Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey

Abstract

The Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey is a concise, self-report assessment tool developed to quantify the level of exposure to and favorable attitudes toward gangs and gang membership among adolescents. This instrument originated within the Houston Community Demonstration Project and serves as a vital component for the rapid assessment of community risk factors associated with youth violence and delinquency.

Comprising six items utilizing a simple dichotomous (Yes/No) response format, the survey measures both the objective presence of gangs in the respondent’s proximal environment (school and neighborhood) and their subjective disposition toward affiliation. The resulting quantitative score reflects a student’s proximity to and acceptance of gang culture, making it a critical screening tool for preventative public health research and targeted intervention planning. Higher mean scores indicate increased risk exposure or greater favorability toward gang involvement.

Keywords

Gang Exposure, Youth Violence, Adolescent Risk Assessment, Delinquency, School Cohort, Attitude Assessment, Public Health Screening, Houston.

Authors

Houston Community Demonstration Project, City of Houston Health and Human Services Department.

Purpose

The primary objective of the Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey is to provide a quantifiable measure of exposure to gang activity experienced by school-age youth residing in the Houston, Texas, area. It was specifically designed to be easily administered and rapidly scored, serving as an effective screening tool for researchers and public health officials involved in violence prevention initiatives.

The scale effectively captures two complementary dimensions of risk: the environmental reality of gang presence and the personal inclination toward involvement. By assessing both the objective presence of gangs in the immediate environment (e.g., neighborhood and school) and subjective factors (e.g., having gang member friends or a personal desire to join), the instrument facilitates the identification of youth who may be at a statistically higher risk for future antisocial behavior, violence, or delinquency.

Construct

The scale is designed to measure the multifaceted construct of Gang Exposure and Favorability. This construct is viewed as a continuum of risk that integrates both external environmental influences and internal psychological components.

External exposure is captured by items focusing on observable factors, such as the perceived presence of gangs in the community and direct contact with gang members. Internal favorability, conversely, assesses the respondent’s personal attitudes, willingness, and identification with gang members or the desire to join a gang. The cumulative score links this combined exposure and acceptance directly to the broader likelihood of youth violence and subsequent delinquent behavior.

Validity

Detailed, scale-specific psychometric studies establishing the traditional forms of validity for the Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey are generally not present in the primary source documentation. However, its inclusion in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) compendium suggests that the instrument is widely recognized as possessing strong face validity and content validity.

These forms of validity confirm that the instrument appears to measure the intended constructs of gang exposure and attitude effectively within epidemiological and public health contexts. Researchers utilizing this brief measure are strongly advised to conduct supplementary analyses to establish criterion-related validity, specifically examining correlations with known external outcomes, such as self-reported delinquent behavior, disciplinary records, or official anti-social conduct data.

Reliability

Specific detailed reliability statistics, such as Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency or test-retest reliability coefficients, are not readily available in the foundational reference materials for this six-item instrument. The scale’s brevity and reliance on a dichotomous response format inherently limit the applicability and interpretation of certain conventional reliability metrics used in psychometrics.

Despite these limitations, the scale’s utility and implicit reliability are often derived from its use in expansive cohort studies, where the large-scale aggregation of data helps stabilize measurement outcomes. Future scholarly efforts are encouraged to calculate and report reliability coefficients to ensure consistent measurement performance across diverse youth populations and contexts.

Factor Analysis

Formal documentation detailing an exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis for the Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey is not provided in the public record. Given the structure of the six items—three relating to environmental exposure (Items 1, 3, 4) and three relating to personal favorability or involvement (Items 2, 5, 6)—it is theoretically plausible that a factor analysis could reveal a two-factor structure (Environmental Exposure vs. Personal Favorability/Involvement).

However, the small total number of items (N=6) presents a significant constraint, making the execution of a statistically robust factor analysis challenging. Currently, the standard scoring methodology assumes a unidimensional construct, where all items are summed together to produce a single, comprehensive score representing overall gang exposure and favorability.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire; Public health risk assessment scale

Format: Six items, utilizing a dichotomous (Yes/No) response structure. Scoring procedures mandate the use of reverse coding for one specific item to ensure scoring consistency with the overall favorability construct.

Language Available: English (Inferred from original administration)

Population Group: Youth; Students

Age Group: School-age cohort, typically spanning early to late adolescence.

Population Details: This scale was initially administered to a specific school cohort within Houston, Texas, as part of a community demonstration project focused on preventative violence measures.

Test Methodology: The scale employs quantitative survey methodology. Responses are scored by assigning point values: Yes = 1, No = 0. Crucially, Item 2 (“Are gang members troublemakers?”) must be reverse coded (Yes = 0, No = 1) if the researcher intends for a higher overall score to signify increased favorability toward gangs. The final score is calculated as a mean score by summing all point values and dividing by the total number of non-blank responses.

Keywords

Psychological assessment, Violence prevention, Public health, Adolescence, Self-report measure, Psychometrics, Community health, Risk behavior, Dichotomous scale.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Organizational authorship is noted)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: City of Houston Health and Human Services Department, Houston, TX

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey was developed in 1993 under the auspices of the Houston Community Demonstration Project. While specific details regarding commercial copyright permissions or mandatory licensing fees are not publicly documented, the instrument is widely accessible due to its inclusion in the CDC’s official compendium of assessment tools.

The original PDF of the compendium, which contains this instrument on page 233, is available for public access. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Reference’s

• Houston Community Demonstration Project. Houston, TX: City of Houston Health and Human Services Department, 1993.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. Atlanta, GA: CDC, 1999. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Items of the Exposure to Gangs—Houston School Cohort Survey

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

• 1. Are there gangs in your neighborhood?
• 2. Are gang members troublemakers?
• 3. Do you have friends who are gang members?
• 4. Are there gang members in this school?
• 5. Would you like to be a gang member?
• 6. Are you a gang member?