gang 4
Propensity for Violence in Gangs
Gangs are characterized by their propensity for violence, which manifests internally in relations between gangs and within individual gangs. This violence is often used instrumentally by gangs to retaliate against threats or perceived wrongs. It is essential to acknowledge that violence is a crime that cannot be ignored, romanticized, or defined away. Yevlonsky, in his 1950 study of New York City gangs, identified senseless violence as actions that do not stem from any discernible social conditions or issues, highlighting its arbitrary nature.
Yablonsky’s Perspective on Gang Violence
Yablonsky posited that violence among gang members serves as a direct expression of emotional disorders at specific times in their lives. He viewed gangs and their members as a collection of sociopaths, defined as individuals with limited conscience who lack true compassion and the ability to empathize with others. For these sociopathic gang members, violence is a necessary means of achieving existential validation, as their feelings of alienation compel them to engage in increasingly bizarre and extreme behaviors.
Yablonsky suggested that sociopathic individuals act out aggressively against others because they feel socially dead, and their sense of humanity requires increasingly dramatic actions to affirm their existence. This cycle of extreme behavior often offers gang members a fleeting sense of emotional connection.
Role of Violence in Gangs as Perceived by Thrasher
According to Thrasher, gangs primarily function as conflict groups where violence arises from strife and thrives on warfare. Members frequently engage in fights with one another and even take up causes, such as when a gang from Chicago sent young men to Oklahoma to oppose a former governor fighting the Ku Klux Klan. Fighting becomes an intrinsic part of gang life as members seek to avenge injuries and uphold their code, especially as their actions frequently fall outside the law.
Each gang must fight against hostile groups to protect its privileges, property rights, and the safety of its members while maintaining its status in the community through its fighting capabilities. Territoriality is a hallmark of gang warfare, with each group claiming local areas as their own, leading to prolonged gang feuds characterized by severe violence, including beatings and fatalities. Indeed, even today, such violent crimes committed by gang members invoke significant investment in specialized enforcement and prevention programs due to the fear they instill in communities.
Challenges in Understanding Gang Crime
Constructing crime profiles specific to gangs poses difficulties, especially since police documentation often restricts recorded offenses to a limited scope mainly addressing violent crimes. To tackle this issue, Klein and Maxon advocate for self-report studies as superior for understanding gang-related crime. There is ongoing debate regarding what constitutes a gang crime: is it any crime committed by a gang member or only those directly linked to gang membership? This discrepancy complicates research and law enforcement approaches to defining and managing gang crime.
Research consistently indicates a strong correlation between gang membership and elevated crime rates among youth. Studies show that individuals who identify as gang members during adolescence report a higher frequency and variety of offenses compared to their non-member peers. For instance, in Seattle, gang members were responsible for 85% of youth robberies, and in Denver, they accounted for 79% of serious violent crimes and 87% of drug sales.
Explanations for High Levels of Violence in Gangs
Maxson and Klein outline three models to explain the high levels of violence in gangs:
Selection Model: This model suggests that gangs do not create delinquency but rather attract individuals with pre-existing high criminal propensities. These individuals are likely to maintain high offending profiles regardless of their gang involvement.
Social Facilitation Model: This posits that while gang members may start with similar offending patterns to their non-gang peers, the group dynamics and processes within the gang elevate criminal activities.
Enhancement Model: This model combines elements of both selection and facilitation, indicating that gang members might exhibit high criminality before gang involvement, but their criminal behaviors significantly increase during active participation in gang activities.
Understanding Gang Homicide
Researchers have accumulated extensive knowledge about gang-related homicides, which accounted for 16% of all homicides in California between 1981 and 2001. Gang homicides tend to be characterized by:
Location primarily on the streets
Use of firearms
Younger offenders, predominantly male
Incidents where victims and perpetrators often lack any established relationship
The presence of motor vehicles, with occurrences frequently happening in the late afternoon and evening
In Los Angeles from 1979 to 1994, it was found that the use of firearms in gang homicides surged from 70% to almost 95%. Despite common beliefs connecting gang violence to drug dealings, studies indicate that conflicts typically arise more from interpersonal disputes rather than drug-related issues.
Members who join gangs for protection often find themselves as susceptible victims to the same level of violence as those who join for different reasons, challenging the misconception that gang membership provides security.
Trends and Implications of Gang Violence
The increase in both gang participation and lethal violence has been evident post-1970s, leading to significant detrimental impacts on victims, communities, and public resources.
Decker and Van Winkle's research on the Bloods and Crips illustrates that violence is a distinguishing feature of gang life. Although many young individuals are exposed to violence, gang members are markedly more willing to engage in violent acts, motivated by factors including retaliations, respect, and initiations.
Despite popular perceptions, violence among gangs is often neither well-organized nor frequent in a manner that is effectively strategic; instead, it is frequently a reaction spurred by perceived threats from rival gangs. In instances where gang members step outside the bounds of their organization's command structure while committing crimes, their behavior can lead to increases in violence within their own ranks as well.
Crimes Associated with Gangs
Gang members often partake in various serious property crimes that lack planning.
Auto Theft: Cars are commonly stolen for joyriding or use in related crimes like drive-by shootings. Organized crime groups have been known to export stolen vehicles for significant profits.
Burglaries: Many gang members favor residential targets; these are often impulsive, lacking in planning and frequently are a continuation of existing criminal patterns.
Drug Trafficking: While drug dealing emerged as a motivation for gang membership due to its potential for financial gain and prestige, it is worth noting that many local drug operations are not run by gang members but occur independently within gang territories.
According to Decker and Van Winkle, drug sales within these gangs often lack a central management structure and are executed through informal networks, with a significant focus on personal benefit rather than organized crime, contrasting with more sophisticated drug trafficking networks seen in cities like Chicago.
Violence among Gang Members
The level of violence that gang members encounter in their neighborhoods is exceedingly high, with several personal accounts reflecting the prevalence of violence culminating in fatalities among their peers. Decker and Van Winkle found that 11 out of 99 subjects died during their study, resulting in an astronomical homicide rate among the respondents that dwarfed typical national averages.
Such a high death rate conveys the lethal environment gang members inhabit and underscores the core function of conflict and retaliation as vital facets of gang identity.
Gang violence can be attributed to multiple factors, including:
Group Organization for Violence: Gangs often function with an objective of orchestrating violence.
Amplification of Violence: Collective group interaction may dull connections to constructive social institutions while heightening criminal engagement.
Selection for Violent Behavior: Individuals with violent tendencies are often drawn into gangs or rise to prominence within their ranks.
Jankowski's Insights on Violence
Jankowski views violence as both a key element in gang life and a reflection of broader personal characteristics such as fear, ambition, frustration, and the demonstration of individual skills. He notes that the need for respect and honor plays a critical role in interpersonal relations among gang members.
Jankowski emphasizes that the violence is sometimes exacerbated by poor living conditions, including a lack of nutritious food, sleep deprivation, and the negative effects of substance abuse, all contributing to irritability and aggressive outbursts among gang members.
Community Relations and Violence
Violence against community members is infrequent but does occur, typically instigated when a gang member feels their reputation has been threatened. Gangs usually strive to maintain positive relations within their communities to ensure their operational stability. However, acts of violence against community members may gradually erode their standing within the society.
The Impact of Gender Dynamics
Work by Joan Moore highlights the complexities surrounding gender within gang dynamics. Relationships between gang members often lead to bouts of violence as romantic associations with rival gang members can spark conflict. Moore's study points out that disloyalty in romantic relations can significantly impact inter-gang relations, sometimes culminating in violence.
Trends in Gang Violence Integration with Social Media
In the modern age, violent interactions among gang members have been significantly transformed through social media, which enables them to project their power and influence online, challenge rivals, and incite real-world violence based on online disputes. The use of platforms for communications and grievances has become a common thread entwined with contemporary gang activity.
Conclusions on Gang Violence
In conclusion, an examination of gangs elucidates the multifaceted role violence plays not only as a tool for retaliatory actions but also as a fundamental characteristic shaping gang identity and individual member behavior. The prevalence of violence among gang members reflects a complex interplay of personal motivations, community dynamics, and broader societal influences that must be comprehensively understood to address the challenges posed by gang-related violence.