“Girls come to the gang for very different reasons than boys. For boys in marginalized communities, they have a gender problem, and they solve it often through gang membership. They find an ability to do masculinity in a way that reasserts their importance in a society that mostly ignores them. For girls, they're coming out of more damaged backgrounds. Their families are often the reason they get propelled into gang membership.” WayDifferentReasonProblemGirlCommunityAbilityBoysImportanceGenderSolveBackgroundsComing OutMasculinityGangMembershipMarginalized Author:Meda Chesney-Lind
“Girls often feel very powerless in their lives and their families, and they kind of mimic the male violence as a way to try and get some of that male power that they see lacking in their own lives.” WayFeelsTryingKindGirlViolenceMalesLackingPowerless Author:Meda Chesney-Lind
