Evaluating End Gang Life: a Provincial Anti-Gang Initiative

Evaluating End Gang Life: A Provincial Anti-Gang Initiative

by Ashley A. Pritchard

M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2014 B.A. (Hons.), University of British Columbia, 2010

Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in the Department of Psychology Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval

Name: Ashley A. Pritchard Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Evaluating End Gang Life: A Provincial Anti-Gang Initiative Examining Committee: Chair: Robert Ley Associate Professor

Kevin Douglas Senior Supervisor Professor

Jodi Viljoen Supervisor Associate Professor

Nathalie Gagnon Supervisor Faculty Member Department of Criminology Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Martin Bouchard Internal Examiner Professor School of Criminology

Irwin Cohen External Examiner Associate Professor School of Criminology and Criminal Justice University of the Fraser Valley

Date Defended/Approved: April 12, 2019

ii Ethics Statement

iii Abstract

End Gang Life is a provincial anti-gang initiative developed by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia (CFSEU-BC). Goals of the initiative include promoting gang awareness, education, and prevention, including disseminating information via public service announcements (PSAs) and presentations in the community. This evaluation examined study participants’ reactions to PSAs and seminars presented by the End Gang Life initiative in three studies. In the Undergraduate Study, participants were exposed to one of 15 PSAs (six videos, six posters, three radio ads) and then completed self-report questionnaires. The questionnaires addressed participants’ opinions about the PSA and participants’ level of antisociality as measured by self-reported offending and psychopathic features. This sample consisted of undergraduate students from Simon Fraser University who completed the study online. The Community Study used a similar design, but was conducted with participants that were recruited from the community. In the High School Study, the sample consisted of high school students in British Columbia. Students completed paper self-report measures following a presentation by the CFSEU-BC. Results showed that undergraduate students and community members were more likely to perceive the PSAs as effective when negative emotions (e.g., sadness) were elicited, the content was perceived to be realistic, and greater sensations were perceived. Generally, these results were seen regardless of the degree of participants’ psychopathic traits, suggesting that PSAs may be of comparable effectiveness regardless of the presence of such traits. Of the three groups, the high school students reported the highest perceived sensations in response to the End Gang Life seminars. Further, the high school students were receptive to the seminars. Findings of this evaluation will help improve the existing initiative and will inform future anti-gang initiatives.

Keywords: anti-gang; police; public service announcements; perceived effectiveness; perceived message sensation value; prevention

iv Dedication

I would like to dedicate my dissertation to my parents for their endless support.

v Acknowledgements

I would like to first express my gratitude to my senior supervisor, Dr. Kevin Douglas, for his invaluable mentorship over the past ten years. I am truly thankful for the countless opportunities and imparted knowledge he provided, which greatly contributed to my professional development. Additionally, I thank him for the time he dedicated to this dissertation.

I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Jodi Viljoen and Dr. Nathalie Gagnon, for their time and indispensable feedback. Their expertise was an asset to the project.

A special thank you should be given to Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton and Mr. Peter Vatic of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia for their research collaboration. I would also like to thank my research assistants for their contributions. In addition, I am grateful for the funding provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Finally, and just as importantly, I wish to thank my family and friends from near and far. I am deeply appreciative of their moral support, especially Duncan Greig for his continuous encouragement.

vi Table of Contents

Approval ...... ii Ethics Statement ...... iii Abstract ...... iv Dedication ...... v Acknowledgements ...... vi Table of Contents ...... vii List of Tables ...... x List of Acronyms ...... xiii

Chapter 1. General Introduction ...... 1 1.1. What is a Gang? ...... 2 1.1.1. Gang membership ...... 2 1.1.2. Gangs in Canada ...... 4 1.1.3. Gang control strategies ...... 6 1.2. Anti-Gang Mass Media Initiatives ...... 6 1.2.1. Before End Gang Life ...... 6 1.2.2. The End Gang Life initiative ...... 7 PSAs ...... 8 Myths and Realities video modules ...... 8 Seminars ...... 8 Program Logic Model ...... 9 1.3. Mass Media Campaigns ...... 9 1.3.1. Perceived message sensation value ...... 10 1.3.2. Perceived effectiveness ...... 11 1.3.3. Mode of information transfer ...... 11 1.3.4. What works in mass media campaigns ...... 12 1.3.5. Theories ...... 12 Activation theory of information exposure ...... 13 Elaboration likelihood theory ...... 13 Theory of reasoned action ...... 14 1.4. Study Objectives ...... 14

Chapter 2. Undergraduate Study ...... 18 2.1. Overview ...... 18 2.2. Method ...... 18 2.2.1. Participants ...... 18 2.2.2. Procedure ...... 19 2.2.3. Measures ...... 19 Public Service Announcement Questionnaire ...... 19 PMSV Scale ...... 20 Self-Report of Offending ...... 20

vii Gang Attitudes Scale ...... 21 Triarchic Psychopathy Measure ...... 21 Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality Self-Report ...... 22 2.2.4. Ethics approval ...... 22 2.2.5. Analysis ...... 23 Data analysis plan ...... 23 Missing data and assumptions ...... 24 Power ...... 24 2.3. Results ...... 25 2.3.1. Descriptive information ...... 25 2.3.2. Research question 1: What is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features? ...... 29 2.3.3. Research question 2: What is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences? ...... 32 2.3.4. Research question 3: What is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences? .. 36 2.3.5. Research question 4: What is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness? ...... 41 2.4. Discussion ...... 42

Chapter 3. Community Study ...... 47 3.1. Overview ...... 47 3.2. Method ...... 47 3.2.1. Participants ...... 47 3.2.2. Procedure ...... 48 3.2.3. Measures ...... 49 3.2.4. Ethics approval ...... 50 3.2.5. Analysis ...... 50 3.3. Results ...... 50 3.4. Descriptive information ...... 50 3.4.1. Research question 1: What is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features? ...... 54 3.4.2. Research question 2: What is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences? ...... 56 3.4.3. Research question 3: What is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences? .. 58 3.4.4. Research question 4: What is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness? ...... 61 3.5. Discussion ...... 62

Chapter 4. High School Study ...... 65 4.1. Overview ...... 65 4.2. Method ...... 65 4.2.1. Participants ...... 65 4.2.2. Procedure ...... 66 4.2.3. Measures ...... 66

viii 4.2.4. Ethics approval ...... 67 4.2.5. Analysis ...... 67 Data analysis plan ...... 67 Missing data and assumptions ...... 67 4.3. Results ...... 67 4.3.1. Descriptive information ...... 67 4.3.2. Research question: What is the association between perceived message sensation, reactions to the seminar, and anti-gang attitudes? ...... 70 4.4. Discussion ...... 72

Chapter 5. General Results ...... 74 5.1. Descriptive Information ...... 74 5.1.1. Research question: What is the association between sample and perceived message sensation? ...... 75

Chapter 6. General Discussion ...... 76 6.1. Summary of Main Findings ...... 76 6.2. Implications for End Gang Life ...... 77 6.3. Implications for Anti-Gang Initiatives ...... 78 6.4. Strengths and Limitations ...... 79 6.5. Future Directions ...... 80 6.6. Conclusions ...... 81

References ...... 82

Appendix A. PSA Descriptions ...... 92 Push (Video and Poster) ...... 92 Bury You (Video and Poster) ...... 92 I Miss You Daddy (Video and Poster) ...... 92 Dial a Doper (Video and Poster) ...... 93 Sun Don’t Shine (Video and Poster) ...... 93 Roll like a Gangster (Video and Poster) ...... 94 Radio Ad #1 ...... 94 Radio Ad #2 ...... 94 Radio Ad #3 ...... 94

Appendix B. Additional Figures and Tables ...... 95

ix List of Tables

Table 1. Summary of the Evaluation ...... 15 Table 2. Research Questions ...... 15 Table 3. Demographic Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 18 Table 4. Number of PSAs Shown to Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 26 Table 5. PMSV Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 26 Table 6. Perceptions and Personality Characteristic Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 27 Table 7. Gang Attitude Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 28 Table 8. Means and Standard Deviations for PMSV Total Scores by Mode for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 29 Table 9. Association Between Gang Attitudes and Psychopathic Traits for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 29 Table 10. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Reinforcer Index Scores from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 30 Table 11. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Reinforcer Index Scores from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 31 Table 12. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Punisher Index Scores from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 31 Table 13. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 31 Table 14. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 32 Table 15. PMSV Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 33 Table 16. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the PSAQ Variables for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 34 Table 17. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 34 Table 18. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 34 Table 19. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV While Controlling for Psychopathic Features for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 35 Table 20. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV While Controlling for Significant Psychopathic Domains or Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 36 Table 21. Perceived Effectiveness Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 37 Table 22. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PMSV Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 38

x Table 23. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PSAQ Variables for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 38 Table 24. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 38 Table 25. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 39 Table 26. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness While Controlling for Age, Delinquency, and Psychopathic Features for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 40 Table 27. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness While Controlling for Age, Delinquency, and Psychopathic Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants ...... 41 Table 28. Demographic Descriptives for Community Member Participants ...... 48 Table 29. Number of PSAs Shown to Community Member Participants ...... 51 Table 30. PMSV Descriptives for Community Member Participants ...... 51 Table 31. Perceptions and Personality Characteristic Descriptives for Community Member Participants ...... 52 Table 32. Gang Attitude Descriptives for Community Member Participants ...... 53 Table 33. Means and Standard Deviations for PMSV Total Scores by Mode for Community Member Participants ...... 54 Table 34. Association Between Gang Attitudes and Psychopathic Traits for Community Member Participants ...... 55 Table 35. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the TriPM Subscales for Community Member Participants ...... 55 Table 36. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the CAPP Domains for Community Member Participants ...... 56 Table 37. PMSV Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Community Member Participants ...... 57 Table 38. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the PSAQ Variables for Community Member Participants ...... 58 Table 39. Perceived Effectiveness Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Community Member Participants ...... 59 Table 40. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PMSV Subscales for Community Member Participants ...... 60 Table 41. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PSAQ Variables for Community Member Participants ...... 60 Table 42. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the CAPP Domains for Community Member Participants ...... 60 Table 43. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness While Controlling for Delinquency and Psychopathic Features for Community Member Participants ...... 61 Table 44. Demographic Descriptives for High School Student Participants ...... 65 Table 45. PMSV Descriptives for High School Student Participants ...... 68

xi Table 46. Mean Scores for High School Student Participants ...... 69 Table 47. Percentages for Individual Items for High School Student Participants .. 70 Table 48. Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for High School Student Participants . 71 Table 49. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV for High School Student Participants ...... 71 Table 50. PMSV Descriptives for All Participants ...... 74 Table 51. Means and Standard Deviations for PMSV Total Scores by Mode ...... 74

xii List of Acronyms

ANOVA Analysis of variance BC British Columbia CAPP Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality CFSEU-BC Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia CIC Corrected item-total correlation ELT Elaboration likelihood theory GAS Gang Attitudes Scale G.R.E.A.T. Gang Resistance and Education Training MIC Mean inter-item correlation MSV Message sensation value ORE Office of Research Ethics PMSV Perceived message sensation value PSA Public service announcement PSAQ Public Service Announcement Questionnaire RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police RPS Research Participant System SENTAR Sensation-seeking targeting SFU Simon Fraser University SRO Self-Report of Offending TRA Theory of reasoned action TriPM Triarchic Psychopathy Measure

xiii Chapter 1.

General Introduction

The scholarly literature on gangs is extensive. The geographical context in which gangs arise is important (Hemmati, 2006) and there is not much research on gangs in British Columbia specifically. Despite this, there have been many newspaper articles, news reports, and documentaries covering gang activity in British Columbia. For instance, in 2015, police released photos of individuals with possible gang involvement in response to “gang war” shootings (The Early Edition, 2015). More recently, to protect the public, the Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) publically identified five men who were targets of shootings (Correia, 2017). Gangs bring violence and drugs into communities, particularly in an area that is close to a shipping port and/or close to a national border (i.e., the Lower Mainland). As a result, active gang prevention efforts are crucial to protecting community members in cities like Vancouver.

Public service announcements (PSA) are a tool that can be used for prevention. The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) is an “integrated anti-gang police agency” (CFSEU-BC, 2015a) that use PSAs in their initiative, entitled End Gang Life. Using multimedia methods, the End Gang Life initiative aims to educate British Columbians about the dangers of gang activity and membership, to prevent individuals (particularly youth) from creating gang ties, and to steer gang-affiliated individuals away from the gang lifestyle. There is a lack of research examining anti-gang PSAs, and this was an aim of this evaluation. In addition, high school students’ responses to anti-gang presentations were examined as part of this evaluation.

The purpose of this evaluation was to investigate how individuals react to the PSAs and seminars presented in the End Gang Life initiative. A brief review of the gang literature will be followed by a description of the End Gang Life initiative. In addition, an exploration of research on mass media campaigns will be outlined. Findings from the evaluation of the End Gang Life initiative may help inform and perhaps improve future anti-gang campaigns.

1 1.1. What is a Gang?

There is not one definition for the term “gang,” but definitions have included the following elements: group, symbols, communication, permanence, and crime (Curry, Decker, & Pyrooz, 2014; Taylor & Vecchio, 2015). Definitional issues can lead to over- or underestimating gang numbers (Esbensen, Winfree, He, & Taylor, 2001). In the Criminal Code of Canada (Criminal Code, 1985), the term “criminal organization” is used in place of the term gang. Specifically, the Criminal Code states the following:

“criminal organization” means a group, however organized, that (a) is composed of three or more persons in or outside of Canada; and (b) has as one of its main purposes or main activities the facilitation or commission of one or more serious offences that, if committed, would likely result in the direct or indirect receipt of a material benefit, including a financial benefit, by the group or by any of the persons who constitute the group. (s. 467.1).

Of course, other definitions and conceptualizations have been put forth. For example, Gordon (2000) described three types of groups that have been labelled as a “gang”: criminal business organizations (i.e., structured and motivated by economic reasons), street gangs (i.e., semi-structured and involved in criminal behaviour that is economically profitable), and “wanna-be” groups (i.e., least structured and partake in impulsive social and criminal activities); all three types have been found in British Columbia. Although the definition of what constitutes a gang is not a matter of consensus, the impact of such organizations on society are significant and should not be ignored. The following sections cover gang membership, an overview of gangs within British Columbia and Canada, and gang control strategies.

1.1.1. Gang membership

Definitions of gang membership may not be relevant to the gang-affiliated individual for one of two reasons: 1) they do not know they are in a gang or 2) they do not want to be labeled as a gang member. Gang affiliated youth and young adults may not “consider themselves “gang members” and actually go out of their way” to indicate that their drug dealing, for example, does not extend beyond drug dealing (L. Houghton, personal communication, January 16, 2019). Labelling an individual as gang affiliated should not be taken lightly as it can be stigmatizing (Dunbar, 2017).

2 Gang membership is typically initiated during adolescence (Curry et al., 2014; Pyrooz, 2014; Taylor & Vecchio, 2015) and generally gang involvement usually lasts less than a year or two (Pyrooz, 2014; Taylor & Vecchio, 2015). Pyrooz (2014) stated that there is no clear distinction between youth and adult gang membership as there are multiple trajectories of gang membership. It is important to consider the reasons why individuals choose gang membership.

Decker and Van Winkle (1996) were the first to postulate that reasons for joining a gang could be categorized as “pushes” or “pulls” (Roman, Decker, & Pyrooz, 2017). A pull refers to an intrinsic element of gang membership that is attractive; the opportunities to gain status or money are examples of pulls (Decker & Van Winkle, 1996). A push is an external factor that motivates an individual to join a gang, such as encouragement by family or friends, or the desire for personal protection (Decker & Van Winkle, 1996). It has been said that one of the main reasons for joining a gang is protection (Taylor & Vecchio, 2015; Wood & Alleyne, 2010). Ironically, the likelihood of victimization is greater when in a gang, and is one of the reasons that some gang members ultimately desist (Wood & Alleyne, 2010). Individuals also join gangs because of the benefits and sentiments associated with belonging to a family-like group (Wood & Alleyne, 2010). Decker and Van Winkle (1996) indicated that it is ultimately a person-specific combination of pushes and pulls that motivate an individual (typically young) to become a member of a gang.

Individual characteristics have also been associated with gang membership, including pro-gang attitudes, delinquency, and psychopathic traits. Unsurprisingly, research has found that gang affiliation is associated with pro-gang attitudes (Chu, Daffern, Thomas, Ang, & Long, 2014) and delinquency (Melde & Esbensen, 2011). Prosocial youth are less likely to join gangs (Melde & Esbensen, 2011). Further, Pyrooz, Turanovic, Decker, and Wu (2016) conducted a meta-analysis and found a robust relationship between offending and gang membership.

Psychopathy is a robust risk factor for violence (Dematteo, Edens, & Hart, 2010): “Lack of empathy, inflated self-appraisal, and superficial charm are features that have been commonly included in traditional conceptions of psychopathy” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 660). However, the literature is mixed about whether psychopathy is associated with gang membership. Ang, Huan, Chan, Cheong, and Leaw (2015) did not find a significant association between gang membership and psychopathy in a sample of Singaporean adolescents; it was proposed that the equivocal findings in the literature could be due to psychopathy not having a direct link to gang membership, except perhaps with

3 moderating or mediating factors, or psychopathy being multifaceted. With regard to the latter, Dmitrieva, Gibson, Steinberg, Piquero, and Fagan (2014) found that gang leadership was associated with the grandiose and manipulative traits of psychopathy. Dupéré, Lacourse, Willms, Vitaro, and Tremblay (2007) found that Canadian youth with “psychopathic tendencies” who were from neighbourhoods with a high turnover rate (“residential instability”) were more likely to join a gang; Dupéré et al. (2007) considered “psychopathic tendencies” to be the coalescence of low levels of prosociality and anxiety, as well as high levels of hyperactivity.

For the evaluation, it was important to examine whether participants’ perceptions of the initiative were significant even after controlling for antisocial individual characteristics, including psychopathic traits. Viewers of End Gang Life content are a heterogeneous group of adults and youth, who have varying attitudes, behaviour patterns, and presumably differing levels of psychopathy. While findings on psychopathy and gang membership are mixed, the association is relatively understudied and further research on the topic is needed. If there is an association between psychopathic traits and gang membership, it is important for anti-gang initiatives like End Gang Life to appeal to those with higher levels of psychopathy. It is known that psychopathic traits include low anxiety, shallow affect, and other deficits of emotional processing. Thus, if the goal of End Gang Life is to communicate a message by eliciting arousal in the viewer, it is possible that those with more psychopathic traits do not perceive the content to be as impactful. This could ultimately mean that End Gang Life less effectively targets those at higher risk of gang membership. If the findings regarding perceived effectiveness are consistent even after controlling for psychopathy, then this would suggest that the initiative’s use of emotionally provocative content is not misguided.

1.1.2. Gangs in Canada

There is a dearth of gang research in Canada (Bouchard, & Spindler, 2010; Descormiers, 2013; Hemmati, 2006), particularly in British Columbia (Gravel, Wong, & Simpson, 2018). The data that do exist regarding gangs in British Columbia have primarily been collected from incarcerated youth and police records (Gravel et al., 2018). Hemmati (2006) reported that although the United States has a wealth of experience and theory on the topic, it is unwise to apply it to the Canadian context due to the differences between the two countries: proportions of population in gangs, ethnicities, and criminal justice systems. In

4 particular, “gang characteristics and activities are very region and city specific” (Hemmati, 2006, p. 16).

In the 1980s, most gang members had newly immigrated to Canada, and were from gangs such as Los Diablos or Lotus (Slinger, 2011). Los Diablos was primarily a Hispanic gang, but also included members that were of African, Chinese, East Indian, European, Fijian, and Iranian descent (Gordon, 1998). Youth who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong were original members of the Lotus gang (Schneider, 2009). From January 1995 to January 1996, one study examined gang involved individuals who were managed by a probation officer. This study was entitled, “The Greater Vancouver Gang Study” (Gordon & Foley, 1998). The Greater Vancouver Gang Study found that a primary reason that individuals join street gangs is to foster relationships with their peers.

In 2006, Hemmati examined firearm use and urban gangs. Interestingly, gangs in Vancouver were found to be most readily identifiable by the ethnicity of its members (i.e., Asian, East Indian, and Aboriginal); and they were characterized as being not particularly territorial (Hemmati, 2006). However, more recent information from the CFSEU-BC (2015b) indicated that it is no longer the norm that gangs in Vancouver and surrounding areas are ethnicity based. In addition, Slinger (2011) reported that gangs were differentiated not by territory, but through “dial-a-dope” operations, in which people obtain drugs by calling or texting a dealer; perhaps gangs are now also organized and facilitated by social media operations run through applications like Snapchat (Rankin, 2016). Recently in British Columbia, many gang members, including those in the United Nations and Red Scorpions gangs (Slinger, 2011), were found to be primarily from middle class families.

Criminology researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU) have conducted some recent gang research. In 2010, Bouchard and Konarski (2014) collected information from police records about six 856 gang members to examine the gang’s co-offending network (e.g., who committed what crimes with whom). The 856 gang was of concern to police in 2007 and, at the time of arrest, the six males examined were 16 to 19 years of age (Bouchard & Konarski, 2014). The analyses revealed that 13 individuals were core to the gang, whereas 47 individuals were in the periphery (Bouchard & Konarski, 2014). From 1998 to 2011, the “Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study” interviewed young offenders in British Columbia (Descormiers, 2013; McCuish, Bouchard, & Corrado, 2015). Descormiers (2013) collected data between November 2009 and December 2011 to investigate gang trajectories (e.g., gang entry to gang exit), and found that youths who had gang-affiliated family members were not only more likely to joins gangs, but to stay in them

5 for a greater length of time. Mulish, Bouchard, and Corrado (2015) found that gang members selected fellow gang members as co-offenders to commit homicide.

In 2009, gang violence in Vancouver reached the attention of The Economist and an article on the subject stated that the drug trade used the city as a distribution hub (Anonymous, 2009). In 2017, there were 163 gang-related homicides in Canada that accounted for 25% percent of total homicides and 44 of those occurred in British Columbia (Beattie, David, & Ray, 2018). The number of criminal groups in British Columbia is estimated to be 188 (CFSEU-BC, 2015b). According to the City of Surrey’s Mayor’s Task Force on Gang Violence Prevention, “BC’s gang landscape is always changing and possesses characteristics which appear to be unlike any other region experiencing gang violence” (City of Surrey, 2018, p. 6). Gangs in British Columbia are composed of individuals with differing socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic origins (City of Surrey, 2018; McConnell, 2015). The CFSEU-BC was created to respond to such organized crime (CFSEU-BC, 2015c; Gravel et al., 2018).

1.1.3. Gang control strategies

There are a variety of strategies to try to control gang members and their activity. Gravel, Bouchard, Descormiers, Wong, and Morselli (2013) conducted a systematic review of gang control strategies and created a new typology of gang control strategies with five categories: “1) Prevention, 2) Gang Activity Regulation, 3) Corrections-based interventions, 4) Comprehensive, and 5) Holistic” (Gravel et al., 2013, p. 231). Gravel et al. (2013) indicated that measuring a preventive awareness program, like the Gang Resistance and Education Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program (Esbensen, Peterson, Taylor, & Osgood, 2012), on reduction in gang violence would be unfair because most of those targeted would not have joined gangs whether they received the program or not; however, an evaluation can investigate changes in attitudes, which could theoretically be associated with risk reduction. Like G.R.E.A.T., End Gang Life would fall under the prevention category.

1.2. Anti-Gang Mass Media Initiatives

1.2.1. Before End Gang Life

The first anti-gang PSAs did not start with End Gang Life. In the State of Nevada, researchers Chapel, Peterson, and Joseph (1999) examined young gang-affiliated

6 individuals opinions’ to seven PSAs. The authors provided suggestions for future anti-gang advertising, including using gang members as consultants or spokespersons, incorporating the theme of American values (e.g., children should be protected), creating ads that promote critical thinking, using a theme of a “good gang” (e.g., sports team), or portraying compelling counterarguments to gang membership justifications. For example, if a gang member strongly believes it is too late for them to leave a gang, then a counter message could be: “It’s not too late for you; there are genuine alternatives to gang membership; the best way you can help youngsters avoid being involved in gangs is for you to set the example and reject the gang environment for a positive one” (Chapel et al., 1999, pp. 254-255).

Anti-gang advertising is not new to Canada. The Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Society provided funding for the Stay Out campaign, which had a website and once used body bags placed in public spaces to dissuade youth from gang membership (CBC News, 2008). One short video that was part of the Stay Out campaign likened gang membership to contracting a deadly disease (StayOutDotCa1, 2007).

Another Canadian campaign that would fall under the prevention category was run in Manitoba (CBC News, 2009). Manitoba Justice created an anti-gang campaign that consisted of posters, TV commercials, and a website, entitled Stay Out of Gangs (Trubky, 2010). The campaign was part of Project Gang Proof and the advertisements were run for approximately one month at the end of 2009, whereas the website was planned to be live for the duration of 2010 (Trubky, 2010). Although audience perceptions were not examined, Trubky (2010) conducted a visual analysis of the Stay Out of Gangs campaign and concluded that the PSA represented gang members using racial stereotypes of young Indigenous men.

1.2.2. The End Gang Life initiative

This evaluation of the End Gang Life campaign was part of a collaboration between SFU researchers and members of the CFSEU-BC: “END GANG LIFE is a comprehensive gang education, prevention, and awareness initiative that uses bold, emotional, and visually impactful images and messages…” (CFSEU-BC, 2015d, para. 1). End Gang Life is a CFSEU-BC initiative. The evaluation focused on End Gang Life’s PSAs, as well as seminars that displayed video modules.

7 PSAs

End Gang Life is an ongoing initiative and the PSA materials have been growing in number over time. Phase 1 of the initiative involved the dissemination of three posters, three videos (30 to 60 seconds in duration), and three radio PSAs (CFSEU-BC, 2015d). The End Gang Life web page (CFSEU-BC, 2015d) indicated that the initial three videos had a PSA designation as deemed by the Television Bureau of Canada: “Telecaster defines a Public Service Announcement (PSA) as an awareness message from a Charitable, Government or Not for Profit organization that informs and educates the viewer about the purpose or mission of the organization” (Television Bureau of Canada, 2014, para. 1). The initial posters, videos, and radio PSAs were distributed to every media outlet in British Columbia. This evaluation examined six posters, six videos, and three radio ads. As of February 2019, the End Gang Life web page (CFSEU-BC, 2015d) had 15 posters and 14 videos; in addition, other videos were debuted via the CFSEU-BC’s social media accounts (e.g., CFSEU-BC, 2018). All of the materials listed above are available online at www.endganglife.ca (CFSEU-BC, 2015d). The descriptions of the PSAs examined in this evaluation are in Appendix A. Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton created all the PSAs examined in the evaluation. Additional materials, including longer videos, are also accessible: “End Gang Life uses video in a variety of ways to give youth a real perspective on gang life” (CFSEU-BC, 2015e, para. 1).

Myths and Realities video modules

The initiative also includes six “video modules” (e.g., Myths: You’ll make lots of money and be powerful & Selling a little bit of drugs isn’t a big deal) that address the myths and realities of gang membership (CFSEU-BC, 2015d). These video modules are seven to 14 minutes in length. These modules are available online and were also shown to high school students during seminars given by CFSEU-BC Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton, who headed the End Gang Life initiative, or CFSEU-BC Constable Jordan McLellan. The video modules differed from the PSAs as they were longer and exclusively focused on common myths of gang affiliation.

Seminars

Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton and Constable Jordan McLellan, with the aid of a former gang member, provided anti-gang seminars to school-aged students throughout British Columbia. For the purposes of this evaluation, the students are referred to as “high school students,” even though there were students in grades 6 through 12. The seminars ranged in length, usually lasting one to two hours, depending on the amount of time provided

8 by the school. The usual format included oral presentations by a police officer and a former gang member, as well as playing one or more videos. The seminars are ongoing and are scheduled when high schools contact the CFSEU-BC. Esbensen et al. (2012) stated that aiming gang prevention efforts at students in grade 6 or 7 could be beneficial because delinquent behaviour is usually present prior to gang involvement.

Program Logic Model

A program logic model, which is a visual representation of the program’s aims, methods, and outcomes (Alkin, 2011; Knowlton & Phillip, 2009), was created to show the scope of the End Gang Life initiative (see Figure B1 in Appendix B). This evaluation only focused on two aspects of the overall initiative, namely PSAs and the high school seminars. The End Gang Life initiative can be conceptualized as a mass media campaign because various media were used (e.g., website, radio ads, videos, posters).

1.3. Mass Media Campaigns

Mass media campaigns use print and electronic mediums, such as the Internet, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines (Thomas, 2006). Public service campaigns are a type of advertising that are meant to serve the public and aim to persuade the audience to behave in certain ways (Earle, 2000). Further, a PSA is a type of advertisement that is distributed at no cost to the organization (Thomas, 2006). According to Melillo (2013), public service advertising in the United States started in 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Public service advertising is not new and targets various issues. Iconic characters demonstrate the power of public service advertising, such as McGruff the Crime Dog (Ad Council, 2015a; O'Keefe, 1985) or the “Crying Indian” (Ad Council, 2015b). For example, the “Crying Indian” was featured in a campaign that intended to draw attention to issues of environmental awareness (Earle, 2000; Melillo, 2013). A meta-analysis investigating changes in behaviour showed that health campaigns had “small but tangible effects” (Snyder, Hamilton, Mitchell, Kiwanuka-Tondo, Fleming-Milici, & Proctor, 2004, p. 89); further, behaviour change was more likely when enforcement messages were used in a campaign (Snyder et al., 2004).

Although mass media campaigns are more commonly used for health promotion than crime prevention initiatives, the Take a Bite Out of Crime campaign with McGruff the Crime Dog (Ad Council, 2015a; O'Keefe, 1985) is widely recognizable. One study showed that some viewers used “crime prevention measures” after exposure to the campaign (Reyns,

9 2010). In spite of this, research findings regarding the effectiveness of crime prevention campaigns is mixed (Caputo & Vallée, 2005; Mazerolle, 2003). For example, campaigns have been shown to help deter burglaries, but not vandalism (Mazerolle, 2003). To the author’s knowledge, this will be one of the first evaluations to investigate the effect of anti- gang PSAs and seminars on perceived message sensation and perceived effectiveness. A review of important terms will be followed by a brief discussion of what works in mass media campaigns. In addition, theories relevant to the evaluation will be outlined.

1.3.1. Perceived message sensation value

One way to evaluate the content of mass media campaigns is by examining message sensation value (MSV). The notion of MSV was originally conceptualized “as the degree to which formal and content audio-visual features of a televised message elicit sensory, affective, and arousal responses” (Palmgreen, Donohew, Lorch, Rogus, Helm & Grant, 1991, p. 219). The concept of MSV could be adapted for other types of PSAs as well, such as posters (visuals only) and radio ads (audio only).

PMSV refers to the viewer’s perceived “sensory, affective, and arousal responses” to the media (Palmgreen, Stephenson, Everett, Baseheart, & Francies, 2002, p. 408). In other words, MSV pertains to the message features and PMSV is the viewer’s response (Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). Weber, Westcott-Baker, and Anderson (2013) posited that PMSV might not measure features of messages, but rather individual differences. However, Stephenson and Palmgreen (2001) argued that PMSV could be more relevant for persuading the viewer to engage in the desired behaviour as opposed to something like MSV.

Research has found that “intense images, sound saturation, unexpected format, a surprise or twist ending, and acting out the consequences of drug use” increase PMSV (Morgan, Palmgreen, Stephenson, Hoyle, & Lorch, 2003, p. 522). Messages with higher sensation value are more effective for individuals higher in sensation seeking (Stephenson and Palmgreen, 2001), who are also more likely to engage in risky behaviour (Donohew, 2009). Further, sensation seeking is associated with psychopathy (Zuckerman, 2007), which may explain differences in participants’ PMSV in this evaluation. For the evaluation, it was of interest to investigate whether participants’ perceptions of the initiative were associated with PMSV after controlling for psychopathic traits. To the author’s knowledge, the effect of psychopathy on PSAs has not been investigated. In addition, Noar, Palmgreen, Zimmerman, Lustria, and Lu (2010) found that PMSV was associated with perceived message

10 effectiveness and indicated that this could mean that PMSV functions as one path towards perceived effectiveness.

1.3.2. Perceived effectiveness

As mentioned, the goal of public service campaigns (and the PSAs that comprise them) is to change the audience’s behaviour through persuasion (Earle, 2000). An effective campaign would change the audience’s attitudes and behaviours; perceived effectiveness can be used as a proxy for actual effectiveness in research (Biener, 2002; Noar et al., 2010). Research has found that actual effectiveness and perceived effectiveness were positively associated with a medium effect size (Dillard, Weber, & Vail, 2007); this meta-analysis examined PSAs targeting various topics, such as voting and herpes. With regard to anti- smoking campaigns, Noar, Barker, Bell, and Yzer (2018) found in their meta-analysis that perceived effectiveness was predictive of the intention and the actual behaviour of quitting smoking with a small to medium effect. This is more evidence that perceived effectiveness is a valid proxy for actual effectiveness.

Measuring actual effectiveness may be unrealistic because of 1) the outcome for the audience is often not engaging in a behaviour, 2) privacy concerns regarding the targeted change (e.g., drug users using clean needles), 3) the message may not overtly address the behaviour of interest, and 4) feasibility (i.e., time and money required; Dillard, 2014). Research has shown that perceived effectiveness is “a measure of a successful message” (Bigsby, Cappella, & Seitz, 2013, p. 20).

Previous researchers have argued that there is inconsistency in how perceived effectiveness is defined and it should be operationalized as “perceptions of how effective a message is in producing intended effects on message recipients” (Yzer, LoRusso, & Nagler, 2015, p. 133); Fishbein, Hall-Jamieson, Zimmer, von Haeften, and Nabi (2002) defined perceived effectiveness in this way. Further, using perceived effectiveness as a variable in the evaluation was viewed as invaluable in providing feedback to the CFSEU-BC. It was also of interest to determine whether participants’ perceptions of the initiative were associated with perceived effectiveness after taking into account psychopathic traits.

1.3.3. Mode of information transfer

The mode of information delivery differs depending on a PSA’s format. Radio and video PSAs tend to be oriented towards entertainment, whereas print PSAs, like posters,

11 usually focus on providing information (Oh, 2014). Robinson (2014) stated that it is important to use multiple modes of information delivery; for instance, the use of print PSAs can target disseminating information to the audience.

1.3.4. What works in mass media campaigns

Research has indicated that mass media campaigns have been effective for various issues, including behaviour changes in drug abuse (Palmgreen, Donohew, Lorch, Hoyle, & Stephenson, 2001), and attitude changes regarding smoking cessation (Samu & Bhatnagar, 2008). Anker, Feeley, McCracken, and Lagoe (2016) reported that health campaigns targeting transportation safety, physical activity, cardiovascular disease, and nutrition were associated with behaviour change. According to Caputo and Vallée (2005), campaigns targeting drinking and driving are one of the most successful types.

Shaffer (as cited in Earle, 2000) stated that prevention campaigns should stimulate the target, rather than indicate what they should not be doing; for instance, instead of an antidrug message taking a strict “Don’t do drugs” approach, a more compelling campaign would communicate an understanding that the target may be considering trying drugs, but that there are important issues (i.e., negative consequences) they should consider before doing so. For example, research has found that PSAs that targeted marijuana use were not as effective with a “Just say no” message, compared to PSAs that addressed the negative consequences of heroin use (Fishbein et al., 2002). Past research has also found that PSAs that are viewed as more realistic are perceived as more effective (Fishbein et al., 2002). Also, perceived effectiveness of PSAs has been shown to be positively associated with negative emotions, like fear (Dillard & Peck, 2000). Other research has suggested that antidrug PSAs are not effective in prevention in youth (Werb, Mills, DeBeck, Kerr, Montaner, & Wood, 2011). Also, Santa and Cochran (2008) indicated how a PSA is perceived may be impacted by individual differences (e.g., gender).

1.3.5. Theories

There are a few relevant theories that address PSAs’ mechanisms of change. All three of these theories relate to how well a message may be communicated. The elaboration likelihood theory and theory of reasoned action can be categorized as persuasion theories (Seiter, 2009), whereas the activation theory of information exposure posits stimulation makes a message persuasive.

12 Activation theory of information exposure

The activation theory of information exposure (Donohew, Palmgreen, & Duncan, 1980) explains that for information to be successful, an individual needs to reach, but not exceed, a certain level of arousal (Donohew, 2009). This theory was influenced by Zuckerman’s research on sensation seeking (Donohew, 2009). Like sensation seeking, individuals differ in the level of activation or stimulation that is optimal for them (Donohew, 2009). As a result, individuals high in sensation seeking would benefit from more stimulating messages, as they are more likely to engage in risky behaviours and can tolerate greater stimulation (Donohew, 2009). Weber et al. (2013) stated that the activation theory of information exposure posits that a message’s sensation value works by gaining an individual’s attention by matching the level of arousal with the individual’s level of sensation seeking.

For the purposes of the study, sensation seeking was not measured directly; instead, risky behaviour such as delinquency was assessed, as this was a quality of interest due to the association with pro-gang attitudes (e.g., Melde & Esbensen, 2011). Also, Zuckerman (2007) indicated that sensation seeking is one aspect of psychopathy. In addition, level of arousal was assessed via an individual’s self-reported PMSV. The activation theory of information exposure was used to inform hypotheses as the End Gang Life initiative “was created to be emotionally and visually impactful” (CFSEU-BC, 2015d, para. 1), which seemed to be in line with eliciting arousal in the viewer. Further, End Gang Life was inspired by the sensation-seeking targeting (SENTAR) approach (L. Houghton, personal communication, April 12, 2019).

Elaboration likelihood theory

Petty and Cacioppo (1986) developed the elaboration likelihood theory (ELT), which explains that persuasive messages can take two routes: central or peripheral (Vaughan, 2009). The central route takes into consideration the arguments presented and the central message (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986; Vaughan, 2009); in addition, the ability and the motivation of the receiver will influence how much critical thinking is done (Vaughan, 2009). The peripheral route is not based around the central message, but instead is based on cues or heuristics (Vaughan, 2009). An example of a consideration for the peripheral route is the target’s mood. Print PSAs may take the central route because the audience dictates the pacing, whereas video PSAs may take the peripheral route because the quick pacing is set by the PSA (Nan, 2008). As a result, it is possible that print PSAs would lead to greater

13 attitude change. Although, Wilson (2007) indicated that attitude change via the central route is more permanent, but often both processes occur in response to a situation that is persuasive. This theory helped to develop hypotheses about PSA mode.

Theory of reasoned action

Fishbein and Ajzen developed the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) that pertains to behaviours that involve conscious decision- making (Greene, 2009). The theory of reasoned action posits that behaviour can be predicted according to seven causal components: attitude, behavioural intention, belief strength, evaluation, subjective norm, motivation to comply, and normative belief (Greene, 2009). This classic theory of persuasion has received some strong empirical support (Greene, 2009; Miller, 2005).

Ajzen extended this theory by adding another component (perceived behavioural control), thus creating the theory of planned behaviour (Greene, 2009; Miller, 2005); the theory of reasoned action did not account for an individual’s perception of control over their behaviour. The path for the theory of reasoned action is as follows: attitudes and behaviours lead to behavioural intentions that result in behaviour (Madden, Ellen, & Ajzen, 1992). The path for the theory of planned behaviour is the same, but perceived behavioural control affects behavioural intention and behaviour (Madden et al., 1992).

The theory of reasoned action can be used to create campaigns that target certain individuals by indicating what information to include (Greene, 2009). For example, an anti- gang PSA should take into account the viewer’s attitude towards gangs, as well as the opinions of those influential to the viewer. To the author’s knowledge, the theory of reasoned action was not explicitly used in the creation of End Gang Life; however, End Gang Life does address attitudes about gangs and seeks to educate the viewers about misconceptions about gang membership. Consideration of this theory led to the inclusion of the investigation of participants’ level of antisociality, notably attitudes towards gangs. Examining anti-gang attitudes and attitudes toward PSAs generally would be helpful in an evaluation of this nature.

1.4. Study Objectives

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate perceptions of the provincial anti- gang initiative, End Gang Life. The evaluation consisted of three studies that targeted three

14 different groups (see Table 1): undergraduate students, community members, and high school students. Overall, this evaluation examined PMSV and the participants’ perceptions of the initiative materials. The PSAs and high school seminars were the focus of the evaluation because the CFSEU-BC appeared to be dedicating their efforts into these aspects of the initiative. For ease of comparison, the research questions are also presented in Table 2.

Table 1. Summary of the Evaluation Study Sample N Measures Undergraduate students 582 PSAQ, PMSV, SRO, GAS, TriPM, CAPP Community members 114 PSAQ, PMSV, SRO, GAS, TriPM, CAPP High school students 1742 PMSV, Questionnaire created for the evaluation Note: PSAQ = Public Service Announcement Questionnaire. PMSV = Perceived Message Sensation Value Scale. SRO = Self-Report of Offending. GAS = Gang Attitudes Scale. TriPM = Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. CAPP = Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality Self-Report.

Table 2. Research Questions Study Research Questions Undergraduate 1. What is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features? 2. What is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences? 3. What is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences? 4. What is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness? Community The same as above. High School 1. What is the association between perceived message sensation, reactions to the seminar, and anti-gang attitudes? Overall 1. What is the association between sample and perceived message sensation?

The research questions were the same for the Undergraduate Study and the Community Study. This part of the evaluation examined the perceived message sensation and perceived effectiveness of the different modes (e.g., videos), the participants’ perceptions of the PSAs, and whether participants’ perceptions of the initiative were predictive of PMSV and perceived effectiveness after controlling for antisociality. First, what is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features? This question was more peripheral, but it was important because psychopathy was included in subsequent questions. The focus of the overall evaluation was on how individuals perceived the PSAs, but it was also of interest to control for antisociality, specifically psychopathic traits. Although, the evaluation did not include an offender sample, investigating psychopathic traits would help determine how individuals with higher antisocial traits perceived the PSAs. This

15 research question was imperative as the research is mixed on whether psychopathic traits are associated with gang membership. What is known is that gang affiliation is associated with gang attitudes (Chu et al., 2014). It was hypothesized that psychopathic traits will be associated with gang attitudes; this finding would allow psychopathy to be viewed as an indicator of risk for gang membership in this evaluation.

It should be noted that PMSV and perceived effectiveness were both treated as outcomes for research questions two and three respectively. Second, what is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences (i.e., self-reported offending; gang attitudes; levels of psychopathic features)? Due to the activation theory of information exposure, it was hypothesized that the “engaging and powerful imagery and language” (CFSEU-BC, 2015d, para. 1) used in the End Gang Life would elicit PMSV. It was also hypothesized that higher perceived message sensation value would be associated with greater perceived effectiveness. Further, another aim of this research question was to determine if perceptions of the PSAs (e.g., Negative Emotional Response) were predictive of PMSV after controlling for antisociality. It was hypothesized that participants with greater antisociality, including psychopathic traits, would have lower PMSV.

Third, what is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences (i.e., self-reported offending; gang attitudes; levels of psychopathic features)? As was found in Fishbein et al. (2002), it was expected that participants who viewed the PSAs as more realistic would also perceive them to be more effective. Also, it was hypothesized that perceived effectiveness would be associated with negative emotions as Dillard and Peck (2000) found in their research. In addition, it was hypothesized that greater perceived effectiveness would be associated with anti-gang attitudes, as the theory of reasoned action posits that attitudes influence behaviour. Analyses were conducted to examine whether perceptions of the PSAs were predictive of perceived effectiveness after controlling for antisociality. It was hypothesized that participants with greater antisociality, including psychopathic traits, would report lower perceived effectiveness of the PSAs.

Fourth, what is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness? It was hypothesized that posters would be perceived as the most effective PSA mode as individuals can dictate the pacing of the content and it may take the central route as outlined in the elaboration likelihood theory (Nan, 2008).

16 For the High School evaluation, the research question was the following: what is the association between perceived message sensation, reactions to the seminar, and anti-gang attitudes? It was hypothesized that PMSV would be elevated due to the “edgy and thought- provoking content” (CFSEU-BC, 2015d) of the End Gang Life initiative. In addition, drawing from the theory of reasoned action it was hypothesized that anti-gang attitudes would be associated with more favourable impressions of the seminars.

17 Chapter 2.

Undergraduate Study

2.1. Overview

As part of the overall evaluation, this study targeted undergraduate students as a convenience sample. In addition, a small group of undergraduate students were used to refine and pilot the study measures.

2.2. Method

2.2.1. Participants

Five hundred and eighty two undergraduate students from SFU completed the study. Twenty-two individuals were eliminated after they indicated that they viewed the wrong PSA (12 participants) or completed the study in less than 10 minutes (10 participants). Table 3 presents demographic information; the majority of the undergraduate participants were female and Asian. The average age was approximately 19 years old and the online questionnaire took around 27 minutes to complete.

Table 3. Demographic Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants Variable n % M (SD) Gender 560 Male 128 22.9 Female 429 76.6 Other 3 0.5 Ethnicity 546 White 158 28.9 Aboriginal 3 0.5 Black 6 1.1 East Asian 184 33.7 South Asian 135 24.7 Part Aboriginal 2 0.4 Other 58 10.6 Age 560 19.26 (2.19) Time in minutes 560 26.76 (50.01)

18 2.2.2. Procedure

Participants were recruited using an online participation pool, SFU’s Research Participant System (RPS). The experimental sessions were completed online using the website, LimeSurvey (https://www.limesurvey.org/en/). The participants viewed a PSA (e.g., a 30 or 60 second video) available from the End Gang Life website (http://www.cfseu.bc.ca/en/end-gang-life) and answered a series of questionnaires. A pilot was completed with 40 participants to establish a basis for future work, such as examining the average completion time. For the actual study, the PMSV and perceived effectiveness of the PSAs, as well as the mode (i.e., video, poster, or radio) of delivery were evaluated; participants watched one of the 15 PSAs (approximately 38 participants per PSA) for this between subjects design. To ensure similar numbers in blocks, the PSAs were assigned in order; for example, participant one viewed PSA one, followed by participant two who viewed PSA two, and so on. The participant received course credit for their time and effort.

2.2.3. Measures

The measures either assessed participants’ views of the initiative (e.g., PMSV) or individual differences (e.g., psychopathic traits).

Public Service Announcement Questionnaire

The Public Service Announcement Questionnaire (PSAQ; Fishbein et al., 2002) is a 15-item self-report questionnaire that examined participants’ responses to anti-drug PSAs. For the purposes of this study, the questions were modified to reflect the anti-gang focus of the PSAs; to the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to adapt the PSAQ for anti-gang PSAs. There are five categories of questions in the PSAQ: perceived effectiveness (four items; min = 4, max = 16), perceived realism (four items; min = 4, max = 16), negative emotional response (four items; min = 4, max = 16), positive emotional response (two items; min = 2, max = 8), and amount learned (one item; min = 1, max = 3). Each dependent variable was assessed using a Likert type scale; for example, from (1) not at all to (4) very much (e.g., was the message convincing?). The internal consistency alpha coefficients reported were the following: α = .79 for perceived effectiveness, α = .86 for perceived realism, and α = .95 for negative emotional response (Fishbein et al., 2002). In the current study, the Cronbach’s alphas were found to be .73 (mean inter-item correlation (MIC) = .42, corrected item-total correlations (CIC) = .46 – .61) for perceived effectiveness, .73 (MIC = .41; CIC = .50 – .56) for perceived realism, .78 (MIC = .47; CIC = .53 – .69) for negative

19 emotional response, and .84 (MIC = .73; CIC = .73) for positive emotional response. See Table B1 in Appendix B for more detailed information about the PSAQ subscale corrected item-total correlations.

PMSV Scale

The PMSV Scale (Everett & Palmgreen, 1995) is a 17-item self-report questionnaire that measures a participant’s response to a message. The scale consists of adjective pairs (e.g., exciting-boring) that the participant must rate on a 7-point Likert type scale. The PMSV scale has been shown to be reliable with a mean alpha value of .87 (Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001; Palmgreen et al., 2002). The PMSV scale has three subscales that have been found to have good reliability, Emotional Arousal (8 items), Dramatic Impact (6 items), and Novelty (3 items). For the purposes of this study, three items (e.g., weak soundtrack- strong soundtrack) were omitted for analyses to allow for the scale to be used for the different formats for the PSAs and across studies; henceforth PMSV will refer to the 14-item scale unless otherwise specified. The modified 14-item scale (min = 14, max = 98) dropped two items from Emotional Arousal (6 items; min = 6, max = 42), one item from Dramatic Impact (5 items; min = 5, max = 35), and made no changes to Novelty (3 items; min = 3, max = 21). Palmgreen et al. (2002) stated that it should be possible to adapt the scale by dropping items, such as for print content. In the current study, the modified 14-item PMSV scale had high reliability, α = .85 (MIC = .30; CIC = .35 – .60). The reliabilities for Emotional Arousal (α = .77; MIC = .36; CIC = .40 – .61), Dramatic Impact (α = .70; MIC = .32; CIC = .39 – .62), and Novelty (α = .77; MIC = .53; CIC = .57 – .66) were good in the current study. See Table B2 and B3 in Appendix B for more detailed information about the PMSV scale and subscale corrected item-total correlations.

Self-Report of Offending

The Self-Report of Offending (SRO; Huizinga, Esbensen, & Weiher, 1991) is a 24- item self-report questionnaire that assesses a participant’s offending behaviour (e.g., ever shoplifted; min = 0, max = 24). The timeframe examined was lifetime self-reported offending. Research has found that the SRO has good validity and reliability (Knight, Little, Losoya, & Mulvey, 2004). For the current study, the SRO had an alpha of .68 (MIC = .12; CIC = .07 – .43). For more detailed information about the SRO corrected item-total correlations, see Table B4 in Appendix B.

20 Gang Attitudes Scale

The Gang Attitudes Scale (GAS; Winfree, Backstrom, & Mays, 1994) is a 19-item self-report questionnaire examining participants’ perceptions of gang-related activity, including perceived approval of self and others as well as supposed consequences. Reliability and validity of the GAS has been shown to be adequate (Winfree et al., 1994). This measure can be broken down by index, which was done for this evaluation. The reinforcers/punishers index taps what could be rewarding (e.g., for the money) and punishing (e.g., get hurt) about gang membership. The reinforcers/punishers index was found to have an alpha of .62, whereas the pro-gang attitudes scale had an alpha of .84. For the current study, the reinforcers/punishers index was separated into two variables, Reinforcers Index (α = .81; MIC = .47; CIC = .58 – .66) and Punishers Index (α = .87; MIC = .60; CIC = .61 – .75). The Pro-Gang Attitudes scale captures the participant’s attitudes towards gangs, such as how much a participant approves or disapproves of having friends in gangs. The Pro-Gang Attitudes scale was found to have relatively low reliability, α = .63 (MIC = .40; CIC = .41 – .62), in the current study; this finding could be due to the scale only having four items as the

Spearman’s rho analyses between the items were all significant (ranging between rs = .20 and rs = .43). See Table B5 in the Appendix B for more detailed information about the Reinforcers Index (5 items; min = 0, max = 5), Punishers Index (5 items; min = 0, max = 5), and Pro-Gang Attitudes scale (4 items; min = 4, max = 12) corrected item-total correlations.

Triarchic Psychopathy Measure

The Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010) is a 58-item self-report questionnaire that assesses for psychopathic personality traits (min = 0, max = 174). The TriPM measures the constructs of Boldness (19 items; min = 0, max = 57), Meanness (19 items; min = 0, max = 57), and Disinhibiton (20 items; min = 0, max = 60). The Disinhibition subscale captures the extent to which an individual is impulsive or irresponsible (e.g., I often act on immediate needs). The Boldness subscale reflects three facets: emotional experience, interpersonal behaviour, and venturesomeness (e.g., I’m optimistic more often than not). Callousness, but also seeking of excitement, is reflected in the Meanness subscale (e.g., How other people feel is important to me – reverse coded). The TriPM has been used with undergraduate students (e.g., Gatner, Douglas, & Hart, 2016). In addition, the TriPM has adequate internal consistency (α = .82 to .90) for the three domains (Sellbom & Phillips, 2013). Meanness and Disinhibition are considered to be parts of psychopathy, whereas there is much debate about whether Boldness is a domain of psychopathy (Gatner et al., 2016). For the current study, the TriPM total score was found to have a Cronbach’s

21 alpha of .86 (MIC = .10; CIC = .03 – .54). In the current study, the reliabilities for Boldness (α = .85; MIC = .23; CIC = .25 – .62), Meanness (α = .86; MIC = .25; CIC = .29 – .60), and Disinhibition (α = .80; MIC = .17; CIC = .23 – .58) had high reliabilities. For corrected item- total correlations for the TriPM, please see Tables B6 and B7 in Appendix B.

Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality Self-Report

The Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality Self-Report (CAPP; Cooke, Hart, Logan, & Michie, 2004) is a 33-item self-report questionnaire that taps a participant’s psychopathic personality traits and contains additional foil items (e.g., Dependent; min = 0, max = 99). The CAPP instrument consists of six domains: Attachment (4 items; min = 0, max = 12), Behavior (6 items; min = 0, max = 18), Cognitive (5 items; min = 0, max = 15), Dominance (6 items; min = 0, max = 18), Emotion (5 items; min = 0, max = 15), and Self (7 items; min = 0, max = 21). Problems with relationships are reflected in the Attachment domain (e.g., Detached). Difficulties with being goal-directed, such as impulsivity, are reflected in the Behavior domain (e.g., Lacks Perseverance). The Cognitive domain assesses difficulties with being rigid or the ability to adapt (e.g., Suspicious). The Dominance domain reflects problems with excessively seeking status or overbearing control (e.g., Antagonistic). The Emotionality, or Emotion, domain reflects difficulties with emotional stability or experiencing shallow emotions (e.g., Lacks Anxiety). Difficulties with identity are captured under the Self domain (e.g., Self-Centered). The version used for the study had a 4-point Likert scale. Previous research, with a 7-point Likert scale version, found moderate to high internal consistency for the domains and total level (α = .72 to .96; Sellbom, Cooke, & Hart, 2015). Another version of the CAPP has been used with undergraduate students (Sellbom, Cooke, & Shou, 2019). For the current study, the CAPP total score was found to be highly reliable, α = .91 (MIC = .26; CIC = .14 – .63). Low to acceptable reliabilities were found for Attachment (α = .70; MIC = .42; CIC = .43 – .56), Behavior (α = .69; MIC = .30; CIC = .34 –.58), Cognitive (α = .68; MIC = .30; CIC = .40 – .48), Dominance (α = .76; MIC = .36; CIC = .44 – .61), Emotion (α = .52; MIC = .19; CIC = .11 – .42), and Self (α = .75; MIC = .31; CIC = .24 – .61) in the current study. See Tables B8 and B9 in Appendix B for more detailed information about the CAPP total and domain corrected item-total correlations.

2.2.4. Ethics approval

The study, “Evaluating End Gang Life: Study 1”, was approved by SFU’s Office of Research Ethics (ORE). The study was classified as “Minimal Risk”.

22 2.2.5. Analysis

Data analysis plan

Research question 1: What is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features?

The initial plan was to conduct Pearson correlation analyses, followed by linear regression analyses, but the gang attitudes variables were not normally distributed due to similar responding by participants (e.g., the majority of participants did not endorse any pro- gang attitudes). Due to the extreme skew, Spearman’s rho analyses were conducted to examine whether participants’ gang attitudes were associated with their level of psychopathic features. Correlations that were significant were entered into multiple logistic regression analyses. To account for the skew in the dependent variables at the multivariate level, the three gang attitudes variables (i.e., The Reinforcer Index, Punisher Index, and Pro-Gang Attitudes) were transformed into dichotomous variables. According to Lambert (1992), examining a “zero, not zero” outcome with logistic regression is an approach commonly used for variables with excess zeros in the data (as cited in Atkins & Gallop, 2007, p. 733).

Research question 2: What is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences?

Pearson correlation analyses, as well as Spearman’s rho analyses, were run to investigate how participants’ views of the PSA (e.g., perceived realism), and individual characteristics (i.e., antisocial behaviour; gang attitudes; levels of psychopathic features) were associated with the participants’ PMSV scores. The variables found to be significant were included in the multiple regression analyses and if there were significant variables in the multiple regression analyses then a hierarchical regression was run to ascertain if perceptions of the PSAs were predictive of PMSV after controlling for antisociality.

Research question 3: What is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences?

To examine how participants’ views of the PSA (e.g., perceived realism), and individual characteristics (i.e., antisocial behaviour; gang attitudes; levels of psychopathic features) were associated with the participants’ perceived effectiveness of the PSAs. Pearson and Spearman’s rho correlation analyses were conducted. The multiple regression analyses were run with the variables found to be significant at the bivariate level. Finally, a hierarchical regression was run if there were significant variables in the multiple regression

23 analyses to identify if perceptions of the PSAs were predictive of perceived effectiveness after controlling for antisociality.

Research question 4: What is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness?

A one-way ANOVA was conducted to explore mean PMSV per mode and whether differences existed (omnibus F test). Also, a one-way ANOVA was also run to investigate whether differences existed (omnibus F test) for mean perceived effectiveness per mode. Three one-way ANOVAs (per mode) were conducted to explore whether differences existed (omnibus F test) for mean PMSV per PSA (i.e., six videos, six posters, and three radio ads). Three one-way ANOVAs (per mode) were also run to investigate mean perceived effectiveness per PSA and whether differences existed (omnibus F test). An n of 560 allowed for approximately 37 participants per cell for the analyses examining mean PMSV, and perceived effectiveness, per PSA. To determine where the differences were, post hoc pairwise comparisons were conducted.

Missing data and assumptions

Scales and subscales were prorated if they were missing less than 25% of the data. The prorated variables were calculated as follows: the total score divided by (number of items answered multiplied by the number of items in the scale/subscale). Scales and subscales that were missing more than 25% of the data were counted as missing. Finally, assumptions of all analyses were checked.

Power

For multiple regression analyses, a power analysis was conducted a priori using G* Power 3.1 and to achieve power of .80 with four predictors, 85 participants were needed to detect a medium effect size. Cohen’s (1988) definitions of effect size were used.

For ANOVAs, power analyses were conducted a priori using G* Power 3.1 to determine what N would be needed and the definitions for medium and large effect sizes used were those recommended by Cohen (1992). For power of .80 for the analyses examining mode, to detect a medium effect size 156 participants were needed, whereas 63 participants were needed to detect a large effect size. For power of .80 for the analyses examining the individual PSAs by mode, to detect a medium effect size 210 participants were needed, whereas 90 participants were needed to detect a large effect size.

24 2.3. Results

2.3.1. Descriptive information

Descriptive information is presented in Tables 4 through 8. Table 4 presents how many participants viewed each PSA. The averages for the scale and subscales are presented in Tables 5 and 6. Previous research displayed PMSV scores by the composite item average, which was created by averaging scores across different PSAs (M = 3.50 – 3.76, SD = .75 – .89; Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). For reference, past PMSV findings would be the equivalent of average total scores of 49 to 52.64 for the 14-item version of the PMSV used for this evaluation. Compared to previous research with anti-marijuana PSAs (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001), the undergraduate students had higher PMSV scores. See Table B10 in Appendix B for mean and standard deviations of the PMSV individual items. Unfortunately, Fishbein et al. (2002) did not present their PSAQ variable means in a way that could be compared to the means in the current evaluation. Table 7 displays participants’ self-reported gang attitudes. The average PMSV scores per mode were presented in Table 8. The analyses in the next section focus on whether the undergraduate students’ views of the PSAs, as well as individual differences in antisociality, were associated with PMSV.

25 Table 4. Number of PSAs Shown to Undergraduate Student Participants Variable n % PSA 560 1. Push (Poster) 39 7 2. Bury You (Poster) 37 6.6 3. I Miss You Daddy (Poster) 38 6.8 4. Roll like a Gangster (Poster) 38 6.8 5. Dial A Doper (Poster) 37 6.6 6. Roll like a Gangster (Video) 36 6.4 7. Dial A Doper (Video) 38 6.8 8. Sun Don’t Shine (Video) 38 6.8 9. Push (Video) 38 6.8 10. Bury You (Video) 38 6.8 11. I Miss You Daddy (Video) 36 6.4 12. Radio Ad #1 (Radio) 37 6.6 13. Radio Ad #2 (Radio) 37 6.6 14. Radio Ad #3 (Radio) 37 6.6 15. Sun Don’t Shine (Poster) 36 6.4

Table 5. PMSV Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants Variables n M (SD) PMSV – 17 itemsa Total Scoreb 222 69.27 (16.58) Emotional Arousal 222 32.84 (8.68) Dramatic Impact 220 24.09 (7.05) Novelty 219 12.23 (3.74) PMSV – 14 items Total Scorec 556 55.48 (13.96) Emotional Arousal 552 24.26 (6.70) Dramatic Impact 551 19.22 (6.08) Novelty 548 11.91 (3.98) Note. aParticipants that viewed a video were included. bFor the 17 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 59.5 to 63.92 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). cFor the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

26 Table 6. Perceptions and Personality Characteristic Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants Variables n M (SD) PSAQ Perceived Effectiveness 548 10.14 (2.28) Perceived Realism 495 11.74 (1.90) Positive Emotional Response 554 2.18 (0.70) Negative Emotional Response 554 8.40 (3.00) Amount Learned 535 1.54 (0.62) SRO Ever 560 1.05 (1.60) GAS Reinforcers Index 550 3.02 (1.77) Punishers Index 552 4.57 (1.13) Pro-Gang Attitudes 560 4.37 (0.84) TriPM Total Score 558 49.18 (15.89) Boldness 550 27.11 (9.21) Meanness 558 9.52 (7.49) Disinhibition 560 12.71 (7.18) CAPP Total Score 559 19.77 (13.31) Attachment 560 1.28 (1.77) Behaviour 560 3.03 (2.73) Cognitive 559 3.99 (2.90) Dominance 558 2.90 (2.94) Emotion 559 3.16 (2.36) Self 552 5.41 (3.70)

27 Table 7. Gang Attitude Descriptives for Undergraduate Student Participants Variables n % About how many of your best friends are gang members? 559 None or almost none 552 98.7 Less than half 7 1.3 More than half 0 0 What is the attitude toward gangs of most of the adults whose 545 opinions you value or think are important? Strongly disapprove 421 77.2 Disapprove 84 15.4 Depends on the circumstances 33 6.1 Approve 4 0.7 Strongly approve 3 0.6 What is the attitude toward gangs of most of the peers whose 541 opinions you value or think are important? Strongly disapprove 299 55.3 Disapprove 172 31.8 Depends on the circumstances 60 11.1 Approve 7 1.3 Strongly approve 3 0.6 What would your parents or guardians most likely do if they 550 thought you were a member of a gang? Encourage you 0 0 Disapprove but do nothing 9 1.6 Scold or punish you 222 40.4 Kick you out of the house 156 28.4 Turn you over to the police 120 21.8 Other 43 7.8 What would your peers most likely do if they thought you were a 547 member of a gang? Encourage you 3 0.5 Disapprove but do nothing 257 47.0 Scold or punish you 143 26.1 Kick you out of the house 8 1.5 Turn you over to the police 74 13.5 Other 62 11.3

28 Table 8. Means and Standard Deviations for PMSV Total Scores by Mode for Undergraduate Student Participants Mode n M (SD) Poster 223 58.56 (12.91) Video 222 56.10 (13.89) Radio Ad 111 48.05 (13.54) Note. For the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

2.3.2. Research question 1: What is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features?

Table 9 presents Spearman’s correlation coefficients between variables tapping gang attitudes and psychopathic-like traits. In general, Pro-Gang Attitudes were positively associated with all psychopathy scales and subscales (except for TriPM Boldness), typically with moderate effect sizes. The Reinforcer Index was also positively associated with all psychopathy scales and subscales (except for TriPM Boldness and CAPP Cognitive), but the effect sizes were weaker. The Punisher Index was significantly negatively correlated with the TriPM Meanness, and CAPP total score, CAPP Attachment and CAPP Emotion.

Table 9. Association Between Gang Attitudes and Psychopathic Traits for Undergraduate Student Participants Variables Reinforcer Index Punisher Index Pro-Gang Attitudes Reinforcer Index - Punisher Index -.16*** - Pro-Gang Attitudes .13** -.04 - TriPM .26*** -.05 .21*** Boldness .07 .03 .01 Meanness .23*** -.09* .31*** Disinhibition .24*** -.05 .16** CAPP .14** -.08* .24*** Attachment .09* -.13** .20*** Behavior .13** -.05 .19*** Cognitive .08° -.05 .16*** Dominance .09* -.04 .21*** Emotion .14*** -.12** .20*** Self .12** -.07 .20*** °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

The Reinforcer Index, Punisher Index, and Pro-Gang Attitudes, particularly the latter, were not normally distributed. The majority of participants endorsed all five listed punishers (81.7%) and 75% of participants did not endorse any pro-gang attitudes. In order to analyze

29 these dependent variables at the multivariate level, the three variables were changed into dichotomous variables in response to the extreme skew. The split occurred between the most prosocial responding (“prosocial”) compared to even slight antisocial responses (“antisocial leaning”). For the Reinforcer Index, the two groups were participants who did not endorse any reinforcers (prosocial) versus participants that endorsed even one reinforcer (antisocial leaning). For the Punisher Index, the two groups were participants who endorsed all punishers (prosocial) versus participants that did not endorse even one punisher (antisocial leaning). For the Pro-Gang Attitudes scale, participants that disagreed with all the items were in one group (prosocial) versus participants that indicated they were neutral and/or agreed with items (antisocial leaning). Binomial logistic regression analyses were run. The psychopathy subscales or domains that were significant at the bivariate level were included in the logistic regression analyses.

A logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict antisocial leaning answers on the Reinforcer Index (see Table 10). The logistic regression model was statistically significant and explained 12% of the variance in Reinforcer Index scores. Individuals with higher TriPM Meanness and Disinhibition scores had an increased likelihood of endorsing at least one reinforcer.

Table 10. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Reinforcer Index Scores from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Meanness .09 .03 12.50 1.10 [1.04, 1.15] < .001 Disinhibition .05 .02 5.38 1.06 [1.01, 1.10] .02 Note. Model -2LL = 428.28, Nagelkerke R2 = .12, χ2(2) = 38.43, p < .001.

The logistic regression analysis for the CAPP domains, as predictor variables, and the dichotomous Reinforcer Index, as the dependent variable, are presented in Table 11. The logistic regression model was statistically significant, but only explained 7% of the variance in Reinforcer Index scores. Only the CAPP domain of Emotion approached significance, whereas the rest of the domains were not statistically significant.

30 Table 11. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Reinforcer Index Scores from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Attachment .04 .13 .09 1.04 [.81, 1.33] .76 Behavior .04 .07 .28 1.04 [.90, 1.20] .60 Dominance .03 .08 .18 1.03 [.89, 1.20] .68 Emotion .15 .08 3.44 1.16 [.99, 1.35] .06 Self .04 .05 .70 1.05 [.94, 1.16] .40 Note. Model -2LL = 440.53, Nagelkerke R2 =.07, χ2(5) = 20.44, p = .001.

Only TriPM Meanness was significant at the bivariate level for the Punishers Index, thus further analysis was not necessary. Table 12 displays the linear regression analysis for the CAPP domains as predictors and the dichotomous Punishers Index treated as the dependent variable. The logistic regression model was statistically significant and explained 3% of the variance in Pro-Gang Attitude scores. CAPP Attachment and CAPP Emotion were included in the linear regression and neither predictor was significant at the multivariate level.

Table 12. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Punisher Index Scores from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Attachment -.14 .07 3.44 .87 [.76, 1.01] .06 Emotion -.05 .06 .83 .95 [.85, 1.06] .36 Note. Model -2LL = 514.12, Nagelkerke R2 = .03, χ2(2) = 10.83, p < .01.

The logistic regression analysis for the TriPM subscales, as predictor variables, and the dichotomous Pro-Gang Attitudes variable, as the dependent variable, are presented in Table 13. The logistic regression model was statistically significant and explained 13% of the variance in the Pro-Gang Attitudes scores. Individuals with higher TriPM Meanness scores had an increased likelihood of indicating any leaning towards anti-gang attitudes.

Table 13. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Meanness .09 .02 33.43 1.09 [1.06, 1.13] < .001 Disinhibition .01 .02 .50 1.01 [.98, 1.04] .48 Note. Model -2LL = 576.96, Nagelkerke R2 = .13, χ2(2) = 51.70, p < .001.

A logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict antisocial leaning answers on the Pro-Gang Attitudes scale with CAPP domains as the predictors (see Table 14). The logistic regression model was statistically significant and explained 9% of the variance in

31 Pro-Gang Attitudes scores. None of the CAPP domains were significant at the multivariate level. The next set of analyses focuses on whether PMSV is associated with undergraduate students’ other views of the PSAs and individual differences in antisociality.

Table 14. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Attachment .14 .08 2.99 1.15 [.98, 1.34] .08 Behavior .06 .05 1.15 1.06 [.95, 1.17] .28 Cognitive -.05 .05 .97 .95 [.86, 1.05] .32 Dominance .01 .06 .03 1.01 [.91, 1.13] .86 Emotion .08 .06 1.75 1.08 [.96, 1.21] .19 Self .06 .04 2.11 1.06 [.98, 1.15] .15 Note. Model -2LL = 586.77, Nagelkerke R2 = .09, χ2(6) = 35.66, p < .001.

2.3.3. Research question 2: What is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences?

Table 15 displays the Pearson correlations between the independent variables and PMSV; Spearman’s rho was used for Amount Learned, SRO, Reinforcer Index, Punisher Index, and the Pro-Gang Attitudes scale, as these variables were skewed or essentially ordinal in nature (transformations were conducted, but did not correct the skew). Age and gender were not significantly associated with PMSV. Of the variables that measured the participants’ opinions of the PSA, all of the PSAQ subscales were significantly and positively associated with PMSV, except Positive Emotional Response. The SRO and GAS categories (i.e., Reinforcer Index, Punisher Index, and Pro-Gang Attitudes scale) were not found to be significantly associated with PMSV. In terms of the TriPM subscales and CAPP domains, PMSV was found to be significantly and negatively associated with the TriPM total score, Meanness subscale, and Disinhibition subscale, and CAPP Attachment domain, Cognitive domain, and Emotion domain.

32 Table 15. PMSV Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Undergraduate Student Participants Variables PMSV Age -.01 Gender .06 Perceived Effectiveness .58*** Perceived Realism .29*** Negative Emotional Response .50*** Positive Emotional Response .03 Amount Learned .22*** SRO -.03 Reinforcer Index -.06 Punisher Index .05 Pro-Gang Attitudes scale -.06 TriPM -.11* Boldness -.01 Meanness -.13** Disinhibition -.09* CAPP -.08° Attachment -.08* Behavior -.05 Cognitive -.09* Dominance -.06 Emotion -.18*** Self .01 °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 16 displays the results of the linear regression analysis for PSAQ variables as predictors and PMSV total score as the dependent variable. Perceived Effectiveness, Perceived Realism, Negative Emotional Response, and Amount Learned were included in the linear regression. Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response added significantly to the prediction, such that the more effective the PSA was considered, and the greater the negative emotional response elicited, the higher the perceived message sensation.

33 Table 16. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the PSAQ Variables for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 14.99*** 3.35 Perceived Effectiveness 2.71 .26 .44*** Perceived Realism .011 .29 .00 Negative Emotional Response 1.33 .19 .29*** Amount Learned 1.09 .83 .05 Note. ***p < .001. F(4,477) = 82.23, p < .001, adj. R2 = .40.

The results for the linear regression analysis for PMSV total score (dependent variable) and TriPM subscales (predictor variables) are presented in Table 17. TriPM Boldness was not included in the linear regression analysis due to a lack of significance at the bivariate level. Only TriPM Meanness added statistically significantly to the prediction. Higher perceived message sensation was associated with fewer callous tendencies.

Table 17. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 58.40*** 1.23 TriPM Meanness -.20 .09 -.11* TriPM Disinhibition -.08 .09 -.04 Note. *p < .05. ***p < .001. F(2,551) = 4.92, p < .01, adj. R2 = .01.

Table 18 presents the findings for the linear regression for PMSV total score treated as the dependent variable and the CAPP domains as the predictor variables. The following CAPP domains were included in the linear regression analysis: Attachment, Cognitive, and Emotion. Only the Emotion domain of the CAPP was found to be statistically significant, such that the more appropriate a participant’s affect, the higher the perceived message sensation.

Table 18. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 58.77*** 1.09 CAPP Attachment .37 .45 . 05 CAPP Cognitive .09 .27 .02 CAPP Emotion -1.30 .35 -.22*** Note. ***p < .001. F(3,551) = 6.43, p < .001, adj. R2 = .03.

Table 19 displays the results of the hierarchical regression analysis for the PMSV total score (dependent variable) and predictor variables. The aim of this analysis was to

34 determine if perceptions of the PSA were predictive after controlling for traits of psychopathy. Whether the TriPM or CAPP total scores were included in the hierarchical regression was determined if they were significant at the bivariate level; psychopathy total scores, as opposed to subscales or domains, were used to reduce the number of predictors in the model in order to maximize power. The PSAQ predictor variables found to be significant in the linear regression analysis were included in a hierarchical regression. The overall model (Model 2) was statistically significant. Adding Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response led to a statistically significant increase in R2. The greater the perceived effectiveness, and the more negative emotions elicited were predictive of higher perceived message sensation, despite psychopathic traits.

Table 19. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV While Controlling for Psychopathic Features for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Step 1 Constant 60.07*** 1.94 TriPM Total -.09 .04 -.11* Step 2 Constant 16.43*** 2.78 TriPM Total -.01 .03 -.01 Perceived Effectiveness 2.73 .23 .45*** Negative Emotional Response 1.38 .17 .30*** Note. *p < .05. ***p < .001. R2 = .009 for Step 1 (p < .05); ΔR2 = .40 for Step 2 (p < .001). The full model (Model 2) was significant, F(3, 541) = 123.25, p < .001, adj. R2 = .40.

A further hierarchical regression analysis was run with the significant psychopathy domains or subscales, instead of the significant psychopathy measure total scores, as the number of significant dependent variables was small (see Table 20). The aim of this analysis was to determine if perceptions of the PSA were predictive after controlling for TriPM Meanness and CAPP Emotion. Adding Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response also led to a statistically significant increase in R2. However, CAPP Emotion was found to have a small, negative effect size. The next set of analyses focuses on what variables predict greater perceived effectiveness.

35 Table 20. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV While Controlling for Significant Psychopathic Domains or Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Step 1 Constant 59.16*** 1.06 TriPM Meanness -.08 .09 -.04 CAPP Emotion -.92 .30 -.16** Step 2 Constant 17.45*** 2.41 TriPM Meanness .09 .07 .05 CAPP Emotion -.56 .23 -.09* Perceived Effectiveness 2.70 .23 .44*** Negative Emotional Response 1.37 .17 .30*** Note. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. R2 = .03 for Step 1 (p < .001); ΔR2 = .38 for Step 2 (p < .001). The full model (Model 2) was significant, F(4, 540) = 94.68, p < .001, adj. R2 = .41.

2.3.4. Research question 3: What is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences?

The Pearson correlations and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients (with Amount Learned, SRO, and GAS variables; transformations were conducted, but did not correct the skew) between the independent variables and Perceived Effectiveness are displayed in Table 21. The only demographic variable that was significantly correlated with Perceived Effectiveness was age; the younger a participant was, the greater perceived effectiveness they reported. All of the PMSV subscales were significantly and positively correlated with Perceived Effectiveness. Of the PSAQ subscales, all were significantly and positively associated with Perceived Effectiveness, except Positive Emotional Response. Perceived Effectiveness was significantly and negatively correlated with the SRO and Pro-Gang Attitudes Scale. In terms of the TriPM subscales and CAPP domains, Perceived Effectiveness was found to be significantly and negatively associated with the TriPM total score, Meanness subscale, Disinhibition subscale, CAPP total score, Attachment domain, Cognitive domain, and Emotion domain.

36 Table 21. Perceived Effectiveness Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Undergraduate Student Participants Variables Perceived Effectiveness Age -.14** Gender -.02 PMSV .58*** Emotional Arousal .55*** Dramatic Impact .47*** Novelty .40*** Perceived Realism .45*** Negative Emotional Response .44*** Positive Emotional Response .04 Amount Learned .20*** SRO -.09* Reinforcer Index -.07 Punisher Index -.01 Pro-Gang Attitudes scale -.09* TriPM -.12** Boldness .00 Meanness -.14** Disinhibition -.13** CAPP -.09* Attachment -.10* Behavior -.08° Cognitive -.11* Dominance -.07 Emotion -.14** Self -.02 °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 22 presents the findings of the linear regression analysis for Perceived Effectiveness (dependent variable) and the PMSV subscales (predictor variables). All three subscales of the PMSV were entered into the analysis. Novelty was the only subscale that was not significantly associated with Perceived Effectiveness. The more emotionally arousing, and dramatic the PSA was perceived to be, the greater the perceived effectiveness.

37 Table 22. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PMSV Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 4.85*** .33 PMSV Emotional Arousal .13 .02 .38*** PMSV Dramatic Impact .09 .02 .24*** PMSV Novelty .04 .03 .07 Note. ***p < .001. F(3,533) = 93.22, p < .001, adj. R2 = .34.

Table 23 displays the results of the linear regression analysis of treating Perceived Effectiveness as the dependent variable and the other PSAQ subscales as predictor variables. Perceived Realism, Negative Emotional Response, and Amount Learned were all included in the analysis. Perceived Effectiveness was significantly associated with Perceived Realism and Negative Emotional Response, such that the more realistic the PSA was perceived to be, and the greater negative emotional response elicited, the greater the perceived effectiveness.

Table 23. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PSAQ Variables for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 2.82*** .58 Perceived Realism .42 .05 .35*** Negative Emotional .24 .03 .32*** Response Amount Learned .24 .15 .07 Note. ***p < .001. F(3,478) = 70.92, p < .001, adj. R2 = .30.

The linear regression analysis for the TriPM subscales, as predictor variables, and Perceived Effectiveness, as the dependent variable, are presented in Table 24. TriPM Boldness was not included in the linear regression as it was not significant at the bivariate level. Only TriPM Meanness was significantly associated with Perceived Effectiveness. Greater perceived effectiveness was associated with less callousness.

Table 24. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the TriPM Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 10.76*** .20 TriPM Meanness -.03 .02 -.10* TriPM Disinhibition -.03 .02 -.08 Note. *p < .05. ***p < .001. F(2,544) = 6.78, p < .01, adj. R2 = .02.

38 Table 25 displays the linear regression analysis for the CAPP domains as predictors and Perceived Effectiveness treated as the dependent variable. CAPP Attachment, CAPP Cognitive, and CAPP Emotion were included in the linear regression, but none were found to be significant using p < .05 as the alpha level. However, CAPP Emotion approached significance, with a small effect size and p = .054.

Table 25. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the CAPP Domains for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 10.60*** .18 CAPP Attachment -.01 .08 -.01 CAPP Cognitive -.03 .04 -.03 CAPP Emotion -.11 .06 -.12 Note. ***p < .001. F(3,543) = 3.67, p < .05, adj. R2 = .01.

The results of the three-stage hierarchical multiple regression are displayed in Table 26. The aim of this analysis was to determine if perceptions of the PSA were predictive after controlling for age, delinquency, and traits of psychopathy. Age was entered in block one. SRO, Pro-Gang Attitudes, TriPM total score, and CAPP total score were entered at block two. PMSV total score, Perceived Realism, and Negative Emotional Response were entered at block three. The psychopathy measures, pro-gang attitude scale, and SRO did not add significantly to the prediction of perceived effectiveness above and beyond age (Model 2). The addition of PMSV, Perceived Realism, and Negative Emotional Response (Model 3) led to a significant increase in R2.

In summary, Perceived Effectiveness was most strongly predicted by higher perceived message sensation value, with perceived realism having a moderate, positive effect size. Both age (younger) and having a higher negative emotional response were predictive with small effect sizes.

39 Table 26. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness While Controlling for Age, Delinquency, and Psychopathic Features for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Step 1 Constant 13.01*** .91 Age -.15 .05 -.14** Step 2 Constant 14.37*** 1.11 Age -.14 .05 -.14** Self-Report of Offending .01 .08 .01 Pro-Gang Attitudes -.20 .13 -.08 TriPM Total -.01 .01 -.08 CAPP Total -.004 .01 -.03 Step 3 Constant 4.30*** 1.03 Age -.11 .04 -.11** Self-Report of Offending -.02 .06 -.02 Pro-Gang Attitudes -.11 .10 -.04 TriPM Total -.002 .01 -.01 CAPP Total .002 .01 .01 PMSV Total .07 .01 .43*** Perceived Realism .33 .04 .27*** Negative Emotional Response .10 .03 .13** Note. **p < .01. ***p < .001. R2 = .02 for Step 1 (p < .01); ΔR2 = .02 for Step 2 (p < .01); ΔR2 = .41 for Step 3 (p < .001). The full model (Model 3) was significant, F(8, 479) = 49.24, p < .001, adj. R2 = .44.

Similar to what was completed above for PMSV, a subsequent hierarchical regression analysis was run to investigate if perceptions of the PSA were predictive of Perceived Effectiveness after controlling for the significant psychopathy subscale, TriPM Meanness (see Table 27). The results were similar to the hierarchical regression above that included psychopathy measure total scores. The next set of analyses focused on whether the mode of the PSA impacted perceived effectiveness and perceived message sensation value.

40 Table 27. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness While Controlling for Age, Delinquency, and Psychopathic Subscales for Undergraduate Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Step 1 Constant 13.01*** .91 Age -.15 .05 -.14** Step 2 Constant 14.05*** 1.08 Age -.15 .05 -.14** Self-Report of Offending .01 .07 .004 Pro-Gang Attitudes -.17 .13 -.06 TriPM Meanness -.04 .02 -.12* Step 3 Constant 4.25*** 1.01 Age -.11 .04 -.11** Self-Report of Offending -.03 .06 -.02 Pro-Gang Attitudes -.11 .10 -.04 TriPM Meanness .00 .01 .001 PMSV Total .07 .01 .43*** Perceived Realism .33 .04 .27*** Negative Emotional Response .10 .03 .13** Note. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. R2 = .02 for Step 1 (p < .01); ΔR2 = .02 for Step 2 (p < .001); ΔR2 = .41 for Step 3 (p < .001). The full model (Model 3) was significant, F(7, 480) = 56.37, p < .001, adj. R2 = .44.

2.3.5. Research question 4: What is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness?

There was a significant effect of mode on PMSV, F(2,553) = 23.08, p < .001, ω = .27. Hochberg’s GT2 post hoc analysis reported that the radio ad group (M = 48.05, SD = 13.54) had the lowest PMSV scores relative to video (M = 56.10, SD = 13.89) and poster (M =58.56, SD = 12.91) groups. The radio PMSV scores were significantly lower than the PMSV scores for both the video (d = -0.58, p < 001) and poster (d = -.80, p < .001) groups. There was no significant difference between the video and poster groups.

For Perceived Effectiveness, there was a significant though small effect of mode, F(2,545) = 4.71, p < .01, ω = .12. Hochberg’s GT2 post hoc analysis reported that the radio ad group (M = 9.68, SD = 2.19) differed significantly from the poster group (M = 10.46, SD =2.37; p < .05) as those in the poster group had higher Perceived Effectiveness scores (d =

41 .34, p < .05); there were no other significant group differences. For the video group, the mean was 10.03 and the standard deviation was 2.19.

The next set of analyses tested whether there were specific videos, radio ads, or posters that were perceived as more effective and of higher message sensation value, relative to the others. The specific PSAs are available on the End Gang Life website: www.endganglife.ca. First, in terms of perceived message sensation, there were no significant differences in PMSV between the PSAs that were posters, F(5, 217) = 1.38, p = .24, ω = .09. In addition, there were no significant differences in PMSV between the PSAs that were radio ads, F(2, 108) = 1.38, p = .26, ω = .08.

However, significant differences did emerge between the specific video PSAs, F(5, 216) = 5.09, p < .001, ω = .29. Gabriel post hoc analyses revealed that that the following videos significantly differed, by having lower PMSV scores, from “Push” (M = 63.65, SD = 13.30): 1) “Roll like a Gangster” (M = 52.56, SD = 15.41; d = -.78, p < .01), 2) “Sun Don’t Shine” (M = 51.60, SD = 15.08; d = -.86, p < .01), 3) “I Miss You Daddy” (M = 51.67, SD = 12.71; d = -.93, p < .01). “Push” was the only video with significantly higher PMSV scores, as compared to “Roll like a Gangster”, “Sun Don’t Shine”, and “I Miss You Daddy.” The three videos with the lowest PMSV scores did not significantly differ from any other videos, other than “Push”. In Appendix B, Table B11 displays mean PMSV and Perceived Effectiveness scores per PSA and, for ease of comparison, Table B12 presents PMSV means for video PSAs.

Next, in terms of the individual PSAs and Perceived Effectiveness, there were no significant differences between the PSAs that were videos, F(5, 209) = .80, p = .55, ω2 = -.00 (note: did not provide the square root because of the negative number). There were no significant differences in Perceived Effectiveness between the PSAs that were posters, F(5, 218) = 1.85, p = .10, ω = .14. There were no significant differences in Perceived Effectiveness between the PSAs that were radio ads, F(2, 106) = 1.12, p = .33, ω = .05.

2.4. Discussion

The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceived effectiveness and PMSV of the PSAs in an undergraduate sample. Another aim was to determine if perceptions of the PSAs were predictive of PMSV after controlling for antisociality. In addition, the association between mode and PMSV, as well as perceived effectiveness was examined. Finally, the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic-like traits were explored in order to

42 provide a rationale for using psychopathic-like traits as a covariate for subsequent research questions.

This study found that the Pro-Gang Attitudes subscale was significantly associated with all of the psychopathy trait variables, except for TriPM Boldness. The findings were the same for the Reinforcer Index, except the CAPP Cognitive domain was not significantly associated. This is unsurprising given that the more antisocial an individual, the more likely they would have psychopathic traits (Dmitrieva et al., 2014). At the multivariate level, TriPM Meanness was the only psychopathic domain/subscale that was significantly associated with the Reinforcer Index, as well as the Pro-Gang Attitude scale. In terms of Decker and Van Winkle’s (1996) idea of pushes and pulls to gangs, greater callousness and impulsivity appeared to be associated with identifying more positive consequences of gang membership; not only were pro-gang attitudes associated with endorsing more reinforcers, but this also appeared to be linked to impulsivity. The higher the scores on the Punishers Index subscale, the lower the scores on the TriPM Meanness, CAPP total score, CAPP Attachment domain, and CAPP Emotion domain. Although, the association between the Punishers Index subscale and CAPP Attachment, as well as CAPP Emotion were not significant at the multivariate level. It is interesting that individuals who indicated having more callous traits were less likely to view gang membership as having negative consequences. Overall, TriPM Meanness (e.g., callous traits) appeared to be the psychopathy subscale that was consistently significantly associated with gang attitudes.

The present findings suggest that the more negative emotions and perceptions of effectiveness were elicited, the more an individual was likely to experience greater perceived message sensations. It was predicted that the evocative nature of the PSAs would elicit perceived message sensation in the participants. As mentioned earlier when discussing the activation theory of information exposure, a message is more likely to be successful if a certain level of arousal is reached (Donohew, 2009).

In terms of psychopathic traits, this study demonstrated that the higher an individual’s TriPM Meanness subscale and CAPP Emotion domain scores were, the lower their PMSV scores. It is surprising that CAPP Dominance was not a significant predictor in the linear regression analysis as previous research has found it is most similar to TriPM Meanness (Gatner, 2015); although PMSV scores are indicative of arousal and shallow affect is tied to TriPM Meanness. These findings suggest that individuals who are more callous and have difficulties with mood regulation are less likely to report perceived sensations, which is relative as those with gang attitudes may be more likely to possess callous traits. However,

43 Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response significantly predicted PMSV even after controlling for psychopathic traits as measured by the TriPM total score; the effect of the TriPM as a predictor of PMSV washed out when considering Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response. When psychopathy subscales/domains were considered, CAPP Emotion added significantly to the model, but the effect was smaller than Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response. This finding suggests that traits like shallow emotions can have an impact, although small, on how arousing a message is perceived to be. One suggestion for current and future anti-gang media campaigns would be to create materials that elicit negative emotions in the viewer.

In terms of Perceived Effectiveness as an outcome, similar to the results with PMSV, Negative Emotional Response and TriPM Meanness were found to be significant predictors. In addition, Emotional Arousal, Dramatic Impact, and Perceived Realism were significant predictors of Perceived Effectiveness. The present findings show that the greater the emotional arousal and dramatic impact, the higher the perceived effectiveness; this is in line with the activation theory of information exposure (Donohew et al., 1980). It is interesting that a PSA did not need to be unique, unusual, or novel to be regarded as effective. In addition, the findings were in line with previous research that indicated the more an individual perceives a PSA to be realistic and the greater the negative emotions elicited, the more a PSA is perceived to be effective (Dillard and Peck, 2000; Fishbein et al., 2002). Also, perceived effectiveness was more likely to be lower when an individual had higher TriPM Meanness scores. Further investigation via hierarchical regression found that the results were slightly more nuanced.

Participants who self-reported offending behaviour, held more anti-gang attitudes, and had more psychopathic traits, found the PSAs somewhat less effective; however, this finding did not hold when PMSV, Perceived Realism, and Negative Emotional Response were taken into account. Age, Perceived Realism, Negative Emotional Response, and PMSV were predictive of Perceived Effectiveness despite antisociality and psychopathic features, including when TriPM Meanness was included in the analyses. This finding is important because the initiative would be more successful if the message got through to vulnerable individuals. In addition, younger participants found the PSAs somewhat more effective; although the effect was small, it was unclear why this was found. This warrants further investigation as individuals typically join gangs when young (Curry et al., 2014). It is promising that the effect of antisociality diminished when perceptions, such as Perceived Realism, of the PSA were taken into account. This suggests that if a PSA is perceived to be

44 realistic by the viewer then it is likely to be perceived as effective despite the person’s propensity to antisociality. Further, it would be beneficial to speak to gang affiliated individuals, particularly those who are young, to aid in the creation of future PSAs. In addition, anti-gang PSA creators should try to evoke negative emotions in the viewer because it increases the viewer’s perceived arousal, as well as perceived effectiveness.

In terms of mode, there were significant differences between the types of PSAs and PMSV. The PMSV scores were the lowest for the radio ads and this difference was significant from both the videos and posters. This finding suggests that visual stimuli were more likely to stimulate perceived sensations. However, this difference may also be due to the content of the radio ads, as they appeared to be more didactic, as opposed to the posters and videos that used a more narrative approach. It was hypothesized that posters would be perceived as the most effective PSA mode. There was a significant effect of mode on Perceived Effectiveness and the only significant difference was between radio ads and posters; visual stimuli may also have a greater impact on perceived effectiveness, but this is not as strong as for PMSV. One implication of posters having the highest PMSV and Perceived Effectiveness scores is that it may be beneficial to focus efforts on distributing posters; a benefit of posters being the best mode is that they may be cheaper to create and distribute, as well as having a greater effect on attitude change. According to the elaboration likelihood theory (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), Nan (2008) indicated that print ads may be processed via the central route, which is conducive for more permanent attitude change (Wilson, 2007). These results can help anti-gang campaigns in general, whereas the following discussion pertains to the End Gang Life initiative specifically.

The only significant differences between the individual PSAs by mode were between PMSV scores for the video “Push” and the following videos with the lowest PMSV scores: 1) “Sun Don’t Shine,” 2) “I Miss You Daddy,” and 3) “Roll like a Gangster.” “Push” focuses on a little girl while a song with lyrics and prominent sound effects of a swing creaking can be heard; there is also imagery of a body under a sheet and this combination may be what elicited the highest PMSV scores. On the other hand, “Sun Don’t Shine” was found to have the lowest PMSV scores; one possibility for this finding could be because the video does not visually depict the consequences of gang membership, instead it features a mother sitting on a bench looking off into the distance and her speech was in a voiceover. Interestingly, there were no differences in Perceived Effectiveness, which is likely due to the fact that even the lowest PMSV score was similar to average total scores found in past research (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

45 A strength of the study was that the research was novel because End Gang Life is an innovative initiative and gang research is limited in Canada. This is the first known study that examined this initiative. One of the limitations of this study was that it was cross-sectional in nature. Subsequent studies should use a pre-post test design (that is, administer gang attitudes questionnaires before and after showing the PSAs). Also, an undergraduate sample has limitations in terms of generalizability. Although, university students are in a similar age range to gang members (Curry et al., 2014), it is less likely that a gang member would attend university as one risk factor for gang involvement is education potential that is poor (Public Safety Canada, 2007). As such, the evaluation also included other samples, as described below. In addition, End Gang Life is an ongoing initiative and several new PSAs have been released after the evaluation began. The findings from this study, as well as the two studies outlined below, can aid with enhancing anti-gang initiatives. The data suggest that anti-gang PSAs should have content that is emotionally arousing, dramatic, realistic, and elicits negative emotions in the viewer.

46 Chapter 3.

Community Study

3.1. Overview

The target group of the second study were members of the community across British Columbia. End Gang Life is a provincial wide initiative, which means that community members are part of the expected audience. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of End Gang Life materials.

3.2. Method

3.2.1. Participants

One hundred and fourteen community members living in British Columbia completed the study. There were eight individuals who were excluded from analyses – one completed the study in under 10 minutes (and hence could not have participated meaningfully), six indicated that they viewed the wrong PSA, and one who did not meet the eligibility criteria due to age. Demographic information is displayed in Table 28; the majority of the community member participants were female, Caucasian, and lived in the Mainland/Southwest area of British Columbia. On average, the participants completed the online questionnaire in about 32 minutes and were approximately 33 years of age.

The participants for the community sample were somewhat representative of British Columbians. According to the 2016 Census, British Columbians were on average 42.3 years of age, around 50.9% of British Columbians were female, approximately 69.7% of British Columbians were not a visible minority, and about 5.9% of British Columbians identified as Aboriginal (Statistics Canada, 2018).

47 Table 28. Demographic Descriptives for Community Member Participants Variable n % M (SD) Gender 106 Male 30 28.3 Female 76 71.7 Other 0 0 Ethnicity 106 White 71 68.9 Aboriginal 0 0 Black 2 1.9 East Asian 12 11.7 South Asian 2 1.9 Part Aboriginal 4 3.9 Other 12 11.7 Age 106 33.11 (12.34) Where 105 Community Centre 3 2.9 Library 5 4.8 Coffee Shop 7 6.7 Online 80 76.2 Word of Mouth 1 1.0 Other 9 8.6 Region 106 Vancouver Island/Coast 21 19.8 Mainland/Southwest 68 64.2 Thompson/Okanagan 10 9.4 Kootenay 3 2.8 Cariboo 3 2.8 North Coast 0 0 Nechako 0 0 Northeast 1 0.9 Time in minutes 106 32.38 (70.67)

3.2.2. Procedure

Community members were recruited using flyers (e.g., posted in community centres) and ads (e.g., Craigslist) in community settings, in exchange for an entry into a draw for a gift card. Volunteer research assistants assisted with recruitment (e.g., putting up flyers in local community centres and assisting with sending flyers to distant communities). Recruitment occurred between May 2016 and January 2017.

48 Community members who indicated an interest in participating were emailed and completed the experimental sessions online via LimeSurvey. The first page of the online link was the consent page. The participants were emailed one randomly selected PSA (e.g., a poster) out of the 15 possible to view. The participants also completed questionnaires examining their opinions of the PSA and individual characteristics (e.g., gang attitudes). The study took approximately 30 minutes to complete. At the end of the study, participants were asked if they were interested in future research. All participants had a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card; there was a draw every twenty-fifth participant (i.e., a 1 in 25 chance of winning).

3.2.3. Measures

The same measures as the undergraduate study were used for the community member study; the following measures were administered: PSAQ (Fishbein et al., 2002), PMSV (Everett & Palmgreen, 1995), SRO (Huizinga et al., 1991), GAS (Winfree et al., 1994), TriPM (Patrick, 2010), and CAPP Self-Report (Cooke et al., 2004). Like in the undergraduate study, three items were dropped from the PMSV in order to use the measure with the different PSA modes. Again, PMSV will refer to the modified 14-item scale.

In the current study, the reliabilities ranged from low to excellent, with most alphas being at least above .70 and 12 of 23 being above .80. In terms of the PSAQ variables, perceived effectiveness (α = .79; MIC = .50; CIC = .51 – .65), perceived realism (α = .74; MIC = .41; CIC = .46 – .71), negative emotional response (α = .81; MIC = .53; CIC = .51 – .73) and positive emotional response (α = .77; MIC = .64; CIC = .64) all had acceptable reliabilities. Cronbach’s alpha was found to be .88 (MIC = .34; CIC = .27 – .73) for PMSV total score; Emotional Arousal (α = .82; MIC = .43; CIC = .32 – .74), Dramatic Impact (α = .66; MIC = .28; CIC = .30 – .58), and Novelty (α = .83; MIC = .62; CIC = .65 – .73) had questionable to good reliabilities. See Table B1, B2, and B3 in Appendix B for more detailed information about the corrected item-total correlations for PSAQ subscales and the PMSV.

For the current study, the SRO had an alpha of .90 (MIC = .31; CIC = .16 – .73). The GAS variables ranged from having low to good reliabilities: Reinforcers index (α = .87; MIC = .58; CIC = .60 – .75), Punishers index (α = .49; MIC = .21; CIC = .19 – .38), and Pro-Gang Attitudes scale (α = .56; MIC = .33; CIC = .34 – .51); it should be noted that one of the items (i.e., Do you believe the following could or would happen with gang membership: Get hurt? Yes or No) on the Punishers index had zero variability, which restricts reliability indices. The

49 TriPM has been used in a community sample (e.g., van Dongen, Drislane, Nijman, Soe- Agnie, & van Marle, 2017). The TriPM total score was found to be highly reliable, α = .90 (MIC = .16; CIC = -.13 – .64). Good to excellent reliabilities were found for TriPM Boldness (α = .84; MIC = .23; CIC = .14 – .70), TriPM Meanness (α = .88; MIC = .31; CIC = .28 – .68), and TriPM Disinhibition (α = .91; MIC = .33; CIC = .29 – .75). Previous research has used another version of the CAPP in a sample of community members (Sellbom et al., 2019). The CAPP total score was found to have a Cronbach’s alpha of .93 (MIC = .31; CIC = .16 – .67). The reliabilities for Attention (α = .71; MIC = .41; CIC = .46 – .68), Behavior (α = .70; MIC = .31; CIC = .30 – .59), Cognitive (α = .66; MIC = .28; CIC = .31 – .52), Dominance (α = .78; MIC = .37; CIC = .47 – .63), Emotion (α = .48; MIC = .18; CIC = .10 – .43), and Self (α = .82; MIC = .40; CIC = .43 – .68) had low to good reliabilities. See Table B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, and B9 in Appendix B for more detailed information about the corrected item-total correlations for the SRO, GAS, TriPM, and CAPP.

3.2.4. Ethics approval

SFU’s ORE approved the study, “Evaluating End Gang Life: Study 2”, and it was designated as “Minimal Risk”.

3.2.5. Analysis

The same method of data analysis for the Undergraduate Study was used for the Community Study.

3.3. Results

3.4. Descriptive information

For participants’ descriptive information see Tables 29 through 33. Table 29 displays the number of participants that viewed each PSA. Tables 30 and 31 present the averages for the scale and subscales. The community member PMSV scores were comparable to samples from past research (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). For information about the individual PMSV item means and standard deviations, see Table B10 in Appendix B. Self-reported gang attitudes are presented in Table 32. Finally, Table 33 displays the average scores by mode. The analyses in the following section investigated the

50 association between PMSV and the community members’ views of the PSAs, as well as community members’ individual differences.

Table 29. Number of PSAs Shown to Community Member Participants Variable n % PSA 106 1. Push (Poster) 8 7.5 2. Bury You (Poster) 6 5.7 3. I Miss You Daddy (Poster) 6 5.7 4. Roll like a Gangster (Poster) 7 6.6 5. Dial a Doper (Poster) 8 7.5 6. Roll like a Gangster (Video) 7 6.6 7. Dial a Doper (Video) 8 7.5 8. Sun Don’t Shine (Video) 8 7.5 9. Push (Video) 7 6.6 10. Bury You (Video) 7 6.6 11. I Miss You Daddy (Video) 7 6.6 12. Radio Ad #1 (Radio) 7 6.6 13. Radio Ad #2 (Radio) 7 6.6 14. Radio Ad #3 (Radio) 6 5.7 15. Sun Don’t Shine (Poster) 7 6.6

Table 30. PMSV Descriptives for Community Member Participants Variables n M (SD) PMSV – 17 itemsa Total Scoreb 43 61.47 (19.27) Emotional Arousal 43 29.16 (10.14) Dramatic Impact 43 20.87 (6.90) Novelty 41 11.24 (4.79) PMSV – 14 items Total Scorec 105 52.05 (15.15) Emotional Arousal 105 22.50 (7.37) Dramatic Impact 106 18.06 (6.08) Novelty 102 11.54 (4.57) Note. aParticipants that viewed a video were included. bFor the 17 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 59.5 to 63.92 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). cFor the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

51 Table 31. Perceptions and Personality Characteristic Descriptives for Community Member Participants Variables n M (SD) PSAQ Perceived Effectiveness 100 9.29 (2.43) Perceived Realism 92 11.75 (2.00) Positive Emotional Response 105 2.20 (0.67) Negative Emotional Response 105 7.99 (3.07) Amount Learned 103 1.48 (0.59) SRO Ever 106 4.16 (4.38) GAS Reinforcers Index 102 3.14 (1.88) Punishers Index 105 4.70 (0.72) Pro-Gang Attitudes 105 4.42 (0.78) TriPM Total Score 106 57.08 (20.55) Boldness 105 29.57 (9.81) Meanness 106 9.00 (7.78) Disinhibition 106 18.47 (12.10) CAPP Total Score 106 22.09 (14.86) Attachment 106 1.53 (1.92) Behaviour 106 3.92 (3.10) Cognitive 106 4.41 (2.85) Dominance 106 3.21 (3.13) Emotion 106 3.40 (2.45) Self 106 5.63 (4.21)

52 Table 32. Gang Attitude Descriptives for Community Member Participants Variables n % About how many of your best friends are gang members? 104 None or almost none 98 94.2 Less than half 5 4.8 More than half 1 1.0 What is the attitude toward gangs of most of the adults whose opinions 103 you value or think are important? Strongly disapprove 16 73.8 Disapprove 18 17.5 Depends on the circumstances 8 7.8 Approve 1 1.0 Strongly approve 0 0 What is the attitude toward gangs of most of the peers whose opinions 104 you value or think are important? Strongly disapprove 64 61.5 Disapprove 25 24.0 Depends on the circumstances 14 13.5 Approve 1 1.0 Strongly approve 0 0 What would your parents or guardians most likely do if they thought you 103 were a member of a gang? Encourage you 0 0 Disapprove but do nothing 19 18.4 Scold or punish you 19 18.4 Kick you out of the house 19 18.4 Turn you over to the police 34 33.0 Other 12 11.7 What would your peers most likely do if they thought you were a member 103 of a gang? Encourage you 0 0 Disapprove but do nothing 45 43.7 Scold or punish you 23 22.3 Kick you out of the house 4 3.9 Turn you over to the police 17 16.5 Other 14 13.6

53 Table 33. Means and Standard Deviations for PMSV Total Scores by Mode for Community Member Participants Mode n M (SD) Poster 42 55.37 (13.50) Video 43 49.54 (16.59) Radio Ad 20 50.48 (14.59) Note. For the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

3.4.1. Research question 1: What is the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic features?

Table 34 displays the results of the Spearman’s correlation coefficients between gang attitudes and psychopathic-like traits. The Reinforcer Index was significantly and positively associated only with the Pro-Gang Attitudes scale. The TriPM total score, TriPM Disinhibition subscale, and CAPP Behavior domain were significantly and negatively correlated with the Punisher Index. Like the undergraduate sample, the Pro-Gang Attitudes subscale was found to be positively associated with all the items (except for TriPM Boldness and CAPP Cognitive) typically with moderate effect sizes.

The same issues that arose for the GAS dependent variables (The Reinforcer Index, Punisher Index, and Pro-Gang Attitudes) in the Undergraduate Study arose in the Community Study, which led to the same data analytic strategy. The psychopathy subscales or domains that had significant associations with the GAS dependent variables were then included at the multivariate level. A total of two logistic regression analyses were run, as there were not multiple significant associations within subscales or domains for the Reinforcer Index and Punisher Index.

54 Table 34. Association Between Gang Attitudes and Psychopathic Traits for Community Member Participants Variables Reinforcer Index Punisher Index Pro-Gang Attitudes Reinforcer Index - Punisher Index -.06 - Pro-Gang Attitudes .28** -.06 - TriPM .16 -.20* .30** Boldness .14 -.08 .08 Meanness .12 -.03 .34*** Disinhibition .10 -.26** .27** CAPP .11 -.10 .31** Attachment .08 .02 .20** Behavior .15 -.21* .32*** Cognitive .02 -.17 .19° Dominance .15 -.07 .28** Emotion .08 -.05 .25* Self .07 -.06 .34*** °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 35 displays the logistic regression analysis for the TriPM subscales as predictors and the dichotomous Pro-Gang Attitudes variable treated as the dependent variable. The logistic regression model was statistically significant and explained 17% of the variance in Pro-Gang Attitudes scores. Individuals with higher TriPM Meanness scores, but not higher TriPM Disinhibition scores, had an increased likelihood of endorsing at least one pro-gang attitude.

Table 35. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the TriPM Subscales for Community Member Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Meanness .09 .04 6.43 1.10 [1.02, 1.18] .01 Disinhibition .01 .02 .26 1.01 [.97, 1.06] .61 Note. Model -2LL = 112.02, Nagelkerke R2 = .17, χ2(2) = 13.62, p = .001.

With CAPP domains as the predictors, a logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict antisocial leaning answers on the Pro-Gang Attitudes, the dependent variable (see Table 36). The logistic regression model was statistically significant and explained 17% of the variance in Pro-Gang Attitudes scores. None of the CAPP domains were significant at the multivariate level. The next set of analyses focuses on what variables predict greater PMSV.

55 Table 36. Logistic Regression Analysis to Predict Pro-Gang Attitude Scores from the CAPP Domains for Community Member Participants Criterion/Postdictor B SE(B) Wald eB [95% CI] Sig. Attachment -.09 .19 .21 .92 [.63, 1.33] .64 Behavior .14 .11 1.81 1.15 [.94, 1.42] .18 Dominance -.02 .12 .04 .98 [.77, 1.24] .84 Emotion .06 .15 .15 1.06 [.79, 1.42] .70 Self .13 .08 2.44 1.14 [.97, 1.34] .12 Note. Model -2LL = 112.73, Nagelkerke R2 = .17, χ2(5) = 12.90, p < 05.

3.4.2. Research question 2: What is the association between perceived message sensation and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences?

Table 37 presents the Pearson correlations between Perceived Effectiveness and the independent variables, except for Amount Learned, SRO, and the GAS variables where Spearman’s rho was used as these variables were skewed or essentially ordinal in nature (transformations were conducted, but did not correct the skew). The only significant correlations with PMSV were with PSAQ variables, except for Amount Learned. PMSV was positively associated with Perceived Effectiveness, Perceived Realism, Negative Emotional Response, and Positive Emotional Response.

56 Table 37. PMSV Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Community Member Participants Variables PMSV Age .01 Gender -.08 Perceived Effectiveness .62*** Perceived Realism .36*** Negative Emotional Response .52*** Positive Emotional Response .23* Amount Learned .15 SRO .10 Reinforcer Index .10 Punisher Index .10 Pro-Gang Attitudes scale -.11 TriPM -.03 Boldness .08 Meanness -.05 Disinhibition -.09 CAPP -.14 Attachment -.12 Behavior -.09 Cognitive -.17° Dominance -.16 Emotion -.12 Self -.09 °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 38 presents the findings of the linear regression for PMSV total score as the dependent variable and PSAQ variables as predictors. Perceived Effectiveness and Negative Emotional Response were significant predictors of PMSV. Similar to the study with the undergraduate students, higher perceived message sensation was predicted when greater negative emotional response was evoked, and the more a PSA was perceived to be effective. The next set of analyses focuses on whether Perceived Effectiveness is associated with community members’ other views of the PSAs and individual differences in antisociality.

57 Table 38. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV from the PSAQ Variables for Community Member Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 3.12 8.69 Perceived Effectiveness 2.64 .70 .42*** Perceived Realism .70 .74 .09 Negative Emotional Response 1.19 .49 .24* Positive Emotional Response 3.09 1.90 .14 Note. *p < .05. ***p < .001. F(4,82) =17.00, p < .001, adj. R2 = .43.

3.4.3. Research question 3: What is the association between perceived effectiveness and participants’ views of the PSA, as well as individual differences?

Table 39 displays the Pearson correlations, as well as Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients (with Amount Learned, SRO, GAS variables; transformations were conducted, but did not correct the skew), between Perceived Effectiveness and the independent variables. Perceived Effectiveness was not significantly associated with age or gender. Perceived Effectiveness was significantly and positively correlated with all of the PMSV variables. Positive Emotional Arousal was the only PSAQ variable that was not significantly associated with Perceived Effectiveness. The SRO was not significantly correlated with Perceived Effectiveness. In terms of the GAS subscales, the Pro-Gang Attitudes subscale was significantly and negatively associated with Perceived Effectiveness. The TriPM items were not significantly correlated with Perceived Effectiveness; as a result, a linear regression analysis was not conducted. The CAPP total score, CAPP Cognitive domain, and CAPP Dominance domain were found to be significantly and negatively associated with Perceived Effectiveness.

58 Table 39. Perceived Effectiveness Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for Community Member Participants Variables Perceived Effectiveness Age .05 Gender -.04 PMSV .62*** Emotional Arousal .65*** Dramatic Impact .33** Novelty .58*** Perceived Realism .53*** Negative Emotional Response .55*** Positive Emotional Response .12 Amount Learned .22* SRO .003 Reinforcer Index .04 Punisher Index .08 Pro-Gang Attitudes scale -.21* TriPM -.07 Boldness .07 Meanness -.11 Disinhibition -.10 CAPP -.20* Attachment -.14 Behavior -.15 Cognitive -.23* Dominance -.20* Emotion -.13 Self -.17° °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 40 displays the results from the linear regression analysis for Perceived Effectiveness (dependent variable) and PMSV subscales (predictors). When Perceived Effectiveness was predicted, Emotional Arousal and Novelty were significant predictors, whereas Dramatic Impact was not. The more emotionally arousing or novel the PSA was perceived to be, the greater the perceived effectiveness.

59 Table 40. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PMSV Subscales for Community Member Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 4.40*** .68 PMSV Emotional Arousal .16 .04 .49*** PMSV Dramatic Impact -.01 .04 -.03 PMSV Novelty .13 .06 .24* Note. *p < .05. ***p < .001. F(3,92) = 24.84, p < .001, adj. R2 = .43.

Table 41 presents the findings for the linear regression analysis for Perceived Effectiveness treated as the dependent variable and other PSAQ items as predictors. Perceived Realism and Negative Emotional Response were found to add significantly to the prediction. Amount Learned was not a significant predictor. The greater the negative emotional response, and the more realistic the PSA was perceived to be, the more effective the PSA was perceived to be.

Table 41. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the PSAQ Variables for Community Member Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant -.18 1.23 Perceived Realism .51 .10 .42*** Negative Emotional Response .34 .07 .43*** Amount Learned .50 .33 .12 Note. °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. F(3,83) = 26.34, p < .001, adj. R2 = .47.

Table 42 displays the results of the linear regression analysis for Perceived Effectiveness (dependent variable) and the CAPP domains (predictors). The linear regression model did not significantly predict Perceived Effectiveness. As a result, the hierarchical regression did not use the CAPP psychopathy domains.

Table 42. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness from the CAPP Domains for Community Member Participants

Variable B SEB β Constant 10.17*** .44 CAPP Cognitive -.14 .11 -.16 CAPP Dominance -.08 .10 -.10 Note. ***p < .001. F(3,97) = 3.00, p = .06, adj. R2 = .04.

The hierarchical regression analysis was run to determine if the addition of PMSV total score, Perceived Realism, and Negative Emotional Response improved the prediction of Perceived Effectiveness over and above Pro-Gang Attitudes and the CAPP total score.

60 The findings are displayed in Table 43. Pro-Gang Attitudes and CAPP total score were found to not be predictive. PMSV total score, Perceived Realism, and Negative Emotional Response did add significantly to the prediction of Perceived Effectiveness.

In summary, Perceived Effectiveness was predicted by higher perceived message sensation, greater perceived realism, and higher negative emotional response; all had moderate positive effect sizes. The subsequent analyses focus on how mode potentially affects perceived effectiveness and PMSV.

Table 43. Hierarchical Regression Analysis to Predict Perceived Effectiveness While Controlling for Delinquency and Psychopathic Features for Community Member Participants

Variable B SEB β Step 1 Constant 11.91*** 1.49 Pro-Gang Attitudes -.48 .36 -.15 CAPP Total -.02 .02 -.14 Step 2 Constant 1.37 1.71 Pro-Gang Attitudes -.18 .26 -.06 CAPP Total -.02 .01 -.10 PMSV Total .05 .02 .33*** Perceived Realism .37 .10 .31*** Negative Emotional Response .25 .07 .32*** Note. ***p < .001. R2 = .06. for Step 1 (p = .07); ΔR2 = 51. for Step 2 (p < .001). The full model (Model 2) was significant, F(5, 81) = 21.52, p < .001, adj. R2 = .54.

3.4.4. Research question 4: What is the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness?

The results in this section are presented for descriptive purposes only due to low power for the analyses.

Using Levene’s test, the assumption of homogeneity of variance was found to be violated, p < .05. There was no significant effect of mode on PMSV, Welch’s F(2,51.76) = 1.80, p = .18, ω = .12. For Perceived Effectiveness, there was no significant effect of mode, F(2,97) = .16, p = .85, ω2 = -0.02 (note: did not provide the square root because of the negative number).

61 In terms of the individual PSAs and PMSV, there were no significant differences between the PSAs that were videos, F(5, 37) = .90 p = .49, ω2 = -.01 (note: did not provide the square root because of the negative number). There were no significant differences in PMSV between the PSAs that were posters (using Levene’s test, the assumption of homogeneity of variance was found to be violated, p < .05), Welch’s F(5, 16.67) = 1.86, p = .16, ω = .10. There were no significant differences in PMSV between the PSAs that were radio ads, F(2, 17) =3.56, p = .051, ω = .45.

In terms of the individual PSAs and Perceived Effectiveness, there were no significant differences between the PSAs that were videos, F(5, 35) = 1.34, p = .27, ω = .20. There were significant differences in Perceived Effectiveness between the PSAs that were posters, F(5, 33) = 2.86, p < .05, ω = .44. Gabriel post hoc analyses revealed that that the “I Miss You Daddy” poster (M = 11.33, SD = 1.86) significantly differed from the “Dial A Doper” poster (M = 7.43, SD = 1.81), which had lower Perceived Effectiveness scores (d = -2.31, p < .05); in Appendix B, Table B13 presents Perceived Effectiveness means for poster PSAs. There were no significant differences in Perceived Effectiveness between the PSAs that were radio ads (using Levene’s test, the assumption of homogeneity of variance was found to be violated, p < .05), Welch’s F(2, 8.24) = 2.07, p = .19, ω = .17. See Table B11 in Appendix B for more information about PMSV and Perceived Effectiveness scores per PSA.

3.5. Discussion

The focus of this study was to examine the perceived effectiveness and PMSV of the PSAs in a community sample. Like the undergraduate student study, whether PSAs were predictive of PMSV after controlling for antisociality was also investigated. The association between mode and PMSV, as well as perceived effectiveness was also explored. Additionally, the association between gang attitudes and psychopathic-like traits were examined.

This study found that the Reinforcer Index subscale was significantly associated with the Pro-Gang Attitudes subscale, which is unsurprising. The higher the scores on the Punishers Index subscale, the lower the scores on the TriPM total score, TriPM Disinhibition subscale, and CAPP Behavior domain. In other words, individuals who were more impulsive were less likely to endorse the negative aspects of gang membership. At the bivariate level, the Pro-Gang Attitudes scale was significantly associated with all the psychopathy trait items,

62 except for TriPM Boldness and the CAPP Cognitive domain. At the multivariate level, like the undergraduate study, TriPM Meanness was significantly associated with Pro-Gang Attitudes.

Similar to the Undergraduate Study, the study demonstrated that an individual was more likely to experience perceived sensations if they perceived the PSA to be effective and negative emotions were elicited; anti-gang PSA creators should endeavour to elicit negative emotions in their PSA viewers. It was hypothesized that the engaging content of the End Gang Life PSAs would elicit perceived message sensation from participants. In terms of PMSV items, this study found that Emotional Arousal and Novelty were significantly predictive of Perceived Effectiveness; this is an interesting finding given that Dramatic Impact was significant, not Novelty, for the Undergraduate students.

Like the undergraduate students and past research (Dillard & Peck, 2000; Fishbein et al., 2002), the community members were more likely to perceive the PSA as effective if they perceived the content to be arousing, realistic, and it evoked a negative emotional response; those that develop anti-gang PSAs would benefit from incorporating these elements in their materials. Again, what these findings have in common is that a successful message was one that elicited arousal in the viewer, which is what the activation theory of information exposure posits (Donohew et al., 1980).

The findings suggested that, in general, individual characteristics did not significantly influence community members’ opinions of the initiative. Although a couple domains of psychopathic personality on the CAPP were significantly and inversely correlated with Perceived Effectiveness at a bivariate level, these associations were no longer significant within multivariate analyses. In other words, psychopathic traits were not significantly associated with PMSV at the bivariate level and Perceived Effectiveness at the multivariate level. This could be due to a lack of power since the effects detected in both the Undergraduate Study and Community Study were small, but there were roughly five times more participants in the Undergraduate Study. The power for the correlations ranged from .43, for r = -.03, to .99, for r = -.17. In addition, the power for the linear regression analysis for CAPP domains predicting Perceived Effectiveness was found to be .58.

The ANOVA findings should be interpreted with caution, as the power was insufficient to detect medium effects for the Community Study. No significant differences were found when comparing the three modes or the individuals PSAs; there was one exception and that was between the “Dial a Doper” poster and the “I Miss You Daddy” poster, which had higher perceived effectiveness scores. It is unclear why this was the only

63 difference found, but one reason may be due to the large effect size for the difference in Perceived Effectiveness between the “Dial a Doper” poster and the “I Miss You Daddy” poster. Another potential reason could be the clarity of the content in the posters; “I Miss You Daddy” clearly insinuates that the tombstone is that of the young girl’s father, whereas “Dial a Doper” alludes to a murder in a more subtle way. In the author’s opinion, the viewer would need to spend more time looking at the “Dial a Doper” poster in order to read the text and notice the blood spatter.

As with the Undergraduate Study, limitations of the Community Study were that it was cross-sectional in nature, would benefit from a pre-post design in order to establish if there was a change in gang attitudes after viewing the PSA, and did not include all the PSAs the End Gang Life initiative has created. Also, the Community Study did not have sufficient power to conduct all the analyses that could be conducted for the Undergraduate Study; as a result, the analyses for examining the association between mode and perceived message sensation, as well as perceived effectiveness, were presented only for descriptive purposes. Also, low reliability was found for some of the subscales, such as the Punishers Index, which may have been impacted by a slightly more restricted range of scores.

This study evaluated the audience for the End Gang Life initiative, individuals living in British Columbia. As mentioned, a strength of this research is that it adds to the limited gang research in Canada. In addition, the findings from this study can be used to improve current and future initiatives. A take away from the Community Study is that perceived effectiveness was associated with PSAs that appeared more realistic, evoked higher perceived message sensations, and elicited more negative emotions.

64 Chapter 4.

High School Study

4.1. Overview

The purpose of the High School Study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CFSEU-BC seminars presented to high school students. As mentioned above, gang members tend to be young. Curry et al. (2014) reported that the modal age of gang members is 15. As a result, it was important to focus on a group that includes this age range.

The High School Study was different than the Undergraduate and Community Studies, but it was included in the overall evaluation because both the seminars and the PSAs appeared to be a focus of the End Gang Life initiative. Also, the High School Study evaluated similar themes as the Undergraduate and Community Studies even though distinct measures were used.

4.2. Method

4.2.1. Participants

High school students (N = 1742) in British Columbia (2015 to 2016) that viewed the End Gang Life presentation were invited to complete a survey as part of an evaluation. It should be noted that there were numerous blank questionnaires returned. Of the participants who were asked to indicate their gender and grade, approximately half were female and the average grade was nine (see Table 44); gender and grade was not included on the questionnaires at the outset of the evaluation.

Table 44. Demographic Descriptives for High School Student Participants Variable n % M (SD) Gender 878 Male 456 51.9 Female 422 48.1 Other 0 0 Grade 982 8.86 (1.44)

65 4.2.2. Procedure

The presenters administered paper questionnaires immediately after the seminar; the surveys were either completed at the time or mailed to Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton or Constable Jordan McLellan. Research assistants were responsible for entering the survey information into the database. In addition, schools were invited to have their students complete a “pre-survey” addressing gang attitudes in order to determine if there was a change in gang attitudes after attending the seminar. Unfortunately, the response was very poor as the majority of schools did not administer the pre-surveys and the ones that provided the pre-surveys had an abysmal response rate; as a result, only the surveys administered after the seminars were included in the evaluation.

4.2.3. Measures

The PMSV (Everett & Palmgreen, 1995), specifically the 14-item version used for the Undergraduate and Community Member samples, was also used in the High School Study; for the current program evaluation, the PMSV scale (α = .82; MIC = .25; CIC = .29 – .59) and subscales (Emotional Arousal, α = .74, MIC = .32, CIC = .29 – .57; Dramatic Impact, α = .76, MIC = .40, CIC = .40 – .65; Novelty, α = .70, MIC = .44, CIC = .47 – .56) had acceptable to good reliabilities. In Appendix B, Tables B2 and B3 provide more information about the PMSV corrected item-total correlations.

In addition, questions about the video shown (e.g., The video was convincing; α = .82; MIC = .54; CIC = .60 – .67), reaction to the overall presentation (e.g., The presentation was effective; α = .81; MIC = .47; CIC = .54 – .70), and opinions about gangs (e.g., I think you are safer, and have protection, if you join a gang; α =.62; MIC = .31; CIC = .31 – .49) on a 5-point Likert scale from Disagree Strongly to Agree Strongly were included. See Table 33 for the list of questions, which were developed by a group of researchers at SFU. The multimedia aspects of the seminars, as well as the reading level of the young audience were taken into account by having researchers at SFU co-create and review the document; for example, J. Viljoen recommended that the word “teenagers” be used instead of “kids” (personal communication, March 7, 2015). See Table B14 in Appendix B for more detailed information about the feedback items’ corrected item-total correlations. Finally, gender and grade were introduced to the quality assurance measure part way through the evaluation.

66 4.2.4. Ethics approval

This program evaluation, “Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit Project”, was granted an exception to research ethics review by SFU’s ORE because it was classified as program evaluation.

4.2.5. Analysis

Data analysis plan

Research question 1: What is the association between perceived message sensation, reactions to the seminar, and anti-gang attitudes?

Descriptive and correlational analyses were used to examine perceived message sensation, feedback, and anti-gang attitudes. Significant correlations were entered into a multiple regression analyses with PMSV as the dependent variable.

Missing data and assumptions

The approach to missing data by prorating for the High School Student program evaluation was the same as the Undergraduate Student and Community Member studies. Assumptions of all analyses were checked. To achieve a power of .80, 77 participants were needed to detect a medium effect size and 37 participants were needed to detect a large effect size. Also, the number of participants was large, thus power was sufficient for the analyses.

4.3. Results

4.3.1. Descriptive information

For participants’ descriptive information see Table 45, Table 46, and Table 47. The PMSV mean scale and subscale scores are presented in Table 45. As mentioned previously, a 14-item version of the PMSV was used for the evaluation as it could be compared across different modes. The average PMSV score was 63.13 in response to viewing the seminar, which is higher than findings in previous research (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). An equivalent mean in previous studies (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001) would have been 49 for the high sensation seeking sample and 52.64 for the low sensation seeking sample. Individual item means and standard deviations of the PMSV are displayed in Table B10 in Appendix B. The average total and

67 item scores are presented in Table 46. Table 47 displays the percentages for the participants’ responses to the items; the majority of participants responded favourably to the seminar and had anti-gang attitudes.

Table 45. PMSV Descriptives for High School Student Participants Variables n M (SD) PMSV – 17 itemsa Total Scoreb 1554 75.95 (15.14) Emotional Arousal 1555 36.01 (8.39) Dramatic Impact 1540 26.29 (7.00) Novelty 1454 13.66 (3.49) PMSV – 14 items Total Scorec 1548 63.13 (12.57) Emotional Arousal 1532 27.19 (6.45) Dramatic Impact 1548 22.29 (6.04) Novelty 1454 13.66 (3.49) Note. aParticipants that viewed a video were included. bFor the 17 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 59.5 to 63.92 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). cFor the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

68 Table 46. Mean Scores for High School Student Participants Variables n M (SD) Video Total Score 1583 15.22 (3.16) 1. I would recommend that other teenagers watch the video. 1581 4.14 (0.86) 2. I would share this video on social media. 1575 3.30 (1.14) 3. The video was convincing. 1574 4.05 (0.89) 4. The video said something important to me. 1580 3.73 (1.03) Presentation Total Score 1597 19.62 (3.71) 1. I learned something about gangs that I didn’t know before. 1601 3.93 (1.07) 2. The presentation was effective. 1592 4.04 (0.90) 3. The presentation helped me to feel confident about how to deal with 1583 3.49 (1.05) gangs. 4. If I had a friend who was offered a chance to get involved with gangs, this 1588 3.84 (1.06) presentation would help keep them from getting involved. 5. I would recommend that other schools offer this presentation. 1597 4.32 (0.85) Anti-Gang Attitudes Total Score 1583 17.01 (3.03) 1. I think you are safer, and have protection, if you join a gang.a 1597 4.54 (0.90) 2. I think it’s cool to be in a gang.a 1579 4.47 (0.96) 3. My friends would think less of me if I joined a gang. 1571 3.68 (1.32) 4. I believe it is dangerous to join a gang; you will probably end up getting 1596 4.31 (1.21) hurt or killed if you belong to a gang. Note. All items were rated using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Disagree Strongly, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, and 5 = Strongly Agree). aReverse coded.

69 Table 47. Percentages for Individual Items for High School Student Participants Variable n Disagree Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Agree Strongly Video 1. Recommend 1581 1.3 2.0 17.4 40.0 39.3 2. Social Media 1575 7.9 12.8 38.2 23.3 17.8 3. Convincing 1574 1.4 3.8 17.3 43.0 34.5 4. Important 1580 2.8 7.2 30.9 32.2 26.9 Presentation 1. Learned 1601 3.9 7.0 16.9 36.8 35.4 2. Effective 1592 1.5 3.6 18.4 42.5 33.9 3. Confident 1583 5.1 9.7 34.8 32.6 17.9 4. Prevent 1588 3.8 6.6 22.2 36.3 31.2 5. Recommend 1597 1.3 1.6 12.8 32.5 51.8 Anti-Gang Attitudes 1. Unsafe 1597 2.5 2.3 6.6 16.4 72.3 2. Uncool 1579 3.0 2.3 8.2 17.1 69.3 3. Think Less 1571 12.0 5.9 18.3 29.0 34.8 4. Dangerous 1596 8.4 1.8 7.3 15.9 66.6 Note. See Table 46 for full wording of the questions.

4.3.2. Research question: What is the association between perceived message sensation, reactions to the seminar, and anti-gang attitudes?

Table 48 presents the Pearson correlations between the variables. Gender was significantly associated with the PMSV total score, Emotional Arousal subscale, and Dramatic Impact subscale; in other words, female students found the seminar more emotional arousing and dramatic. Female students were more likely to respond with positive feedback in regards to the presentation and possess anti-gang attitudes. Lower grade level was significantly associated with higher PMSV scores, higher Emotional Arousal subscale scores, positive video feedback, and anti-gang attitudes. All the correlations between the measures were not only significant, but also positive. See Table B15 in Appendix B for additional analyses examining the association between gender and positive responses to the seminars.

70 Table 48. Bivariate Analyses (Correlations) for High School Student Participants Variable Gen Gra PMSV Emo Dra Nov Vid Pre Anti Gender - Grade -.01 - PMSV .08* -.08* - Emotional .07* -.11*** - - Dramatic .13*** .00 - .44*** - Novelty -.06 -.06 - .58*** .17*** - Video .06 -.22*** .59*** .53*** .47*** .31*** - Presentation .07* -.23*** .56*** .49*** .45*** .33*** .75*** - Anti-gangs .15*** -.13*** .22*** .19*** .17*** .14*** .24*** .34*** - Note. Gen = Gender. Gra = Grade. Emo = Emotional Arousal. Dra = Dramatic Impact. Nov = Novelty. Vid = Video. Pre = Presentation. Anti = Anti-Gang Attitudes. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

In addition, the individual Video, Presentation, and Anti-Gang Attitudes items were all significantly (p < .001) related to PMSV scores. The correlations between PMSV and the Video items were the following: Recommend, r =.48; Social Media, r = .41; Convincing, r = .49; Important, r = .51. The correlations between PMSV and the Presentation items were the following: Learned, r = .38; Effective, r = .56; Confident r = .33; Prevent, r = .36, Recommend, r = .48. The correlations between PMSV and the Gang Attitude items were the following: Unsafe, r = .19; Uncool, r = .18; Think Less, r = .14; Dangerous, r = .11.

See Table 49 for the summary of multiple regression analysis. The predictor variables investigated were the total scores from the Video, Presentation, and Anti-Gangs scales. The multiple regression analysis demonstrated that Video and Presentation feedback were significantly associated with PMSV, meaning that positive opinions about the video(s) and presentation were predictive of higher PMSV scores.

Table 49. Linear Regression Analysis to Predict PMSV for High School Student Participants

Variable B SEB β Intercept 20.21*** 1.76 Video 1.53 .12 .39*** Presentation .87 .11 .26*** Anti-Gangs .15 .09 .04 Note. ***p < .001. F(3,1502) = 302.18, p < .001, adj. R2 = .38.

71 4.4. Discussion

The research findings indicated that the high school students seemed to react positively to the seminars. With regard to student feedback to the videos, the participants indicated that they would recommend the video to others and they endorsed that the video was convincing and that it communicated something important to them. More than one third of participants indicated that they were neutral in response to sharing the video on social media. In sum, although high school students may not disseminate End Gang Life videos to others, they appeared to view the videos in a positive light. This is evidence that the videos are a valuable part of the high school seminars.

The response to the presentation portion of the seminars was also positive. The majority of the high school students indicated that they viewed the presentation as effective and that they had learned something about gangs. Although, the participants were neutral with regard to whether they would share the videos on social media, more than half of the students indicated that they would recommend that other schools offer the presentation. As discussed before, Gordon and Foley (1998) found that peer relationships are one reason that individuals join street gangs; therefore, it is promising that the seminars were viewed in a positive light because students may discuss the initiative with their peers. For instance, if students agree with the anti-gang seminar it could foster a subjective norm, as from the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), that gang affiliation should be avoided. With regard to the high school students, the findings demonstrate that the End Gang Life initiative appeared to meet the initiative’s aim of educating and spreading awareness.

The majority of participants reported that they had anti-gang attitudes. Unfortunately, this study cannot determine whether the participants’ attitudes changed after viewing the seminar; future research would benefit from using a pre-post design and potentially assigning research assistants the task of administering the questionnaires in-person to improve the completion rate.

Similar to the other studies, the more perceived message sensations experienced were associated with more positive feedback for the video and presentation, as well as with the endorsement of anti-gang attitudes. Further, the effect of the anti-gang attitudes attenuated in the hierarchical regression analyses, which suggests that the video and presentation feedback were robust to pro-gang attitudes. Again, the activation theory of

72 information exposure (Donohew et al., 1980) indicates that a certain level of arousal needs to be reached for a message to be successful, which is consistent with the findings.

The findings for the High School Study show that the End Gang Life initiative appears to be achieving the CFSEU-BC’s aims of eliciting awareness and providing education, specifically with high school students. Perhaps the success of the high school findings was due to the fact that a former gang member was a part of the seminars; this may have impacted the perceived realism, which has been associated with greater perceived effectiveness (Fishbein et al., 2002). However, the key components of what made the seminars elicit encouraging results cannot be determined, which could be an avenue of future research. The findings can further the understanding of anti-gang seminar perceived message sensation and provide direct feedback to the presenters.

73 Chapter 5.

General Results

5.1. Descriptive Information

To compare, the PMSV mean scale and subscale scores are presented for all three studies in Table 50. The End Gang Life PSAs appeared to elicit perceived message sensations that were comparable or higher than found in previous research (e.g., Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). The mean scores by mode are displayed in Table 51.

Table 50. PMSV Descriptives for All Participants Undergraduate Community High School Variables n M (SD) n M (SD) n M (SD) PMSV – 17 itemsa Total Scoreb 222 69.27 (16.58) 43 61.47 (19.27) 1554 75.95 (15.14) Emotional Arousal 222 32.84 (8.68) 43 29.16 (10.14) 1555 36.01 (8.39) Dramatic Impact 220 24.09 (7.05) 43 20.87 (6.90) 1540 26.29 (7.00) Novelty 219 12.23 (3.74) 41 11.24 (4.79) 1454 13.66 (3.49) PMSV – 14 items Total Scorec 556 55.48 (13.96) 105 52.05 (15.15) 1548 63.13 (12.57) Emotional Arousal 552 24.26 (6.70) 105 22.50 (7.37) 1532 27.19 (6.45) Dramatic Impact 551 19.22 (6.08) 106 18.06 (6.08) 1548 22.29 (6.04) Novelty 548 11.91 (3.98) 102 11.54 (4.57) 1454 13.66 (3.49) Note. aParticipants that viewed a video were included. bFor the 17 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 59.5 to 63.92 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001). cFor the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

Table 51. Means and Standard Deviations for PMSV Total Scores by Mode Undergraduate Community High School Mode n M (SD) n M (SD) n M (SD) Poster 223 58.56 (12.91) 42 55.37 (13.50) Video 222 56.10 (13.89) 43 49.54 (16.59) Radio Ad 111 48.05 (13.54) 20 50.48 (14.59) Seminar 1548 63.13 (12.57) Note. For the 14 item version, average total scores in previous research would be the equivalent to 49 to 52.64 (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001).

74 5.1.1. Research question: What is the association between sample and perceived message sensation?

Using Levene’s test, the assumption of homogeneity of variance was found to be violated, p < .001. There was a significant effect of sample on PMSV, Welch’s F(2, 264.02) = 83.79, p < .001, ω = .28. Games-Howell post hoc analysis reported that the high school sample (M = 63.13, SD = 12.57) differed significantly from the undergraduate (M = 55.48, SD = 13.96; p < .001) and community (M =52.05, SD = 15.15; p < .001) samples. The group difference between the community and undergraduate samples approached significance (p = .08).

75 Chapter 6.

General Discussion

6.1. Summary of Main Findings

This study examined the perceived message sensation value of the End Gang Life initiative in different groups. The Undergraduate Study and Community Study also evaluated the extent to which participants perceived the PSAs as effective. Perceived effectiveness is different from actual effectiveness, but it is believed that it is still an important factor to consider in evaluating mass media campaigns (Noar et al., 2010).

Overall, the high school students had the highest PMSV scores, followed by the undergraduate students, and then the community members; this could be due to the fact that the high school students saw a seminar, which was a different mode and longer in duration. The average PMSV scores were similar to past research for the community members, but higher than previously found for both the undergraduate and high school students (Palmgreen et al., 2002; Stephenson & Palmgreen, 2001); this is indicative that the End Gang Life initiative lives up to their claim of using language and visuals that are engaging.

There was also a pattern across the three studies in which the effect of attitudes or personality traits, namely psychopathic traits, lost significance or had little influence when being considered with variables assessing opinions regarding the PSA or seminar. For instance, the only antisocial-type variable found to be significant in one of the hierarchical regression analyses was the CAPP Emotion domain, which was shown to have a small, negative effect on PMSV. If psychopathic traits or gang attitudes do not predict perceived sensations or effectiveness then it is possible that this is evidence that the initiative can be successful regardless of personality traits or previous beliefs.

In the Undergraduate and Community Studies, the TriPM and CAPP total scores were significantly associated with the Pro-Gang Attitudes scale and the effects were small to moderate. Further, TriPM Meanness appeared to be the domain that was the most frequently associated with the GAS variables, particularly in the undergraduate sample. One could posit that since gang attitudes were found to be associated with meanness, this was a particularly

76 important factor to include in the analyses as one aspect of PMSV measures emotional responses.

Another quandary to consider is that gangs differ by cities and even regions (Hemmati, 2006). However, it would appear that if enough perceived sensations were elicited then that would lead to greater perceived effectiveness. This may be evidence that although general PSAs would work, it may be worthwhile to implement region specific content.

6.2. Implications for End Gang Life

As outlined in the program logic model (Figure B1), the desired outcomes of the initiative included awareness/engagement, education, prevention, desistance, and gang reduction. This three-part evaluation only examined a small, yet integral, portion of the End Gang Life initiative, but demonstrated promising findings with regard to the PSAs and seminars. Overall, the results from this evaluation were encouraging. The perceived message sensation found in response to the PSAs and seminars were similar to or exceeded the averages for past research findings. The powerful materials from the initiative appeared to provide appropriate levels of arousal. This is of relevance according to the activation theory of information exposure (Donohew et al., 1980).

Perceived message sensation was also associated with perceived effectiveness; the hope is that the viewers will abstain from gang activity or, if needed, utilize the CFSEU-BC’s gang exiting supports. It may be beneficial to include the gang exiting support information on the PSA materials. Further, the PSAs and seminars in the End Gang Life initiative appear to convey the negative consequences of gang membership without telling the audience member explicitly to just say no to gangs. Although, it is the author’s opinion that sparking more of a dialogue in the viewer may be more beneficial than simply having a tagline. The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids updated the classic anti-drug PSA that depicted an egg in a frying pan and likened the frying egg to one’s brain on drugs; the original version from the 1980s ended with “any questions?,” whereas the new PSA included youth’s questions about drug use (Feliz, 2016).

In addition, existing antisocial attitudes and traits did not have a large impact on perceived message sensation and perceived effectiveness. The findings are suggestive that the End Gang Life PSAs can be used with prosocial- and antisocial-leaning individuals. However, future research with a high risk sample is highly recommended in order to support this possible connection. First, the samples (i.e., undergraduate students and community

77 members) included in the evaluation are not the main target of the End Gang Life initiative. Although increasing awareness and educating the public are valuable outcomes, the initiative would truly be effective if it prevents individuals from joining gangs and convinces gang-affiliated individuals to leave gangs. Second, individuals at risk for gang membership or who are already gang-affiliated may be more likely to show higher levels of psychopathic traits, including those related to emotional processing deficits (e.g., shallow emotions). Indeed, this trait was found to be associated with lower perceived message sensation in the Undergraduate Study.

Future research could also examine the impact of level of exposure to the End Gang Life materials on perceived effectiveness. This would be particularly interesting to examine in viewers with higher levels of psychopathic traits. For example, Skeem, Monahan, and Mulvey (2002) found that patients with more psychopathic traits were less likely to be violent with more treatment sessions. Another focus of intervention for high risk individuals with psychopathic traits could be to try to change behaviours rather than attitudes (Skeem et al., 2002). Such an approach could help circumvent the impact that emotional processing deficits associated with psychopathy might have on perceived message sensation as it could appeal to an individual’s self-interest rather than their emotions.

Like the gang landscape in British Columbia, it will be important for the initiative to be dynamic and create materials that reflect the landscape. In other words, the PSAs and seminars should be updated overtime. One area of focus may be to expand their presence on social media. Also, the creators of the End Gang Life content should consider their target audience when developing new materials (e.g., youth versus parents).

6.3. Implications for Anti-Gang Initiatives

An important consideration in the creation of PSAs is whether the PSA would elicit a negative emotional response because the more negative emotions elicited, the greater the PMSV and perceived effectiveness. Although the relationship between perceived realism was not significant in the multivariate analyses with PMSV as the outcome, perceived realism was significantly associated with perceived effectiveness. It is the opinion of the author that anti-gang messages should communicate the negative consequences of gang membership in a way that would be perceived to be realistic. Considering what Shaffer (as cited in Earle, 2000) stated, strict messages telling the audience to not join a gang would likely not be as effective.

78 The mode of the message also needs to be considered. The Undergraduate and Community Studies found that posters consistently evoked higher PMSV and perceived effectiveness scores. Per the elaboration likelihood theory by Petty and Cacioppo (1986), it has been suggested that prints ads may be processed via the central route (Nan, 2008); Wilson (2007) stated that the central route is better for more permanent attitude change. This means that posters may be preferred over video and radio ad PSAs. However, all modes were shown to have similar PMSV levels as past research, thus indicating that appropriate levels of arousal were reached for the participants. It may be beneficial to focus efforts on distributing posters, which could be done in tandem with seminars. Additionally, posters could be displayed in public spaces, like bus shelters or billboards, as well as youth centres to reach youth not in schools.

6.4. Strengths and Limitations

There are opponents of the PMSV, who argue, “it is possible that the PMSV measure reflects individual-level emotional responses to the ads (such as differences in ad enjoyment) rather than variance in message features per se” (Weber et al., 2013, p. 314). Leshner (2014) stated that a criticism of the PMSV is that it has limited utility for creators of messages because it does not address message attributes that evoke specific reactions. Although, previous research has found elements that elicit greater PMSV, such as intense images (Morgan et al., 2003) like those used in the End Gang Life initiative. Also, Stephenson and Palmgreen (2001) stated that PMSV is “probably more strongly and directly related to persuasive outcomes than are more objective operationalizations of message attributes” (p. 51) like MSV.

Importantly, this evaluation focused on perceived effectiveness and not actual effectiveness. The results should be interpreted with this caveat in mind. Past research has shown an association between perceived effectiveness and actual effectiveness; however, these studies did not examine anti-gang campaigns (Dillard et al., 2007; Noar et al., 2018). Perceived and actual effectiveness are distinct concepts and, of course, actual effectiveness (e.g., reduction in number of individuals who join gangs) is the true outcome of interest. The current evaluation may be limited by its focus on perceived effectiveness, but this evaluation provides some direction for future evaluations of the End Gang Life initiative. Flexon and Guerette (2009) stated the following: “If crime prevention policy and practice is to be effective, then greater understanding of how they influence their target audience is needed” (p. 615). This study is perhaps a step towards achieving this goal.

79 Also, PMSV and perceived effectiveness were both treated as predictors and outcomes (depending if the variable was in research question two or three); it was of interest to examine what contributed to higher PMSV, as well as perceived effectiveness, as these variables are desirable for PSAs. These analyses were cross-sectional in nature and causality could not be determined. However, it was of interest to determine whether PMSV was a predictor of perceived effectiveness and vice versa, taking into account individual differences. PMSV and perceived effectiveness were found to be associated as found in past research (Noar et al., 2010) and both have been used as outcomes in previous research. Another area to consider is the composition of the TriPM.

The construct of psychopathy is made up of different parts and the research is mixed when it comes to one particular aspect of the TriPM. As mentioned, there is controversy whether Boldness should be included as a domain of psychopathy and past research with the TriPM in a sample of undergraduate students questioned the relevance of Boldness (Gatner et al., 2016). Often Boldness was not significant when the other subscales of the TriPM were, which could be due to problems with the actual construct as Boldness may be unrelated to psychopathy. Although, an advantage of this measure was that it was freely available and is a self-report measure.

The main strength of this study was the applicability as it can directly provide feedback about the End Gang Life initiative, as well as aid future anti-gang campaigns. Another strength of this study was that it examined aspects of the End Gang Life initiative in different samples. Further, the study collected data from participants across the province ranging from Vancouver Island in the south to the Northeast region of British Columbia. In addition, the gang literature in Canada is limited and this evaluation adds to this body of research. Of note, this evaluation was novel as the End Gang Life initiative is unique in the realm of gang prevention.

6.5. Future Directions

Future research could benefit from conducting studies with high risk samples. A high risk study was pursued for the purposes of this evaluation; however, due to time constraints and other unforeseen circumstances this avenue of research was halted. Three sites were contacted for recruitment, but interest from potential participants was extremely low. The CFSEU-BC could investigate the End Gang Life materials in their own high risk sample through the gang exiting program. In addition, future research could include using a pre-post

80 design. A longitudinal study could help to determine how long the effects of the PSAs and seminars last, including whether there was a change in attitude after viewing a PSA or seminar. For example, future researchers could implement a pre-post design with a control group to examine the effectiveness of the seminars.

PMSV and perceived effectiveness are useful factors to incorporate in the evaluation of mass media anti-gang campaigns. For creators of anti-gang campaigns, these variables are easy to measure and provide feedback quickly; these variables could be useful during the development of PSAs and seminars. The CFSEU-BC and other agencies that have similar initiatives as the End Gang Life campaign would benefit from ongoing research before, during, and after the implementation of such initiatives.

6.6. Conclusions

Gangs have a negative impact on the communities in which they exist, and the majority of individuals in gangs are young. The End Gang Life initiative sets out to inform the public and prevent individuals from joining gangs. Overall, this evaluation shows promising results for the End Gang Life initiative. The perceived message sensation values found in response to the PSAs and seminars were similar to or exceeded the averages for past research findings. In addition, existing antisocial attitudes and traits did not have a large impact on perceived message sensation and perceived effectiveness. The powerful materials from the initiative appeared to provide appropriate levels of arousal. This initiative would benefit from ongoing research to continue to inform and better End Gang Life. The findings from this evaluation can help to better future anti-gang initiatives.

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91 Appendix A.

PSA Descriptions

All the PSAs are available on the End Gang Life website (CFSEU, 2015d). A tagline was often used in the videos and posters.

Push (Video and Poster)

“Push” depicts a young girl on a swing. In the video, the creaking of the swing is heard first and then music begins to play; the visuals begin with close-ups of the girl and then slowly reveal details of what is on the ground, like yellow tape with “POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS.” The poster and the end of the video show the little girl on the swing above the police tape and a body covered by a yellow tarp. The tagline, “Are you going to be there when she needs a push?,” is displayed on the poster and shown after the visual content in the video.

Bury You (Video and Poster)

The tagline for “Bury You” is “are they going to have to bury you?” The premise of the poster and the video is two young boys filling a grave. The video is various shots of the boys filling a grave, including shovelling and taking a pause, followed by the tagline. For the poster, the perspective of the viewer is looking up at the two boys from the grave and the tagline is visible; the two boys are looking down into the grave and holding shovels.

I Miss You Daddy (Video and Poster)

“I Miss You Daddy” shows a young girl at her father’s grave. The tagline for this PSA is “wouldn’t you rather she look up to you?” In the video, the young girl walks up to a tombstone and places a card on it. In the video, the little girl falls to her knees and then the tagline is shown. The tagline is also on the poster and the little girl’s back is to the viewer while she is looking at the tombstone. The writing on the tombstone is visible in the video and poster:

92 “Daddy”

Son, Husband, Gangster

May We Now Rest in Peace

Dial a Doper (Video and Poster)

The video begins with a person shooting the driver of a parked car; the driver is seen slumped over the steering wheel and the seat next to the driver is then shown. The poster includes large text: “Think selling a bit of dope is no big deal? …73% of gang murder victims were drug traffickers*.” At the bottom of the poster in smaller print is the following: “*of the 67 gang-related murders between 2010 and 2014.” The video and poster for “Dial a Doper” show cellphones, blood droplets, and little plastic bags of white powder on a car seat. Dial a Doper does not have a tagline that the video and poster share, but it does include the same text messages, such as the following:

Mom 19:42

How was the first day on the new job honey? – Mom

Mom 19:42

Dad and I are so proud of you!!

Sun Don’t Shine (Video and Poster)

The video and poster both include the words, “Mom, they don’t murder girls.” The mother of Brianna Kinnear, Carol, is pictured sitting on a memorial bench with a dog on her lap in “Sun Don’t Shine.” In the video, there is a voiceover and Carol states that her daughter died; at one point in the video, when Carol mentioned shooting, there is the sound of screaming, gunfire, and a dog barking. On the poster, a description was also included:

A memorial bench has been dedicated to Brianna Kinnear, the victim of a brutal gang murder on February 3rd, 2009. Brianna, 22, was found shot to death in a pickup trunk on Oxford Street in Coquitlam, her dog Ferdinand, alive, still by her side when she was found. Her mother, Carol, often visits the bench, remembering their argument hours before her young life was taken, when Brianna uttered those fateful words about…”

93 Roll like a Gangster (Video and Poster)

The tagline for “Roll like a Gangster” is “you wanna roll like a gangster?” The poster and the end of the video depict a man in a wheelchair. The video begins with three men in a car and the screen goes to black and the sound of gunfire is audible; a sequence of wheel close-ups are then revealed, including (in order) an ambulance gurney, ambulance, hospital gurney, and wheelchair.

Radio Ad #1

Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton’s voice and music can be heard during “Radio Ad #1.” The message is that every year people die from gang violence and that gang violence should be stopped.

Radio Ad #2

“Radio Ad #2” features Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton speaking while music is playing. Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton said “the average age of someone killed in a gang murder in BC is 30 years old.” He then urges the listener to not let anyone they love get killed.

Radio Ad #3

The sound of knocking starts off “Radio Ad #3.” The premise of this PSA is that police wake a couple that are told that their son will be discussed. Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton stated, “police officers across our province have had that conversation over 150 times in the last eight years.”

94 Appendix B.

Additional Figures and Tables

Figure B1. Program Logic Model for End Gang Life

95 Table B1. PSAQ Subscales Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community Perceived Effectiveness Was the message convincing? .57 .63 Would it be helpful in keeping your friends from being .61 .64 involved with a gang? Would people your age who have never been previously .49 .65 involved with a gang be less likely to want to become affiliated with one after seeing the ad? How confident did the ad make you feel about how best to .46 .51 deal with gangs and gang-related activity in the real world? Perceived Realism Was the message believable? .52 .71 Was the message honest? .52 .46 Would real people act the way the person(s) in the ad did to .50 .47 deal with gangs and gang-related activity? If someone did the things shown in the ad, would the things .56 .51 you were shown really happen to that person? Negative Emotional Response To what degree did you feel sad while viewing the PSA? .55 .51 To what degree did you feel angry while viewing the PSA? .69 .73 To what degree did you feel afraid while viewing the PSA? .53 .65 To what degree did you feel disgusted while viewing the .58 .66 PSA? Positive Emotional Response To what degree did you feel happy while viewing the PSA? .73 .64 To what degree did you feel excited while viewing the PSA? .73 .64

96 Table B2. PMSV Total Scale Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community High School Common to Unique .57 .63 .50 Weak impact to Powerful impact .60 .66 .59 Didn’t give me goosebumps to .41 .35 .29 Gave me goosebumps Ordinary to Novel .60 .73 .45 Unemotional to Emotional .58 .68 .55 Boring to Exciting .58 .52 .48 Not creative to Creative .51 .53 .48 Not graphic to Graphic .35 .27 .37 Not arousing to Arousing .42 .37 .38 Usual to Unusual .46 .62 .33 Uninvolving to Involving .48 .71 .44 Not intense to Intense .55 .55 .54 Undramatic to Dramatic .48 .40 .50 Not stimulating to Stimulating .47 .63 .49

Table B3. PMSV Subscales Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community High School Emotional Arousal Weak impact to Powerful impact .61 .66 .57 Unemotional to Emotional .59 .65 .54 Boring to Exciting .40 .32 .29 Not arousing to Arousing .50 .47 .44 Uninvolving to Involving .50 .74 .49 Not stimulating to Stimulating .51 .70 .55 Dramatic Impact Didn’t give me goosebumps to .39 .39 .40 Gave me goosebumps Not creative to Creative .42 .44 .52 Not graphic to Graphic .39 .38 .52 Not intense to Intense .62 .58 .65 Undramatic to Dramatic .48 .30 .59 Novelty Common to Unique .66 .68 .56 Ordinary to Novel .60 .73 .53 Usual to Unusual .57 .65 .47

97 Table B4. SRO Scale Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community 1. Have you ever destroyed/damaged property? .43 .49 2. Have you ever set a fire (with the intention of causing .32 .60 damage)? 3. Have you ever broke in to steal? .27 .73 4. Have you ever shoplifted? .35 .49 5. Have you ever bought/received/sold stolen property? .40 .59 6. Have you ever used a check/credit card illegally? .07 .43 7. Have you ever stole car or motorcycle? a .70 8. Have you ever sold marijuana? .40 .62 9. Have you ever sold other drugs? .42 .56 10. Have you ever carjacked? a .49 11. Have you ever drove drunk or high? .41 .44 12. Have you ever been paid by someone for sex? .22 .46 13. Have you ever forced someone to have sex? .15 .16 14. Have you ever killed someone? a a 15. Have you ever shot someone (bullet hit)? a .39 16. Have you ever shot at someone (no hit)? a .50 17. Have you ever taken someone by force with a weapon? .08 .53 18. Have you ever taken someone by force without a weapon? .20 .63 19. Have you ever beat up someone (serious injury)? .25 .50 20. Have you ever been in a fight? .41 .43 21. Have you ever beat someone as part of gang? .21 .59 22. Have you ever carried a gun? .10 .56 23. Have you ever broken into a car to steal? .29 .64 24. Have you ever gone joyriding? .32 .58 Note. aThis item had zero variance and was removed from the SPSS analysis automatically.

98 Table B5. GAS Subscales Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community Reinforcers Index Do you believe the following could or would happen with gang membership: Be “cool” .58 .60 Feel successful .61 .75 Be more like someone else .59 .71 For the excitement .66 .74 For the money .58 .69 Punishers Index Do you believe the following could or would happen with gang membership: Get in trouble with the police .71 .31 Get in trouble with my parents .77 .19 Lose friends .75 .31 Feel guilty .61 .38 Get hurt .74 a Pro-Gang Attitudes scale Do you disapprove, neither approve nor disapprove, or approve of the following: Having friends in gangs .41 .34 Being in a gang yourself .62 .51 Taking part in illegal gang activities such as fights .49 .41 Doing whatever the gang leaders tell you to do .41 .40 Note. aThis item had zero variance and was removed from the SPSS analysis automatically.

99 Table B6. TriPM Scale Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community 1. I’m optimistic more often than not. .03 -.02 2. How other people feel is important to me.a .21 .49 3. I often act on immediate needs. .27 .33 4. I have no strong desire to parachute out of an airplane.a .31 .28 5. I’ve often missed things I promised to attend. .19 .45 6. I would enjoy being in a high-speed chase. .44 .55 7. I am well-equipped to deal with stress. .16 .14 8. I don’t mind if someone I dislike gets hurt. .41 .29 9. My impulsive decisions have caused problems with loved .32 .56 ones. 10. I get scared easily.a .41 .19 11. I sympathize with others’ problems.a .34 .40 12. I have missed work without bothering to call in. .14 .48 13. I’m a born leader. .27 .29 14. I enjoy a good physical fight. .51 .64 15. I jump into things without thinking. .37 .65 16. I have a hard time making things turn out the way I want.a .06 -.13 17. I return insults. .43 .51 18. I’ve gotten in trouble because I missed too much school. .21 .49 19. I have a knack for influencing people. .40 .43 20. It doesn’t bother me to see someone else in pain. .46 .52 21. I have good control over myself.a .03 .16 22. I function well in new situations, even when unprepared. .21 .30 23. I enjoy pushing people around sometimes. .49 .27 24. I have taken money from someone’s purse or wallet without .27 .48 asking. 25. I don’t think of myself as talented.a .15 -.08 26. I taunt people just to stir things up. .48 .39 27. People often abuse my trust. .06 .34 28. I’m afraid of far fewer things than most people. .39 .40 29. I don’t see any point in worrying if what I do hurts someone .46 .64 else. 30. I keep appointments I make.a .23 .27 31. I often get bored quickly and lose interest. .25 .47 32. I can get over things that would traumatize others. .45 .39 33. I am sensitive to the feelings of others.a .35 .48 34. I have conned people to get money from them. .38 .61 35. It worries me to go into an unfamiliar situation without .28 .04 knowing all the details.a 36. I don’t have much sympathy for people. .39 .54 37. I get in trouble for not considering the consequences of my .23 .50 actions.

100 Variables Undergraduates Community 38. I can convince people to do what I want. .41 .45 39. For me, honesty really is the best policy.a .21 .24 40. I’ve injured people to see them in pain. .24 .61 41. I don’t like to take the lead in groups.a .26 .10 42. I sometimes insult people on purpose to get a reaction from .40 .45 them. 43. I have taken items from a store without paying for them. .32 .38 44. It’s easy to embarrass me.a .22 .11 45. Things are more fun if a little danger is involved. .54 .54 46. I have a hard time waiting patiently for things I want. .28 .34 47. I stay away from physical danger as much as I can.a .36 .51 48. I don’t care much if what I do hurts others. .46 .53 49. I have lost a friend because of irresponsible things I’ve .29 .38 done. 50. I don’t stack up well against most others.a .17 -.08 51. Others have told me they are concerned about my lack of .25 .60 self-control. 52. It’s easy for me to relate to other people’s emotions.a .17 .31 53. I have robbed someone. .24 .62 54. I never worry about making a fool of myself with others. .20 .13 55. It doesn’t bother me when people around me are hurting. .37 .53 56. I have had problems at work because I was irresponsible. .30 .47 57. I’m not very good at influencing people.a .30 .33 58. I have stolen something out of a vehicle. .12 .44 Note. aReverse coded.

101 Table B7. TriPM Subscales Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community Boldness 1. I’m optimistic more often than not. .41 .37 4. I have no strong desire to parachute out of an airplane.a .25 .14 7. I am well-equipped to deal with stress. .49 .70 10. I get scared easily.a .54 .43 13. I’m a born leader. .62 .57 16. I have a hard time making things turn out the way I .48 .36 want.a 19. I have a knack for influencing people. .50 .48 22. I function well in new situations, even when .55 .61 unprepared. 25. I don’t think of myself as talented.a .46 .34 28. I’m afraid of far fewer things than most people. .42 .43 32. I can get over things that would traumatize others. .37 .55 35. It worries me to go into an unfamiliar situation without .44 .36 knowing all the details.a 38. I can convince people to do what I want. .32 .36 41. I don’t like to take the lead in groups.a .57 .47 44. It’s easy to embarrass me.a .51 .59 47. I stay away from physical danger as much as I can.a .25 .20 50. I don’t stack up well against most others.a .47 .44 54. I never worry about making a fool of myself with .34 .39 others. 57. I’m not very good at influencing people.a .52 .56 Meanness 2. How other people feel is important to me.a .29 .35 6. I would enjoy being in a high-speed chase. .42 .57 8. I don’t mind if someone I dislike gets hurt. .52 .49 11. I sympathize with others’ problems.a .51 .46 14. I enjoy a good physical fight. .44 .68 17. I return insults. .47 .58 20. It doesn’t bother me to see someone else in pain. .60 .61 23. I enjoy pushing people around sometimes. .52 .44 26. I taunt people just to stir things up. .50 .52 29. I don’t see any point in worrying if what I do hurts .47 .67 someone else. 33. I am sensitive to the feelings of others.a .52 .63 36. I don’t have much sympathy for people. .55 .58 39. For me, honesty really is the best policy.a .35 .28 40. I’ve injured people to see them in pain. .31 .60 42. I sometimes insult people on purpose to get a reaction .50 .44 from them.

102 Variables Undergraduates Community 45. Things are more fun if a little danger is involved. .43 .44 48. I don’t care much if what I do hurts others. .53 .67 52. It’s easy for me to relate to other people’s emotions.a .37 .39 55. It doesn’t bother me when people around me are .50 .57 hurting. Disinhibition 3. I often act on immediate needs. .30 .29 5. I’ve often missed things I promised to attend. .41 .58 9. My impulsive decisions have caused problems with .58 .66 loved ones. 12. I have missed work without bothering to call in. .23 .51 15. I jump into things without thinking. .55 .66 18. I’ve gotten in trouble because I missed too much .32 .51 school. 21. I have good control over myself.a .40 .41 24. I have taken money from someone’s purse or wallet .31 .61 without asking. 27. People often abuse my trust. .31 .45 30. I keep appointments I make.a .39 .43 31. I often get bored quickly and lose interest. .41 .55 34. I have conned people to get money from them. .33 .63 37. I get in trouble for not considering the consequences .44 .63 of my actions. 43. I have taken items from a store without paying for .30 .54 them. 46. I have a hard time waiting patiently for things I want. .42 .49 49. I have lost a friend because of irresponsible things I’ve .34 .60 done. 51. Others have told me they are concerned about my .50 .75 lack of self-control. 53. I have robbed someone. .23 .50 56. I have had problems at work because I was .40 .72 irresponsible. 58. I have stolen something out of a vehicle. .15 .52 Note. aReverse coded.

103 Table B8. CAPP Scale Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community Lack pleasure (pessimistic, gloomy, unenthusiastic) .35 .43 Garrulous (glib, verbose, pretentious) .47 .54 Domineering (arrogant, overbearing, controlling) .49 .53 Antagonistic (hostile, disagreeable, contemptuous) .58 .62 Lack emotional depth (unemotional, indifferent, .38 .49 inexpressive) Inflexible (stubborn, rigid, uncompromising) .45 .24 Disruptive (disobedient, unruly, unmanageable) .63 .65 Restless (overactive, fidgety, energetic) .35 .29 Self-justifying (minimizing, denying, blaming) .56 .56 Sense of uniqueness (sense of being: extraordinary, .14 .31 exceptional, special) Lacks playfulness (aimless, unsystematic, disorganized) .44 .63 Detached (remote, distant, cold) .53 .61 Suspicious (distrustful, guarded, hypervigilant) .54 .52 Insincere (superficial, slick, evasive) .57 .61 Lack emotional stability (temperamental, moody, irritable) .45 .61 Unreliable (undependable, untrustworthy, irresponsible) .50 .55 Lack concentration (distractible, inattentive, unfocused) .47 .59 Reckless (rash, impetuous, risk-taking) .51 .57 Self-aggrandizing (self-important, conceited, .55 .63 condescending) Intolerant (narrow-minded, bigoted, hypercritical) .53 .57 Sense of invulnerability (sense of being: invincible, .46 .61 indestructible, unbeatable) Unempathic (uncompassionate, cruel, callous) .51 .65 Lack perseverance (idle, undisciplined, unconscientious) .52 .55 Lack anxiety (unconcerned, unworried, fearless) .24 .16 Lack remorse (unrepentant, unapologetic, unashamed) .49 .45 Manipulative (devious, exploitative, calculating) .61 .62 Unstable self-concept (labile, incomplete, and chaotic sense .55 .63 of self) Sense of entitlement (demanding, insistent, sense of being .56 .67 deserving) Uncommitted (unfaithful, undevoted, disloyal) .54 .55 Uncaring (inconsiderate, thoughtless, neglectful) .52 .59 Deceitful (dishonest, deceptive, duplicitous) .60 .54 Aggressive (threatening, violent, bullying) .47 .53 Self-centered (egocentric, selfish, self-absorbed) .59 .63

104 Table B9. CAPP Domains Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables Undergraduates Community Attachment Detached (remote, distant, cold) .43 .46 Unempathic (uncompassionate, cruel, callous) .56 .68 Uncommitted (unfaithful, undevoted, disloyal) .52 .47 Uncaring (inconsiderate, thoughtless, neglectful) .56 .47 Behavior Disruptive (disobedient, unruly, unmanageable) .58 .57 Restless (overactive, fidgety, energetic) .34 .30 Unreliable (undependable, untrustworthy, irresponsible) .43 .52 Reckless (rash, impetuous, risk-taking) .52 .59 Lack perseverance (idle, undisciplined, unconscientious) .38 .37 Aggressive (threatening, violent, bullying) .41 .39 Cognitive Inflexible (stubborn, rigid, uncompromising) .46 .31 Lacks playfulness (aimless, unsystematic, disorganized) .40 .50 Suspicious (distrustful, guarded, hypervigilant) .48 .38 Lack concentration (distractible, inattentive, unfocused) .46 .52 Intolerant (narrow-minded, bigoted, hypercritical) .40 .38 Dominance Garrulous (glib, verbose, pretentious) .44 .47 Domineering (arrogant, overbearing, controlling) .51 .56 Antagonistic (hostile, disagreeable, contemptuous) .51 .52 Insincere (superficial, slick, evasive) .49 .51 Manipulative (devious, exploitative, calculating) .61 .63 Deceitful (dishonest, deceptive, duplicitous) .53 .47 Emotion Lack pleasure (pessimistic, gloomy, unenthusiastic) .32 .23 Lack emotional depth (unemotional, indifferent, .42 .43 inexpressive) Lack emotional stability (temperamental, moody, irritable) .24 .25 Lack anxiety (unconcerned, unworried, fearless) .11 .10 Lack remorse (unrepentant, unapologetic, unashamed) .41 .36 Self Self-justifying (minimizing, denying, blaming) .46 .53 Sense of uniqueness (sense of being: extraordinary, .24 .43 exceptional, special) Self-aggrandizing (self-important, conceited, .61 .67 condescending) Sense of invulnerability (sense of being: invincible, .49 .47 indestructible, unbeatable) Unstable self-concept (labile, incomplete, and chaotic .34 .52 sense of self)

105 Variables Undergraduates Community Sense of entitlement (demanding, insistent, sense of .61 .68 being deserving) Self-centered (egocentric, selfish, self-absorbed) .58 .63

Table B10. PMSV Item Descriptives for All Participants Undergraduate Community High School Variables n M (SD) n M (SD) n M (SD) 1. Common to Unique 559 4.17 (1.69) 106 4.00 (1.81) 1575 4.95 (1.53) 2. Weak impact to 560 4.47 (1.62) 106 4.16 (1.74) 1555 5.23 (1.64) Powerful impact 3. Didn’t give me 557 3.08 (1.97) 105 3.06 (1.98) 1559 3.57 (1.91) goosebumps to Gave me goosebumps 4. Ordinary to Novel 555 4.01 (1.50) 104 3.88 (1.70) 1502 4.44 (1.39) 5. Unemotional to 559 4.36 (1.76) 106 4.50 (1.84) 1548 4.63 (1.71) Emotional 6. Boring to Exciting 551 3.81 (1.45) 105 3.44 (1.61) 1538 4.72 (1.57) 7. Strong visuals to 447 4.77 (1.82) 85 4.33 (1.78) 1544 4.87 (1.67) Weak visualsa 8. Not creative to 550 4.26 (1.79) 106 3.95 (1.74) 1536 4.85 (1.55) Creative 9. Not graphic to 542 3.11 (1.79) 102 2.87 (1.87) 1540 4.27 (1.68) Graphic 10. Not arousing to 530 3.62 (1.76) 100 2.97 (1.79) 1512 4.03 (1.66) Arousing 11. Usual to Unusual 552 3.78 (1.61) 104 3.69 (1.75) 1530 4.25 (1.51) 12. Uninvolving to 546 4.05 (1.56) 103 3.80 (1.61) 1513 4.19 (1.67) Involving 13. Not intense to 553 4.15 (1.75) 105 3.83 (1.89) 1533 4.85 (1.67) Intense 14. Weak soundtrack 324 4.54 (1.73) 60 4.17 (1.81) 1525 4.00 (1.76) to Strong soundtrackb 15. Undramatic to 549 4.62 (1.69) 104 4.29 (1.85) 1527 4.76 (1.57) Dramatic 16. Not stimulating to 552 3.94 (1.61) 106 3.68 (1.71) 1527 4.35 (1.49) Stimulating 17. Weak sound 327 4.07 (1.79) 62 4.11 (1.70) 1548 3.99 (1.79) effects to Strong sound effectsb Note. aNot included in the modified PMSV scale. Did not include undergraduates or community members that were assigned a radio ad. bNot included in the modified PMSV scale. Did not include undergraduates or community members that were assigned a poster.

106 Table B11. Means and Significant Differences for PSAs Undergraduate Community PMSV PE PMSV PE Variables M t M (SD) t M t M (SD) t (SD) (SD) Bury You 58.76 9.51 61.00 9.17 (Poster) (14.11) -.24 (2.53) -.52 (5.69) 1.75 (2.71) .61 Bury You (Video) 59.43 9.81 49.14 8.29 (9.53) (2.27) (15.67) (2.50) Dial a Doper 54.00 10.45 49.81 7.43 (Poster) (11.68) -.1.17 (2.21) .09 (18.14) -.06 (1.81) -1.99° Dial a Doper 57.36 10.41 50.31 9.86 (Video) (13.00) (2.10) (14.54) (2.67) Roll like a 58.36 10.81 50.71 10.14 Gangster (11.90) (2.13) (20.48) (2.34) (Poster) -1.82° 2.02* .93 1.60a Roll like a 52.56 9.78 40.57 7.86 Gangster (Video) (15.41) (2.26) (20.24) (2.97) I Miss You 58.50 10.94 60.17 11.33 Daddy (Poster) (14.15) (2.22) (5.88) (1.86) I Miss You 51.67 2.18* 10.24 1.41 53.69 .68 9.67 1.43 Daddy (Video) (12.71) (2.02) (22.42) (2.17) Push (Poster) 60.63 10.28 60.04 8.71 (11.43) -1.05 (2.29) -.08 (12.44) .37 (1.38) -2.06° Push (Video) 63.65 10.32 58.00 11.17 (13.30) (2.21) (7.90) (2.79) Sun Don’t Shine 61.03 10.77 52.12 10.33 (Poster) (13.55) 2.81** (2.70) 1.92° (6.55) .83 (2.25) 1.14 Sun Don’t Shine 51.60 9.64 46.45 8.75 (Video) (15.08) (2.29) (16.96) (2.76) Radio Ad #1 46.07 9.59 43.09 8.14 (Radio) (14.02) - (2.38) - (17.43) - (.69) - Radio Ad #2 51.01 10.10 48.14 9.71 (Radio) (13.12) - (1.93) - (9.79) - (2.69) - Radio Ad #3 47.09 9.35 61.83 9.67 (Radio) (13.34) - (2.25) - (9.53) - (2.25) - Note. PE = Perceived Effectiveness. aEliminating the outlier (14), resulted in significant result (t = 3.06, p < .05). °p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

107 Table B12. PMSV Means for Video PSAs in the Undergraduate Sample Variables M (SD) Bury You 59.43 (9.53) Dial a Doper 57.36 (13.00) Roll like a Gangster 52.56 (15.41) I Miss You Daddy 51.67 (12.71) Push 63.65 (13.30) Sun Don’t Shine 51.60 (15.08)

Table B13. Perceived Effectiveness Means for Poster PSAs in the Community Member Sample Variables M (SD) Bury You 9.17 (2.71) Dial a Doper 7.43 (1.81) Roll like a Gangster 10.14 (2.34) I Miss You Daddy 11.33 (1.86) Push 8.71 (1.38) Sun Don’t Shine 10.33 (2.25) .

Table B14. Feedback Items Corrected Item-Total Correlations Variables High School Video Recommend .67 Social Media .60 Convincing .64 Important .66 Presentation Learned .54 Effective .70 Confident .56 Prevent .56 Recommend .63 Gangs Attitude Safer .48 Cool .49 Think Less .31 Dangerous .36

108 Table B15. Chi-Square Bivariate Analyses with High School Student Participants Responding Positively Variable χ2 % Male % Female Video Recommend .39 77.0 78.8 Social Media 1.60 39.8 44.0 Convincing .22 75.3 76.6 Important 3.17° 55.3 61.3 Presentation Learned 7.95** 67.9 76.6 Effective 2.46 72.9 77.5 Confident 3.64° 56.7 50.1 Prevent 1.24 67.1 70.7 Recommend 2.78° 82.0 86.2 Gangs Attitude Unsafe 13.24*** 86.2 93.7 Uncool 19.60*** 84.0 93.6 Think Less 1.43 59.1 63.1 Dangerous 6.51* 79.3 86.0

109