Measuring gang membership in England and Wales: A latent class analysis with Eurogang survey questions

This study examines how gang membership is measured among young people using the Eurogang Network’s survey approach. Drawing on nationally representative data from England and Wales, the researchers used statistical analysis to identify different types of peer groups and assess whether commonly used survey questions accurately distinguish gang-involved youth.

The findings suggest that the Eurogang measures successfully identified a group of young people involved in more frequent and serious offending. However, the same measures also classified another group whose primary behaviour was recreational drug use , raising questions about whether these young people should be labelled as gang members.

Overall, the study highlights the need for more developmentally sensitive and accurate tools to assess youth peer networks and gang involvement, helping to ensure that prevention and intervention efforts are appropriately targeted.