Gang Related Homicide

Nathan Driggers

Presented To: Chris Huggins

March 26, 2010

Gang Related Homicide

        Gangs are an ongoing problem in the United States, due to sub cultural differences and learned criminal behavior.  This paper discusses statistical information and criminological theories into gangs, the ongoing problem of gang homicides, and sociological theories of violent subcultures

        “The term "youth gang" is commonly used interchangeably with "street gang," referring to neighborhood or street-based youth groups, generally in the age range from 10 to 26. Youth gangs are commonly defined as "a self-formed association of peers, united by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership and internal organization, who   act collectively or as individuals to achieve specific purposes, including the conduct of illegal activity and control of a particular territory, facility, or enterprise" (Miller, 1982, p. 21) Homicide is the unlawful act of one human being killing another.  When gang related organizations do not cooperate with the rest of society, gang homicide often takes place.

        Gang activity in the United States has been traced to the early 19th century when youth gangs emerged from some immigrant populations. Now, as then, gangs provide identity and social relationships for some young people who feel marginalized by the dominant social, economic and cultural environments in which they live. (safeyouth.org) Inadequate environmental factors have led to the formation and continuation of multiple United States gangs.

        According to Richard Rosenfeld there are two different types of general gang homicide.  “(1) gang-motivated violence, in which violent crime is the direct result of gang activity, and (2) gang-affiliated violence, in which individual gang members are involved in crime but not as a purposeful result of gang activity.”  (Schmalleger, pg 391)   In this paper, gang-motivated violence will be the main focus.  A common misconception about gang homicide is that it occurs due to drug trade, but in reality it is often started by territorial disputes.  

        Most gangs have specific traits that they share in common.  These being; “They develop along racial and ethnic lines; are male-dominated associations with an increased proliferation of female gangs, stake out a specific territory; operate as an organization that may be part of a larger group; and display symbols of their organization.” (safeyouth.org) These characteristics make it easy for young kids to join gangs.  Kids can join gangs at an early age for reasons such as safety, family, and friendship.  

        Gang members are often underprivileged children that seek out a sense of belonging, and unfortunately for some the easiest sense of belonging is to join a gang.  In the Stanford prison experiment, experimenters set up two random groups of people, some were assigned to be prison guards, and the others assigned to be prison inmates.  In the experiment, the prison guards ended up taking their fake roles to seriously and the experiment was ended.  

        The Stanford prison experiment shows how out of hand things can escalade in the right environment and how serious people take even “fake” power roles.  Gangs create power roles within their culture, and often times, to reach those top roles, violence needs to be used.  The Stanford prison experiment shows how easily gang cultures could become out of touch with reality.  Gang members are taught from an early age by their older male leaders, and then from their crime can become a learned behavior.  This is very dangerous especially considering most gang members feels as if they belong to a family, and they are often territorial.