Gang
Encyclopedia
A gang is a group
of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen. In the United Kingdom 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.
The word gang derives from the past participle of Old English gan, meaning "to go". It is cognate
with Old Norse
gangr, meaning "journey."
, Adam the Leper
's gang, Penny Mobs
, Indian Thugs
, Chinese Triads, Snakehead
, Japanese Yakuza
, Irish mob
, Pancho Villa
's Villistas, Dead Rabbits
, American Old West
outlaw gangs, Bowery Boys
, Chasers, Jewish mafia, Russian mafia
, and Italian Mafia crime families have existed for centuries. According to some estimates the Thuggee
gangs in India murdered 1 million people between 1740 and 1840.
Many poor orphans in Victorian London
survived by joining pick pocketing gangs controlled by adult criminals. At the beginning of the 19th century, child criminals in Britain were punished in the same way as adults. They were sent to adult prisons, transported to the various Australian penal colonies, flogged, and sentenced to death for crimes such as petty theft.
The first street gang in the United States, the 40 Thieves, began around the late 1820s in New York City
. In 1850, New York City recorded more than 200 gang wars fought largely by youth gangs. All the major cities of Victorian England in the late 19th century had gangs. Chicago
had over 1,000 gangs in the 1920s. These early gangs were known for many criminal activities, but in most countries could not profit from drug trafficking prior to drugs being made illegal by 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.
Los Angeles County is considered the Gang Capital of America, with an estimated 120,000 (41,000 in the City
) gang members although Chicago
actually has a higher rate of gang membership per capita than Los Angeles. Also, the state of Illinois has a higher rate of gang membership (8-11 gang members per 1,000 population) than California (5-7 gang members per 1,000 population). There were at least 30,000 gangs and 800,000 gang members active across the USA in 2007. About 900,000 gang members lived "within local communities across the country," and about 147,000 were in U.S. prisons or jails in 2009. By 1999, Hispanics accounted for 47% of all gang members, Blacks 31%, Whites 13%, and Asians
6%.
Tribal leaders say Native American
communities are being overwhelmed by gang violence and drug trafficking. A Dec. 13, 2009 The New York Times
article about growing gang violence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
estimated that there were 39 gangs with 5,000 members on that reservation alone. Navajo
country recently reported 225 gangs in its territory.
There are between 25,000 and 50,000 gang members in Central America's El Salvador
.
The Mexican drug cartel
s have as many as 100,000 foot soldier
s.
More than 1,000 gangs were known to be operating in the UK
in 2009.
The FBI estimates the size of the four Italian organized crime groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide.
The Russian, Chechen
, Azerbaijani
, Ukrainian, Georgian
, Armenian, and other former Soviet organized crime groups or "Bratvas" have many members and associates affiliated with their various sorts of organized crime but a rough number has not been estimated.
The Yakuza
are among one of the largest crime organizations in the world. , there are some 102,400 known members in Japan
.
Hong Kong
's Triads include up to 160,000 members in the 21st century. It was estimated that in the 1950s, there were 300,000 Triad members in Hong Kong
.
Perhaps the best known criminal gangs are the Italian Cosa Nostra, commonly known as the Mafia
. The Napolitan Camorra
, the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, the Sardinian
kidnappers or Anonima Sarda and the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita
are similar Italian
organized gangs.
Other criminal gangs include the Russian Mafia
, the Serbian mafia
, the Israeli Mafia
, the Albanian Mafia
, Mexican and Colombian drug cartel
s, the Indian Mafia
, the Chinese Triads, the Irish Mob
, the Corsican mafia
, the Japanese Yakuza
, the Jamaican-British Yardies, the Malaysian Mamak Gang
, the Turkish Mafia, British Crime Families and other crime syndicates.
On a lower level in the criminal gang hierarchy are street gangs in the United States, such as the Sureños
, Norteños
, Crips
, Bloods
, Nazi Lowriders
, AsianBoyz, Ghost Shadows
, Menice of Destruction, Latin Kings, Vice Lords
and Gangster Disciples
. Biker gangs
(such as the Hell's Angels) and white power skinhead gangs are also notable.
There are street gangs, which are people with similar backgrounds and motivations. The term “street gang” is commonly used interchangeably with “youth gang,” referring to neighborhood or street-based youth groups that meet “gang” criteria. Miller (1992) defines a street gang as “a self-formed association of peers, united by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership and internal organization, who act collectively or as individuals to achieve specific purposes, including the conduct of illegal activity and control of a particular territory, facility, or enterprise."
Understanding the structure of gangs is a critical skill to defining the types of strategies that are most effective with dealing with them, from the at-risk youth to the gang leaders. Not all individuals who display the outward signs of gang membership are actually involved in criminal activities. An individual's age, physical structure, ability to fight, willingness to use violence, and arrest record are often principal factors in determining where an individual stands in the gang hierarchy; now money derived from criminal activity and ability to provide for the gang also impacts the individual’s status within the gang. The structure of gangs varies depending primarily on size which can range in size from five or ten to several thousand. Many of the larger gangs break up into smaller groups, cliques or sub-sets. The cliques typically bring more territory to a gang as they expand and recruit new members. Most gangs operate informally with leadership falling to whoever takes control; others have distinct leadership and are highly structured, much like a business or corporation.
Matthew O’Deane, Ph.D., has identified five primary steps of gang involvement applicable to the majority of gangs in the world; at risk, associates, members, hardcore members and leaders.
They usually reject any value system other than that of his/her gang and their life revolves around the gang. This member typically has been arrested and been through the justice system. This person will commit any crime or act of violence to further the goals and objectives of the gang. This person is usually in his/her late teens or early 20’s extending into their 30’s in some cases.
Prison gangs are groups in a prison
or correctional institution for mutual protection and advancement. Prison gangs often have several "affiliates" or "chapters" in different state prison systems that branch out due to the movement or transfer of their members. The 2005 study neither War nor Peace: International Comparisons of Children and Youth in Organized Armed Violence studied ten cities worldwide and found that in eight of them, "street gangs had strong links to prison gangs". According to criminal justice professor John Hagedorn
, many of the biggest gangs from Chicago originated from prisons. From the St. Charles Illinois Youth Center originated the Conservative Vice Lords and Blackstone Rangers. Although the majority of gang leaders from Chicago are now incarcerated, most of those leaders continue to manage their gangs from within prison.
Criminal gangs may function both inside and outside of prison, such as the Nuestra Familia
, Mexican Mafia
, Folk Nation
, and the Brazilian PCC
. During the 1970s, prison gangs in Cape Town
, South Africa
began recruiting street gang members from outside and helped increase associations between prison and street gangs.
In the USA prison gang Aryan Brotherhood
is in organized crime outside prison.
The United Nations
estimates that gangs make most of their money through the drugs trade
, they are thought to be worth £352bn in total. The United States Department of Justice
estimates there are approximately 30,000 gangs, with 760,000 members, impacting 2,500 communities across the United States.
Gangs are involved in all areas of street-crime activities like extortion
, drug trafficking, both in and outside the prison system and theft
. Gangs also victimize individuals by robbery
and kidnapping
. Cocaine
is the primary drug of distribution by gangs in America, which have used the cities Chicago
, Cape Town
, and Rio de Janeiro
to transport drugs internationally. Brazilian urbanization has driven the drug trade to the favela
s of Rio. Often, gangs hire "lookouts" to warn members of upcoming law enforcement. The dense environments of favelas in Rio and public housing projects in Chicago have helped gang members hide from police easily.
Street gangs take over territory or "turf" in a particular city and are often involved in "providing protection
", often a thin cover for extortion, as the "protection" is usually from the gang itself, or in other criminal activity. Many gangs use fronts
to demonstrate influence and gain revenue in a particular area.
for new gang members.
58 percent of L.A.’s murders were gang-related in 2006. Reports of gang-related homicides are concentrated mostly in the largest cities in the United States, where there are long-standing and persistent gang problems and a greater number of documented gang members—most of whom are identified by law enforcement
.
in response to unemployment and other services. Social disorganization, the disintegration of societal institutions such as family, school, and the public safety net enable groups of peers to form gangs. According to surveys conducted internationally by the World Bank for their World Development Report 2011
, by far the most common reason people suggest as a motive for joining gangs is unemployment.
Ethnic solidarity is a common factor in gangs. Black and Hispanic gangs formed during the 1960s in the USA often adapted nationalist rhetoric. Both majority and minority races in society have established gangs in the name of identity: the Igbo
gang Bakassi Boys
in Nigeria
defend the majority Igbo group violently and through terror, and in the United States, whites who feel threatened by minority rights have formed their own groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan
. Responding to an increasing black and Hispanic migration, a white gang called Gaylords
formed in Chicago
.
, for instance, wear red bandanas, the Crips
blue, allowing these gangs to "represent" their affiliation. Any disrespect of a gang member's color by an unaffiliated individual is grounds for violent retaliation, often by multiple members of the offended gang. Tattoo
s are also common identifiers, such as an '18' above the eyebrow to identify an 18th Street (gang)
member. Tattoos help a gang member gain respect within their group, and mark them as members for life. They can be burned on as well as inked. Some gangs make use of more than one identifier, like the Nortenos
, who wear red bandanas and have '14,' 'XIV,' 'x4,' and 'Norte' tattoos.
Gangs often establish distinctive, characteristic identifiers including graffiti
tags colors
, hand signals, clothing (for example, the gangsta rap
-type hoodies), jewelry, hair styles, fingernails, slogans, signs (such as the noose
and the burning cross as the symbols of the Klan), flags secret greetings, slur
s, or code words and other group-specific symbols associated with the gang's common beliefs, ritual
s, and mythologies
to define and differentiate themselves from rival groups and gangs.
As an alternative language, hand-signals, symbols, and slurs in speech, graffiti
, print, music, or other mediums communicate specific informational cues used to threaten, disparage, taunt
, harass, intimidate, alarm, influence, or exact specific responses including obedience, submission, fear, or terror. One study focused on terrorism and symbols states: "… Symbolism is important because it plays a part in impelling the terrorist to act and then in defining the targets of their actions." 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."
The Internet is one of the most significant mediums used by gangs to communicate in terms of the size of the audience they can reach with minimal effort and reduced risk. The Internet provides a forum for recruitment activities, typically provoking rival gangs through derogatory postings, and to glorify their gang and themselves. Gangs are using the Internet to communicate with each other, facilitate criminal activity, spread their message and culture around the nation. As Internet pages like MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, AIM, and Facebook become more popular, law enforcement works to understand how to conduct investigations related to gang activity in an online environment. In most cases the police can and will get the information they need, however this requires police officers and federal agents to make formal legal requests for information in a timely manner, which typically requires a search warrant or subpoena to compel the service providers to supply the needed information. A grand jury subpoena or administrative subpoena, court order, search warrant; or user consent is needed to get this information pursuant to the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, Title 18 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq. (ECPA). Just about every gang member has personal web page or some type of social networking internet account or chat room where they post photos and videos and talk openly about their gang exploits. The majority of the service providers that gang members use are free social networking sites that allow users to create their own profile pages, which can include lists of their favorite musicians, books and movies, photos of themselves and friends, and links to related web pages. Many of these services also permit users to send and receive private messages and talk in private chat rooms. Many times a police officer may stumble upon one of these pages, or an informant can get you into the local gang page, providing you a name and password to use to get in and explore, other times you do not have that option and will have to formally request the needed information. Most service providers have four basic types of information about its users that may be relevant to a criminal investigation; 1) basic identity/subscriber information supplied by the user in creating the account; 2) IP log-in information; 3) files stored in a user’s profile (such as “about me” information or lists of friends); and 4) user sent and received message content. It is important to know the law, and understand what exactly we can get service providers to do and what their capabilities are. It is also important to understand how gang members use the Internet and how we as the police can use their desire to be recognized and respected in their sub-culture against them.
A 2006 Sun-Times article reports that gangs encourage members to enter the military to learn urban warfare techniques to teach other gang members. A January 2007 article in the Chicago Sun-Times
reported that gang members in the military are involved in the theft and sale of military weapons, ammunition, and equipment, including body armor. The Sun-Times began investigating the gang activity in the military after receiving photos of gang graffiti showing up in Iraq.
The FBI’s 2007 report on gang membership in the military states that the military's recruit screening process is ineffective, allows gang members/extremists to enter the military, and lists at least eight instances in the last three years in which gang members have obtained military weapons for their illegal enterprises. "Gang Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing", dated January 12, 2007, states that street gangs including the Bloods, Crips, Black Disciples
, Gangster Disciples
, Hells Angels, Latin Kings, The 18th Street Gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Mexican Mafia, Nortenos, Surenos, and Vice Lords have been documented on military installations both domestic and international although recruiting gang members violates military regulations.
Group (sociology)
In the social sciences a social group can be defined as two or more humans who interact with one another, share similar characteristics and collectively have a sense of unity...
of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen. In the United Kingdom the word is still often used in this sense, but it later underwent pejoration
Semantic change
Semantic change, also known as semantic shift or semantic progression describes the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word...
. 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.
The word gang derives from the past participle of Old English gan, meaning "to go". It is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
with Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
gangr, meaning "journey."
History
A wide variety of gangs, such as The Order of AssassinsHashshashin
The Assassins were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia that existed from around 1092 to 1265...
, Adam the Leper
Adam the Leper
Adam the Leper was the leader of a fourteenth-century robber band, operating in the south west of England in the 1330s and 1340s. Like the north Midlands bandits Eustace Folville and James Cotterel, he and his gang specialised in theft and kidnap. Unlike these contemporaries, he seems to have...
's gang, Penny Mobs
Penny Mobs
The Penny Mobs was the names used by the press to describe the early street gang active in Glasgow, Scotland during the early 1870s. As the court system offered heavy fines as an alternative to imprisonment, gang members were often freed after a collection from the gang at a "penny a head" thus...
, Indian Thugs
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...
, Chinese Triads, Snakehead
Snakehead (gang)
Snakeheads are Chinese gangs that smuggle people to other countries. They are found in the Fujian region of China and smuggle their customers into wealthier Western countries such as those in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and some nearby wealthier countries such as Taiwan and...
, Japanese Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
, Irish mob
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
, Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
's Villistas, Dead Rabbits
Dead Rabbits
The Dead Rabbits were a gang in New York City in the 1850s, and originally were a part of the Roach Guards. Daniel Cassidy claimed that the name has a second meaning rooted in Irish American vernacular of NYC in 1857 and that the word "Rabbit" is the phonetic corruption of the Irish word ráibéad,...
, American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
outlaw gangs, Bowery Boys
Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were a nativist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Irish gang based north of the Five Points district of New York City in the mid-19th century. They were primarily stationed in the Bowery section of New York, which was, at the time, extended north of the Five Points...
, Chasers, Jewish mafia, Russian mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
, and Italian Mafia crime families have existed for centuries. According to some estimates the Thuggee
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...
gangs in India murdered 1 million people between 1740 and 1840.
Many poor orphans in Victorian London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
survived by joining pick pocketing gangs controlled by adult criminals. At the beginning of the 19th century, child criminals in Britain were punished in the same way as adults. They were sent to adult prisons, transported to the various Australian penal colonies, flogged, and sentenced to death for crimes such as petty theft.
The first street gang in the United States, the 40 Thieves, began around the late 1820s in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1850, New York City recorded more than 200 gang wars fought largely by youth gangs. All the major cities of Victorian England in the late 19th century had gangs. Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
had over 1,000 gangs in the 1920s. These early gangs were known for many criminal activities, but in most countries could not profit from drug trafficking prior to drugs being made illegal by laws such as the 1912 International Opium Convention
International Opium Convention
The International Opium Convention, signed at The Hague on January 23, 1912 during the First International Opium Conference, was the first international drug control treaty. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on January 23, 1922...
and the 1919 Volstead Act
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was the enabling legislation for the Eighteenth Amendment which established prohibition in the United States...
. Gang involvement in drug trafficking increased during the 1970s and 1980s, but some gangs continue to have minimal involvement in the trade.
Current numbers
In the United States in 2006 there were approximately 785,000 active street gang members, according to the National Youth Gang Center.Los Angeles County is considered the Gang Capital of America, with an estimated 120,000 (41,000 in the City
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
) gang members although Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
actually has a higher rate of gang membership per capita than Los Angeles. Also, the state of Illinois has a higher rate of gang membership (8-11 gang members per 1,000 population) than California (5-7 gang members per 1,000 population). There were at least 30,000 gangs and 800,000 gang members active across the USA in 2007. About 900,000 gang members lived "within local communities across the country," and about 147,000 were in U.S. prisons or jails in 2009. By 1999, Hispanics accounted for 47% of all gang members, Blacks 31%, Whites 13%, and Asians
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
6%.
Tribal leaders say Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
communities are being overwhelmed by gang violence and drug trafficking. A Dec. 13, 2009 The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
article about growing gang violence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
estimated that there were 39 gangs with 5,000 members on that reservation alone. Navajo
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
country recently reported 225 gangs in its territory.
There are between 25,000 and 50,000 gang members in Central America's El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
.
The Mexican drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
s have as many as 100,000 foot soldier
Foot Soldier
The term foot soldier may refer to:* A generic term for members of the infantry* Characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series belonging to the Foot Clan* The Foot Soldiers, a comic book originally published by Dark Horse Comics...
s.
More than 1,000 gangs were known to be operating in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 2009.
The FBI estimates the size of the four Italian organized crime groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide.
The Russian, Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
, Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani people
The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
, Ukrainian, Georgian
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
, Armenian, and other former Soviet organized crime groups or "Bratvas" have many members and associates affiliated with their various sorts of organized crime but a rough number has not been estimated.
The Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
are among one of the largest crime organizations in the world. , there are some 102,400 known members in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
's Triads include up to 160,000 members in the 21st century. It was estimated that in the 1950s, there were 300,000 Triad members in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Notable examples
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. The Napolitan Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
, the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, the Sardinian
Sardinian
Sardinian can refer to:* Sardinia* Sardinian people* Sardinian language* Sardinian...
kidnappers or Anonima Sarda and the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita
Sacra corona unita
Sacra Corona Unita, or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto .-Background and activities:...
are similar Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
organized gangs.
Other criminal gangs include the Russian Mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
, the Serbian mafia
Serbian mafia
Serbian Organized Crime or Naša Stvar are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the Serbian Diaspora. Serbian mafiosos are very active in European Union countries...
, the Israeli Mafia
Israeli mafia
The Israeli mafia is the general term for organized crime groups operating in Israel and also internationally. Allegedly there are 16 crime families operating in Israel, five major groups active on the national-level, and 11 smaller organizations...
, the Albanian Mafia
Albanian mafia
The Albanian Mafia or Albanian organized crime are the general terms used for criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Albanian organized crime is active in Albania, the United States, and the European Union countries, participating in a diverse range of criminal...
, Mexican and Colombian drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
s, the Indian Mafia
Indian mafia
The term Indian mafia refers to certain criminal organizations found in some of India's major cities. The "Indian Mafia" also refer to powerful families that have criminal aspects to it.- Mumbai underworld :...
, the Chinese Triads, the Irish Mob
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
, the Corsican mafia
Corsican mafia
The Corsican mafia is the general term used to describe the various criminal groups originating from Corsica. The Corsican mafia is one of the most influential organized crime structures in France, also active in many African and Latin American countries...
, the Japanese Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
, the Jamaican-British Yardies, the Malaysian Mamak Gang
Mamak Gang
The Mamak Gang is a notorious Malaysian gang that has been active since the early 1990s. Originally they specialised in breaking into factories and warehouses, but eventually they switched to mainly carjackings and robbing motorists...
, the Turkish Mafia, British Crime Families and other crime syndicates.
On a lower level in the criminal gang hierarchy are street gangs in the United States, such as the Sureños
Sureños
Sureños are a group of Mexican American street gangs with origins in the oldest barrios of Southern California. Although they are based in California, the influence of the Sureños has spread to many parts of the US and other countries as well such as Germany and Japan...
, Norteños
Norteños
The Norteños , also Norte, are affiliated with Nuestra Familia , are a coalition of traditionally Latino gangs in Northern California A member of these gangs is a Norteño or Norteña based on Spanish usage...
, Crips
Crips
The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...
, Bloods
Bloods
The Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
, Nazi Lowriders
Nazi Lowriders
The Nazi Lowriders or NLR or "The Ride" are a white supremacist criminal organization primarily based in southern California, although it is believed to have spread to other states. They are allies of the larger and more notorious gang, the Aryan Brotherhood. Their main rivals are the Bloods, the...
, AsianBoyz, Ghost Shadows
Ghost Shadows
The Ghost Shadows are a Chinese American gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1980s through the early 1990s.Formed in 1971 by immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the gang is believed to be under control of the On Leong Tong...
, Menice of Destruction, Latin Kings, Vice Lords
Vice Lords
The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second largest and one of the oldest street gangs in Chicago. Their total membership is estimated to be as many as 30,000...
and Gangster Disciples
Gangster Disciples
The Black Gangster Disciple Nation is a gang which was formed on the South-side of Chicago in the late 1960s, by David Barksdale, leader of the Black Disciples, and Larry Hoover, leader of the Supreme Gangsters. The two groups united to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation .The gang has made...
. Biker gangs
Outlaw motorcycle club
An outlaw motorcycle club is a type of motorcycle club that is part of a subculture with roots in the post-World War II USA, centered on cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals celebrating freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the...
(such as the Hell's Angels) and white power skinhead gangs are also notable.
Types and structure
Many types of gangs make up the general structure of an organized group.There are street gangs, which are people with similar backgrounds and motivations. The term “street gang” is commonly used interchangeably with “youth gang,” referring to neighborhood or street-based youth groups that meet “gang” criteria. Miller (1992) defines a street gang as “a self-formed association of peers, united by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership and internal organization, who act collectively or as individuals to achieve specific purposes, including the conduct of illegal activity and control of a particular territory, facility, or enterprise."
Understanding the structure of gangs is a critical skill to defining the types of strategies that are most effective with dealing with them, from the at-risk youth to the gang leaders. Not all individuals who display the outward signs of gang membership are actually involved in criminal activities. An individual's age, physical structure, ability to fight, willingness to use violence, and arrest record are often principal factors in determining where an individual stands in the gang hierarchy; now money derived from criminal activity and ability to provide for the gang also impacts the individual’s status within the gang. The structure of gangs varies depending primarily on size which can range in size from five or ten to several thousand. Many of the larger gangs break up into smaller groups, cliques or sub-sets. The cliques typically bring more territory to a gang as they expand and recruit new members. Most gangs operate informally with leadership falling to whoever takes control; others have distinct leadership and are highly structured, much like a business or corporation.
Matthew O’Deane, Ph.D., has identified five primary steps of gang involvement applicable to the majority of gangs in the world; at risk, associates, members, hardcore members and leaders.
"At Risk” or "Peripheral"
This group of kids is not considered gang members by law enforcement, but they know gang members and may associate with them on a casual or limited basis, mostly watching and imitating the older gang members. They are getting close to an age where they might decide to join the gang. They may like and admire the gang members in the neighborhood and the gang lifestyle, but do not participate in the gang’s criminal activity. This group is generally between 7 and 9 years old, but can range from 5 to 16 years old in some cases; this group should be the“Associates” or “Affiliates”
These kids associate with gang members on a regular basis and tend to consider gang life normal and acceptable. They find certain things in common with gang members and are seriously thinking about joining the gang. Some associates consider themselves members, even if they have not yet been formally initiated. This person is commonly called a “Wanna Be”, “Pee Wee”, “Baby Gangster” or “Wigger”; many may claim to back up the gang if confronted by law enforcement. They may act, walk, talk, and dress like gang members and will tend to socialize with them. These associates are sometimes used by older gang members to do specific tasks, such as serving as lookouts, runners, or for writing graffiti. This group typically lacks direction and may drift in and out of the gang depending on the current activities of the gang. This person is generally between the ages of 9 and 13, but can range from 7 to 18 years old in some cases. It is often difficult to distinguish an associate from a member by looking at them. The difference is in their commitment to the gang.“Gang Member”
This person associates almost exclusively with other gang members to the exclusion of family and former friends. They have shifted their loyalty from their family to their gang. This person participates in gang crimes and most of the gang’s activities. They make up the bulk of a gang’s membership and are held responsible for protection of the gangs turf and fellow gang members. This person is generally between the ages of 14 and 20 years old, but can range from 11 to 40 years old in some cases. The gang member has a much more significant attachment to the gang mentality or code when compared to an associate. Nowdays there are also "wannabes" who are usually young children who want to be in a gang and act like gang members at young ages, this has an affect on the community when these children commit crimes: Shoplifting, Fights Etc.“Hard Core Gang Member”
This gang member has become totally committed to the gang and gang lifestyle, commonly referred to as an “OG” or Original Gangster or “Veterano”. However, the term “OG” or Original Gangster is incorrectly applied as an Original Gangster can only be founding members of the gang. Additionally, erroneous applications occur in contemporary culture as the term "OG" or Original Gangster should apply to gang members that were active during the 1960s and 1970s.They usually reject any value system other than that of his/her gang and their life revolves around the gang. This member typically has been arrested and been through the justice system. This person will commit any crime or act of violence to further the goals and objectives of the gang. This person is usually in his/her late teens or early 20’s extending into their 30’s in some cases.
“Gang Leader”
These members are the upper echelons of the gang’s command. This gang member is probably the oldest in the group and likely has an extensive criminal record and they often have the power to direct the gang’s activity, whether they are involved or not. In many jurisdictions, this person is likely a prison gang member calling the shots from within the prison system or is on parole. Often they distance themselves from the street gang activities and make attempts to appear legitimate, possibly operating a business that they run as fronts for the gang’s drug dealing or other illegal operations.Prison gangs are groups in a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
or correctional institution for mutual protection and advancement. Prison gangs often have several "affiliates" or "chapters" in different state prison systems that branch out due to the movement or transfer of their members. The 2005 study neither War nor Peace: International Comparisons of Children and Youth in Organized Armed Violence studied ten cities worldwide and found that in eight of them, "street gangs had strong links to prison gangs". According to criminal justice professor John Hagedorn
John Hagedorn
John Hagedorn is an associate professor of criminal justice and director of the Kenneth B. Clark Center for the Study of Violence in Communities.-Works:He wrote "A World of Gangs.""People and Folks: Gangs, Crime and the Underclass in a Rustbelt City"...
, many of the biggest gangs from Chicago originated from prisons. From the St. Charles Illinois Youth Center originated the Conservative Vice Lords and Blackstone Rangers. Although the majority of gang leaders from Chicago are now incarcerated, most of those leaders continue to manage their gangs from within prison.
Criminal gangs may function both inside and outside of prison, such as the Nuestra Familia
Nuestra Familia
Nuestra Familia is a criminal organization of Mexican American prison gangs with origins in Northern California. While members of the Norteños gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteño...
, Mexican Mafia
Mexican Mafia
The Mexican Mafia , also known as La Eme , 13 is a Mexican American criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the United States.-Foundation:...
, Folk Nation
Folk Nation
The Folk Nation is an alliance of street gangs, based in the Chicago area, which has since spread throughout the United States, specifically in the Midwest and the South. They are rivals to the People Nation....
, and the Brazilian PCC
Primeiro Comando da Capital
Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC , is an anti-establishment Brazilian prison gang and criminal organization founded in 1993 by inmates of Taubaté prison in São Paulo...
. During the 1970s, prison gangs in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
began recruiting street gang members from outside and helped increase associations between prison and street gangs.
In the USA prison gang Aryan Brotherhood
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
is in organized crime outside prison.
Typical activities
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
estimates that gangs make most of their money through the drugs trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
, they are thought to be worth £352bn in total. The United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
estimates there are approximately 30,000 gangs, with 760,000 members, impacting 2,500 communities across the United States.
Gangs are involved in all areas of street-crime activities like extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, drug trafficking, both in and outside the prison system and theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
. Gangs also victimize individuals by robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
. Cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
is the primary drug of distribution by gangs in America, which have used the cities Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
to transport drugs internationally. Brazilian urbanization has driven the drug trade to the favela
Favela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
s of Rio. Often, gangs hire "lookouts" to warn members of upcoming law enforcement. The dense environments of favelas in Rio and public housing projects in Chicago have helped gang members hide from police easily.
Street gangs take over territory or "turf" in a particular city and are often involved in "providing protection
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
", often a thin cover for extortion, as the "protection" is usually from the gang itself, or in other criminal activity. Many gangs use fronts
Front organization
A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups, or corporations...
to demonstrate influence and gain revenue in a particular area.
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. Nearly every major city was ravaged by gang violence at some point in its history. Modern gangs introduced new acts of violence, which may also function as a rite of passageRite of passage
A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
for new gang members.
58 percent of L.A.’s murders were gang-related in 2006. Reports of gang-related homicides are concentrated mostly in the largest cities in the United States, where there are long-standing and persistent gang problems and a greater number of documented gang members—most of whom are identified by law enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
.
Motives
Usually, gangs have gained the most control in poorer, urban communities and the Third WorldThird World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
in response to unemployment and other services. Social disorganization, the disintegration of societal institutions such as family, school, and the public safety net enable groups of peers to form gangs. According to surveys conducted internationally by the World Bank for their World Development Report 2011
The World Development Report 2011
The 2011 World Development Report: Conflict, Security and Development is a document by the World Bank on the challenges organised violence poses to the advancement of less developed countries...
, by far the most common reason people suggest as a motive for joining gangs is unemployment.
Ethnic solidarity is a common factor in gangs. Black and Hispanic gangs formed during the 1960s in the USA often adapted nationalist rhetoric. Both majority and minority races in society have established gangs in the name of identity: the Igbo
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
gang Bakassi Boys
Bakassi Boys
The Bakassi Boys are a group of youth known for their anti-crime vigilantism, and are usually armed with machetes, guns, and charms. They operate in the Igbo area of Nigeria, and are sometimes accused of illegal activities and human rights abuses, yet enjoy popular support in the areas where they...
in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
defend the majority Igbo group violently and through terror, and in the United States, whites who feel threatened by minority rights have formed their own groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. Responding to an increasing black and Hispanic migration, a white gang called Gaylords
Chicago Gaylords
The Chicago Gaylords, also known as the Almighty Gaylords, is one of the oldest Chicago street gangs. It originated in the neighborhood of Grand and Noble...
formed in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Identification
Most gang members have identifying characteristics unique to their specific clique or gang. The BloodsBloods
The Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
, for instance, wear red bandanas, the Crips
Crips
The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...
blue, allowing these gangs to "represent" their affiliation. Any disrespect of a gang member's color by an unaffiliated individual is grounds for violent retaliation, often by multiple members of the offended gang. Tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s are also common identifiers, such as an '18' above the eyebrow to identify an 18th Street (gang)
18th Street (gang)
18th Street gang is considered to be the largest transnational criminal gang in Los Angeles, California. It is estimated that there are thousands of members in Los Angeles County alone...
member. Tattoos help a gang member gain respect within their group, and mark them as members for life. They can be burned on as well as inked. Some gangs make use of more than one identifier, like the Nortenos
Norteños
The Norteños , also Norte, are affiliated with Nuestra Familia , are a coalition of traditionally Latino gangs in Northern California A member of these gangs is a Norteño or Norteña based on Spanish usage...
, who wear red bandanas and have '14,' 'XIV,' 'x4,' and 'Norte' tattoos.
Gangs often establish distinctive, characteristic identifiers including graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
tags colors
Gang colors
Gang colors are the types or color of clothing, or insignia that are worn by gang members to identify each other. Tattoos may also come under the category of gang colors....
, hand signals, clothing (for example, the gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
-type hoodies), jewelry, hair styles, fingernails, slogans, signs (such as the noose
Noose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot slides to make the loop collapsible. Knots used for making nooses include the running bowline, the tarbuck knot, and the slip knot.-Use in hanging:...
and the burning cross as the symbols of the Klan), flags secret greetings, slur
Slur
Slur can mean:*Pejorative, any term of disparagement.*Slur , unclear or abnormal enunciation.*Slur , a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played legato ....
s, or code words and other group-specific symbols associated with the gang's common beliefs, ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s, and mythologies
Mythologies
Mythologies is a book by Roland Barthes, published in 1957. It is a collection of essays taken from Les Lettres nouvelles, examining the tendency of contemporary social value systems to create modern myths...
to define and differentiate themselves from rival groups and gangs.
As an alternative language, hand-signals, symbols, and slurs in speech, graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, print, music, or other mediums communicate specific informational cues used to threaten, disparage, taunt
Taunt
A taunt is a battle cry, a method in hand-to-hand combat, sarcastic remark, or insult intended to demoralize the recipient, or to anger them and encourage reactionary behaviors without thinking. Taunting can exist as a form of social competition to gain control of the target's cultural capital...
, harass, intimidate, alarm, influence, or exact specific responses including obedience, submission, fear, or terror. One study focused on terrorism and symbols states: "… Symbolism is important because it plays a part in impelling the terrorist to act and then in defining the targets of their actions." Displaying a gang sign, such as the noose, as a symbolic act can be construed as "… a threat to commit violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
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
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
, stalking
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
, ethnic intimidation, and criminal mischief."
The Internet is one of the most significant mediums used by gangs to communicate in terms of the size of the audience they can reach with minimal effort and reduced risk. The Internet provides a forum for recruitment activities, typically provoking rival gangs through derogatory postings, and to glorify their gang and themselves. Gangs are using the Internet to communicate with each other, facilitate criminal activity, spread their message and culture around the nation. As Internet pages like MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, AIM, and Facebook become more popular, law enforcement works to understand how to conduct investigations related to gang activity in an online environment. In most cases the police can and will get the information they need, however this requires police officers and federal agents to make formal legal requests for information in a timely manner, which typically requires a search warrant or subpoena to compel the service providers to supply the needed information. A grand jury subpoena or administrative subpoena, court order, search warrant; or user consent is needed to get this information pursuant to the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, Title 18 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq. (ECPA). Just about every gang member has personal web page or some type of social networking internet account or chat room where they post photos and videos and talk openly about their gang exploits. The majority of the service providers that gang members use are free social networking sites that allow users to create their own profile pages, which can include lists of their favorite musicians, books and movies, photos of themselves and friends, and links to related web pages. Many of these services also permit users to send and receive private messages and talk in private chat rooms. Many times a police officer may stumble upon one of these pages, or an informant can get you into the local gang page, providing you a name and password to use to get in and explore, other times you do not have that option and will have to formally request the needed information. Most service providers have four basic types of information about its users that may be relevant to a criminal investigation; 1) basic identity/subscriber information supplied by the user in creating the account; 2) IP log-in information; 3) files stored in a user’s profile (such as “about me” information or lists of friends); and 4) user sent and received message content. It is important to know the law, and understand what exactly we can get service providers to do and what their capabilities are. It is also important to understand how gang members use the Internet and how we as the police can use their desire to be recognized and respected in their sub-culture against them.
Gang membership in the US military
In 2006, Scott Barfield, a Defense Department investigator, said there is an online network of gangs and extremists, and that: "They're communicating with each other about weapons, about recruiting, about keeping their identities secret, about organizing within the military."A 2006 Sun-Times article reports that gangs encourage members to enter the military to learn urban warfare techniques to teach other gang members. A January 2007 article in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
reported that gang members in the military are involved in the theft and sale of military weapons, ammunition, and equipment, including body armor. The Sun-Times began investigating the gang activity in the military after receiving photos of gang graffiti showing up in Iraq.
The FBI’s 2007 report on gang membership in the military states that the military's recruit screening process is ineffective, allows gang members/extremists to enter the military, and lists at least eight instances in the last three years in which gang members have obtained military weapons for their illegal enterprises. "Gang Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing", dated January 12, 2007, states that street gangs including the Bloods, Crips, Black Disciples
Black Disciples
The Black Disciples is a large African American street gang based in Chicago, Illinois. The gang is considered extremely violent and is known to engage in drug trafficking and distribution, in addition to other criminal activities. The street gang is estimated to have in excess of 24,000 members...
, Gangster Disciples
Gangster Disciples
The Black Gangster Disciple Nation is a gang which was formed on the South-side of Chicago in the late 1960s, by David Barksdale, leader of the Black Disciples, and Larry Hoover, leader of the Supreme Gangsters. The two groups united to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation .The gang has made...
, Hells Angels, Latin Kings, The 18th Street Gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Mexican Mafia, Nortenos, Surenos, and Vice Lords have been documented on military installations both domestic and international although recruiting gang members violates military regulations.
See also
External links
- Gangs at the Open Directory ProjectOpen Directory ProjectThe Open Directory Project , also known as Dmoz , is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings...