Brian Davis
Dr. Bailie
English 2089
7/22/15
Juggalos Defined As Gang Members
Subculture of Interest
Juggalos
Subculture History
Juggalo is a name given to fans of the group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic
Records group. Psycopathic Records was founded by ICP and their manager in the year 1991.
Common characteristics of Juggalos and Juggalettes include wearing clown-like face paint, drinking and spraying Faygo, wearing gear with the hatchet man logo of psychopathic records on them, and communicating to each other using “whoop, whoop” calls.
Research Option
Option 1 - Take my chosen subculture and zoom in on a particular public incident of tension that could be examined critically in order to recognize and make more explicit how my discourse is being produced, policed, or contested.
Research Incident
I intend to focus on the 2014 law suit from The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, along with Insane Clown Posse against the Department of Justice and Federal Bereau of
Investigation. ICP claimed that their constitutional rights to expression were violated when the
U.S. government wrongly classified them as a “hybrid criminal gang.” This case was dismissed

by a federal judge who claimed that they lacked standing, thus, they had no proof of harm in order to sue.
Research Questions
1. Which discourse community is the mainstream pundit who is criticizing your subculture apart of?
The mainstream pundit who is criticizing the Juggalo subculture is the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Another community that is associated with this incident of tension is the
Department of Justice. The FBI formerly classified the Juggalos as a “hybrid criminal gang” in
October, 2011. They had a full investigation of the Juggalos, which was closed in May of 2012.
2. What are the values of this pundit’s discourse community?
Core values of the Federal Bureau of Investigation according to their website, include “rigorous obedience to the Constitution of the United States, respect for the dignity of all those we protect, compassion, fairness, uncompromising personal and institutional integrity, accountability by accepting responsibility for our actions and decisions and their consequences, and leadership by example, both personal and professional.”
3. How does your chosen subculture, and more importantly the discourse coming out of their community, violate the commentator’s values as prescribed by her/his discourse community?
The FBI believes and defines Juggalos as a criminal gang, which violates their very first core value of “rigorous obedience to the Constitution of the United States.” In labeling the Juggalos as a “hybrid criminal gang,” the FBI is attempting to protect people of the United States from crime.

4. What’s the conflict (or synergy) between the pundit’s discourse community and the discourse community formed by the subculture?
The conflict started in October of 2011 when the FBI officially classified Juggalos as a “hybrid criminal gang.” Members of the Juggalo subculture began to experience issues that interfered with their own rights, which led to a lawsuit from ICP against the FBI in order to remove the classification; stating it violated their constitutional rights. While the case was dismissed, they are still continuing to fight and try to be heard on the matter.
5. So what? Why is this moment of conflict (important, that is, what does this moment of tension tell us about conflict between the “values, beliefs, attitudes, interactional styles, uses of language and ways of being in the world” (Gee) that exist between your chosen subculture and mainstream society?
This moment of conflict is important because it shows that while the FBI and others may believe that Juggalos are gang members simply based on their appearance, a vast amount of them are not and it affects them greatly. Being classified as something that you are not is a bad feeling, especially when it begins to affect your everyday life and you find yourself having to hide who you really are. Juggalos consider themselves a “family,” and for many it is just a type of music they enjoy or a means of being accepted.
Not only is this moment of conflict important for Juggalos, but it shows the inadequacy of the anti-gang laws in the United States. What exactly constitutes and defines a group as a gang has been an academic debate for years, and has recently developed real world consequences. These gang definitions being too broad lead to discriminatory police action against often innocent people.

Research Sources
I will incorporate at least two outside sources, one scholarly source and one public source. I will also include primary research, in the form of an interview with a Juggalo member. At least two of the readings from class will also be incorporated into my research project.
One scholarly article I already have obtained is ”Gang Definitions, How Do They Work?: What the Juggalos Teach Us About the Inadequacy of Current Anti-Gang Law” by Zachariah D.
Fudge. Another public source I have obtained is “I’m a Juggalo, Not a Gang Member” on the
ACLU of Michigan website, discussing the details of the case.
Preliminary Thesis Statement
Juggalos were defined as a hybrid criminal gang by the FBI solely based on their physical appearance and how they stick together as a family; which was shown in the lawsuit from ICP and ACLU that displayed how their constitutional rights were negatively affected by this definition.