Motorcycle, Prison, and Street Gangs: ADMJ 032: Street Gangs

(Abstract) "The article analyzes the dynamics and organization of urban street gangs from a systematic and holistic perspective. For years, social scientists, police officials, and popular media have all struggled to understand the essence of street gangs. Perhaps street gangs can be best understood through the lens of a systemic approach by paying careful attention to their systemic dynamics, functions, and organizational structures. Street gangs can be defined as groups of youths and young adults with varying degrees of cohesion and structure, who have regular contact with one another, ways of identifying their group, and rules of behavior within the system. Gangs serve numerous functions for their members, including providing a source of status, identity, cohesion, self-esteem, and a sense of belonging. Furthermore, gang members experience an intense emotional closeness born of children growing up together on the street and turn to each other for support and often for the mere function of survival. There are at least three distinct types of gangs. The first is referred to as a social gang. This gang is a relatively permanent group that "hangs out" at a specific location. Social gangs are not likely to participate in serious delinquent activity and will engage in physical violence only if members are attacked and retaliation is unavoidable. These gang members tend to have the closest association with the norms and values of society in general. A second type of gang is the delinquent gang. This gang type is structurally cohesive and is often organized around the pursuit of monetary gain derived from illegal activity. A third gang is the violent gang."

(Abstract) "The article probes into the process of interpreting tattoes found on gang members. Learning the difference between a gang-related tattoo as an identifier versus a nongang-specific body marking is an educational process. Many gangs use tattoos to indicate membership in a specific gang. There are cases in which gang tattoos are being covered in order to maintain the covert existence of the gang."

(Abstract) "The article reports on the codes used by gangs in prisons in the U.S. Gang members wear colors, flash hand signs, put up graffiti and use symbols in their codes that aid to identify them and their gang affiliation. A gang code confiscated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in New York was studied and deciphered. The code was believed to come from a high-ranking member of the Bloods gang."

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A collection of global viewpoints, podcasts, videos, scholarly articles, news articles, magazine articles, and reference sources on Bloods and Crips.

(Intro) "A string of brutal murders in the US has thrown a national spotlight on MS-13, a street gang that was born in LA but has roots in El Salvador."

(Intro) "he Trump administration vowed Tuesday to crack down on MS-13, a notoriously brutal Central American street gang blamed for a recent series of killings in suburban New York, and accused Obama-era border policies of allowing its ranks to flourish."

(Intro) "SAN JOSE – Jesus Armendariz was sentenced today to 15 years in prison based on his conviction on charges of racketeering conspiracy, distribution of crystal methamphetamine, and use of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The sentence was imposed by the Honorable Edward J. Davila, U.S. District Judge, and represents the twelfth conviction resulting from a proactive operation by the FBI’s Santa Clara County Violent Gang Task Force targeting gang members committing violent crimes and selling methamphetamine in San Jose."

(Intro) "There's gang violence on the same street corners where gentrifiers are paying thousands of dollars in rent."

FBI file from 1992 on Bloods and Crips.

(Description) "The National Gang Center (NGC) is a project jointly funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The NGC is an integral component of the Justice Department’s mission to provide innovative leadership in coordination with federal, state, local, and tribal justice systems to prevent and reduce crime. The NGC disseminates information, knowledge, and outcome‐driven practices that engage and empower those in local communities with chronic and emerging gang problems to create comprehensive solutions to prevent gang violence, reduce gang involvement, and suppress gang‐related crime."

(Intro) "There is no universally agreed-upon definition of "gang" in the United States. Gang, youth gang and street gang are terms widely and often interchangeably used in mainstream coverage. Reference to gangs often implies youth gangs. In some cases, youth gangs are distinguished from other types of gangs; how youth is defined may vary as well. Motorcycle gangs, prison gangs, hate groups, adult organized crime groups, terrorist organizations and other types of security threat groups are frequently but not always treated separately from gangs in both practice and research."

Includes a definition of street gangs and a slideshow of hand signals, tattoos, and artwork from criminal street gangs.