Differences in Prevalence Rates of Hopelessness and Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents by Gang Membership and Latinx Id
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Differences in Prevalence Rates of Hopelessness and Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents by Gang Membership and Latinx Identity Kelly M. Whaling1 · Jill Sharkey1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Despite the ongoing challenge of preventing youth gang membership in diverse communities across the United States, and increasing recognition of associations between trauma and gang involvement, the nexus between hopelessness, suicide, and gang membership has largely been ignored. We created two random samples of 1000 participants, with 50% identifying as non-Latinx White, and 50% identifying as Latinx of any race from 91,265 participants of the 2014–2015 California Healthy Kids Survey. Four Chi square tests of independence tested differences in prevalence rates of chronic hopelessness and suicidal ideation for self-identified Latinx and non-Latinx White gang and non-gang member youth. Grounded in a systems responsiveness framework, we predicted that hopelessness and suicidal ideation would be higher for groups that are more marginalized, which was supported by our findings. Specifically, gang membership and ethnicity were both associated with suicide and hopelessness. An unexpected finding, not related to the research questions, was the high prevalence of gender and sexual minority (GSM) youth who identified as gang members. This study represents a unique contribution to the adolescent suicidal ideation literature base, as most studies focus on race or ethnicity and neglect gang membership when identifying disproportionalities in suicidal ideation. Implications for practitioners, researchers, and schools and communities are discussed. Keywords Adolescence · Gang membership · Suicide · Racial and ethnic mental health disparities · Juvenile justice Following nearly a decade of decreased violent crime and gang membership across the United States, most recent estimates indicate that the number of individuals belonging to a gang, gangs overall, and homicides carried out by gang members began rising in 2012 (Egley, Howell, & Harris, 2014). The National Youth Gang Survey, a questionnaire administered to law enforcement personnel, estimates that 302,000 adolescents belong to a gang (Egley et al., 2014); however, some research suggests that estimates made by law enforcement officials may be conservative (Katz, Webb, & Schaefer, 2000). Findings by Esbensen, Winfree, He, and Taylor (2001) support the idea that asking youth themselves is a valid measure of determining gang involvement. Using this methodology, over a ten-year longitudinal study of 7335 * Kelly M. Whaling [email protected] Jill Sharkey [email protected] 1
Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
youth, Pyrooz & Sweeten (2015) estimated that over one million youth between the ages of five and seventeen identify themselves as belonging to a gang. Although a common and frequent theme in hip-hop from the 1990s to present, the asso
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