Youth Gang Membership, Marginalized Identities, and Suicidality Disparities: Intersectional Implications for Research and Practice.

Abstract

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the U.S., and emerging evidence indicates that gang-involved youth may be at elevated risk. Yet, little is known about suicidality prevalence among subgroups of gang and non-gang youth due to limited measures of social identity in previous studies. Guided by an intersectional framework, this study examined gang and non-gang differences in suicidality across an array of social identities and tested the effect of gang membership on suicidality within the context of cumulative marginalization. Data come from a statewide, school-based sample of adolescents in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades (N = 81,080). Chi-square and independent samples t-tests examined group differences in rates of self-reported suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts. Logistic regression models tested the moderating effect of multiple marginalized identities on the gang-suicidality link. Gang-involved youth reported significantly higher suicidality compared to non-gang youth, with between-group disparities observed across singular marginalized identities. However, moderation analyses found that the effect of gang membership on suicidal ideation and planning was less salient in the context of cumulative marginalization. Findings suggest that gang-involved youth represent a unique and diverse population at risk of suicide. At the same time, gang membership may also offer some degree of protection against early stages of suicide for those with a greater number of marginalized identities. Implications for social work science and practice within an intersectional framework are discussed.