Although sexual victimization is difficult to study, an understanding of it is relevant to programs designed to keep adolescent females out of gangs and programs designed to intervene with or provide safe havens for female gang members once they are in gangs. Additional research that provides a better understanding of why females join gangs may help communities develop prevention programs to deter female gang membership. Because it bears so heavily on gender roles, ethnicity is important in understanding how female gangs function and is also relevant to program design. More research is needed on this topic, particularly with regard to Latina and Asian immigrant gangs, white gangs, and multiethnic gangs. Gender roles in gangs.
Additional research is needed on the roles of females in drug gangs.
Delinquency and criminality. More substantial data on female gang members delinquency and criminality are needed. Continue national surveys of local law enforcement agencies. Despite acknowledged problems of police underreporting and of varying local definitions of what constitutes a gang or a gang-related offense, surveys of law enforcement agencies provide a valuable look at changes over time. Use existing law enforcement data sets.