Exhaustive Study Notes: Conceptualizing the Nepalese Gang

Theoretical Context and Global Gang Scholarship

• Dominance of Northern Criminology:

  • Gang studies historically originated in the United States during the 1920s (Thrasher 1927) and evolved through sociological perspectives, post-war studies, and 21st-century frameworks (Fraser 2017).

  • The field remains heavily dominated by scholars from the Global North (Hagedorn 2008), leaving criminological knowledge from the Global South marginalized (Cain 2000; Connell 2007).

  • This Euro-American bias has created a significant research deficit regarding criminal groups in South Asia, specifically in Kathmandu, Nepal.

• Perspective 1: Orthodox / Northern Gang Definitions:

  • Derives from Thrasher (1927) and Chicago School tradition, viewing gangs as informal, street-based youth groups establishing subcultural norms opposed to mainstream society.

  • Treats gangs as distinct, static entities sharply separated from organized crime (Klein and Maxson 2010).

  • The Eurogang Forum defines a gang as: "any durable street-oriented youth group whose group involvement in illegal activity is part of their group activity" (van Gemert and Fleisher 2005: 148).

  • Supported by studies in North America (Decker and Van Winkle 1996), Moroccan youth in The Hague (van Gemert and Fleisher 2005), the Netherlands (Decker and Weerman 2005), and Genoa (Gatti et al. 2005), where primary functions are defined as crime and violence.

• Perspective 2: Critical / Global South / Evolutionary Frameworks:

  • Rejects single static definitions in favor of multifaceted, fluid frameworks (Brotherton 2015; Brotherton and Gude 2022).

  • Views gangs as complex social institutions embedded in wider social structures that provide avenues for social mobility, inclusion, and political action alongside crime and violence (Hagedorn 2008; Brotherton and Kontos 2022).

  • Emphasizes gang evolution across sequential stages:

    • Thrasher (1927) early evolution concepts.

    • Hallsworth and Young (2006) three-tiered model: peer groups $\rightarrow$ gangs $\rightarrow$ organized crime.

    • Densley (2012: 42) evolutionary cycle: recreation $\rightarrow$ crime $\rightarrow$ enterprise.

    • McLean (2018) Scottish model: recreational $\rightarrow$ criminal $\rightarrow$ syndicate.

    • Asian models (Raghavan 2011 in India; Atkinson-Sheppard 2019 in Bangladesh and China): Gangs as middle echelons or street-based operational factions of organized crime (Levitt and Venkatesh 2000; Padilla 1992).

    • Latin American models (Winton 2014; Rodgers 2021; Wolf 2022): State-gang relationships, vigilante groups, and global drivers such as deportation, migration, and state suppression (e.g., MS-13).

• Re-Balancing Criminology and Epistemologies of the South:

  • Critiques Northern assumptions that ignore lasting impacts of colonialism, acute poverty, child labor, and state neglect (Mignolo 1995; Maldonado-Torres 2007; Connell 2007; de Souza Santos 2014).

  • Aligns with movements to decenter the Northern metropole, including counter-colonial criminology (Agozino 2003), Southern criminology (Carrington et al. 2016), post-colonial criminology (Cunneen 2011), Asian criminology (Yu and Liu 2023), and South-Asian criminology (Jaishankar 2019).

  • In the Global South, streets function not merely as subcultural symbolic arenas (Ilan 2015), but as primary spaces where millions of children live, work, and survive (Atkinson-Sheppard 2019; Purcell 2024).

  • Contextual nuances in developing nations include child vigilante squads in Indian slums (Sen 2014), distorted micro-societies in Ethiopia (Heinonen 2011), youth armed combatants (Pinnock 2016), hired informal labor in Nigeria (Purcell 2024), and ghetto labor dynamics in Kenya (van Stapele 2021).

Socio-Political Context and Organized Crime in Nepal

• Historical and Political Landscape:

  • 1996: Maoist Communist Party launched an armed insurgency, triggering a decade of armed conflict, social unrest, over $17{,}000$ deaths, and displacing more than $200{,}000$ people (Asia Foundation 2017).

  • 2006: Comprehensive Peace Accord signed, ending formal conflict but ushering in widespread post-conflict insecurity and political volatility (Asia Foundation 2017; Kumar 2018).

  • Post-conflict transitional environments provided fertile ground for the rapid proliferation and institutionalization of criminal groups (Kumar 2018).

  • Highest concentrations of violence occur in the Terai region, Eastern hills, and Kathmandu Valley (Bogati et al. 2013; Gupte and Bogati 2014).

• Structure and Scope of Organized Crime:

  • Global Crime Index (2022) identifies mafia-style groups operating in small organizations handling human smuggling, drug trafficking, fauna/wildlife crime, and illegal natural resource extraction.

  • Extensiveness of natural resource black markets: Sandmining and timber-smuggling flourish due to Nepal's construction boom, destabilizing local agriculture, causing environmental destruction, and driving violence (Hoffmann 2020).

  • Open southern border with India facilitates transnational black markets in red sandalwood, small arms, narcotics, human trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering, and currency counterfeiting (Global Crime Index 2022; Kumar 2018).

  • Active group estimates: Increased from $109$ active groups (Hoffmann 2020) to approximately $300$ active criminal groups in the Kathmandu Valley alone (Kumar 2018).

  • Nepalese Police classification of Kathmandu Valley's $300$ active gangs by illegitimate power and network density:

    • Level "A": $16$ gangs.

    • Level "B": $42$ gangs.

    • Level "C": $47$ gangs.

    • Remaining: Fringe groups (Kumar 2018: 66).

• The State-Crime Nexus and Concurrent Governance:

  • Local criminal enforcers (goondas) engage in extortion, contract killings, and smuggling while maintaining legal operations in real estate, construction, bars, nightlife clubs, and restaurants (Bogati et al. 2013).

  • Roots trace back to the Absolute Monarchy period ($1959\text{--}1989$) (Bogati et al. 2013).

  • Politicians provide gangsters with political cover, judicial protection, and police immunity in exchange for electoral manipulation, campaign funding, and physical enforcement (Saferworld 2012; Bogati et al. 2013).

  • Demonstrates systemic "politicization of gangsters and criminalization of politics" (Kumar 2018: 72).

  • Reflects Sergi's (2015) concept of "concurrent governance," where criminal organizations co-govern alongside state actors for political control and economic monopolization.

Methodology of the Kathmandu Case Study

• Study Design and Timeline:

  • Conducted over a 2-year period ($2021\text{--}2023$) by a collaborative research team of Nepalese and British academics in Kathmandu, Nepal.

  • Ethics approval granted by the University of Westminster under the British Psychological Society codes of conduct.

• Data Collection Phases:

  • Phase 1 (Adult Practitioners):

    • $40$ online survey responses.

    • $18$ semi-structured qualitative interviews.

    • Participants included police officers (specialist child rescue units), NGO directors, social workers, psychosocial counselors, hostel wardens, social activists, academics, juvenile correction officers, and legal attorneys.

  • Phase 2 (Ex-Street Children):

    • $45$ total participants ($37$ males, $8$ females).

    • Age distribution: $15$ participants aged under $20$; $13$ participants aged $21\text{--}24$; $17$ participants aged $25$ and above.

    • Conducted via focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews.

• Sampling Strategy and Access:

  • Collaborated with Nepal Police 104 ("National Child Seeking Centre"), dedicated to rescuing missing children in the Kathmandu Valley.

  • Partnered with $5$ major child rights NGOs operating in the Kathmandu Valley, representing coverage of approximately $80\%$ of Kathmandu's total street-connected child population.

  • Sampled at least $8$ former street children per NGO to eliminate organizational bias.

  • Methodological Limitation: Did not directly interview non-NGO-affiliated street-connected children, who represent the most isolated and vulnerable demographic.

• Ethics and Protocol:

  • Implemented a comprehensive "Research Sensitivity Protocol" ensuring voluntary, uncompensated participation, monitoring for psychological distress, participant-led discussions, and immediate right of withdrawal.

  • Utilized a standard "no-name procedure" instructing participants to avoid naming specific criminal associates or identifying unresolved legal offenses.

  • Data captured in Nepali, audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English for qualitative thematic triangulation across datasets.

The Three-Tiered Conceptual Framework of Nepalese Gangs

• Hierarchical Structure:

  • Top Echelon (Organized Crime & State Actors): Established organized crime groups, political elites, corrupt bureaucrats, and police officials directing macro-level enterprises (trafficking, money laundering, political violence).

  • Middle Echelon (Street Gangs): Street-based criminal groups executing local illicit markets, extortion, drug distribution, shop burglaries, and violent contract tasks.

  • Lowest Echelon (Vulnerable Street Children & Illicit Labor): Highly vulnerable, street-connected children drawn into street-level groups and recruited by older criminal networks for basic survival.

• Core Conceptual Divergence from Northern Models:

  • In Northern evolutionary gang models (Densley 2012; McLean 2018), entry into gang structures begins with "recreation."

  • In Nepal, entry into the lowest echelon is dictated entirely by acute poverty and physical survival rather than peer recreation.

  • Fluid boundaries exist between tiers; middle-echelon street gangs continuously adapt, sometimes merging into organized syndicates or serving as operational sub-units for upper management.

• Terminology and Vernacular:

  • No participants—including street children themselves—utilized the Western academic phrase "street gang."

  • Strongman / Boss / Mafioso / Don: Upper-level criminal leaders.

  • Dhanda: Illegal professions, including drug smuggling, sex work, and underground rackets.

  • Goonda / Gunda: Individuals engaging in organized enforcement and street violence.

  • Giroha / Aparadhi Samuha: Formal Nepali terms for organized criminal syndicates and gang networks that hire street children.

  • Dalal: Brokers or traffickers operating between street level and organized syndicates.

  • Naike / Dada: Terms describing the leader or "boss" of a street-child group. A dada protects group members from rivals while deploying them for pickpocketing, shoplifting, begging, and snatching.

Empirical Findings: Street Children, Gang Dynamics, and Illicit Labor

• Street Children Demographics and Realities in Kathmandu:

  • An estimated $5{,}000$ children live and work on the streets of Kathmandu (Pradhan et al. 2015).

  • Approximately two-thirds are boys, predominantly originating from rural villages and indigenous communities.

  • Living spaces: Corridors, temples, dilapidated structures, and under bridges. Day-time gathering points: Footpaths, bus stops, and tourist locations.

  • Survival activities: Collecting waste/rag-picking, collecting funeral pyre firewood, selling newspapers, begging, theft, robbery, and narcotics distribution.

  • Exposed to systemic health hazards, substance abuse, physical violence, exploitation, and police abuse (Subedi 2002; Sharma 2020; Freedom Fund 2021).

  • Parental supervision is absent; adult contact is largely predatory recruitment by older criminals (Atkinson-Sheppard 2022).

• Functions of Street Gangs for Young People:

  • Provides mutual protection, emotional solidarity, social inclusion, shared drug access, and organized mechanisms for income generation to prevent starvation.

  • Case Study 1 — Akhil (Age 22):

    • Arrived in Thamel with no possessions; joined street boys to learn survival strategies.

    • Used substance abuse (drugs) to cope with street realities.

    • Formed a street group that executed over $50$ night-time shop burglaries and tourist robberies.

    • Rotated roles within the gang from bottom tier to group leader.

    • Escalated operations from petty shop theft to purchasing hard drugs at the Indian border, leading to cross-border drug trafficking and local distribution.

  • Case Study 2 — Raja (Age 27):

    • Lived on Kathmandu streets from ages $8\text{--}20$ following his mother's death.

    • Led a peer gang of $22$ street children, managing stolen property distribution (mobiles, cash).

    • High mortality and incarceration rates among his $22$ gang peers:

      • $8\text{--}9$ died in their late teens/early 20s from drug overdoses, severe alcohol abuse, street violence, and infected dog bites.

      • $8\text{--}9$ are incarcerated for drug trafficking, burglary, theft, rape, and murder.

      • $5\text{--}6$ remain on the streets working as rag-pickers, thieves, and low-level criminal operatives.

  • Case Study 3 — Naveen (Ex-Street Child):

    • Led a gang of $50$ street children (reduced to $20$ after a major police raid) controlled by an older leader called "bro."

    • Tactics: Forced children to smear pig's blood on their faces (because pig's blood does not solidify quickly or emit an immediate foul odor) to feign severe physical injury and maximize begging yields.

    • Administered heavy drug doses via syringes to young gang members before deploying them to burgle houses and shops.

    • Described constant violent territorial clashes over begging spots, glue (dendrite) supplies, hard drugs, and ownership of street dogs.

    • Noted $12\text{--}15$ gang members died from drug overdoses; stated that when street children die, their bodies are abandoned on the streets like dead street dogs unless claimed by relatives.

  • Case Study 4 — Mixed-Age Street Gang in Thamel/Basantapur:

    • Police documentation of a active gang comprising $16\text{--}17$ men, women, and children raised on the streets.

    • Reside together in an old public house with infants; all members are severe hard drug users, and many live with HIV.

    • Engage in street robberies, armed muggings, commercial sex work, drug trafficking, and act as hired enforcers for professional contract killers.

  • Case Study 5 — Fatal Violent Robbery at Swayambhu:

    • A street-boy gang armed with knives and large stones ambushed an intoxicated army officer outside a restaurant at $10:30\text{--}\text{PM}$.

    • Stabbed the victim, crushed his head with large stones, and robbed his wallet, phone, and watch.

• Conceptualizing Street Children as 'Illicit Child Laborers':

  • Applies Atkinson-Sheppard's (2019, 2022) theoretical framework developed in Bangladesh: Children operating at the base of organized crime hierarchies should be conceptualized as illicit child laborers rather than traditional gang members or passive victims.

  • Parallels the "area boys" phenomenon in Nigeria, where youth perform informal labor, extortion, and political violence for adult handlers (Purcell 2024).

  • Exploitation dynamics in Nepal:

    • Adult handlers (aged $40\text{--}50$) who do not live on the streets run narcotics syndicates, using street children as cheap, disposable couriers and sellers.

    • Political parties hire street children as cheap labor during political strikes (bandhs) to burn tires, block roads, and torch buses in exchange for small cash payments or food ("use them and lose them").

    • Children are frequently compensated with inhalants (dendrite) or injectable drugs rather than monetary wages, treating their addiction as leverage for forced criminal labor.

Key Theoretical Implications and Conclusions

• Rejection of Homogeneous Gang Definitions:

  • Demonstrates that the Eurogang definition is inadequate for capturing gang realities in post-conflict South Asian contexts.

  • Gangs in Nepal are dynamic, fluid, and non-static institutions that span petty survival cliques, street enforcement units, political strike enforcers, and transnational organized crime factions.

• Multi-Functional Role of the Streets:

  • In Nepal, the street is simultaneously an arena for illicit market transactions, territorial conflict, political enforcement, informal labor, physical survival, and a primary home.

• Policy and Protection Imperatives:

  • Highlighting street children's agency and structural coercion as illicit child laborers challenges pure criminalization approaches.

  • Effective interventions require addressing systemic corruption, political patronage of criminal enforcers, street child vulnerability, and the structural drivers of child labor and marginalization in the Global South.