There are hundreds of thousands of juvenile gang members in the United States who are at heightened risk of criminal offending, violent victimization, and incarceration. Importantly, however, incarceration in itself is a lifelong risk factor for negative social outcomes. That said, little is known about the effects of gang membership on the sentencing outcomes of juvenile offenders. The primary research question of the current study is: How does self-reported gang membership influence the likelihood of incarceration relative to similarly situated non-gang-involved juvenile defendants? To address this question, the current study uses data obtained from the Pathways to Desistance study. In a sample of 1,067 serious adolescent offenders drawn from Wave I, results show that gang affiliation is a significant predictor of incarceration. This finding was consistent across the two study sites (Phoenix, AZ, and Philadelphia, PA), ultimately providing support for a “gang penalty” in juvenile sentencing outcomes. The implications for future research, juvenile justice policy, and youth development are discussed.

在美国，成千上万的青少年帮派成员面临着犯罪，暴力受害和监禁的更大风险。但是，重要的是，监禁本身是负面社会后果的终生危险因素。也就是说，关于帮派成员身份对未成年人犯罪量刑结果的影响知之甚少。当前研究的主要研究问题是：相对于位置相似的未参与黑帮的少年被告，自我报告的黑帮成员会如何影响入狱的可能性？为了解决这个问题，本研究使用从“通往疾病的途径”研究中获得的数据。在从第一波中抽取的1,067名严重的青少年犯罪者样本中，结果表明，帮派联系是监禁的重要预测指标。这一发现在两个研究地点（亚利桑那州凤凰城和宾夕法尼亚州费城）是一致的，最终为青少年量刑结果中的“团伙处罚”提供了支持。讨论了对未来研究，少年司法政策和青年发展的影响。