Gang
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226165747
2008-07-17T03:10:18Z
Dogru144
1731964
/* Gang signs */
{{otheruses}}
:''[[Gangsters]] redirects here. For the computer game, see [[Gangsters (video game)]].''
[[Image:Marasalvatrucha13arrest.png|thumb|right|300px|''[[Mara Salvatrucha]]'' suspect bearing gang tattoos is handcuffed. In [[2004]], the [[FBI]] created the [[MS-13]] National Gang Task Force. A year later, the FBI helped create [[National Gang Intelligence Center]].]]
A '''gang''' is a [[Group (sociology)|group]] of people who through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage share a common [[Identity (social science)|identity]]. In early usage, the word ''gang'' referred to a group of workmen. In [[England]] the word is still often used in this sense, but it later underwent [[pejoration]]. The word ''gang'' often carries a negative [[connotation]]; however, within a gang which defines itself in opposition to mainstream norms, members may adopt the phrase as a statement of identity or defiance.
Gang activities are not restricted to typical organized crime groups,<ref>Robert S. Mueller, III (Director)|url=http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/speeches/mueller011807.htm|title=Executive Speeches|work=Federal Bureau of Investigations|accessdate=2007-06-05|actualdate=2007-01-18</ref> but may be associated with a general class of behavior in which collective action and support of communal interests and goals serves to achieve social cohesion or [[solidarity]] "especially in gangs, cults, unions, political parties or movements, and religious sects."<ref>http://66.102.1.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:WDuAmwUf5S8J:cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/cpolit/papers/suicide.pdf+gangs+cults+religion</ref>An article in the ''Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice'' defines a '''street gang''' or '''troublesome youth group''' as ''"any durable, street-oriented youth group whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activity"''. This definition was developed over 5 years and agreed on by more than 100 gang research scholars in the [[United States]] and [[Europe]].<ref>Malcolm W. Klein, "The Value of Comparisons in Street Gang Research", ''Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice'', Vol. 21, No. 2, 135-152 (2005), DOI: 10.1177/1043986204272911. [http://ccj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/2/135 Abstract online]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=prvzAS2GdnwC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=%22%22any+durable,+street-oriented+youth+group+whose+own+identity+includes+involvement+in+illegal+activity%22&source=web&ots=ML2A7zwaDH&sig=OZoNjXmTUmiXEvvuufc7ItI8ifE&hl=en|title= Google Books:European Street Gangs and Troublesome Youth Groups|author=Scott H Decker, Frank M. Weerman}}</ref> It is a minimalist definition specifically designed to enhance comparative street gang research. Because of the frequently [[ethnic minority]] dimension, to gangs, some studies of the [[sociology]] of gangs contend that gang culture arises and depends, at least in part, upon aspects of social marginality and [[deviance]].<ref>http://faculty.missouristate.edu/m/MichaelCarlie/what_I_learned_about/GANGS/WHYFORM/why_gangs_form.htm ''Why Gangs Form''</ref><ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=JhObWrzxcWIC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=gang+ethnic+marginality&source=web&ots=TRNkA0mBzy&sig=KcsOu6-qxzG50Ue-IRc5IRhCaiU ''Gangs and Youth Subcultures''</ref><ref>http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a788238308~db=all~jumptype=rss ''Race and Gang Affiliation''</ref><ref>http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/jjbul2001_3_3/page3.html ''Female Gangs''</ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/23/ngangs23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/23/ixhome.html Ben Leapman, "London's criminal families replaced by ethnic gangs," ''The Telegraph'', [[22 April]], [[2006]]</ref> Or it may be an attempt to receive attention lacking from potentially abusive family figures.<ref>"Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors", Bill Cosby, Alvin F. Poussaint, Publisher: Thomas Nelson; [[October 9]], [[2007]]</ref>
==Historical criminal gangs==
A wide variety of [[:Category:historical gangs|historical gangs]], [[List_of_American_Old_West_outlaws#Outlaw_Gangs|outlaw gangs]], [[triad society|triad societies]], and [[:Category:Mafia crime families|Mafia crime families]] have existed for centuries. These early gangs were known for many criminal activities, but in most houses could not profit from [[drug trafficking]] prior to twentieth century [[drug prohibition]] laws such as the 1912 [[International Opium Convention]] and the 1919 [[Volstead Act]]. Gang involvement in drug trafficking increased during the 1970s and 1980s, but some gangs continue to have minimal involvement in the trade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/ojjdprpt_yth_gng_prob_2001/chap7.html#c|title=The Growth of Youth Gang Problems in the United States: 1970-98|date=2001}}</ref>
==Modern usage==
In modern usage, ''gang'' often refers to loosely organized groups that control a territory through readiness to use coordinated [[violence]], especially against other gangs. Violence also serves to maintain organization within the gang and to control gang members (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996; Horowitz, 1983; Sanchez-Jankowski, 1991; Yablonsky, 1962)<ref>http://66.102.1.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:h9JcVK1qThEJ:www.campbell.edu/faculty/gay/readings/school_violence/gangs_overview.pdf+gangs+isolation+restrictive+control+members</ref> Gangs are as diverse and dissimilar as the [[ideologies]] and belief systems which influence and motivate them.<ref name="Stith">{{cite web|author=Deborah Prothrow-Stith|url=http://www.children.smartlibrary.org/NewInterface/segment.cfm?segment=2075|title=Not All Gangs are the Same: Types of Youth Gangs|work=Smart Library on Children and Families|accessdate=2007-06-05|actualdate=1991}}</ref> Extremist and hate groups in some states have acquired the label, as the extremist groups operate very similarly to corporate gangs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress05/mueller021605.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation|title=Congressional Testimony - Testimony of Robert S. Mueller, III (Director)|author= Robert S. Mueller, III|actualdate=2005-02-16|accessdate=2007-06-05}}</ref> While hierarchy, colors, and [[Territory (animal)|turf]] are not emphasized as much within these extremist groups, symbols, signs, codes, special languages, and group collaboration and participation in patterns of criminal activity, especially crimes against human rights and civil liberties, are as much a part of the gang type behavior as they are to more traditional 'street gangs'.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/7stage_hate_model.pdf|title=The Hate Model|author=John R. Schafer, Joe Navarro|accessdate=2007-06-05|actualdate=2007-03}}</ref> 'Terrorities' have expanded to include the [[Internet]] for some gangs. [[Crips]], [[Bloods]], [[Latin Kings (gang)|Latin Kings]], [[18th Street gang]], [[Mara Salvatrucha|MS-13]], and other "web bangers" are among some gangs posting on personal and social networking Web sites taunting other gangs, boasting of illegal exploits, and, according to George W. Knox, director of the [http://www.ngcrc.com/ National Gang Crime Research Center], influencing and recruiting new members.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202424,00.html FOXNews.com - Authorities: Violent Street Gangs Take Messages To Internet - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Tod Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University in Virginia states: “Gangs already have their own alphabet, their own language, their own hand signals, so why not use the Internet?” Gang members, using home computers communicate with each other using their own coded language to brag about criminal exploits and to organize crimes on the street, including fights with rival gangs.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4963336/ Texas teens arrange street fight on Net - Weird news - MSNBC.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[White Aryan Resistance]] (WAR), the [[World Church of the Creator]] (WCOTC), and the [[Ku Klux Klan]] (KKK) are three American-based [[white-supremacist]] or [[neo-fascist]] [[groupuscule]]s or gangs who have been quick to exploit the advantages the Internet and the [[World Wide Web]] offer for organizing, recruiting, and developing their small, splinter groups of [[extremists]]. While the Internet provides these gangs with the opportunity to communicate with a wider audience, the threat of increased influence on disenfranchised and underprivileged youths may be exaggerated.<ref>[http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713777933~db=all Dreams and realities in cyberspace: White Aryan Resistance and the World Church of the Creator - Patterns of Prejudice<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Gang members have also been joining and organizing within the [[U.S. military]] and learning military skills in [[Iraq War|Iraq]], a phenomenon an [[FBI]] report calls "a threat to law enforcement and national security."<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/28/eveningnews/main3107316.shtml Exclusive: Gangs Spreading In The Military] CBSNews.Com [[July 28]], [[2007]]</ref> In [[Social environment|environments]] with few [[social support]]s, gangs provide young members a sense of belonging, and protection from other gangs; often, where prospects for gainful employment are poor, they also provide an illegal means of earning a living.
==Classification==
''School-yard gangs'' such as B.I has prompted some officials to designate categories to classify gangs based on age, finances, criminal activities, and levels of sophistication. Sometimes these are referred to as "Wanna-B's." But, gang experts know that a "Wanna-B" is a "Gonna-B" without early intervention. Gang activity can also account for some of the higher drop out rates in some public school systems.
''Scavenger gangs'' are characteristically disorganized and often represent the least successful of all the types of gangs. Members of scavenger gangs may be low achievers, and may be prone to violent or erratic behavior. Because these gangs are not well organized, leadership of scavenger gangs may change frequently and without reason. Scavenger gangs often turn to low-level crime, usually committed spontaneously and without planning. If a scavenger gang can become more organized, it may be able to grow into a territorial gang.<ref name="Stith" />
''Territorial gangs'' are typically more organized than scavenger gangs, but their primary purpose is still social. Some may sell [[drug]]s, but this is not a defining characteristic of the territorial gang. Territorial gangs will often use violent means to defend their territory; in some cases this helps the gang to bond and reinforces the social structures of the gang. Gang members may be attracted to territorial gangs because they have difficult home lives.<ref name="Stith" /> Two examples of such gangs are the [[Bloods]] and the [[Crips]].
''Corporate gangs'' are highly organized conspiracies, constructed for the purpose of marketing drugs and gaining maximum [[profit]]s. The symbolism and turfs that are significant to territorial and scavenger gangs are meaningless to corporate gangs. Members of corporate gangs are expected to follow a certain etiquette, and severe punishment can be expected for any [[faux pas]]. Leadership of a corporate gang requires a higher level of intelligence than other gangs, and bosses in these gangs will often be highly successful career criminals.They also can be very territorial and can not wear the color of another gang.<ref name="Stith" /> Two examples of corporate gangs are the [[Folk Nation]] and the [[People Nation]].
==Gang signs==
{{main|Gang signal}}
Gangs often establish distinctive, characteristic identifiers including [[graffiti]] tags<ref>Author: Ferrell, J., Title: "Crimes of style: Urban graffiti and the politics of criminality", Publisher: New York: Garland. (235pp),Year: 1993[http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol3is4/style.html]</ref> colors, hand-signals, clothing, jewelry, hair styles, fingernails, [[slogans]]<ref>"Gang Identifiers and Terminology", Cantrell, Mary Lynn, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Problems, v1 n1 p13-14 Spr 1992 [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ480808&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ480808]</ref>, [[signs]] such as the [[swastika]], the [[noose]], or the burning [[cross]]<ref>"Noose: ‘Shameful' sign makes ominous return", by Darryl Fears, Washington Post, Published: [[October 21]], [[2007]] 6:00 a.m.[http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071021/NEWS03/710210310]</ref>, flags<ref>"Symbols and the world system: National anthems and flags", KA Cerulo - Sociological Forum, 1993 - Springer [http://www.springerlink.com/content/tl560310224kt623/]</ref> for example the [[Confederate flag]], [[secret]] greetings, [[term of disparagement|slur]]s, or [[code]] words and other group-specific symbols associated with the gang's common [[belief]]s, [[ritual]]s, and [[mythologies]] to define and differentiate themselves from rival groups and gangs.<ref>"The Seven-Stage Hate Model", United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:K-ALDOQfOVwJ:www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2003/mar2003/mar03leb.htm+fbi+seven+stage+hate+model&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us]</ref>As an alternative language, hand-signals, symbols, and slurs in speech, graffiti, print, music, or other mediums communicate specific informational [[cues]] used to [[threat]]en, disparage, taunt, [[harass]], [[intimidate]], [[alarm]], [[influence]]<ref>RICO [http://definitions.uslegal.com/r/racketeering-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations-act-rico/]</ref>, or [[exact]] specific responses including obedience, submission, fear, or [[terror]]. One study focused on [[terrorism]] and [[symbol]]s states: "... Symbolism is important because it plays a part in impelling the [[terrorist]] to act and then in defining the targets of their actions."<ref>"Symbolism and Sacrifice in Terrorism", Authors: J. Dingley; M. Kirk-Smith, Source: Small Wars & Insurgencies, Volume 13, Number 1, Spring 2002 , pp. 102-128(27, Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/swi/2002/00000013/00000001/art00006]</ref> Displaying a gang sign, such as the noose, as a symbolic act can be construed as "... a [[threat]] to commit [[violence]] communicated with the [[intent]] to terrorize another, to cause evacuation of a building, or to cause serious public inconvenience, in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience...an offense against [[property]] or involving danger to another [[person]] that may include but is not limited to recklessly endangering another person, [[harassment]], [[stalking]], ethnic [[intimidation]], and criminal [[mischief]]."<ref>Terroristic Threat Law & Legal Definition [http://definitions.uslegal.com/t/terroristic-threat/]</ref>
==See also==
* [[Bloods]]
* [[Crime in Brazil]]
* [[Crime in Mexico]]
* [[Drug cartel]]s
* [[Social situation in the French suburbs#Increase in criminal activity|French suburbs]]
* [[Gangs in the United States]]
* [[Chicago Outfit]]
* [[wikt:gangbanger|Gangbanger]]
* [[Gangs in Canada]]
* [[Gangs in England]]
* [[Gangs in New Zealand]]
* [[Gang signal]]
* [[Gangster]]
* [[Government]]
* [[Group (sociology)]]
* [[Folk Nation]]
* [[Feud|Gang feud]]
* [[Hooliganism]]
* [[Marginalization]]
* [[Organized crime]]
* [[Street fighting]]
* [[Subculture]]
* [[Vigilante]]
==References==
{{Refs}}
==Publications==
* Frederick Thrasher, ''The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927
* Varrio Warfare: Violence in the Latino Community, Gabriel C. Morales, 1998
==External links==
* [http://gangresearch.net/Archives/hagedorn/gangcomref.html A bibliography on the sociological study of Gangs]
* [http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/maps/chisoc/G4104-C6E625-1926-T5.html A 1923-26 map of Chicago gangs made by Fredric Thrasher]
* [http://www.streetgangs.com A complete Resource Guide on gangs in Los Angeles, California]
* [http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/COURSES/SOC415b/females.htm Jeanne Weiler, The Sociology of Female Gangs]
* [http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/COURSES/SOC415b/family.htm Robert Snyder, ''Gangs: the Family in Turmoil'']
* [http://chicagogangs.org/ Chicago Gangs]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/23/ngangs23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/23/ixhome.html Ben Leapman, ''London's criminal families replaced by ethnic gangs,'' The Telegraph], [[22 April]], [[2006]]
*[http://www.knowgangs.com/photo/ Gang Photos] - Pictures of different types of gangs and gang members
*[http://www.gangpreventionservices.org/resources.asp Gang Profiles] - Gang Prevention Services
* <i>John Hancock</i>, [http://www.corrections.com/news/article/18097 Combating Gang Activity in Prison], Gangs Across America
[[Category:Gangs| ]]
[[Category:Crime]]
[[Category:Urban decay]]
[[Category:Types of organization]]
[[de:Bande (Gruppe)]]
[[et:Banditism]]
[[es:Pandilla]]
[[eo:Bando]]
[[fr:Bande criminelle]]
[[nl:Bende (misdaad)]]
[[ja:ストリートギャング]]
[[pl:Gang]]
[[pt:Gangue]]
[[ru:Бандитизм]]
[[scn:Cricca]]
[[simple:Gang]]
[[sr:Банда]]
[[fi:Katujengi]]
[[sv:Gäng]]
[[zh:童黨]]