Reading time: 2 minutes, 34 seconds
Violence in gangs doesn’t affect everyone the same way. It clusters around small groups of people who are closely connected to each other and to violent behaviour. Gang members who act violently, spend time with violent peers, or know people who have been victimized have a much higher risk of being victims of violence themselves.
In contrast, gang members who avoid violence and build nonviolent connections are less likely to be victimized.
Those were just some of the things Drs. Yanick Charette and Ilvy Goossens found in their recently published research. They suggest that more targeted efforts are needed to reduce harm where it’s most likely to happen.
AI-generated image, ChatGPT
Gang Violence Research
Some people join gangs because they think it will make them safer. But gang members are more likely to be victims of violence than people who aren’t in gangs. Drs. Charette and Goossens looked at why that happens. They focused on street gang members in Montreal, Canada, and how violence spreads through their social networks. Their goal was to understand which individuals are most at risk and how their connections increase or reduce that risk.
The researchers analyzed 20 years of police data involving 1,587 Haitian street gang members and their close contacts. They tracked violent incidents where gang members either committed violence or were victims of violence. Then they mapped how those incidents spread through the gang members’ social networks.
Who Is Most at Risk
The results showed that violence was not spread evenly. It was concentrated in small, tightly connected groups in the social network. These micro-groups had higher rates of both committing and experiencing violence. People in these groups were more likely to be drawn into repeated violent situations.
Three factors made victimization more likely:
- having committed violence themselves,
- being connected to people who had committed violence, or
- having peers who had been victims of violence.
When these factors combined, gang members were 15 times more likely to become victims of violence than members with little or no direct or indirect involvement.
Networks and Risk
Drs. Charette and Goossens also looked at how the structure of a person’s social network affected their risk. Being part of a close-knit group sometimes reduced the risk of victimization. Gang members whose peers also knew each other were slightly less likely to be harmed. However, this effect varied depending on whether the person had used violence themselves.
Gang members who had not committed violence were more likely to benefit from the protective effect of a dense network. Members who had committed violence did not experience the same protective effect. Even in tightly connected groups, their risk remained high.
These findings show that violence spreads through social networks. Being connected to people who commit or experience violence raises a person’s risk of becoming a victim.
The Gang Protection Paradox
The research findings help explain what researchers call the gang protection paradox. People may join gangs to feel safer, but some end up more exposed to violence than they were before. However, this risk plays out differently depending on the person’s actions and social ties.
Gang members who do not commit violence and stay out of high-risk networks are less likely to become victims of violence. Some may also feel a sense of protection in their social networks.
The risks of gang involvement can vary widely. Not all gang members take part in violence. Some actively avoid violence and maintain connections with nonviolent peers. For them, gang membership may feel more like a source of support than a threat.
Recognizing these differences can help mental health and legal professionals design better strategies to prevent violence and support gang members at lower risk.
Written by Kyle Roerick and approved by Drs. Yanick Charette and Ilvy Goossens.
