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"Deterrability" Among Gang and Nongang Juvenile Offenders: Are Gang Members More (or Less) Deterrable Than Other Juvenile Offenders?

¹ University of California, Irvine
² University of Missouri–St. Louis
³ University of Southern California

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cmaxson{at}uci.edu.

	Abstract

This study investigates the effect of the threat of legal sanctions on intentions to commit three types of offenses with a representative sample of 744 officially adjudicated youth with varying histories of offenses and gang involvement. In a departure from previous research, the authors find small severity effects for property crimes that are not negated by past offending experience, morality, or anticipated loss of respect from adults or peers. Gang members appear to be vulnerable to the effects of certainty of punishment for vehicle theft. These results challenge the current crime policy of increased reliance on punishment to deter gang crime but suggest that increasing gang members’ certainty of apprehension might hold some promise for reduction of some gang crime.

First published on August 20, 2009
Crime & Delinquency 2009, doi:10.1177/0011128709343137


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