Pride and prejudice in high school gang members

This study compared gang versus nongang high school students along measures of self-esteem, racial attitudes, and their self-professed role models. A total of 78 Caucasian (65 nongang and 13 gang members) and 77 African-American students (41 nongang and 36 gang members) participated. Results indicated that gang members had significantly lower levels of self-esteem compared to their nongang peers. All students, regardless of ethnicity, manifested negative racial stereotyping toward racial outgroups; gang members were not more racially prejudiced compared to other students. The role model data revealed that overall, gang members could name fewer role models than did their nongang peers. African-American students who were not gang members were much more likely to mention a parent or teacher as a role model. A regression analysis indicated that the absence of parental or teacher roles models was the best predictor of gang membership. These results are conceptualized within the framework provided by social identity theory.