Gangs Sociology 500

• Involves core members that interact with one another;have a name; wear
• cetain types of clothing; claim a neighborhood, turf or markerplace;
• Engage in criminal or delinquent behavior

• Intimate, Close, face to face contact, comfortable with members within the group; they thing about things in terms of "We"....Like a family.
• Many Gang members were missing fathers and needed to share this brotherhood, sense of intimate contact, help figure things out, face to face contact

Peers, Colleagues (legal, non-legal), Loners

• Gangs posses a subculture similar to Colleagues but act as peers- they come together to share techniques and act together
• Colleagues commit acts by themselves but will talk with each other and share stroies or thoughts.
• Loners commit acts by themselves and keep to themselves.

Gang memebers often just spent time hanging out, and will become involved in criminal activity.

must have at least 2 members, usually fall into the 12-24 age group, share a sense of idenity, geographic location is similar, share symbols or colors, require permanance, and involved in criminal activity

It can inflate or mask how many Gangs trust exist

particular area that gang members claim as their own, not all Gangs have turf as Asian Gangs usually do not have turf

• Make money
• Gain a sense of Self-Advantage

Jewish Gang that make alot of money as Michigan imposed its own version of Prohibition.

Sterotypes were being created by media of what Gangs are and they may not all be correct?

Los Angeles

12-17

They tend to start out as playgroups and Gang membership was Spontaneous- Altercations with other groups would spark a Gang formation

Toughness, Street smarts, and a sense of arrogance

Guns and automobiles

• Controlled activity inside and outside the Prison.
• Controlled the outside by linking themselves up with outside gangs to sale drugs.
• They are the cause of most correctional problems today.

1950s- Gypsy Jokers in Washington's Wala Wala Prison

• Give commands to vistors who where gang leaders
• Bribe or extort correctional officers and control them
• They would get direct contact through phone calls

• Top down led, highly organized
• They marked themselves with the letter M and started to protect themselves from African American prisoners. Started in the 1960s. Drugs sales on the outside. Once in they only was out of the Gang was to die.

Orginally a California Gang composed of hispanics who were orginally frm Texas. Not accepted as much as the Mexican Mafia but have spread to Texas and Florida.

• White Gang formed to protect themselves from being targets.
• They harbored contrversial views.
• Started in San Quinton and orginally was called the Diamond Tooth Gang.

Gangs tended to be racially homogenous.

Considered a peaceful place until the flux of Irish immigrants

largely poor and low in terms of education and job skill

This is where the Irish come to live and this is also where we would start to see a lot of Gang activity

Grocery Stores

• Forty Thieves
• Edward Coleman

Edward Coleman was executed for killing his wife

This was again an Irish District mostly butcher shops as a front to Gang activity.

• Many Americans began to discriminate against Irish Americans
• Citizens demanded control over Gang activity and led to a Rise in Law Enforcement

Fire Brigades was composed of Gang Members who would compete with each other to get to the fire first. The insurance company would only pay those who put out the fire and this led to destructive competitioin among the Fire Brigades

Carl Taylor research says immigrant Jewish and Italians caused population to grow and that is when we would see Gang problems pop up. Cities shifting from agrarian to industrial. The Dominat early Gang was Jewish Gang called the Purple Gang. They made money through alcohol sales during a Prohibition period in Michigan.

Economic boom in Southern California led to Middle Class whites wanting to hire cheap labor for service jobs. These service jobs mostly Asian and Mexican immigrants; However the Government cut off Asian immigrants and encouraged Mexican immigrantion through thte Bracero Program. The Government would turn around and force Mexican immigrants out with Operation wetback in th 1950s

This is a Mexican Cultural attitude that boys will be boys and band together. Vigil will argue that this would led to mischief and eventually shift into Mexican Gangs

This was a group of Mexican Americans that wore Zuit Suits comprised of a lot of cotton during a time that cotton was rationed. The Zuit Suitors also involved in some crime which led to resentment and became targets for military and other Americans.

Zuit Suitors stood up to the Military and Americans that would want to fight them in the Zuit Suit Riots. They gain respect and would become heroes in their communities. They would led to the formation of the Whtie Fence Gang and the El Hoyo Maravilla Gang.

They felt that they were marginalized, through deportation and the history of taking of their land

African Americans felt that they were ignored in regards to the rights, as well as they were being mistreated. They stood up for themselves in the Watts Riots however, they did not have the same hero effect, as it led to more resentment and Police Patrolling. 1st Supergang formed from Watts Riots

Started with 8 members in 1957 and moved up to 8000 members by mid 1960s

• Peoples was a Chicago supergang mostly Vice Lords and Latin Kings
• Folks was a Chicago supergang mostly Ganster Disciples and Latin Disciples

mid sized City but still major crime and gang problems.

• Theories often referred to speculation or best scientific guess. According to Goode, theories must be:
• 1. Empiricaly verifiable
• 2. Provide and explanation or account for something
• 3. Usually explain some class of phenoma

• Cesare Beccaria believed that humans are rationale and are free to do what they want, Gang memnbers choose to be Gang members.
• Jeremy Bentham believed in Hedonism- People tend to do what gives them the most pleasure and least pain

• 1. Emphasis on free will
• 2. Human behavior is hedonistic
• 3. Focus on morality and responsibility
• 4. Concerned with polictical structure, everbody should be treated equal
• 5. Basic rights of all people

Something is causeing you to commit crime such as economic, genes or depression

Criminals are evolutionary throwbacks, the failed to evolve as much as the rest of society.

• Three Body types
• 1. Mesomorphs- Strong athelitic (likely to be criminals)
• 2. Ectomorphs- Tall, thin, and fragile
• 3. Endomorphs- Fat, jovial, and extroverted

Biological theories

They have little value in explaining gang behavior.

This is intelligence based, stating that the noncriminal may have a higher IQ and Hereditary could play a role in passing down a criminal gene

• Id- Wild Side
• SuperEgo- Sound of reason
• Ego- balance between the Id and the SuperEgo

they do not develop a strong ego or superego

They are not detered by punishment, do not develop life long relationships, and experience no remorse.

all behavior is socially learned, starting as children from birth. Modeling behavior, we model after people we respect

This is out of the Unicersity of Chicago, Concentric Zone Model explains what is happening in certain zones (neighborhoods) and why the struggle with poverty and crime. Kids in these communties have a weak sense of community and self

• 1. Low income status in area
• 2. Mixture of differnet ethnic groups
• 3. Highly mobile residents that move in and out
• 4. Disrupted families and broken homes

This is from the school of Emile Durkheim in which people experience normalessness. The feeling that there are no rules or structure, leading to crime and frustration.

• 1. Conformity, accept being poor
• 2. Inovation, come up with illegitimate ways to make money
• 3. Ritualism, accept less loftier goals
• 4. Retreatism, people fall out of society, using drugs/alcohol
• 5. Rebellion, reject goals and means, replace them

They say this it is correct that people become frustrated and led to the afor mention forms of activity, but they also say that opportunity must exist or access to opportunity

• 1. Nonutilitarionaism- They commit crimes for the idea of commiting the act
• 2. Maliciousness- delinquency out of just being mean
• 3. Negativism- to be different, at odds with society
• 4. Short term hedonism- immediate gratification
• 5. Group autonmy- do not recognized common authory figures

Is it in our best interest to turn to crime

The answer is there are certain controls that keep us in line

• 1. attachemnt- tight connections to significant other
• 2. Commitment- amount of time spent with conventional behavior
• 3. Involvement- participation into conventional activy
• 4. Belief- Strong sense in societies values and morality

Females tend to have lower paying jobs, and are pushed into certaint types of jobs that pay little

• 12 million children in 2002
• 11 million children in 2001

According to Wilson, group of people who are poorly educated, unskilled, and have been caught in a category of poverty for generations. Often become dependant on welfare, and although racial undertones are not meant it often describes minorites

Lose of manufacturing jobs and increase in service jobs, Service jobs being low paying. Drop in Retail and warehousing jobs as well

• Pysiological
• Saftey- security
• Love and belonginess
• Self Esteem
• Self Acutualization

The lover class may achieve the first two be may never achieve the upper level

They are closely linked in Cities