NOTE: Images of the author and of the book cover are available
at www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2007/04april
/avaldezph.html
GANG SIGNS: UH PROF EXAMINES THE LIFE
AND LESSONS OF GIRLS AND GANGS
Valdez’s New Books Offers Insight to Girls’ Treatment
from Gangs and From Society
HOUSTON, April 9, 2007—They take drugs. They are sexually
active. They are involved in violence. They are girls who are associated
with gangs, and the perception from schools, state agencies and
even families is that they are beyond help. Avelardo Valdez, University
of Houston social work and sociology professor and director of the
Office for Drug and Social Policy Research at the Graduate College
of Social Work, makes the assertion in his latest book, “Mexican
American Girls and Gang Violence: Beyond Risk” (Palgrave Macmillan,
2007).
“These girls are now an underclass-second or third generation
of marginalized women who don’t know any other kind of life
and, without intervention from new policies or programs, are not
going to break that cycle,” Valdez said. “These girls
need help. If they don’t rise to the top, they are discarded.”
Valdez and his research team spent two years identifying and interviewing
150 girls associated with 26 gangs in San Antonio. Boys from those
gangs assisted in identifying the girls who were approached with
the consent of their parents or guardians. The ODSPR maintains a
research office in San Antonio.
“These girls are not necessarily gang members. They are
friends, girlfriends, sisters or neighbors of gang members,”
Valdez said.
His book examines conditions that create a sub-culture where the
accepted norm to young Mexican American girls on San Antonio’s
west side is drug use, violence (intimate partner and other physical
violence), delinquency and pregnancy. The life is reinforced by
others in gangs or those associated with gangs. He is hopeful that
his research adds to an arena that is lacking in such literature.
Much of the current research focuses on men and boys in gangs, he
said.
Among the findings in his book:
- Multiple sex partners, pregnancies and childbirth, crime and
multiple drug use are all common among these beyond risk girls,
- Girls affiliated with delinquent youth gangs show significant
early childhood physical, emotional and sexual trauma,
- Among this street-based culture, women are expected to adhere
to traditional gender roles, often resulting in victimization
if these roles are violated,
- Positive family relationships, especially the mother-daughter
relationship, were shown to have a protective function for these
female adolescents
“My aim is to provide first-hand experiences of the social,
cultural and contextual dynamics that are affecting poor, urban,
Mexican American, adolescent females living in an era of gangs,”
Valdez said. “I’m looking at how each girl’s level
of delinquency is related to the quality of their relationships
with their parents, siblings, boyfriends, common-law husbands and
friends.”
Valdez says the existence of these issues represents a failure
of schools, government and extended families that have resulted
in a socially disorganized community, creating a climate ripe for
gang life and a perception that solutions are too far out of reach
to make a difference. One finding from the research indicates that
services to nurture mother-daughter relationships may go a long
way in preventing risk behaviors in the adolescent girls. In addition,
services or training that conveys traditional gender roles without
the traditional patriarchal system may also be valuable in stemming
the tide of gang association.
The Office for Drug and Social Policy Research (ODSPR) was established
in 2001 as a commitment to move the UH Graduate College of Social
Work towards a drug research agenda. The ODSPR collaborates with
many entities including the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA). The effort also serves as a clearinghouse for publications
and papers on drug research.
For more information on the Office for Drug and Social Policy Research,
please visit www.uh.edu/odspr/index.htm
For more information on the UH Graduate College of Social Work,
please visit www.sw.uh.edu/home.php
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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