definite number of female gang members is hard to determine. The National Youth Gang Survey is the only national annual survey that …show more content…
Prior to the implementation of guns, the female’s role in the gang subculture was restricted to secondary crimes like being lookouts for their fellow male counterparts, committing small misdemeanor crimes, and being the stereotypical sex object just to name a few. Females were at a disadvantage when gang fights and turf wars were carried out with fists and knives because of their small stature. Therefore, male gang members were the only ones able to protect the territory. As a result, of the gun’s implementation into gang life, female members became less dependent on the male gang member for protection and more dependent on the gun they possessed. This change in dependency allowed for females to be involved in drive-by shootings, armed robberies, drug sales, etc. (Molidor, …show more content…
Researchers have found that females are more responsive toward cognitive based treatments because of their empathetic and perspective nature. Therefore, gender based preventions and treatments must be developed to efficiently understand why researchers have determined two overriding themes for gang membership of females. Molidor (1996) explains that girls may join a gang in order to avoid negative home environments and because they might identify with aggressive behavior that was exhibited by their parents. Female youth who experience abuse within the family unit sometimes may join a gang to seek out protection from the abuse. It is also very common that the abuse in the household stops a healthy relationship between child and parents from forming therefore, female youth look for support elsewhere. Snethen (2010) details that the mother/ daughter relationship is of most importance in prevention of female youth from joining gangs. The introduction of healthy mother/daughter relationships at infancy is beneficial to the daughter’s coping mechanisms and the daughter’s utilization of those coping mechanisms will come naturally. Therefore, the female youth will seek out their mothers as a resource when stressors arise instead of gangs (Snethen,