A need to belong – what leads girls to join gangs

The Centre for Mental Health has published the report A need to belong – What leads girls to join gangs, which states that on average, young women involved in gangs had a threefold greater risk of health and social difficulties compared with average youth justice entrants and over double the number of vulnerabilities of other females being screened.

The report analysed data gathered during screening assessments of 8,000 young people at the point of their arrest. The database identified 80 young women with gang associations from the sample of 8,029 young people, with a mean age of 15.

Key findings from the report include:

• Girls in gangs had a significantly higher average number of vulnerabilities than boys in gangs, female entrants and general youth justice entrants
• Nearly 40 percent of girls with gang associations showed signs of behavioral problems before the age of twelve
• Girls with gang associations were more than three times more likely to have a history of running away and exclusion from school, to have experienced sexual abuse, violence and neglect at home
• Just over a quarter were identified by workers as having a suspected diagnosable mental health problem. 30 percent were also identified as self-harming or at risk of suicide. 30 percent were also identified having sleeping or eating problems.

To download the full report visit www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/A_need_to_belong.pdf.