Exploring the Use of Victim Surveys to Study Gang Crime

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016809338344
• Date: 01 December 2009
• Published date: 01 December 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

Exploring the Use of Victim

Surveys to Study Gang Crime

Prospects and Possibilities

Callie Marie Rennison

University of Colorado – Denver, CO

Chris Melde

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

There has long been debate on the appropriate method to collect valid and reliable data on gang

member involvement in crime and delinquency.In general, research in this area is based on data

from self-report surveys, qualitative field work, and official reports which have well-

documented limitations. Given these limitations, triangulation of methods is important to

fully understand the unique contribution of gang members to the problem of crime and

delinquency. This article proposes an additional data source to study gang violence and

enhance triangulation: The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which added a

measure of the victim’s perception of the offender’s gang status in 1992. We highlight the

advantages and disadvantages of using the NCVS for gang violence research and present a

comparison of victimizations reportedly committed by gang and nongang perpetrators across

situational, offender, and victim characteristics. Findings demonstrate promise for the use of

victimization data in future gang research. Like Egley, Maxson, Miller, and Klein, we

encourage the use of a ‘‘pluralistic approach’’ for the study of gangs and suggest that

victimization data such as the NCVS be used to provide greater insight into gang crime.

Keywords: gangs; victimization; national crime victimization survey; violence

Since the early 1900s, there has been debate on the appropriate manner in which to collect

valid and reliable data on gang member involvement in crime and delinquency. Over this

period, criminologists using self-report surveys, qualitative field work, and lawenforcement

data provided a number of empirical examinations on the association between gang member-

ship and illegal behavior.Although the use of various data sources resulted in some disagree-

ment on the exact effect of gang membership on deviant behavior,there is general ag reement

that gang members account for a disproportionate amount of all crimes, especially those of a

violent nature (Esbensen & Huizinga, 1993; Thornberry, Krohn, Lizotte, & Chard-

Wierschem, 1993). Recently, a report by the United States Department of Justice’s National

Gang Intelligence Center led to reports that up to 80%of crime in the United States is gang

related (Johnson, 2009). Understanding the true extent and nature of gang crime, thus, is of

critical importance.

Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence to Callie Marie Rennison, PhD, School of Public Affairs,

University of Colorado – Denver, 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 500, Denver, CO 80204; e-mail:

Callie.Rennison@UCDenver.edu.

Criminal Justice Review

Volume 34 Number 4

December 2009 489-514

#2009 Georgia State University

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489

Limitations in the data used as the basis of extant findings make it difficult to fully under-

stand the frequency and potential unique situational characteristics of crimes involving gang

members. For instance, data collected by public officials have many known limitations,

ranging from data collection ambiguities (e.g., definitional issues and individual discretion)

to the possibility of fraudulent reporting practices based on local political motivation (Curry,

2000; Hagedorn, 1990; but see Katz, 2003). Self-report data (e.g., school-based surveys, sur-

veys of incarcerated individuals) are useful in capturing information on crimes unknown to

the police; however, they lack generalizability due to restrictive sampling practices. Finally,

ethnographic studies (e.g., observation, semistructured interviews) provide rich data on the

day-to-day activities of active gang members. However, information garnered via ethno-

graphic studies is limited in scope due to the site-specific nature of the infor mation, and

as such limit our ability to speak to the frequency of gang offending in a generalizable man-

ner. Limitations in each of these data collection techniques highlight the importance of a tri-

angulation of methods to fully understand the contribution of gang members to the problem

of crime and delinquency. By using multiple data sources to study any phenomenon,

researchers can more confidently draw conclusions about the topic under study.

The current article examines an alternative source of data to study gang crime: The

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS can be used to simultaneously

measure both the frequency and situational characteristics of crimes involving gang mem-

bers. The NCVS represents one of the few data sources, which can be used for both types

of information with a nationally representative sample. That is, the NCVS can be used to

simultaneously study the frequency of gang versus nongang crime in a generalizable manner

(unlike available self-report studies) as well as the situational characteristics of crimes that

are unknown to the police (unlike official statistics). The NCVS has included a measure

of the victim’s perception of the gang membership status of the offending party since

1992, the year the NCVS initiated a major redesign in data collection. Given this, there are

three purposes of the current study. First, we discuss the strengths and limitations of the com-

mon methods of collecting gang data. Second, we highlight the advantages and disadvan-

tages of using victimization data in the study of gang crime. Finally, we examine the

frequency and nature of gang versus nongang violence using 1992 through 2005 NCVS data

and discuss potential avenues of future research using this data source. We begin with a

review of commonly used data in the study of gang violence.

The Use of Ethnographic Studies

Any systematic reviewof research on street gangs will undoubtedly conclude that the bed-

rock of criminological knowledge on the subject is derived from the long history of ethno-

graphic studies. Researchers such as Thrasher (1927), Klein (1971), and Short and

Strodbeck (1965) gathered firsthand knowledge about gangs, gang members, and their inter-

action with the surrounding environment providing the foundation for more recent work on

gang youth (e.g., Decker & van Winkle, 1996; J. Miller, 2001). Drawing on the strengths of

their research methodology, collectively this research illuminated the inner workings and

dynamics of street gangs that is unmatched by official or self-report methods. Issues related

to group process and the meaning of gang membership are the hallmark of this style of

490 Criminal Justice Review