Violence experiences, mental health, and substance use of homeless youth Juggalos

Introduction: Insane Clown Posse (ICP) is a rap-rock hip-hop duo whose fans are known as “Juggalos.” Many homeless youth (HY) identify as Juggalos, potentially because ICP’s music embraces poverty and being an outsider in mainstream society. Juggalos are stereotyped as being violent, undereducated, poor, racist, crime-committing youth, and in 2012, the FBI officially labeled Juggalos as a gang. However, little is known about the intersection of HY and Juggalos. Methods: As part of a longitudinal study of Los Angeles area homeless youth, drop-in service seeking youth completed a self-administered questionnaire.  The presented results are from the third panel of data collection (N=394).  Results: In the sample, 16% of HY identified as Juggalos. Significantly more Juggalos also identify as LGBTQ and white. Juggalos are more likely to report suicidal ideation, PTSD, or physical or sexual abuse as a child. Juggalos have twice the odds of ever spending time in jail, are four times more likely to have recently been in a fight, and over twice as likely to have been injured during a fight.  Juggalos are more likely to have witnessed someone being seriously injured or threatened, seen a dead body and are more likely to identify as a gang member. Juggalos are more likely to inject drugs, use meth, or crack in the past 30 days. Conclusions: Juggalos are a unique subpopulation of HY. Juggalo identification could be used as an indicator for HY that are at-high risk of a variety of poor outcomes including PTSD and suicidal ideation.