




YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Gangs: Unique But Similar –
Implications for Social Response
Des Lee Collaborative Vision
Department of Criminology and Criminal
Justice
College of Arts and Sciences Continuing
Education & Outreach
http://www.umsl.edu/~ccj/
Malcolm W. Klein
Department of Sociology
University of Southern California

A street gang (or a troublesome youth group
corresponding to a street gang elsewhere)* is any
durable, street-oriented youth group whose own
identity includes involvement in illegal activity.

*For those preferring not to use the word gang (bande, etc.), the
phrase “troublesome youth group” can be substituted





Point 1
 “durable” is a bit ambiguous, but at least several months can be used
as a guideline. Many gang-like groups come together and dissipate
within a few months. The durability refers to the group which
continues despite turnover of members
Point 2
 “street-oriented” implies spending a lot of group time outside home,
work, and school—often on streets, in malls, in parks, in cars, and so
on.
Point 3
 “youth” can be ambiguous. Most street gangs are more adolescent
than adult, but some include members in their 20s and even 30s. Most
have average ages in adolescence of early twenties
Point 4
 “illegal” generally means delinquent or criminal, not just bothersome.
Street gangs as defined here understand about themselves that illegal
behavior is part of their essence. As groups, they have reached a
“tipping point” between an identity as troublesome and an identity as
oriented toward illegality.
Point 5
 “identity” refers to the group, not the individual self-image




Crime Involvement as a “Tipping Point”
Oppositional Culture
Images of Violence as Unifier
Social Marginalization as Unifier




Group Cohesiveness
Oppositional Culture
Orientation to Anti-Social Behavior
Reasons for Joining

Traditional - a large, enduring, territorial gang with a wide age range
and several internal cliques based on age or area

Neo-Traditional - a newer territorial gang that looks on its way to
becoming Traditional in time. The subgrouping, territoriality, and size
suggest that it is evolving into the traditional form

Compressed - a relatively short history, short enough that by size,
duration, subgrouping and territoriality, it is unclear whether it will
grow and solidify into the more traditional forms, or simply remain as
less complex groups.

Collective - resembles a kind of shapeless mass of adolescent and
young adult members that has not developed the distinguishing
characteristics of other gangs

Specialty - crime-focused in a narrow way. Its principal purpose is
more criminal than social, and its smaller size and form of territoriality
may be reflection of this focused pattern


The Traditional Gang is a large, enduring,
territorial gang with a wide age range and
several internal cliques based on age or area
Usually:





Long-lasting
Large
Distinct subgroups
Wide age range
Strongly territorial


The Neo-Traditional Gang is a newer territorial gang
that looks on its way to becoming Traditional in time.
Thus at this point it is subgrouping, but may or may
not have achieved the size and wide age range of the
Traditional Gang. The subgrouping, territoriality, and
size suggest that it is evolving into the traditional form
Usually:




Duration of ten years or less
Medium to large in size
Distinct subgroups
Strongly territorial


The Compressed Gang has a relatively short
history, short enough that by size, duration,
subgrouping and territoriality, it is unclear
whether it will grow and solidify into the more
traditional forms, or simply remain as less
complex groups.
Usually:




Short history
Small
No subgroups
Narrow age range


The Collective Gang resembles a kind of
shapeless mass of adolescent and young adult
members that has not developed the
distinguishing characteristics of other gangs.
Usually




Duration ten to fifteen years
Medium to large in size
No subgroups
Medium to wide age range


The Specialty Gang is crime-focused in a narrow way.
Its principal purpose is more criminal than social, and
its smaller size and form of territoriality may be
reflection of this focused pattern.
Usually:






Duration under ten years
Small
No subgroups
Usually narrow age range
Narrow criminal focus
Territorial
















U.K.: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, South Wales
France: Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Toulouse
Belgium: Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp
Holland: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, den Haag
Germany: Berlin, Breman, Teubingen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich,
Cologne, Freiburg
Switzerland: Zurich
Norway: Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen
Denmark: Copenhagen
Sweden: Stockholm, Gothenberg
Finland: Joensu
Russia: Moscow, Kazan, 10 Volga region cities, St. Petersburg
Italy: Genoa
Greece: Athens
Croatia:
Bosnia:
Spain: Madrid, Barcelona










Germany: Duisberg
Switzerland: Luzerne
Portugal: Lisbon
North Ireland
Hungary
Czech Republic
Slovenia
Romania
Estonia
U.K.: Nottingham, Sheffield, Bristol





Klein, Weerman, and Thornberry, “Street Gang Violence in
Europe”. European Journal of Criminology 3, (4), 2006.
Klein, Kerner, Maxson, and Weitekamp (eds.), The
Eurogang Paradox: Street Gangs and Youth Groups in the U.S.
and Europe. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001.
Decker and Weerman (eds.), European Street Gangs and
Troublesome Youth Groups. Alta Mira Press, 2005.
Van Gemert, Peterson, and Lien (eds.), Youth Gangs,
Migration, and Ethnicity. Willan Publishing, 2008.
Klein, The Street Gangs of Euroburg. iUniverse, 2009.

Klein and Maxson, Street Gang Patters and
Practices. Oxford University Press, 2006