Substance Use Among Gang Youth Annotation

Sanders, Bill, Stephen E. Lankenau, and Jennifer Jackson-Bloom. “Putting in Work: Qualitative    Research on Substance Use and Other Risk Behaviors Among Gang Youth in Los     Angeles.” Substance Use & Misuse 45.5 (2010): 736-53. Taylor & Francis Online. Web. 19 Jan. 2016.

The focus of the article is to discuss how substance use among gang youth is more likely to occur among this group than their nongang peers. It contextualizes the interrelationship between substance use, violence, and unsafe sexual behaviors. The article provides qualitative research from a small sample of gang youth (n = 60) between the ages of 16 to 25 from various areas in Los Angeles. The research was accessed through in-depth interviews during a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded pilot study on substance abuse and other risk behaviors. The authors decided to name their study “Putting in Work” as an expression not only used by gang members in Los Angeles to describe committing criminal activity but to describe the efforts of being involved with the gang-identified youth for research purposes. The article would be useful for a paper focused on substance use among gang youth in various areas of Los Angeles and how this group is more affected than their nongang peers.