Gang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses of the word, see Gang (disambiguation).
A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, refers to those who engage in criminal activities. Some commentators use "gang" to refer to small, informal, and disorganized "street gangs", while "syndicate" or "organized crime" are used to refer to larger, more powerful organizations, such as the Italian-American Mafia, which may control entire legitimate businesses as "fronts" for their illegal operations, bringing in millions of dollars per year.
The word "gang" generally appears in a pejorative context, though within "the gang" itself members may adopt the phrase in proud identity or defiance.
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[edit] Gang activities
Most gangs have many sources of illegitimate income. These can include "protection", often a thin cover for extortion, as the "protection" is usually from the gang itself, or in other criminal activity. Since roughly the 1970s, street gangs have been strongly connected with drug sales (especially crack cocaine). Some commit burglaries, car theft, and armed robbery. Most members retain their gang affiliations when sent to prison (see prison gang). Many gangs use fronts to demonstrate influence and gain revenue in a particular area. These clandestine bases may include restaurants, bars, casinos, race tracks, strip clubs, or other business.
Gangs often spread by a parent or family moving out of the gang neighborhood, and the children taking the gang culture and lore with them to a new area and recruiting new members for their old gang. This concept has been referred to as satellite gangs. Some very well known gangs are the California-based Crips, and Bloods, or the Sureños and Norteños. Other large gangs include the Nigga Knights in Brooklyn who have affiliations with the Bloods, white power gang Nazi Low Riders, or NLR, the Latin Kings, the Gangster Disciples & the Latin Eagles of Chicago, the Vice Lords, the Los Angeles-based 18th Street gang, and the Jamaican Posses. In the 1980s, other gangs, such as the Central American gang named Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), the Miami based International Posse or In/p and the Cambodian gangs Tiny Raskal Gang (TRG) which is the largest, most dangerous Asian Gang in the nation,[citation needed] and have appeared on America's Most Wanted.
Outlaw motorcycle clubs—or "criminal biker gangs" (as prosecutors call them)—are, above all, groups who ride their motorcycles together; however, they may also be involved in criminal enterprises. The largest is Hells Angels with 227 chapters in the United States and 29 foreign countries and 2,500 members; another of the largest is the Bandidos with "possibly 600" members.[1]
[edit] Gang members
Frequently, the members of a street gang are only in their teens, a result of early exposure to drugs and violence, and the short life expectancy associated with a "gang-banging" lifestyle. Entry into a gang often entails being "jumped in", where other members beat up the recruit in order to test his dedication. Sometimes the recruit may be given a crime to commit (robbery, rape, or murder) as another route of entry. In other gangs, however, such as the Gangster Disciples (GD) members are blessed in using what is commonly known as the six point stance. In other situations, new gang recruits are canonized, meaning he or she has to fight with a current member, joining by: one, proving his/herself by being beaten up; or two, beating up their opponents. Often, the decision to join a gang is purely practical, where the danger of being unaffiliated, and thus unprotected, seemingly outweighs the risks of gang banging. Unfortunately, this perpetuates a vicious cycle, only contributing to the violence and corruption of a neighborhood. Other temptations such as obtaining money, drugs, power, and pride for the neighborhood are certainly also another sociological reason for such an affiliation. A sociobiological explanation is that gangs allow low-status males to show off their bravery, strength and ruthlessness, and allow them to gain status in that way. Becoming a gang-member may provide the best job prospects, pay-wise, for a member of a low-income, low-qualifications area, and if the gang is large, or involved in the drugs trade and hence has a chain of connections to some very wealthy individuals, may open up the prospect (however faint) of joining the superrich, with an income comparable to executives of the top organizations. Although the gang's very existence harms some aspects of the community, members take great pride in "defending" their turf (street slang for home territory). In some cases (especially for Latinos who live in an area dominated by a Hispanic gang) citizens appreciate the presence of the gang and tolerate the drug trade they know is occurring in their community. This is a trade-off for the decreased shooting and violence in general in the community.
Once in the gang, the recruit is now a member of the street family, and any offense towards him or any of his brethren will be retaliated against strongly by the gang. They are often given nicknames, partially to prevent their identity from being revealed. Younger members may start out performing minor crimes, working their way up within the organization, building their reputation through criminal acts. Common gang activities include dealing drugs, extortion, robbery, and war with rival gangs. Because of these "do or die" situations, the gang can create an internal value system strongly at odds with the values and mores of the wider community, represented by the forces of Law and Order. But the gang can gain legitimacy in their community, keeping non-gang criminals off their turf, creating a more peaceful environmeny by acting as Leviathan in their neighbourhoods, and otherwise acting as a form of government in an area where the legitimate government is unable or unwilling to enter. The Yakuza is one very strong example of this phenomenom; they act as police in their neighbourhoods, and on one occasion mobilised emergency relief after an earthquake before the government.
Murder is not taboo, and is often, in fact, lauded by fellow gang members, adding to the reputation. Usually the member is affiliated for life, with two unfavorable options for exiting the gang: one, he may be killed; two, he may desert the gang, essentially forfeiting his life if any of the gang should see him again.
Gangs are from all across the United States, and - increasingly - around the world. Gangs have existed in the US since at the latest the early 19th century. The top 5 cities containing gangs are Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta - each with different dominating gang cultures.
[edit] Gang violence
Gang violence refers to mostly those illegal and non-political acts of violence perpetrated by gangs against innocent people, property, or other gangs. Throughout history, such acts have been committed by gangs at all levels of organization, social class, and race. The idea that one particular race is more often responsible for gang violence is readily shown to be a fiction by a brief historical examination.
[edit] Gang warfare
Gang warfare is the conflict between opposing gangs.
Gang warfare is commonly held over turf boundary disputes, the takeover of an area in order to bring in narcotics to push on the streets, personal rivalries, or simply the fact that the opposing group is different in some way.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Gangs of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro Award winning documentary on the gangs of Brazil
- Street Gangs Media streetgangs.com is one of the most comprehensive sites on Los Angeles street gangs
- Know Gangs detailed information about gangs
- Gangs and At-Risk Kids
- Chicago Gang Research
