![]() For example, exposure to a greater number of risk factors in childhood increases poor health outcomes (e.g depressive symptoms, substance use ( Dong et al., 2004 Dube, Anda, Felitti, Edwards, & Williamson, 2002 McLaughlin et al., 2010) and risk of joining a gang in adolescence ( Hill, Howell, Hawkins, & Battin-Pearson, 1999). The health and social consequences of trauma and violence increase for youth who experience polyvictimization, or cumulative trauma and ongoing exposure to violence or stressful life events ( D. Instead, violence exposure is associated with negative mental health consequences among youth gang members ( Coid et al., 2013 Harper, Davidson, & Hosek, 2008) including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD ( Kelly, Anderson, Hall, Peden, & Cerel, 2012). Gang members have higher rates of victimization than non-gang youth and although some youth report joining a gang for protection, gang membership does not appear to be linked to lower rates of victimization ( Decker & Van Winkle, 1996 Peterson, Taylor, & Esbensen, 2004). In fact, the associations between trauma and delinquency are reciprocal, wherein trauma increases risk for delinquency and gang involvement, and involvement in antisocial behavior increases risk for further traumatization and exposure to violence ( Begle et al., 2011). Youth with histories of victimization and extensive trauma are at increased risk for delinquency, often by way of the depression and substance use that frequently result from victimization ( Cuevas, Finkelhor, Turner, & Ormrod, 2007 Ford, Elhai, Connor, & Frueh, 2010). This relationship is especially relevant to gang members given the high levels of violence to which they are exposed. ![]() Violent victimization and delinquency are often intertwined and mutually reinforcing ( Loeber, Kalb, & Huizinga, 2001) and there is an established empirical relationship between youth victimization and perpetration of violence ( Baron, 2003 Hartinger-Saunders et al., 2011 Loeber et al., 2001). Prior research suggests that childhood trauma and adversity increase the risk for future victimization as well as future perpetration of violence ( Gill & Page, 2006). This qualitative study provides context for young gang members’ experiences of violence, adversity, and trauma and how such experiences may contribute to and reinforce gang membership. Finkelhor, Ormrod, Turner, & Hamby, 2005), may be useful in further understanding gang membership and the continued exposure to trauma of gang-involved youth. Similarly, understanding the effects of polyvictimization, the exposure to multiple forms of victimization ( D. However, the presence and consequences of childhood adversity and traumatic experiences prior to and following gang membership have seldom been considered among gang members. ![]() Specific to males, family conflict or dysfunction contributes to increased vulnerability to gang membership ( Eitle et al., 2004). Multiple risk factors for joining gangs have been identified: financial hardship ( Eitle, Gunkel, & Van Gundy, 2004), coming from single-headed households or households living below the poverty line ( Pyrooz & Sweeten, 2015), exposure to violence ( Li et al., 2002), and perceptions of school as unsafe ( Lenzi et al., 2014). ![]() ![]() Risk of gang entry is elevated during early adolescence, and youth tend to cycle in and out of gangs throughout their lives ( Pyrooz, 2014). Recent official estimates suggest that there are nearly 30,000 gangs and over 750,000 gang members across the United States ( Egley & Howell, April 2012), although these estimates are thought to be fairly conservative ( King, Voisin, & DiClemente, 2013 Pyrooz, 2014). ![]()
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