Motorcycle and Gangs - Research Paper Example

A wrong but surprisingly popular concept is that participants of such gangs always get together to achieve some evil objective which does not sit well with the best interests of a society. These gangs are usually frowned upon and people associated with them are disparagingly labeled as social deviants. However, it is also true as claimed by opponents of such activities that many members of biker gangs are found involved in organized crime on routine basis. The purpose of this essay is to contemplate the background of motorcycle gangs, identify the nature of consequences created by them, and scrutinize the extent to which such controversial associations can be deteriorating for a stable society.

The motorcycle subculture witnessed in many countries around the globe has its roots entrenched in the post-World War II period of American society. Its bedrock is interestingly formed by ideas of social freedom and people who become a part of biker gangs do so to celebrate freedom. They do not care to be part of mainstream culture and have their own set of philosophies to abide by to which they attach massive amount of importance. Sometimes, these people themselves because of the way they behave and antagonizing traditional social ideas together work to marginalize the members of these gangs due to which they have to depend on one or other disgracing medium of earning a living.

It is partly because of many heavily biased people in the society that members of these gangs have to suffer from social isolation and when things get really bad, some of them also join criminal groups to support themselves. In his insightful article, Dulaney explores the history of biker gangs and deduces that originally three periods lay the foundation of modern motorcycle subculture. First period occurred before 1944 when the framework of biker associations was under construction and during the second, these gangs transformed into outlaw gangs because of not adhering to the American Motorcyclist Association’s rules.

This period continued till late 1950s until it culminated with the beginning of the modern period which is still thriving. The movement of transforming motorcycle clubs into outlaw gangs which has now moved out of the US reaching out to other parts of the world too is a part of the second period. The last period is popularly labeled as the post-transformative period and it has a very distinctive feature which is described as addition of the effects of popular culture to those of the biker subculture (Dulaney).

In reference to the background of biker subculture, it is worth mentioning how WWII is often blamed for inculcating myriad changes in the minds of people who participated in the war in one way or another. Social factors of this kind are assumed to have created this desire, however unorthodox, in soldiers and veterans to be a part of something adventurous which could help them experience adrenaline rush again. All those long grueling hours invested in rehabilitating the economy of the country post-WWII pushed these people into the boredom of same dull routine every day which explains why many of them went on to become the founders of bike culture.

It is claimed that these people desperately sought opportunities to free themselves from the clutches of a monotonous life (Sailor). In contrast to the modern entertainment industry which has promoted a flawed look of the outlaw motorcycle clubs, the real reason why a large number