Deck 35: Gender and Victimization Risk Among Young Women in Gangs

Question 1

Miller points out the irony that while members claim one thing they get out of gangs is a sense of protection in fact gang involvement itself

A) decreases exposure to victimization risk although does suggest willingness to be victimized if needed.
B) decreases social status within the community and involves social rejection.
C) increases exposure to victimization risk and even suggests a willingness to be victimized.
D) provides several additional positives such as social support and opportunities for interaction.

Answer 1

increases exposure to victimization risk and even suggests a willingness to be victimized.

Question 2

The young women Miller interviewed noted that as a result of belonging to a mostly male gang, female gang members felt

A) a heightened sense of excitement and thrill due to male adventurism and violent exploits.
B) a specific gendered sense of protection because male gang members will retaliate against other predatory males who may attack them.
C) awkward at times because they were expected to personally retaliate against other gangs but did not want to engage in violence.
D) expectation to behave as "ladies" at all times without having to prove their personal toughness.

Answer 2

a specific gendered sense of protection because male gang members will retaliate against other predatory males who may attack them.

Question 3

Status hierarchies within gangs studied by Miller could be described as

A) an open question because interviews provided little conclusive data on this topic.
B) both male and female dominated depending on gender membership.
C) egalitarian where everyone was equal.
D) male dominated.

Answer 3

male dominated.

Question 4

Like their male counterparts, female gang members recognized they could become subject themselves to violence as a result of being

A) special honorary members of the fraternity.
B) targets of police and community efforts to curtail crime.
C) targets of rival gangs and having to submit to violence through gang initiations and physical punishment for breaking gang rules.
D) women because easy targets for retaliation.

Question 5

Desirable qualities of high status gang members and leaders consisted of

A) "smarts," toughness, "heart" and perceived as neither male nor female.
B) no specific qualities, every gang had its own leadership criteria including gender rules.
C) toughness, able to fight, willing to "do dirt" and perceived as masculine.
D) willingness to put oneself ahead of gang and do whatever necessary to become leader and perceived as female.

Question 6

Miller reports that women may have had greater flexibility in their gang involvement due to

A) fact that women had to stay back at the gang location to defend it against attack.
B) fact that women were not expected to commit serious crime or violent acts because such acts and traits were seen as primarily masculine in nature.
C) greater intelligence generally shown by women and resulting respect from men.
D) lack of physical size which meant females could not be equals of rival gang members if attacked.

Question 7

Women had a second route to status within gangs that was less available to men:

A) becoming trusted liaison officer for contact with other gangs throughout state, region or even nation.
B) being sexually permissive and available to male gang members.
C) connections as sisters, girlfriends, and family to high status men.
D) intelligence as shown by ability to plan crimes and attacks on rival gangs.

Question 8

Some girls (but not boys) within gangs could be "sexed in" with the result that women in the gang as a whole were

A) devalued and disempowered: girls reminded they were lesser members and that unlike boys they could become victims of sexual exploitation.
B) Miller's interview data does not permit speculation on this matter.
C) none: one's status in gang depends solely on individual qualities not gender.
D) variable: girls who chose being sexed in were devalued but not true of girls who sought initiation by running the gauntlet.

Question 9

Discuss the ironic fact Miller points out regarding how male and female gang members see gangs as providing them with protection from violence, yet their involvement actually increases their exposure to victimization. Why do you think this contradiction is not more apparent or self-evident to gang members themselves? Explain.

Question 10

Describe and explain several ways in which gender impacts women's roles and status in gangs, both positively and negatively. Do you think women do or do not have a lesser status in gangs than their male counterparts? Present some of the evidence Miller offers to argue both sides of this question.

Question 11

Discuss the status difference between women that were initiated into gangs for their toughness versus women who were "sexed in." Which status is higher? Is evidence provided by Miller that a woman could move from a lower status to a higher status in the gang?