Developing valid measures of gang membership for self-report surveys is a challenging task in comparative cross-national research. In this article, we use the Venezuelan case to assess the validity of the Eurogang indicators of gang membership. Based on focus groups with adolescents and the results from two sweeps of the International Self-Report Survey of Juvenile Delinquency, we identify problems in the content and construct validities of the Eurogang items. We propose an alternative set of measures for cross-national studies of gang membership, focusing on a group’s reputation for violence (or broader criminal behaviour).