Study finds fifth of 13-year-olds are in a gang

A MAJOR study of thousands of young people by Scottish researchers has revealed a fifth of 13-year-olds are members of gangs.

The research, carried out by Edinburgh University, also found that teenagers who group together to go to late-night clubs or amusement arcades are more likely to both commit crimes and become victims of other criminals.

In addition, the study of 4,300 young people who started secondary school in 1998 showed that girls are more likely to smoke and drink by the age of 15 than boys.

While a fifth of 13-year-olds were members of gangs, only 17% of those belonged to the most serious, organised gangs with names and a sign, such as Edinburgh gangs the Young Leith Team, Young Niddrie Terror or Bar Ox, from Oxgangs.

Members of organised gangs were typically boys from broken families and lower-class backgrounds. Gangs provided moral support, encouraging and excusing violence and other criminal activities, the study found.

Edinburgh University academic Paul Bradshaw, who specialises in youth gangs, said law enforcement agencies should recognise that gangs have an impact on crime rates.

"The most organised gang members reported being involved in about 30 incidents of delinquency on average over a year. Other gang members reported 20 incidents while non-gang members said they were involved in seven incidents," he said. "The types of delinquency ranged from low-level stuff like being rowdy on a street corner, to theft from home and school, up to housebreaking, joyriding and robbery."

Dr Lesley McAra, who was also involved in the study, found that offending and victimisation were closely linked.

Being a victim of crime at the age of 12 was one of the strongest indicators a child would offend by 15, the study found. And those who offended at 12 were also likely to become victims by the age of 15.

Researchers believe the trend may be explained by young offenders committing offences on each other.

Social class and household income were found to be only slightly related to offending in terms of individual families, but living in a deprived neighbourhood was strongly linked to the local crime rate.