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Defiance and Gang Identity: Quantitative Tests of Qualitative Hypotheses

NCJ Number
164525
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1996) Pages: 13-29
Author(s)
G F Jensen
Date Published
1996
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study tests Martin Jankowski's theory that "defiant individualism" as a type of "social character" links socioeconomic environments characterized by fierce competition for scarce resources to involvement in delinquent gangs.
Abstract
According to Jankowski, "defiant individualism" is composed of seven attributes: intense competitiveness, mistrust, self- reliance, emotional detachment, a survival instinct, a social Darwinist world view, and a defiant attitude. The current study tested Jankowski's theory by using data obtained by Hindelang, Hirschi, and Weiss in 1978-79 in Seattle as part of their major study, "Measuring Delinquency" (1981). The Seattle survey was designed to assess the validity and reliability of self-report measures of delinquency, and the data set includes a large number of items on delinquent offenses. The data also include police recorded offenses that, together with the self-report data, allow differentiation of youth who identify themselves as gang members. The data support Jankowski's theory but do not provide unique or crucial support. The same items used to measure Jankowski's defiant individualism can be considered to be measures of variables central to other theories. There is significant overlap between the attitudes used to depict Jankowski's type of "social character" and attitudes important to the explanation of delinquency in other theories of delinquency. 4 tables, 9 notes, and 54 references