Elsevier

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 15, Issue 2, March–April 2010, Pages 100-111
Aggression and Violent Behavior

Street gang theory and research: Where are we now and where do we go from here?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Recent years have seen an upsurge of attention paid to street gangs as scholars and criminal justice officials strive to understand and counteract the effects of gang membership. Yet, despite a wealth of theoretical frameworks and empirical findings, even fundamental issues such as an agreed definition continue to elude us. We consider some of the most influential theoretical frameworks and associated empirical findings and find that as it stands, our knowledge on gangs is still limited and rather muddy. We suggest that future directions should adopt a more multidisciplinary approach to the study of gangs. To this end, we argue that there is a role for psychology in this important body of work, and that its involvement will provide us with a deeper and more meaningful understanding of gangs and the youth who join them.

Introduction

It is a universal given that street gang membership facilitates violent behavior over and above association with offender peers, even prolifically offending peers (Klein, Weerman & Thornberry, 2006). Consequently, the problems street gangs pose to any ordered society are considerable and worthy of research attention. The aim of our review is to draw attention to the significance of existing theories and research examining how street gangs form and the activities they are involved in. Criminologists and sociologists have produced a bounty of excellent papers, but a broadening of discipline involvement will shape and expand knowledge in a way that can only benefit the area. And so, we also present the argument that psychologists need to become more involved in the study of gangs and suggest the way forward by suggesting a theoretical framework that integrates criminological and psychological concepts.

We cannot, in this review, cover all the research on gangs since the literature is so vast. Instead, we have selected the work we consider to be representative and relevant. Neither do we set date constraints. Early gang work such as Thrasher's (1927) and Short and Strodtbeck's (1965) is as relevant today as it was historically and should have a place in any review of gangs. Most of the research we examined was conducted in the U.S.A., and so we only state the country of origin of work conducted elsewhere. As is the case with any review, more questions are raised than resolved. However, we attempt to draw some cohesion into the ongoing debates surrounding literature relating to street gangs. And in doing so, we aim to produce ideas and directions that multidisciplinary approaches to gang research might embrace.

Section snippets

Defining a gang

Before we can begin to examine any phenomenon we must define it. If we do not have a clear definition of that phenomenon we cannot know if we are talking about the same entity. Research founded on assumed similarities that are not clearly defined is liable to be fraught with misapprehensions that could render it contextually meaningless. A cursory glance at the street gang literature shows that a lack of consensus on what constitutes a gang has dogged the literature for much of the last century

Gang membership: criminological theories

While we need a clear and comprehensive definition that clarifies what a gang is we also need a comprehensive theory to guide empirical work and provide synthesis in explaining why people become members of a gang. Criminological theoretical explanations of gang membership span almost a century and provide us with a vast literature. In this section, we review some of the most influential theoretical propositions of involvement in crime and consider their value in explaining gang membership.

Theory of social disorganization

While early interest in gangs was primarily descriptive, Thrasher (1927) paved the way for the explosion of Chicago based research and theory development with his account of why adolescent boys become gang members. Thrasher argued that economic destabilization contributed to social disorganization, which in turn, led to the breakdown of conventional social institutions such as the school, the church, and most importantly, the family, which “failed to hold the boy's interest, neglects him or

Theory of cultural transmission

Thrasher's (1927) observations of social disorganization threaded into the succession of gang research that followed. Shaw and McKay (1931, 1942) developed Thrasher's (1927) concepts by arguing that socially disorganized neighborhoods culturally transmit criminal traditions which are as transmissible as any other cultural elements. For Shaw and McKay (1931), families in poor inner city areas have low levels of functional authority over children, who, once exposed to delinquent traditions,

Theory of differential association

Although criticisms of the “Chicago school” of gang research for its exclusive focus on working class criminality (e.g., Cullen, 1984) are justified, the exception to this accusation must be the ideas of Sutherland (1937), Sutherland and Cressey, 1960, Sutherland and Cressey, 1974). Sutherland recognized that criminal behavior is prevalent across all classes and developed a theory of differential association where young people develop the attitudes and skills necessary to become delinquent by

Empirical findings: social disorganization, cultural transmission, differential association: empirical evidence

A wealth of empirical evidence lends support to criminological propositions such as social disorganization (Shaw & McKay 1930, Shaw and McKay, 1942, Thrasher, 1927), cultural transmission of criminogenic norms (Shaw & McKay 1930, 1942) and differential association (Sutherland, 1937). Where there are street gangs there is also likely to be poverty, victimization, fear, and social disorganization (Chin, 1996, Goldstein, 1991, Howell and Decker, 1999, Howell et al., 2002, Huff, 1996, Klein, 1995,

Strain theory

The central concept of strain theory is that society sets universal goals for its populace and then offers the ability to achieve them to a limited number of people. The resultant inequality of opportunity causes a strain on cultural goals. This, Merton (1938) proposes, leads to anomie (Durkheim, 1893); a breakdown in the cultural structure due to an acute division between prescribed cultural norms and the ability of members to act in line with them (Merton, 1938). The consequence of anomie is

Theory of differential opportunity

Taking a different perspective on the same issue, Cloward and Ohlin (1960) found that gang members blamed the system rather than themselves for their social failure, and “waged war” against society through expressions of anger and fighting, achieving honor through a form of “macho” bravado, and developing a formidable reputation. Although differential opportunity is often cited as a general theory of delinquency it began as a theory of gangs (Knox, 1994). In this theory, Cloward and Ohlin (1960)

Strain theory and differential opportunity: empirical evidence

Each of these strains threads through the gang literature. For instance, research shows that gangs compensate for strain by providing illegitimate means to achieve goals that are not achievable due to shortcomings in employment and education (Klemp-North, 2007). Gang members are likely to have lost positive role models since they often come from disorganized families and many have lost contact with a parent due to death, separation, or divorce (Klemp-North, 2007). Gang members are also more

Control, or social bond theory

Control theory (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990, Hirschi, 1969) neatly diverts the attention of research away from why offenders offend, to why conformists do not offend? Where strain theory's central premise is the presence of negative relationships in the development of delinquency, control theory focuses on the absence of key relationships (Agnew, 1992, Klemp-North, 2007). Like strain theory and social disorganization theory, control theory posits that communities with a deteriorating social

Control theory: empirical evidence

Although Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) do not directly address the involvement of young people in gangs, social control theory has been used to predict the onset of gang membership (Thornberry, 2006) and has been found to moderate and predict levels of self-reported delinquency (Huebner & Betts, 2002). A lack of commitment to a positive future is evidenced by gang members showing little or no commitment at school (Hill et al., 1999, Brownfield, 2003). However, more in line with strain theory,

A role for psychology?

Overall, criminological theories used to explain gang membership pay scant attention to the social psychological processes involved in joining a gang (Thornberry et al., 2003). Some researchers have examined the psychological characteristics of gang members by, for example, looking at the interaction effects of neighborhood and personality traits of gang members. Youth who live in disorganized neighborhoods (i.e., with a high turnover of residents) and who have psychopathic tendencies (i.e.

The role for psychology

Too much research has ignored theory and launched itself into findings that offer some insight but do little to marry the literature and expand our overall understanding of the etiology of gang membership. Why do gangs form? They probably form to fulfill the needs that any adolescents have: peer friendship, pride, identity development, enhancement of self-esteem, excitement, the acquisition of resources, and goals that may not, due to low-income environments, be available through legitimate

Theory knitting

A good theory should be able to explain and predict behavior (e.g. Newton-Smith, 2002). It should be coherent, consistent, and unify aspects of a phenomenon that appear to be diverse, to provide a clear and comprehensible account of the world. Theory knitting refers to integrating the best existing ideas into a new framework (Ward & Hudson, 1998). It involves identifying the common and unique ideas from existing theories so that good ideas are not lost (Ward & Beech, 2004). An integrated theory

Conclusion

This review considered the role of theory and research in understanding why youth join gangs and it has identified a large number of problematic issues that need to be overcome. It has shown that research is dogged by definitional difficulties and that current theoretical approaches have both value and limitations. As a result, empirical research that is guided by each of the theoretical approaches we have reviewed reflects both their value and their limitations. Nonetheless, street gang

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