Journal articles on the topic 'Gangs'
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1
Valdez, Avelardo. "Mexican American Youth and Adult Prison Gangs in a Changing Heroin Market." Journal of Drug Issues 35, no. 4 (October 2005): 843–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002204260503500409.
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This article focuses on the interaction between the larger community's drug markets and youth and adult prison gangs, and the process that leads to specific adverse consequences both to the youth gangs as organizations, and to individual members. Described is the emergence of a restructured heroin market dominated by an adult prison gang. A major consequence of this was the increasing use of heroin among Mexican American gang members and their transformation from autonomous youth gangs to extensions of the adult prison gangs or their demise. Data was collected from 160 members of 26 Mexican American youth gangs and key informants in San Antonio. Findings focus on organizational rules, drug market transformations, consequences on members, and the impact of heroin on the gang's organization. Discussed is how the dominance of prison gangs is related to the increased incarceration and recidivism rates of Mexican Americans and declining economic opportunities for urban minorities.
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BAIRD, ADAM. "Becoming the ‘Baddest’: Masculine Trajectories of Gang Violence in Medellín." Journal of Latin American Studies 50, no. 1 (June 14, 2017): 183–210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022216x17000761.
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AbstractDrawing upon 40 life-history interviews with gang members in Medellín, Colombia, this paper argues that many young men join gangs to emulate and reproduce ‘successful’ local male identities. The accumulation by the gang of ‘masculine capital’, the material and symbolic signifiers of manhood, and the accompanying stylistic and timely displays of this capital, means that youths often perceive gangs to be spaces of male success. This drives the social reproduction of gangs. Once in the gang, the youths become increasingly ‘bad’, using violence to defend the gang's interests in exchange for masculine capital. Gang leaders, colloquially known asdurosor ‘hard men’, tend to be themás malos, the ‘baddest’. The ‘ganging process’ should not be understood in terms of aberrant youth behaviour; rather there is practical logic to joining the gang as a site of identity formation for aspirational young men who are coming of age when conditions of structural exclusion conspire against them.
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Grund, Thomas U., and James A. Densley. "Ethnic heterogeneity in the activity and structure of a Black street gang." European Journal of Criminology 9, no. 4 (July 2012): 388–406. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370812447738.
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Despite acknowledgment of ‘hybrid’ street gangs in the literature, there is little systematic research into ethnic heterogeneity within gangs. This research aims at moving beyond the broad categorization of the Black street gang. For this purpose, we examine an all-Black London-based gang in detail, using fieldwork and police arrest data, and investigate the role of ethnic heterogeneity for the workings of the gang. Our findings suggest that ethnic heterogeneity within this gang is crucial for its criminal operation. Although there is no evidence for ethnicity-related specialization of crime, the structural co-offending pattern of the gang’s activities is dominated by ethnicity. Ethnicity matters for who offends with whom.
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Bolden, Christian L. "Friendly foes: Hybrid gangs or social networking." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 12, 2014): 730–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214548284.
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Hybrid gangs have been identified as having organizational processes that differ from traditional gangs. This study comparatively examines structural processes and characteristics of gangs in a chronic gang city, San Antonio, and an emerging gang city that would be more likely to have “hybrid” gangs, Orlando. A limited number of recent studies have indicated that some gangs may better fit into a social network framework, which calls into question presumptions about hybrid gangs. In this analysis, cooperation between gang members from rival gangs is examined through a social network lens, and findings indicate that such cooperation is a normalized process in the gang landscape.
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SKARBEK, DAVID. "Governance and Prison Gangs." American Political Science Review 105, no. 4 (October 18, 2011): 702–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003055411000335.
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How can people who lack access to effective government institutions establish property rights and facilitate exchange? The illegal narcotics trade in Los Angeles has flourished despite its inability to rely on state-based formal institutions of governance. An alternative system of governance has emerged from an unexpected source—behind bars. The Mexican Mafia prison gang can extort drug dealers on the street because they wield substantial control over inmates in the county jail system and because drug dealers anticipate future incarceration. The gang's ability to extract resources creates incentives for them to provide governance institutions that mitigate market failures among Hispanic drug-dealing street gangs, including enforcing deals, protecting property rights, and adjudicating disputes. Evidence collected from federal indictments and other legal documents related to the Mexican Mafia prison gang and numerous street gangs supports this claim.
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Contreras, Randol. "Not Bowing Down." Swiss Journal of Sociocultural Anthropology 29, no. 1 (January 3, 2024): 55–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.36950/sjsca.2023.29.8825.
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In the United States, some prison gangs control not only inmates, but also what happens on the street. Since most gang members eventually get detained and incarcerated, prison gangs will victimize or kill any resistors in jail and prison. In this paper, I examine such a case between the California prison gang, La Eme, and the rebel Maravilla gangs of East Los Angeles. La Eme controls almost all the Latino gangs in Southern California and enforces prison and street rules that “Southsider” gangs must follow. Between 1993 and 2006, the Maravilla gangs resisted La Eme’s prison co-governance and then experienced a violence and victimization perhaps unrivaled in the gang world. Through field research on the Maravilla gangs, this paper reveals how some gangs defy prison co-governance, which then makes them feel meaningful in the gang world.
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McLean, Robert, and Chris Holligan. "The Semiotics of the Evolving Gang Masculinity and Glasgow." Social Sciences 7, no. 8 (July 30, 2018): 125. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080125.
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Glasgow has a persistent and historical gang culture. Dimensions of ‘the gang’ are widely recognized in terms of behavior, formation, membership, and territoriality. The gap in our knowledge lies in the nature of a gang’s evolutionary flexibility. Given that life-course criminology foregrounds continuity and change in offending, it is surprising that this evolution has gone unrecognized in Scotland. Many contemporary studies of youth gangs connect ‘gang talk’ exclusively with territoriality and masculinity overlooking criminal progression. The argument of this article does not dispute the dominant received conceptualization of the youth urban street gang. The article’s contribution is to progress beyond these narrowing tropes and chronological age boundaries to encompass a more complex portrayal of Glasgow gangs and the lives of the indigenous Scottish young lads who were interviewed. The article does this by voicing the lived experiences of those whose lives are enmeshed with gang membership and whose linguistic register rarely achieves a serious platform in the middle-class world in control of the British media.
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Wood, Jane L., and Howard Giles. "Group and intergroup parameters of gang activities: An introduction and research agenda." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 12, 2014): 704–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214548620.
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In introducing this Special Issue on gangs, we overview the thrust of its papers, demonstrating how they assist in plugging research gaps from the dearth of psychological attention to gangs. The papers therein raise important theoretical considerations of group process effects, social identity, and communication influences in gangs. Also included are empirical examinations of how attitudes to formal organized crime groups may nurture progang views, how social networks bridge gang divides, the dehumanization and social dominance association with gang membership, and how membership longevity associates with gang members’ attitudes to their group. We conclude with theoretical prospects and empirical vistas for future work. For instance, vitality theory may help explain members’ immersion in gangs, discursive strategies could explain how youth are enticed into gangs, and examinations of community and law enforcement attitudes to gangs may provide insight into how oppositional attitudes are fostered on both sides of the gang divide.
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Durán, Robert J. "The Core Ideals of the Mexican American Gang." Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 34, no. 2 (2009): 99–134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/azt.2009.34.2.99.
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Current approaches to designing antigang policies overemphasize the notion that criminality is the defining characteristic of gangs and that solutions require a get-tough approach. As an ex-gang member, I conducted a five-year ethnographic study and a fourteen-year informal study of Mexican American street gangs in two Southwestern states to understand the persistence of gangs. I found that the obstacles that have been imposed on low-income, ethnic minority neighborhoods have led to an adaptive strategy for survival in which gangs play a central, albeit destructive, role. Gangs maintain their cohesiveness and longevity through four core ideals: displaying loyalty, responding courageously to external threats, promoting and defending gang status, and maintaining a stoic attitude toward the negative consequences of gang life. State-sponsored opposition to gangs only further solidifies these ideals. Pragmatic solutions will require rechanneling the collective energy of current and former gang members toward community empowerment.
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Rstami, Amir. "Street-gang violence in Swedenis a growing concern." Sociologisk Forskning 54, no. 4 (December 20, 2017): 365–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.37062/sf.54.18237.
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Over the past 30 years, Sweden has witnessed a growth in criminal gangs. Gun violence among young males is also on the rise and have only recently gained wide political attention. Street gangs and gun violence are two prevalent, partially overlapping phenomena that constitute social challenges. Empirically supported legal, policy and practical frameworks are needed in order to reduce the prevalence of gangs and gang violence in Sweden. The first step is to recognize that gangs and gang violence are an emerging societal problem and to identify its root causes, organizational dimensions, and operational patterns. In this note, Swedish street gangs and gang violence are briefly discussed.
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Carson, Dena C., and Finn-Aage Esbensen. "Gangs in School: Exploring the Experiences of Gang-Involved Youth." Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 17, no. 1 (November 7, 2017): 3–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1541204017739678.
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This study explores three questions: (1) What are the criteria that current or formerly gang-involved youth use to identify the presence of gangs in school? (2) Do gang activities produce incivilities and victimizations within the school context? and (3) What is the impact of a gang presence on youth in the school, specifically with respect to the presence or absence of fear? We examine the influence of gangs in schools through qualitative analysis of 180 in-depth semistructured interviews. The sample includes youth with varying levels of gang involvement who attended schools across the United States. Youth relied on personal knowledge and visual cues to identify gangs in their school. Despite the occurrence of vicarious victimizations and incivilities at the hands of gang youth, respondents indicated that gangs did not impact their school life. These youth frequently used normalization and delimitation processes to deal with gangs in their school.
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Van Hellemont, Elke, and James Densley. "If crime is not the problem, crime fighting is no solution: policing gang violence in the age of abolition." Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 13, no. 2/3 (June 24, 2021): 136–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jacpr-12-2020-0561.
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Purpose In their 1999 classic, Crime is Not the Problem, Zimring and Hawkins changed the way criminologists thought about crime and violence simply by forcing us to distinguish between them. In so doing, they advanced an agenda for a more effective response to the real “crime” problem in America – violence. In this short commentary, the authors apply this logic to gang research and responses. The authors argue police fall short in responding to “gangs” because researchers and policymakers have defined them in terms of criminal behaviour writ large, not the problem that really needs policing – the precise social and spatial dynamics of gang violence. The purpose of this paper is to stand on the shoulders of others who have stated violence trumps gangs when it comes to policy and practice and provide a conceptual review of the literature that captures mainstream and critical perspectives on gangs and offers both sides some common ground to start from as they contemplate “policing” gangs with or without police. Design/methodology/approach A review of the extant literature. Findings The authors stand on the shoulders of others who have stated violence trumps gangs when it comes to policy and practice, to provide a conceptual review of the literature that captures mainstream and critical perspectives on gangs, in North American and European contexts, and offers both sides some common ground to start from as they contemplate “policing” gangs with or without police. Originality/value The paper is a conceptual piece looking at policing gang violence versus gang crime. The paper aims to restart the debate around the role of crime in gangs and gangs in crime. This debate centres around whether gangs should be understood as primarily criminal groups, whether “the gang” is to blame for the crime and violence of its members and what feature of collective crime and violence designate “gangness”. We use that debate to reflect past and current police practices towards gangs.
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Hagedorn, John M. "Gangs, Schools, and Social Change: An Institutional Analysis." ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 673, no. 1 (September 2017): 190–208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002716217726965.
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Understanding gangs and schools requires us to go beyond neighborhood-level analysis because spatial analyses tend to downplay or ignore social movements as key to fundamental change. This article supplements a traditional ecological approach with an institutional analysis of both schools and gangs. A history of Chicago gangs reveals that gangs are not one thing; at times they have played positive roles within schools and taken part in social movements. The author’s personal experiences with gangs and schools in Milwaukee and Chicago are presented as evidence documenting the mutability of gangs, the damaging consequences of some educational policies, and the importance of including gang members in social movements. The current Black Lives Matter movement presents opportunities for nonincremental, disruptive change and the potential inclusion of gangs and gang members in a broader strategy to create a better society.
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Tapia, Mike. "Modern Chicano Street Gangs: Ethnic Pride Versus “Gangsta” Subculture." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 41, no. 3 (June 25, 2019): 312–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0739986319858966.
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This article examines the subcultural characteristics of modern Chicano street gangs, using San Antonio, Texas, as a case study. It is informed by archival material, police data, and multifaceted fieldwork with gang members and police in that city. The result is a broad sweeping analysis of the role of various social forces in shaping the form of contemporary Chicano gangs. I find that gang migration, the social mimicry of Black gangs, and the weakening of ethnic pride have all profoundly affected modern street gang subculture. However, ethnic pride norms have not completely faded away, presenting an interesting bifurcation among modern Chicano gangs. Profiling the most violent and reputable gangs from the early 1990s to 2015 in San Antonio drives this analysis of barrio longevity versus cultural succession. This study concludes that there are “period effects” that are not well accounted for in the current literature on youth gang subcultures.
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Bangerter, Oliver. "Territorial gangs and their consequences for humanitarian players." International Review of the Red Cross 92, no. 878 (June 2010): 387–406. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1816383110000354.
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AbstractTerritorial gangs are among today's main perpetrators of urban violence, affecting the lives of millions of other people. They try to gain control of a territory in which they then oversee all criminal activities and/or ‘protect’ the people.Such gangs are found to differing degrees on every continent, although those given the most media attention operate in Central America. The violence that they cause has a major impact on the population in general and on their members' families, as well as on the members themselves.Humanitarian organizations may find themselves having to deal with territorial gangs in the course of their ‘normal’ activities in a gang's area, but also when the humanitarian needs per se of people controlled by a gang justify action.This article looks at some courses of action that may be taken by humanitarian agencies in an environment of this nature: dialogue with the gangs (including how to create a degree of trust), education, services, and dialogue on fundamental issues. Such action only makes sense over the medium to long term; it may have a very positive impact but only allows the symptoms of a deep-seated problem to be treated.
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Pedersen, Maria Libak. "Do offenders have distinct offending patterns before they join adult gang criminal groups? Analyses of crime specialization and escalation in offence seriousness." European Journal of Criminology 15, no. 6 (March 10, 2018): 680–701. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370817751351.
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Researchers have put serious efforts into identifying youth at high risk of joining gangs. Their main focus has been on street gangs, whereas risk factors for joining adult gang criminal groups have received less attention. This study examines crime specialization and crime seriousness prior to gang initiation among 564 adult gang members, 800 outlaw bikers and matched comparison groups of offenders (up to three offenders convicted of the same number of offences) who stayed out of such gangs. The data stem from Statistics Denmark and the Police Intelligence Database. The study findings demonstrate that the gang members and the outlaw bikers commit more serious offences than their non-gang counterparts, but the study also provides evidence that it is difficult – most likely impossible – to identify upcoming members of gangs by paying attention to crime patterns only.
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Mills, Randy. "A Terror to the People: The Evolution of an Outlaw Gang in the Lower Midwest." Midwest Social Sciences Journal 23 (November 1, 2020): 54–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.22543/0796.231.1028.
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The details of the heretofore unexamined Reeves Gang may serve as an important case study of violence and lawlessness in the Lower Midwest in the decades following the Civil War. Unlike the “social bandits” such as the Jesse James and Dalton Gangs of the Middle Border region, most outlaw gangs made little attempt to get along with locals. These groups ruled by fear and typically fell afoul of vigilante hangings and shootings— a one-act play, if you will. The Reeves Gang, the focus of this study, would come to be atypical, their tale turning into a three-act play, moving from petty crime to more sophisticated criminal activities, and then to an attempted life of normalcy. Though now long forgotten, several instances of the Reeves Gang’s violent activities, as well as their eventual capture, were to be found in newspapers across the nation at the time.
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Decker, Scott H., and G. David Curry. "Gangs, gang homicides, and gang loyalty:." Journal of Criminal Justice 30, no. 4 (July 2002): 343–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0047-2352(02)00134-4.
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Putra, Johan Benbella, and Umar Ma'ruf. "Law Enforcement against Criminal Acts of Motorcycle Gangs Criminal of Rumbing & Sharp Weapons." Law Development Journal 2, no. 4 (February 14, 2021): 535. http://dx.doi.org/10.30659/ldj.2.4.535-541.
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The objectives of this study are as follows: To identify and analyze the factors that cause the gang attacks carried out by motorcycle gangs. To find out and analyzelaw enforcement against criminal offenses against motorbike gangs, perpetrators of beatings and sharp weapons.To find out and analyze obstacles and solutions in law enforcement against criminal offenses against motorbike gangs, perpetrators of beatings and sharp weapons.The approach to the problem that the writer uses in this legal research is included in juridical-empirical research, so what is examined initially is secondary data. This research is a descriptive research. Based on the results of this study, the factors that led to the gang attacking were carried out by motorcycle gangs, among others: a lack of understanding of the teenagers regarding the applicable provisions concerning the Traffic Law. Also caused as an influence on biological and psychological conditions. Biologically because they are in a period of growth and desire to show their existence to their peers and the environment. Law enforcement against criminal acts of beatings and carrying sharp weapons committed by motorcycle gang groups, namely by preventing and taking action. The obstacles are: The community, as a source of information about the occurrence of motorbike gangs, is afraid (skeptical) of the community about motorbike gangs, even though legal counseling has been carried out. The solution is: Coaching motorcycle gangs. Conducting legal education and prohibiting all acts of beating and carrying sharp weapons carried out by motorcycle gangs to the community.
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Van Hellemont, Elke, and James A. Densley. "Gang glocalization: How the global mediascape creates and shapes local gang realities." Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal 15, no. 1 (March 7, 2018): 169–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1741659018760107.
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This article introduces the concept of ‘gang glocalization’ to capture the processes by which global media myths and conventions create and shape local gang realities. The different stages of gang glocalization, and the motives to engage in this process, are examined by comparison of two empirical cases – Congolese gangs in Brussels and Afro-Caribbean gangs in London. This multi-sited ethnography finds that youth use fiction and imagination in order to create individual and collective gang identities. Police and political action against gangs is then informed by the same fiction and imagination, resulting in new gang realities based not on what is real. We find that mythmaking is an essential aspect of gangs – without the myth there is no gang – and that imagination is at the core of some of its most harmful activities, namely spectacular symbolic violence. This is an update on Thrasher’s (1927) old themes. The driving forces behind gang glocalization are emotions and desires tied to lived experiences of social and cultural exclusion. Implications for research and practice follow.
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Butti, Elena. "From Family to Franchise? Friendship, Individualism, and the Marketization of the Colombian Youth Gang." Youth and Globalization 3, no. 2 (March 21, 2022): 308–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/25895745-bja10012.
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Abstract The surge of transnational illicit economies has led to important transformations in gang structures and cultures. From locally-bound, solidarity-driven institutions, gangs have morphed into globally-connected, market-driven ones. But how has this change affected the way young gang members relate to each other? This paper explores this question in the particular case of Medellín (Colombia), based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork with adolescents working at the low ends of narco-gangs. It traces the evolution of gangs from the 1970s galladas – peer groups of kids who sought to support each other – to today’s pandillas – ruthless and profit-driven groups that operate as the local franchises of larger criminal organizations. The paper argues that the co-optation of youth gangs by transnational organized crime has drastically reduced the sense of protection, inclusion, and belonging that gangs provide to their youngest members. It has also hampered the role of gangs as institutions of cultural resistance and critique.
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Maitra, Dev Rup. "‘If You’re Down With a Gang Inside, You Can Lead a Nice Life’: Prison Gangs in the Age of Austerity." Youth Justice 20, no. 1-2 (February 20, 2020): 128–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473225420907974.
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In many countries, there has been growing academic attention towards the activities of street and prison gang members. However, while much of the American literature explores the experiences of prison gang members, such investigation has been notably absent in the English context. This article seeks to address this deficit in the literature. Through gathering data from interviews with active prison gang members, it shows how reduced staffing levels in English prisons has led to an increasingly ‘ungovernable’ prison space. This, in turn, has led to an increase in levels of gang membership. Most notably, the high numbers of street gangs ‘imported’ into prisons has had the unintended effect of creating several ‘in prison’ gangs, which form for the first time in prison, with their members seeking protecting from more established gangs. This proliferation of gangs has had a significant impact on rates of in-prison violence, and how prisons are managed.
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Auyong, Zenta E. Gomez, Sven Smith, and Christopher J. Ferguson. "Girls in Gangs: Exploring Risk in a British Youth Context." Crime & Delinquency 64, no. 13 (March 21, 2018): 1698–717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128718763130.
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The existing literature on gangs has largely focused on boys from the United States. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study investigated select individual, peer, and community risk factors that differentiate gang and nongang girls in the United Kingdom. We find that 48.3% of gang-involved youth were girls, and that gang girls commit more crime than nongang girls. Furthermore, girls who live in socially disorganized neighborhoods are more likely to be members of gangs. The current research suggests that focusing on girls’ community environments may be beneficial to reducing gangs in the United Kingdom.
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Petrus, Theodore. "Gangster school: The role of the school environment in gang recruitment strategies in Port Elizabeth, South Africa." South African Journal of Education 41, Supplement 2 (December 31, 2021): S1—S8. http://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41ns2a1665.
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Gangs and gang violence continue to be serious challenges throughout South Africa, but especially in cities such as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. In the northern areas of Port Elizabeth, hardly a day goes by without at least 1 report in the local news media about gang-related incidents. Most of the gangs in the northern areas have organised and relatively sophisticated recruitment strategies that they use to recruit new members. Various factors contribute to the gravitation of most youths to the gang lifestyle. With this article I seek to examine 1 of those factors, namely the school environment. I argue that various factors affecting the school environment make it possible for gangs to target school-going youths for recruitment. The article is based on both the literature and the use of primary data from my research into gangs in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth. The article concludes with some recommendations on how to combat gang recruitment in the school environment.
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Pitts, John. "The evolution of the English street gang." Safer Communities 18, no. 2 (April 8, 2019): 64–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sc-01-2019-0003.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider what the author might call the evolution of the evolutionary argument about gangs and, while acknowledging its explanatory power, suggests that gangs may develop in very different ways depending on the available opportunities, pre-existing forms of criminality in the areas in which gangs emerge and global change. Design/methodology/approach It is based on a review of the relevant literature and interviews with purposive samples of research, criminal justice and social welfare professionals and young people involved in or affected by gang crime. Findings were triangulated with data held by the police and other public authorities. Findings The term “street gang” includes a wide variety of groupings all of which are involved in some form of crime but with differential levels of organisation and commitment to purely instrumental goals. Gangs may form but not necessarily evolve. Gangs appear to develop in very different ways depending on the available opportunities, pre-existing forms of criminality in the areas in which they emerge and global changes in drugs markets. Originality/value The originality of the paper consists in its interrogation of the concept of “gang evolution” and its discussion of the variety of forms and evolutionary trajectories of gangs.
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Smithson, Hannah, and Rob Ralphs. "Youth in the UK: 99 problems but the gang ain ' t one?" Safer Communities 15, no. 1 (January 11, 2016): 11–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sc-10-2015-0034.
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Purpose – At a time when youth gangs and gang policy feature significantly in the discourse on UK youth, it is judicious to critique the framework and evidence upon which these policy developments have originated. The political focus on gangs was heightened, in part, by the English riots in 2011. The reaction to the riots was a “concerted all-out war on gangs” and led to the development of the national Ending Gangs and Youth Violence (EGYV) strategy. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use Manchester as a case study to illustrate what the they argue to be the misplaced focus of the current EGYV strategy and provide a detailed critique of the strategy to date. Findings – The paper suggests that government funded gang interventions are currently bereft of a “what works” approach and should only be implemented when the authors have significantly developed the knowledge and understanding of gangs in a local context. Originality/value – The paper calls for a stronger evidence based policy approach to tackling gangs.
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Meek, John. "Gangs in New Zealand Prisons." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 25, no. 3 (December 1992): 255–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000486589202500304.
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Gangs became a permanent feature of New Zealand prisons during the 1980s. Surveys indicate that more than 20% of inmates have past or present gang affiliations. This article looks at the gang phenomenon both in the community and in prisons. A case study looking at the impact of gangs at Auckland Maximum Security Prison (Paremoremo) is included; a unique inmate subculture was destroyed and inter-gang conflict resulted in the prison being run on a unit basis. Using information from the 1989prison census, including unpublished material, the article examines the level of gang membership and compares gang members and unaffiliated inmates over a range of variables. Gang members were found to be more likely to be younger, classified as requiring medium or maximum security custody, convicted of violent offences and serving longer sentences. The article also looks at management approaches to gangs in prisons and a fresh approach being adopted by the Department of Justice.
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Van Damme, Ellen. "Corruption, impunity and mistrust: moving beyond police gatekeepers for researching gangs." Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 13, no. 2/3 (July 5, 2021): 125–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jacpr-01-2021-0572.
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Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of having several entry points into the field, via gatekeepers who do not belong to law enforcement agencies, in contexts where the police cannot be defined as trustworthy. Design/methodology/approach The argumentation of this paper is based on qualitative research on women and gangs in Honduras. An ethnographical methodology was implemented, which included over a year of observations, 65 interviews and two focus groups in gang-controlled communities and detention centers in Central America (with a focus on Honduras), between 2017 and 2020. The paper implements a feminist reflexive approach, focusing on patriarchy, positionality and silence. Findings Collaborating with the police as gatekeepers in gang research needs to be reevaluated. In countries such as Honduras, the police are riddled with corruption and impunity, which eventually leads to mistrust among gang members and other citizens. Hence, it is recommended to approach other, non-law enforcement, gatekeepers, who often stand much closer to the gangs and have a less conflicted or biased position toward them and toward other people living in gang areas. Research limitations/implications A feminist reflexive approach is recommended for researching women and gangs, and thus also for choosing the right gatekeepers in the field, taking into account researchers’ and gatekeepers’ positionality. Originality/value Police corruption in relation to gangs and gang-related crimes often goes unreported and silences people living in gang-controlled areas. This paper exposes these conflicted roles, not only regarding police abuse vis-à-vis gangs and people living in gang areas but also in relation to gang researchers in the field.
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Pawelz, Janina, and Paul Elvers. "The Digital Hood of Urban Violence: Exploring Functionalities of Social Media and Music Among Gangs." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 34, no. 4 (July 18, 2018): 442–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043986218787735.
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Social media and music are fundamental components of everyday life for today’s youth. The uses and functions of social media and music provide valuable insights for a better understanding of marginalized groups, subcultures, and gangs. Data are based on in-depth, semistructured interviews with gang members and gang affiliates in Trinidad and Tobago and combined with an analysis of social media content. The findings reveal that street gangs use music and social media to glorify gang life, to display power and send threats, to generate motivational support for criminal activities, and to bond socially and mourn collectively. In our analysis, social media, music, and music videos appear to be intimately interconnected phenomena; we thus call for a broader focus on gangs’ online behavior.
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Quinn, Katherine, Julia Dickson-Gomez, Michelle Broaddus, and Maria Pacella. "“Running Trains” and “Sexing-In”: The Functions of Sex Within Adolescent Gangs." Youth & Society 51, no. 2 (August 30, 2016): 151–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118x16667375.
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Gang members are exposed to unique sexual risks, yet little work has explored the influence of gang social norms. This study examines the functions and meanings of sex within gangs, with a specific focus on the ways in which sex is used to reinforce gang membership and norms, gender roles, and group cohesion. We conducted 58 semi-structured interviews with adolescent members of six gangs. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis and constant comparative method in MAXQDA. Sexual risk behaviors within gangs are upheld and reinforced through unspoken norms and expectations. These high-risk sexual practices increase group cohesion and reinforce gender norms and power differences. Despite the prevalence of such practices, many gang members felt regret and remorse over their participation but noted it was just part of “the life.” Our findings highlight the need for interventions to address the norms of the gang that reinforce sexual risk behavior.
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Conway-Turner, Jameela, Kari Visconti, and Adam Winsler. "The Role of Gang Involvement as a Protective Factor in the Association Between Peer Victimization and Negative Emotionality." Youth & Society 52, no. 3 (September 11, 2019): 469–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118x19869803.
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Gang involvement is associated with many negative outcomes. However, the social and emotional development of gang-involved youth has received little empirical investigation. This study examines the social and emotional outcomes of gang-involved youth. Data come from the 2009 Fairfax County Youth Survey administered to eighth, 10th, and 12th grade students ( N = 27,869, 50% female, 55% minority). Hierarchical logistic regression was used to test the associations between victimization and negative emotionality, and the potential moderating effect of age and gang involvement. Results showed a positive relationship between victimization and negative emotionality. Youth involved in gangs were more likely to experience victimization. However, the association between peer victimization and negative emotionality was diminished for youth in gangs compared with those not in gangs. In addition, results showed that negative emotional outcomes from victimization were worse for middle school compared with high school students.
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Bichler, Gisela, Alexis Norris, Jared R. Dmello, and Jasmin Randle. "The Impact of Civil Gang Injunctions on Networked Violence Between the Bloods and the Crips." Crime & Delinquency 65, no. 7 (November 24, 2017): 875–915. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128717739607.
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Comparing the centrality of gangs and changing structure in attack behavior, this study examines the effects of civil gang injunctions (CGIs) on violence involving 23 gangs (seven Bloods and 16 Crips) operating in Southern California. We mapped violence networks by linking defendants and victims named in 272 court cases prosecuted in the City of Los Angeles (1997-2015), involving at least one conviction for a violent crime and a defendant tried as an adult. The results show that a small number of gangs are centrally located in a dynamic web of non-reciprocated conflict that exhibited complex hierarchical structures. These results raise four implications for combating gang violence.
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Valasik, Matthew, and Matthew Phillips. "Understanding modern terror and insurgency through the lens of street gangs: ISIS as a case study." Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice 3, no. 3 (September 18, 2017): 192–207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jcrpp-07-2016-0014.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use nearly a century’s worth of gang research to inform us about modern terrorist groups, specifically the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Design/methodology/approach A case study approach is employed, comparing and contrasting the competing theoretical frameworks of gangs and terrorist organisations to understand group structure, demographics, patterns of behaviour (e.g. territoriality, strategic, and instrumental violence), goals, and membership patterns of ISIS. Findings The qualitative differences of ISIS make them more comparable to street gangs than other terrorist groups. Practical implications ISIS, while being qualitatively different from other terrorist groups, actually has many similarities with street gangs allowing for the adaptation of effective gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. This paper highlights how the expansive literature on street gangs is able to inform practical interventions to directly target ISIS and deradicalise potential recruits. By introducing a gang-terror nexus on the crime-terror continuum, this paper provides a useful perspective on the decentralised but dynamic nature of modern era insurgencies. This paper urges similar case studies of terrorist organisations to determine the extent to which they conform to street gang characteristics. Originality/value Terrorist groups are often compared to street gangs, yet it has not been until the last few years that gang researchers (Curry, 2011; Decker and Pyrooz, 2011, 2015a, b) have begun to compare and contrast these two deviant group archetypes. The goal of this paper is to use nearly a hundred years of gang research to better equip scholars and practitioners with a broader understanding of terrorism and insurgency in the era of globalisation by presenting a case study of ISIS using a street gang perspective.
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Nyabadza, F., C. P. Ogbogbo, and J. Mushanyu. "Modelling the role of correctional services on gangs: insights through a mathematical model." Royal Society Open Science 4, no. 10 (October 2017): 170511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170511.
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Research has shown that gang membership increases the chances of offending, antisocial behaviour and drug use. Gang membership should be acknowledged as part of crime prevention and policy designs, and when developing interventions and preventative programmes. Correctional services are designed to rehabilitate convicted offenders. We formulate a deterministic mathematical model using nonlinear ordinary differential equations to investigate the role of correctional services on the dynamics of gangs. The recruitment into gang membership is assumed to happen through an imitation process. An epidemic threshold value, R g , termed the gang reproduction number, is proposed and defined herein in the gangs’ context. The model is shown to exhibit the phenomenon of backward bifurcation. This means that gangs may persist in the population even if R g is less than one. Sensitivity analysis of R g was performed to determine the relative importance of different parameters in gang initiation. The critical efficacy ε * is evaluated and the implications of having functional correctional services are discussed.
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Cooley, Will. "“Stones Run It”." Journal of Urban History 37, no. 6 (October 12, 2011): 911–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0096144211418436.
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In the 1960s and 1970s African American “supergangs” emerged in Chicago. Many scholars have touted the “prosocial” goals of these gangs but fail to contextualize them in the larger history of black organized crime. Thus, they have overlooked how gang members sought to reclaim the underground economy in their neighborhoods. Yet even as gangs drove out white organized crime figures, they often lacked the know-how to reorganize the complex informal economy. Inexperienced gang members turned to extreme violence, excessive recruitment programs, and unforgiving extortion schemes to take power over criminal activities. These methods alienated black citizens and exacerbated tensions with law enforcement. In addition, the political shelter enjoyed by the previous generation of black criminals was turned into pervasive pressure to break up street gangs. Black street gangs fulfilled their narrow goal of community control of vice. Their interactions with their neighbors, however, remained contentious.
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Chu, Chi Meng, Michael Daffern, Stuart Thomas, Ang Yaming, Mavis Long, and Kate O'Brien. "Determinants of gang affiliation in Singaporean youth offenders: social and familial factors." Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research 7, no. 1 (January 12, 2015): 19–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jacpr-11-2013-0031.
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Purpose – Gang affiliation in youth is associated with increased criminal recidivism and an exaggeration of various criminogenic needs; affiliation also meets a variety of youth's personal and social needs. The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of the self-reported reasons for joining and leaving gangs, as well as the difficulties faced by Singaporean youth offenders in leaving youth gangs; it also explores the relationship between gang affiliation and family connectedness, educational attainment and early exposure to gangs. Design/methodology/approach – This prospective study involved structured interviews and administration of questionnaires with 168 youth offenders in Singapore. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the research questions. Findings – Gang-affiliated youth cited a desire to establish and maintain friendships as their primary reasons for joining a gang. Youth who left their gang reported maturing beyond this need and the activities of their gang, particularly in light of the deleterious impact of their gang-related activities on familial relationships and employment and financial status. Early exposure to gangs through family and neighborhood influences, and poor educational engagement increased the likelihood that youth would join a gang. Practical implications – This study highlights the need for clinicians and other service providers to better understand the universal human needs that are met through gang affiliation and the correlates of affiliation. Originality/value – Few studies have directly examined the factors relating to gang affiliation in a non-western context; this study may be relevant to professionals working in the juvenile justice and offender rehabilitation arenas.
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Andell, Paul. "Addressing county lines: praxis for community safety practitioners." Safer Communities 18, no. 2 (April 8, 2019): 43–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sc-02-2019-0006.
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Purpose County lines involving the exploitation of vulnerable children and young people by gangs have been described as a bigger threat than the exploitation exposed by the Rotherham scandal (The Times, 27 November 2017). The purpose of this paper is to explain the contingencies and drivers informing gang identities in the irregular economy of drugs and make some suggestions to address these. Design/methodology/approach The paper discusses the social reality (ontology) of UK gangs in the UK and the different theories of knowledge about gangs (epistemologies) that can both help and hamper gangs’ policy and practices. The paper is based on recent research and sets out strategic ideas for good community safety practice in order to develop multi-modal partnership interventions in gang-affected neighbourhoods. Recent policies are located within the broader political economy of crime, which raises questions of current policy direction to achieve safer neighbourhoods. Findings A critical realist approach to gangs (Pitts, 2016) assumes that unobservable structures (patterns of relations and roles) cause observable events (gang behaviour). This suggests a reality of gangs independent of theories about them. In this paradigm, the author’s theories about the world are historically, socially and culturally situated and always partial. Not only do gangs change in space and time, but also so do the author’s representations of them. Research limitations/implications Arguably, at this moment, the authors’ best ideas about the underlying causal forces which precipitate gangs involve social structures which have push and pull factors acting in conjunction with culturally enmeshed individuals with limited choices. The pushes of social exclusionary factors such as institutional racism and unemployment act in consort with pull factors of excessive consumerism. However, the author’s ideas about gangs are partial and fallible, and this demands a methodological pluralism that involves a range of stakeholders when researching and formulating appropriate interventions. Practical implications To address the impact of gang violence at the micro or neighbourhood level, Andell and Pitts (2009, 2013, 2017) developed an interactive model of action research which is inclusive of the experiences and knowledge of stakeholders. This knowledge can be valuable not only to build multi-modal strategies in gang-affected neighbourhoods, but can also be useful as a reflexive spur to provide feedback and direction on what works to reduce community harms. Earlier research experience (Andell and Pitts 2009, 2013, 2017) informs ideas that that single agency or “siloed” approaches to problems associated with gangs and drug markets can cause confusion and mistrust for other stakeholders and that more integrated approaches are needed. Social implications In order to assist young people to attain their potential with the assistance of institutions, both micro and macro changes need to take place. The social capital of community networks needs to be enhanced and the redistributive potential of economic policy needs to be enacted. Therefore, policy is needed which is founded on the belief that research is capable of understanding the mechanisms that produce material and cultural domination, and this analysis, in conjunction with stakeholder knowledge, could lead to a realistic program for collective actions in both the micro and macro spheres that reduce relative deprivation and curb the cultural mores for excess. Originality/value The paper suggests a critical realist approach to gangs (Pitts, 2016) and assumes that unobservable structures (patterns of relations and roles) cause observable events (gang behaviour). This imputes a reality of gangs independent of theories about them. In this paradigm, the author’s theories about the world are historical, socially and culturally situated and always partial. Not only do gangs change in space and time, but also so do the author’s representations of them.
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Chesney-Lind1, Meda, and Martin Clavet. "Les filles et les gangs : contextes et répercussions pour les femmes." Criminologie 48, no. 2 (October 29, 2015): 209–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1033844ar.
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On perçoit généralement les gangs comme étant un phénomène essentiellement masculin, presque emblématique du caractère rebelle des garçons, mais les gangs sont composés d’une part importante de filles. Les dernières données indiquent qu’au moins le quart des membres de gangs sont des filles. Cet article s’intéresse aux perspectives théoriques sur le genre présentes dans les recherches traditionnelles sur les gangs et propose d’aborder le phénomène des gangs sous l’angle de la criminologie féministe afro-américaine et des études sur les trajectoires de vie des femmes. Privilégiant les études qui visent spécifiquement le genre et l’ethnicité, l’article se penche ensuite sur les circonstances qui incitent les filles à se joindre aux gangs. Il est essentiel d’analyser ce phénomène en fonction du rôle de la victimisation, surtout la victimisation sexuelle, tant sur le plan des causes que des conséquences de l’adhésion des filles aux gangs. Les tensions et les divisions au sein de la famille, l’influence des relations entre filles et membres de gangs sur la décision de joindre le gang, la consommation d’alcool ou de drogue (et le risque accru de victimisation) ou un milieu scolaire et un quartier défavorisé caractérisé par la violence, sont autant de facteurs qui incitent les jeunes filles à se joindre aux gangs.
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Densley, James A., and David C. Pyrooz. "The Matrix in Context: Taking Stock of Police Gang Databases in London and Beyond." Youth Justice 20, no. 1-2 (October 25, 2019): 11–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473225419883706.
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Technology has ushered in a new era of intelligence-led and ‘big data’ policing, and police gang databases are part of this paradigmatic shift. In recent years, however, gang databases have come under intense public scrutiny. For example, Amnesty International and others argue that London’s Gangs Matrix is discriminatory and violates data-protection laws. This article draws on evidence and examples from a wide range of sources – gang legislation, surveys of young people, police gang records and research on gangs – to put the Matrix controversy into broader context, and to adjudicate between common validity and civil liberties critiques of gang databases.
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Scott, Daniel W. "Attitude is everything: Youth attitudes, gang involvement, and length of institutional gang membership." Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 17, no. 6 (September 17, 2014): 780–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430214548285.
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Prison gangs have been a topic of interest among scholars, but research on youth prison gangs is limited. Furthermore, violent attitudes and gang involvement have not been addressed extensively, and a better understanding of youth prison gang involvement is needed to effectively inform responses to violence in correctional facilities. This paper fills this research gap through an analysis of violent attitudes as they relate to gang involvement and length of gang membership. The data derive from interviews with 285 males conducted in a larger study on gangs and violence in California’s youth correctional facilities. The results show that gang members tend to have stronger violent and aggressive attitudes compared to nongang members, and length of institutional gang membership is statistically significant and negatively associated with violent and aggressive attitudes. Furthermore, a youth’s violent and aggressive attitudes will vary depending on if the youth has never spent time in an institutional gang, is currently in one, or is a former institutional gang member. I conclude the paper with a discussion of these findings and what they imply for gang group processes, theory, institutional policy, and programs.
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Huff, C. Ronald. "Youth Gangs and Public Policy." Crime & Delinquency 35, no. 4 (October 1989): 524–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128789035004001.
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Recent studies have begun to document the changing organizational forms of youth gangs in the United States. The emergence/re-emergence of these gangs, often accompanied by increased violence and involvement in drug use and/or trafficking, poses major public policy issues. However, little empirical research has been conducted on this subject, and very few studies have been based on interviews with gang members as well as official data and the perspectives of public officials. This article summarizes the results and recommendations of a two-year study of youth gangs in Ohio, focusing primarily on in-depth case studies of Cleveland and Columbus gangs.
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Offutt, Stephen. "Entangled: Evangelicals and Gangs in El Salvador." Social Forces 99, no. 1 (December 12, 2019): 424–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz147.
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Abstract ow are the two most ubiquitous community-based organizations in poor Salvadoran neighborhoods—gangs and evangelical churches—connected? Most studies concur with the Brenneman/Wolseth thesis, which states that evangelical churches uniquely provide people with a pathway out of gangs. This article argues that such dynamics are a relatively small subset of a broad range of interactions between evangelicals and gangs. Data from the Religion, Global Poverty, and International Development study, collected in a mid-sized Salvadoran city from 2014 to 2018, show that: (1) family networks link evangelicals and gangs; (2) evangelicals and gangs share community governance; (3) gangs infiltrate congregations; and (4) evangelical ideas and networks penetrate gang life. These findings indicate that the widely accepted “haven” perspective of evangelicals in Latin America is insufficient to explain current empirical complexities. An “entanglement” framework is thus introduced, which may be relevant to evangelicals’ relationships to contemporary Latin American society more broadly.
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Tam, Harry, Angie Wilkinson, and Joanna Wilkinson. "A Critique of the New Zealand Government’s Gang Legislation Amendment Bill’s Banning Gang Patches in Public." Decolonization of Criminology and Justice 6, no. 1 (July 9, 2024): 5–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.24135/dcj.v6i1.69.
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This paper provides a summary of the social and economic circumstances that have led to the proliferation of gangs in New Zealand. It also examines New Zealand public policies to manage gang behaviours and the outcomes of these policies, which in the main have contributed to the formation of gangs and their violent behaviours. The paper uses this background information to critique the coalition government’s proposed Gang Legislation Amendment Bill that prohibits the display of gang insignia in public places, creating a new criminal offence, currently before Parliament. We contend that the proposed legislation will do nothing to reduce gang membership as it does not address the causes of gang membership.
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Linnemann, Travis, and Bill McClanahan. "From ‘filth’ and ‘insanity’ to ‘peaceful moral watchdogs’: Police, news media, and the gang label." Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal 13, no. 3 (June 1, 2016): 295–313. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1741659016647435.
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This paper engages the cultural politics of criminal classifications by aiming at one of the state’s most powerful, yet ambiguous markers—the ‘gang.’ Focusing on the unique cases of ‘crews’ and collectives within the ‘straight edge’ and ‘Juggalo’ subcultures, this paper considers what leads members of the media and police to construct—or fail to construct—these street collectives as gangs in a seemingly haphazard and disparate fashion. Juxtaposing media, cultural, and police representations of straight edge ‘crews’ and Juggalo collectives with the FBI’s Gang Threat Assessment, we detail how cultural politics and ideology underpin the social reality of gangs and thus the application of the police power. This paper, furthermore, considers critical conceptualizations of the relationship between police and criminal gangs.
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Zoettl, Peter Anton. "My body imprisoned, my soul relieved: Youth, gangs and prison in Cape Verde." European Journal of Cultural Studies 21, no. 2 (September 15, 2015): 148–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367549415603380.
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Urban street gangs flourish in the urban centres of the Cape Verdean archipelago. Most of their members belong to the male, young and economically disadvantaged strata of society. While in public discourse youth gangs are often peremptorily blamed for most of the violence and criminality that take place in the country, the internal dynamics of gang life often go unnoticed. Based on fieldwork in the cities of Praia and Mindelo, the article discusses the mechanisms that make Cape Verdean adolescents and youths join urban gangs and stick to them, despite the state’s politics of securitization and repression. Within this context, the experience of imprisonment is related to gang members’ pre-prison biographies and the conceptualization of prison itself, reinforced during individual ‘careers’ of marginality.
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Knox, George W. "Book Review: Gangs and Gang Behavior." Criminal Justice Review 23, no. 1 (May 1998): 104–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/073401689802300126.
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Costanza, S. E., and Ronald Helms. "Street Gangs and Aggregate Homicides." Homicide Studies 16, no. 3 (June 11, 2012): 280–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1088767912449623.
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This study contributes to the body of research examining why city-level violence rates peaked in 1993. Taking homicide data from that year, we introduce an indicator for active street gangs along with indicators derived from common structural explanations of homicide rates. We assess whether gang presence is empirically associated with homicide variation across 154 U.S. central cities. Consistent with conceptual claims, correlational evidence demonstrates that active gangs were a significant source of homicides across this sample of cities. As a secondary concern, we assess structural conditions that were likely to predict gang formation within cities during the crime peak.
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Quiroz, Tina. "Latino Youth, Gangs, and Community Activism: A Case of Advocacy Anthropology." Practicing Anthropology 20, no. 4 (September 1, 1998): 11–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.17730/praa.20.4.h5635866rw2p7585.
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An important social problem in the United States is the involvement of youth in gangs. This issue has come to dominate social discourse in "Breverton," a city in the Pacific Northwest. Although Breverton has experienced isolated incidents of gang violence, the discussion of gangs has recently taken on an exaggerated local prominence.
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Jähner, Uli. "No Gangs – Gangs No." PROKLA. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft 28, no. 110 (March 1, 1998): 119–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v28i110.859.
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During the last two decades growing social tensions had a large impact on youth culture. The spreaded notion of gangs shows increasing gangfascination but in contrast to US american cities in Berlin youth violence is not embedded in the patterns of a criminal economy. The distribution of juvenile delinquents and juvenile violence in town is analysed and a new social pathology of violence, which is transgressing the rivaling subcultures, is sketched: bluring the difference between earnest and game.
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Lessing, Benjamin. "Counterproductive punishment: How prison gangs undermine state authority." Rationality and Society 29, no. 3 (May 11, 2017): 257–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043463117701132.
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State efforts to provide law and order can be counterproductive: mass-incarceration policies, while incapacitating and deterring individual criminals, can simultaneously strengthen collective criminal networks. Sophisticated prison gangs use promises of protection or punishment inside prison to influence and organize criminal activity on the street. Typical crime-reduction policies that make incarceration likelier and sentences harsher can increase prison gangs’ power over street-level members and affiliates, a formal model shows. Leading cases from the Americas corroborate these predictions: periods of sharply rising incarceration, driven partly by anti-gang laws, preceded qualitative leaps in prison-gang power on the street. Critically, prison gangs use this capacity not only to govern and tax criminal markets but also to win leverage over state officials by orchestrating terror attacks, intentionally curtailing quotidian violence, or both. Thus, even if increased incarceration leads to reduced crime, it may do so by strengthening prison-gang power at the expense of state authority.