Youth Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups in the United States and the Netherlands: A Cross-National Comparison

Finn Aage Esbensen; Frank M. Weerman

doi:10.1177/1477370805048626

Youth Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups in the United States and the Netherlands: A Cross-National Comparison

Finn Aage Esbensen
, Frank M. Weerman

University of Missouri at St. Louis
Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

134 Citations (Scopus)

1069 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A minority of adolescents are part of street-oriented groups in which illegal behaviour is common, groups that can be referred to as ‘youth gangs’ or ‘troublesome youth groups’. Such groups are a well-known phenomenon in the United States and recently have been reported in a number of European nations. Relatively few researchers, however, have endeavoured to explore such youth gangs from a comparative perspective. In this article, we examine characteristics of American and Dutch gangs and gang members. These cross-national comparisons are based on two school samples of 11-16-year-old youths in the USA (N = 5935) and the Netherlands (N = 1978). The students completed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires containing similar questions, which allow for comparison of Dutch and American adolescent experiences with youth gangs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	5-37
Number of pages	33
Journal	European Journal of Criminology
Volume	2
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370805048626
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2005
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements:
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 13th World Congress of
Criminology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2003, and the 3rd Annual Conference
of the European Society of Criminology, Helsinki, Finland, August 2003. Part of the
American research was supported under award #94-IJ-CX-0058 from the National
Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. The Dutch
research is supported by funding from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific
Research (NWO). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and
do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Department of Justice or
other funding agencies.

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ESL – Diversen Oud

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1477370805048626Licence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

Cite this

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title = "Youth Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups in the United States and the Netherlands: A Cross-National Comparison",

abstract = "A minority of adolescents are part of street-oriented groups in which illegal behaviour is common, groups that can be referred to as {\textquoteleft}youth gangs{\textquoteright} or {\textquoteleft}troublesome youth groups{\textquoteright}. Such groups are a well-known phenomenon in the United States and recently have been reported in a number of European nations. Relatively few researchers, however, have endeavoured to explore such youth gangs from a comparative perspective. In this article, we examine characteristics of American and Dutch gangs and gang members. These cross-national comparisons are based on two school samples of 11-16-year-old youths in the USA (N = 5935) and the Netherlands (N = 1978). The students completed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires containing similar questions, which allow for comparison of Dutch and American adolescent experiences with youth gangs.",

author = "Esbensen, \{Finn Aage\} and Weerman, \{Frank M.\}",

note = "Acknowledgements: Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 13th World Congress of Criminology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2003, and the 3rd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Helsinki, Finland, August 2003. Part of the American research was supported under award \#94-IJ-CX-0058 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. The Dutch research is supported by funding from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Department of Justice or other funding agencies.",

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Youth Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups in the United States and the Netherlands: A Cross-National Comparison

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