Delinquent Youth Subculture - Gang - Research Paper Example

Delinquent Youth Subculture - Gang Introduction According to the data published by the National Gang Crime Research Center, there are 30, 500 youth gangs in the United States. Some gangs’ membership includes many thousands, as it is with the famous Gangster Disciples gang whose membership in Chicago alone exceeds the number of 30, 000 (NGCRC, 2003). As it was stated by the National Youth Gang Center, gang membership across the United States is more than 700, 000 (National Youth Gang Center, 2002). But what is a gang? What are the origins and history of gangs? What are gang activities and behavior? How to explain the existence of gangs from the theoretical perspective? What is the response to youth gangs? The aim of this paper is to research the phenomenon of youth gangs in the American society. This requires providing answers to the questions above, supported by data from both primary and secondary sources. Structurally, I have organized the text into six main sections. The first part or Introduction outlines the aim and focus of the paper. The second section centers on the gangs’ origins and history, as well as explains what a gang is. The third part identifies the types of activities and behavior characteristic of a gang. The fourth section provides some theoretical background to the concept, while the fifth focuses on the societal response to the youth gangs phenomenon. Finally, I conclude the paper with the sixth section that sums up the paper’s findings. Origins and History of Gangs Scholarly sources abound with youth gang definitions, one of the earliest being that of Thrasher (1927). Thrasher explained that a gang should be understood as a spontaneously forming group that is not attached to any specific part of society (Thrasher, 1927). A more recent definition of gangs views the latter as groups that consist of individuals who recurrently associate and are subject to identifiable organization in leadership and internal matters. These groups also identify themselves with or claim to have control over a particular territory within a given community, and are known to engage in illegal (often violent) behavior individually or collectively (Miller, 1975). Youth gangs are also believed to be “any denotable groups of youngsters who a) are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others in their neighborhood; b) recognize themselves as a denotable group (almost invariably with a group name); and c) have been involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighborhood agencies and/or enforcement agencies” (Klein, 1971, p. 13). The origins of modern gangs go back to the 17th century England. The British crime chronicler Pike speaks of the existence of robber gangs on English highways at that time (Pike, 1873, pp. 276-277). Yet, these gangs were reportedly different from the ones that we have today. The gangs with more or less rigid structures appeared in the early 17th century. For example, Pearson tells about London being “terrorized by a series of organized gangs calling themselves the Mims, Hectors, Bugles, Dead Boys… who found amusement in breaking windows, [and] demolishing taverns, [and] they also fought pitched battles among themselves dressed with colored ribbons to distinguish the different fractions” (Pearson, 1983, p. 188). In the United States, the beginning of the street gangs history is related to their formation on the East Coast after the American Revolution in 1783. At the same time, many reputable scholarly sources prefer the later date – the beginning of the 19th century (Sante, 1991). The first gang that operated in the streets of New York was the 40 Thieves. The outset of its activity has been referred to the late 1820s. Interestingly, in 1850 the city saw around 200 yearly wars in which street gangs were involved. It is also necessary to distinguish between various geographic regions that the gangs emerged and developed. Specifically, in New York and Chicago the emergence of the earliest gangs was linked to excessive migration from the European countries. According to J.Howell and J.Moore, white ethnic immigrants who came to the United States between 1880 and 1920 almost totally populated the first serious gangs in Chicago and New York. These were mainly Poles, Irish, Italians, and Jewish (Howell and Moore, 2010, p. 19). Ethnically, the population of street gangs in these cities turned predominantly black or Latino by the 1970. Unlike gangs in the Western region, the Northeast and Midwest street gangs have been largely populated by the members of Mexican descent. Gang Activities The definitions of gangs by Miller and Klein provided above suggest that illegal activities or delinquency is a criterion for deciding whether a gang is a gang. Indeed, gangs are often involved in illegal behavior which differs by motives. For example, gangs may be engaged in drug sales, or they may be formed by representatives of hate groups (e.g. skinheads) that actively participate in violating the law. In my view, the more recent definition of a street gang provided by M.Klein clarifies the role of illegal activity for a gang. M.Klein thinks that “a street gang is used to indicate group-accepted and acknowledged orientation toward anti-social or criminal activities” (Klein, 2001, p.61). Hence, the notion of a street gang and orientation toward illegal behavior seem inseparable. It has been recognized that drug sales is the activity number one within youth gangs. In the United States, cocaine is the most important drug in this trade. Also, gangs may be busy with extortion and theft. Apart from this, gangs may be involved in robbery or kidnapping. One more typical activity is “providing protection” to certain territories which is actually nothing else but extortion. At the same time, many of the brutal activities listed above are more characteristic of adult gangs rather youth street gangs. The former invariably specialize in various crimes and illicit drug trades. They do not advertise their membership and even deny their gang’s existence at public. As for the youth gangs, they aim at drawing public attention to the existence of a gang by wearing particular clothing styles and making tattoos, using special hand signs and many more visible signs of their involvement into the gang (e.g. graffiti). Sociological Theories of Gang Memberships Sociological theories that explain the link between gang membership and illegal behavior are somewhat different. One of the first researchers who began to explore the phenomenon of youth gangs from the perspective of its sociological background was Thrasher who was the author of a work about slums in Chicago in 1920s. As M. Morash writes, Thrasher’s work “marks the beginning of sociologically oriented interest in gangs” (Morash, 1983, p. 309). The distinctive feature of Thrasher’s theoretical approach was his avoidance of spelling a strong cause-and-effect relationship between delinquency and participation in gangs. Thrasher considered that going to gangs is a symptom of the “free life” tendency which meant minimal restrictions for the youth (Thrasher, 1963, pp. 339-342). Merton’s anomie theory that was developed on the basis of the concept of “anomie” is one of the ways to explain gang formation. Originally, the concept was introduced by Durkheim (who invented it to give explanation to deviant behavior and suicide) and referred to a social structural state in which aspirations that people have exceed the existing means to attain the mentioned aspirations. This happens due to inability of people to restrict their aspirations since the norms that regulate aspirations became unclear. As a result, due to unrealistically high character of aspirations, an individual fails to achieve them and receives strain (Durkheim, 1933). Merton offered his own view of the theory of Durkheim applicable to the experience of the United States. According to him, aspirations for economic success are remarkably and universally high throughout the country and take no heed of the social status and real possibilities. However, opportunities to fulfill these aspirations vary by groups of different social classes. This described discrepancy between individuals’ aspirations and lack of socially recognized means of fulfilling the aspirations can be called a social structural state of anomie. Importantly, it causes strain as well as tension within individuals. Merton’s theory further explains that the strain produced by anomie gets responded. The majority conform to the existing situation and go on accepting “both the culturally prescribed goals of economic success and the normative restrictions on approved means of reaching that goal” (Merton, 1959, p. 177-89). This was called conformity. At the same time when individuals kept achieving their goals but ignored normative limitations on approved means of reaching goals, it was called innovation – the adaptation likely to end in criminal behavior. Merton also distinguishes 2 other modes of adaptation that were retreatism and rebellion (Merton, 1959, p. 177-89). Society’s Response and Prevention Recommendations Since youth gangs are often involved in minor offences and drug dealing, as well as other unlawful actions, the society views them as potentially dangerous formations. It makes use of various methods to influence young delinquents in a positive way. However, only some of them can be considered truly effective. Back in 1990 the most common strategies of coping with youth gangs were suppression as well as social interventions. Yet, they were not considered effective enough within law enforcement, communities and justice system. Those that were believed the most effective were the strategies of providing opportunity (in those cities where gang problems are chronic) and community organization (for the cities with already existing gang problems and cities with the gang problems which just started to emerge) (Franzese, Covey and Menard, p.232). As for prevention recommendations, it is hard to disagree with the necessity to rearrange the juvenile delinquency system with the focus on young offenders’ bigger accountability. To illustrate, Kleiman and Smith recommend treating gangs like criminal enterprises (quoted in Franzese, 2006, p. 232). Hagedorn’s recommendations include “deemphasizing the criminal justice system as a way of handling gang problems” (Hagedorn, 2002). The government have to provide opportunities for young people’s growth instead, “providing full-time meaningful employment, improved education, and the involvement of gang members in a meaningful way in gang intervention programs” (Franzese, 2006, p. 233). Conclusion Youth gangs’ membership includes hundreds of thousands of young people across the territory of the United States. While few gangs do not resort to illegal activities and unlawful behavior, the majority of gangs are involved in drug sales, street violence, etc. It is the coordinated work of all legal and social structures that needs to be done in order to prevent young people from joining street gangs. References 1. Morash, M. (1983) Gangs, Groups and Delinquency. The British Journal of Criminology. Vol. 23, No. 4, October, 1983, pp. 309-335. 2. Franzese, J. et al (2006) Youth Gangs. Charles C Thomas Publisher. 3. Hagedorn, J. (2002) Gang and the Informal Economy. In CR Huff (Ed.) Gangs in America III. 4. Merton, R. (1959) Social Conformity, Deviation and Opportunity Structures, American Sociological Review, 24 (1959): 177-89. 5. Durkheim, E. (1933) On the Division of Labor in Society. McMillan. 6. Thrasher, F.M. and Short, J. (1963) The Gang: a Study of 1, 313 Gangs in Chicago. University of Chicago Press. 7. National Gang Crime Research Center (2003) Annual Report. 8. National Youth Gang Center (2002) Annual Survey. 9. Klein, M. Street Gangs and Street Workers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 10. Howell, J. and Moore, J. (2010) History of Street Gangs in the United States. National Gang Center Bulletin. May 2010 (4). Retrieved on October 2, 2011 from ttp://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/History-of-Street-Gangs.pdf Read More