~ Court Clerks College ~
17 May 2006

Home | Presentation | Bio | Into the Abyss | Outline
What is a gang? | Why should we be concerned about gangs? | The Demographic Profile of Gangs
Why Gangs Form | Gang Structure | The Fluidity of Gangs | Getting Into and Out of a Gang
Gangs in Prison | Gang Members and the Courts | Court-Based Solutions
Closing

  Gang Structure

A Continuum of Gang Characteristics
 

Street Gangs		Organized Crime Gangs
Loosely organized	____________________	Highly organized Vertical ---------- Horizontal
Little crime specialization	____________________	Crime- Specialized
Short term membership	____________________	Long-term membership
No goals or only short-term goals	____________________	Long-Term goals
Local / Neighborhood	____________________	Regional, National, or International
Factions and factional involvement	____________________	Whole group involvement
Informal initiation	____________________	Formal initiation
Informal leadership	____________________	Formal leadership

Field Notes: When asked about his perception of gangs in the city the gang unit specialist, a member of the unit for nearly 22 years, said "Street gangs are just one step below organized crime."

In another community the supervisor of the gang unit told me "The Asian gang units here are considered low-level organized crime and are handled by the department's organized crime unit, not the gang unit."