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2 Eur. J. Criminology 5 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/eujcrim2 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume 2 (1): 5-37: 1477-3708 DOI: 101177/1477370805048626 European Copyright Q 2005 European Society of Criminology and SAGE Publications Criminology London, Thousand Oaks CA, and New Delhi www.sagepublications.com ARTICLES Youth Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups in the United States and the Netherlands A Cross-National Comparison Finn-Aage Esbensen University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA Frank M. Weerman Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, The Netherlands ABSTRACT A minority of adolescents are part of street-oriented groups in which illegal behaviour is common, groups that can be referred to as 'youth gangs' or 'troublesome youth groups'. Such groups are a well-known phenomenon in the United States and recently have been reported in a number of European nations. Relatively few researchers, however, have endeavoured to explore such youth gangs from a comparative perspective. In this article, we examine characteristics of American and Dutch gangs and gang members. These cross-national com- parisons are based on two school samples of 11-16-year-old youths in the USA (N = 5935) and the Netherlands (N = 1978). The students completed anony- mous, self-administered questionnaires containing similar questions, which allow for comparison of Dutch and American adolescent experiences with youth gangs. KEY WORDS Comparative Research / Delinquent Peers / Gangs / Juvenile Delinquency/ Youth Groups.

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