Street Gang Definitions Across Two US Cities: Eurogang Criteria, Group Identity Characteristics, and Peer Group Involvement in Crime

Given the relatively recent adoption of the Eurogang consensus-based definition of street gangs by many academics, the current study seeks to add to the nascent body of research describing the results of this definitional approach by examining the characteristics of youth who meet the Eurogang criteria and those who do not across a sample of street-oriented delinquent youth in two East Coast cities in the United States. The study’s methodological framework—using a community-recruited sample to study the personal networks of street gang members in two cities—provides a unique opportunity to examine aspects of the Eurogang definition. The study examines whether there are particular gang processes and gang embeddedness characteristics that distinguish youth who meet the “illegal group identity” criteria of the Eurogang definition from those who do not. In multivariate analyses, youth reporting that they claim a territory have greater odds of meeting the illegal gang identity criteria; however, there are a number of youth who do not meet these criteria, yet belong to groups that claim territory. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.