Sexual Violence among Mexican-American Gang Affiliated Females

Mexican American female adolescents are at a disadvantaged structural societal position in several areas: socioeconomic, ethnicity, gender, and age. Therefore, some researchers have posited that some Mexican American female adolescents join gangs to resolve societal structural problems, even at the cost of increased risk for substance use, sex, crime, and violent activities (Miller, 2001). The present study explored sexual violence among high-risk Mexican American adolescent females using Johnson (1995) typology of intimate partner violence. Life history interviews were conducted on 150 Mexican American gang affiliated females, ages 14-18 years, to elicit information regarding participants’ exposure to and experience with crime, drugs, violence, and sexual behavior