'Chillin', being dogged and getting buzzed': alcohol in the lives of female gang members

This paper explores drinking by girl gang members. Sociologists and crimino logists have tended to concentrate on both male gang members and their invo lvement in drug dealing. This pre-occupation has tended to overshadow not o nly the role of female gang members but also the importance of drinking wit hin youth gangs. In spite of a growing interest in female drinking, ethnogr aphic and qualitative research on female drinking is still much less develo ped than that devoted to male drinking. In analyzing the culture of drinkin g in the lives of girl gang members, we uncover the extent to which alcohol plays a central part in their everyday lives. Data for this paper are draw n from the results of an on-going study of street gangs in the San Francisc o Bay area, in which 97 female gang members were interviewed using both a q uantitative and qualitative interview schedule.