Discuss the relationship between delinquency and gang involvement and whether gang membership causes delinquency (or vice versa). Include the models described in the text

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

* The selection model, which asserts that delinquents' antisocial propensities stem from certain stable personality traits that nondelinquents lack. As such, delinquent or at-risk youth self-select into gang involvement because the lifestyle suits their already existing antisocial traits, whereas prosocial youth self-select out of gangs. Consequently, there is no causal role ascribed to gang membership in explaining delinquency- the relationship is spurious.

*The facilitation model, which holds that delinquent predispositions may exist but are largely dormant until gang involvement "activates" them. According to this model, the gang context assists in developing delinquency by influencing a youth's attitudes, emotions and behaviors in a way that increases criminal involvement. This model assigns causality to gang membership as a force that shapes delinquency.

*The enhancement model, which combines the selection and enhancement models by positing that gang members are more antisocial than nongang members to begin with, even before joining a gang, but that the gang involvement intensifies these differences.