@article{ref1,
title="A comparative study of initial involvement in gangs and political extremism",
journal="Terrorism and political violence",
year="2022",
author="Becker, Michael H. and Decker, Scott H. and LaFree, Gary and Pyrooz, David C. and Ernest, Kyle and James, Patrick A.",
volume="34",
number="8",
pages="1647-1664",
abstract="There is a paucity of research comparing gang members and domestic extremists and extant studies find few explicit linkages. Despite this, there remains a great deal of interest in possible similarities between these criminal groups. Driving this interest is the possibility of adapting policies and practices aimed at preventing entry into criminal groups. A critical first step to determining compatibility is to examine the circumstances of the individuals who enter these organizations and better describe the entry processes. This study provides a unique comparison of entry into these groups by drawing on four broad empirically derived mechanisms of group entry using forty-five in-person interviews of U.S. gang members and thirty-eight life history narratives of individuals who radicalized in the United States. Our results reveal that each of the four conceptual categories appeared to influence initial involvement; however, no single mechanism described involvement in criminal groups or differentiated involvement across the gangs and extremist groups.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0954-6553",
doi="10.1080/09546553.2020.1828079",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2020.1828079"
}