Girls, Guys, Alcohol and Violence

Abstract

Much of gang research has centered on drug use and sales and its connection with gang violence. At the same time, little research has been done specifically on the role of alcohol within gangs and its possible connection to violence despite the fact that researchers have noted that drinking constitutes an important aspect of social life and daily activity among gang members. In our earlier work, we began to look at the integration of drinking into daily life of male gang members. The purpose of this paper is to extend this analysis. More specifically, we examine the gendered ways in which male and female gang members drink from their introduction to alcohol to their current use in different social contexts and settings. In analysing their current use patterns, we focus especially on the similarities and differences among males compared to females in relation to drinking and violence. While male members clearly find drinking as having "disinhibiting effects," female members, constrained by gendered notions of partying, have a much more varied perspective and experience. The data for this paper are drawn from an ongoing study on ethnic youth gangs in Northern California in which we conducted depth interviews from 1997 to 199, with 386 male and 104 female gang members from the African American, Latino, Asian American and Caucasian communities.