Raw down: HIV risk among adolescent gang members

Background: Adolescents and young adults, particularly African Americans and Latinos, are disproportionately affected by, and at risk for, STIs and HIV. Adolescent gang members experience additional risks, including increased use of drugs and alcohol, dating violence, and multiple sexual partners. This study qualitatively explores the unique HIV risks of adolescent gang members.

Methods: This study uses data collected from 43 interviews with adolescent members of four Milwaukee gangs. Participants were 14 to 19 years old, with male and female, and African American and Latino participants recruited through research staff or via referral of contacts by study participants. We transcribed, coded, and analyzed interviews for key themes and patterns using MAXQDA.

Results: Findings suggest that overall, HIV risk is high among adolescent gang members. While some of this risk is evident across adolescents in general, gang members have additional experiences including multiple sexual partners, group or train sex, and sex as initiation into a gang, placing them at higher risk for HIV. These risk behaviors are central to, and enforced by gang culture, making them especially difficult to avoid or mitigate, particularly for female gang members.

Conclusions: It is clear that adolescent gang members are a particularly high-risk group that deserve increased attention and focus for HIV prevention initiatives. The structure and culture of gangs, although quite variable, makes it difficult to reach gang members through traditional HIV prevention initiatives. Future phases of this project will assist in developing a targeted, multilevel, HIV intervention for gang members.