Friends in all the wrong places? gang involvement and the relevance of attachment theory

Gang involvement and gang activity are serious problems in the U.S. While the societal cost of gang activity is undisputed, there are mounting concerns for gang members themselves who suffer greater risk for adverse life events and personal victimization than their non-gang involved peers (Krohn et al., 2011). While much research has been conducted to identify various risk factors that predict future gang involvement, little has been done to understand how these factors communicate risk to youth. The present study seeks to use an attachment theory framework to understand the mechanism by which commonly identified family-risk variables such as parental physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and other attachment-related trauma are linked with future gang involvement. A mediational model between attachment trauma, position of peers in attachment hierarchy, and gang affiliation was tested using regression analyses to evaluate attachment security, measured via attachment hierarchy configuration, as a mediator variable. None of the pathways of the mediational model were found to be significant. Implications for understanding the nature of gang involvement in relation to trauma and attachment are discussed.