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CCJ101 – CRIMINOLOGY
Dr. E. C. Buchholz
Chapter 6
Facts About Gangs
• 1 million gang members belonging to 20,000 gangs in all 50 states and DC.
• 58% of state and local law enforcement agencies report gangs in their jurisdictions in 2008 – up from 45% in 2004.
• Gangs are moving from urban areas into suburban and rural areas more and more.
• Some gangs cross the US-Mexican border for drug trafficking.
Subculture
· A subdivision within the dominant culture that has its own norms, beliefs, and values
· Emerge when people in similar circumstances find themselves isolated form the mainstream and, thus, band together for mutual support
· Often formed along racial and ethnic lines
The Formation of Subcultures
Albert Cohen
Subcultural Theories
· Crime was nonutilitarian, malicious, and negativistic.
· Delinquent subcultures emerge in the slum areas of large American cities.
· Delinquent behavior is rooted in class differentials between the lower class and middle class.
· Lower-class children are evaluated by middle-class teachers on the basis of a middle-class measuring rod.
· Lower-class children experience status frustration and strain.
Albert Cohen Continued
Corner Boys
· Corner boys try to make the best of a bad situation.
· Most lower-class boys become corner boys.
· Eventually, they get menial jobs and live conventional lifestyles.
College Boys
· There are few “college boys” on the corner.
· These boys continually strive to live up to middle-class standards.
· Their chances for success are limited because of academic and social handicaps.
Delinquent Boys
· “Delinquent boys” band together to form a subculture in which they can define status in ways that to them seem attainable.
· Even though youths in the lower-class have set up their own norms, they have internalized the norms of the dominant class and feel anxious when they go against them.
· Reaction formation: a mechanism that relieves anxiety through the process of rejecting with abnormal intensity what one wants but cannot obtain.
· These boys turn the middle-class norms upside down, thereby making conduct right in their subculture precisely because it is wrong by the norms of the larger culture.
Differential Opportunity
Richard Cloward & Lloyd Ohlin
Three Types of Gangs
Cloward and Ohlin
· Criminal Gangs
l Emerge in areas where conventional and illegitimate values and behavior are integrated by a close connection of illegitimate and legitimate businesses
l Chinatown
l Older criminals serve as role models
l Teach youngsters criminal skills
l Connections with shady lawyers, bail bondsmen, crooked politicians, and corrupt police officers.
· Conflict Gangs
l Violence is the means used to gain status
l Recognized by conventional society as the “worst” gangs
l Emerge in lower-class areas where neither criminal nor conventional adult role models exercise much control over youngsters.
· Retreatist Gangs
l “Double Failures”
l Unsuccessful in both the legitimate and illegitimate world
l Continuous search for getting high
l Alcohol
l Marijuana
l Other drugs
l Atypical sexual experiences
Subculture of Violence
Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti
· The existence of subcultures made up of people who share a value system that differs from that of the dominant culture
· Subcultures that adhere to conduct norms conducive to violence
l Fists rather than words solve disputes
l Knives or guns readily available, so confrontations can escalate quickly
l Violence pervasive part of everyday life
Cultural Deviance Theory
· Links delinquent acts to the formation of independent subcultures with a unique set of values that clash with the mainstream culture
· Culture Conflict – Elijah Anderson – “Code of the Streets”
l When the values of a subculture clash with those of the dominant culture
· Lower-class values
l Being tough
l Defying authority
l Not showing fear
l Using your wits
l Sexual conquest means of achieving self-respect
· The South
l Highest homicide rate in the country
l Subculture of violence rooted in history
Walter Miller
· “[I]n the case of ‘gang’ delinquency, the cultural system which exerts the most direct influence on behavior is that of the lower-class community itself—a long established, distinctively patterned tradition with an integrity of its own—rather than a so-called ‘delinquent subculture’ which has arisen through conflict with the middle-class culture and is oriented to the deliberate violation of middle-class norms.”
Focal Concerns
Walter Miller
Delinquency stems from lower-class culture, which has its own value system
- Trouble
• Getting into
• Prestige among peers
• Keeping out of the hands of authority
- Toughness
• Denial of sentimentality
• Show of physical strength
- Smartness
• Outsmarting others
• Exchange of insults
- Excitement
• Drugs
• Risks
- Fate (luck)
• Little control over the forces of life
• If they get luck, drab life could change quickly
- Autonomy
• Resentment of external controls
• Parents
• Teachers
• Police
· Lower-class individuals evaluated by the extent of their involvement in activities
l Fighting
l Drinking
l Sexual misbehavior
· Ignores the fact that most people in lower class do conform to conventional norms
Gangs
· Many gangs have transitioned from turf-oriented to profit-driven organizations; they control a significant portion of the illicit drug market.
· Between 50% and 70% of gang members have access to weapons.
· Use of guns rather than knives and clubs turns violent events into life-and-death situations
· Drive-by shootings have become favored method of operation
Types of Suburban Gangs
· Delinquent Gangs
l Similar t most inner-city gangs
l Physical assaults
l Theft
l Burglary
l Distribution of illegal drugs
l Seek money, peer recognition, thrill of high-risk behavior, protection
Hate Gangs
l Attach themselves to an ideology that targets racial and ethnic groups
l Vandalism
l Destruction of property
l Terrorist threats
l Physical assaults or murder
l Growing in numbers
l In 1988 – 1,000-1,500 in 12 states
l In 1993 – 3, 500 over 40 states
l In 2006 – 110 in every state – 10,000
Satanic Gangs
l Affiliated with satanic cults
l Worship specific gods
l Desecration of graveyards
l Use of Ouija board to predict future
l Ritualistic drug consumption
l Animal sacrifice
l Submission to sexual abuse or pain
Albert Cohen:
l Changes in social structure have weakened value traditionally associated with delay of gratification
· Others
l Prefer reaping profits from quick drug sales or shoplifted goods
l Bored and restless
l Come from broken, unstable, or extremely dysfunctional homes
Subculture Theory
· Assumes individuals engage in criminal behavior because
l Legitimate opportunities for success are blocked
l Criminal values and norms are learned in lower-class slums
Programs
· Set up extended-family environment for high-risk youths
l Positive role models
l Academic and vocational training
l Strict rules for behavior
l Drug treatment
l Health care
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