Abstract

Prior research consistently finds that gang youth, compared to nongang youth, are more involved in risky behaviors such as violence and drug sales. Less attention has been given to comparisons in sexual behavior. While research demonstrates that gang membership is associated with risky sex and many gang members indicate that sex is a motivation for joining a gang, prior research is limited in its ability to account for self-selection into a gang, variations in involvement across gender, and different forms of sexual activity. This research addresses these limitations by using Add Health data and propensity score matching to examine the relationship between gang membership and sexual behavior inside and out of a romantic relationship as well as how this relationship differs by gender. While findings indicate that gang membership increases the likelihood of sexual intercourse, nonromantic sex, and the number of nonromantic sex partners, no unique gender differences were identified.

摘要

先前的研究一致发现，与非帮派青年相比，帮派青年更多地参与暴力和毒品销售等危险行为。较少关注性行为的比较。虽然研究表明帮派成员与危险性行为有关，而且许多帮派成员表示性是加入帮派的动机，但先前的研究在解释自我选择加入帮派、跨性别参与的差异以及不同形式的性活动。这项研究通过使用 Add Health 数据和倾向得分匹配来解决这些限制，以检查团伙成员身份与恋爱关系内外的性行为之间的关系，以及这种关系如何因性别而异。