Research Bulletin

              The relationship between gang
membership and inmate recidivism
By David E. Olson, Ph.D., Brendan Dooley M.A.,
and Candice M. Kane, Ph.D.
Vol. 2, No. 12 May 2004
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
Research Bulletin
Roughly one-quarter of
adult inmates released
from prison in Illinois
during 2000 were
identified as gang
members. This
translates to nearly
11,000 adult gang-involved
releasees per
year in the state.
During the 1990s, a dramatic
increase was seen in both
the number of known gang
members in communities through-out
the U.S. and the proportion of
prison inmates identified as being
gang members. National Youth
Gang Center surveys of law en-forcement
agencies revealed that
by 2000 there were nearly 800,000
active gang members in jurisdic-tions
across the U.S. (Egley &
Arjunan, 2002).
The proportion of adult prison
inmates estimated to be gang
members also increased during the
1990s (Knox, 2000). Roughly one-quarter
of adult inmates released
from prison in Illinois during 2000
were identified as gang members.
This translates to nearly 11,000
adult gang-involved releasees per
year in the state.
Given the substantial increase in
prison populations seen in the U.S.
during the 1990s, and the fact that
most inmates are eventually
released, the impact former inmates
who are also gang-involved can have on communities
and public safety is a concern for criminal justice
practitioners and policy makers. In a survey of local
police departments in the U.S., the majority of police
administrators reported gang members who returned
to the community from prison “had a negative impact
on youth gang problems,” and many of these law
enforcement officials specifically pointed to increased
problems related to drug-trafficking and violence
(Egley & Arjunan, 2002).
The Authority, with the support of the U.S. Department
of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP), National Youth Gang Center
(NYGC), Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC),
and the Illinois State Police (ISP), performed analyses
Rod Blagojevich, Governor
Sheldon Sorosky, Chairman
Lori G. Levin, Executive Director
Research Bulletins are published periodically by the Illinois
Criminal Justice Information Authority. They focus on
research conducted by or for the Authority on a topic of
interest to Illinois criminal justice professionals and
policymakers.
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois, May 2004. This
research was supported by the U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention through grant 95-JD-MU-K001. Points of view
in this document do not necessarily represent the official
position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
For more information about this or other publications from
the Authority, please contact the Authority’s Criminal
Justice Information Clearinghouse at 312-793-8550, or visit
our website at www.icjia.state.il.us.