ABSTRACT
Studies have shown the rate of gang participation rises until age 16, which is also the minimum legal age required to work most jobs, and then participation gradually declines. is demographic remains constant throughout crime indices reecting that as a person becomes older, the rate of criminal participation gradually drops o for several reasons. Among the reasons are employment and career opportunities, marriage and family, assimilation into the general community, etc. “It is possible that many individuals are unable to nd legitimate employment before age 16, perhaps because of age requirements or transportation constraints, and join gangs to generate income (or pass the time). Aer age 16, the opportunity cost of gang participation may be higher because legitimate economic opportunities are more plentiful” (Seals, p. 408). is study focuses on the economic factors of the societies in which gangs are prevalent, and found that “even though members can reap nancial gains from gang crimes, those who are old enough to have more economic opportunity outside the gang may weigh the costs of gang membership dierently. e average age of those who admit gang participation in the past 12 months is 17.2; however, 35.8 percent of this subsample is also below the age of 16 at some point during the survey. If gang members respond to economic incentives, the unemployment rate should have a greater eect on the gang participation decision for those who are legally eligible to work most jobs” (Seals, p. 419).
