There are a wide range of perceptions, and misperceptions, of what youth gangs do and who is a part of them. The New York Police Department defines a gang as a group that engages in criminal behavior and has a formal organizational structure, identifiable leadership, and territory. The U. Department of Justice estimates that there are approximately , gang members in 28, gangs in the U. It is estimated that females make up approximately 20 percent of the national gang population.
And while the average age of gang members is 17, nearly half of all gang members range in age from 18 to 25 year. The New York Police Department recently reported that the known gang members in the city increased from 11, to 15, in the past year. However, many researchers doubt the validity of such numbers. Prior to , New York City's Youth Services Administration kept more dependable gang statistics in the city, but in the fiscal problems of the city, the administration was disbanded and tracking was handed over to police.
While the ethnic make-up of gangs, the streets they call "turf," and the names they give themselves have changed over time, the common factor is social class. Most gang members come from lower or working-class backgrounds, looking for a way to gain power in the social order. In , members of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in lower Manhattan complained to the city about the gangs of white, working class youths who harassed churchgoers, according to the book, "Gotham" by Edwin G.
Burroughs and Mike Wallace. By the 's, the authors explain, young men "swaggered about the city after work and on Sundays, staking out territories, picking fights, defending the honor of their street and trade. Until the mid's, a majority of gangs in America were white, composed of boys from various European backgrounds. The postwar gangs in the 's's were primarily "turf" gangs who defended their areas against neighboring ethnic groups and new immigrants.
In his recent book, "Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings," Eric Schneider presents Postwar gang life as a world of switchblades, zoot suits, slums, and bebop music. While youth gangs were often seen as "violent, short-lived, disorganized collections of misfits whose main purpose was thrill seeking and immediate gratification," says Schneider, they provided a social structure for working-class boys that provided a sense of identity, place, and masculinity.
By , about four-fifths of gang members were either African-American or Hispanic. And the late 's and early 's saw the growth of West Coast gangs like the Crips and the Bloods, although most experts dispute the notion that the gangs actually migrated across the country.
Instead they are local, non-centralized gangs that go by the same names and wear the same identifying colors. It is the Sicilian Mafia, whose roots can be traced back to the early days of New York City's lower east side. It is claimed that they have around 25, members and reportedly , "affiliates" around the world. The Mafia's primary functions are protection racketeering, settling illegal disputes, and handling and sorting illegal agreements and transactions.
The Sinaloa Cartel is as dangerous as they come. A Mexican gang notorious enough to murder people on camera and post it online, they have established their name as one of a fabled drug cartel. He is so powerful that he managed to escape the world's most secure prisons twice. Even the fact that he is currently under arrest, didn't slow-down the gang's usual dealings of extortion, kidnappings, human trafficking, murder and any other cashable crime.
There is too much to cover about these two deadly gangs who control Los Angeles, California. Here's a gist, Bloods was formed to fight the terror of Crips in Each set has its own rules and a leader, and functions independently.
Bloods are identified by the red color worn by their members. In an attempt to overpower Crips, the Bloods became increasingly violent. Today both these gangs are equally feared in the States. This Mexican cartel is considered the main rival of Cosa Nostra. The founders of the club started it in the s. For more information on the Mongols, you can check out their official website. You can even order merch and check out chapters.
The club is estimated to have between 1, and 1, members and operates mostly in the American West. They span the whole country. The gang has a presence in numerous states, spanning the whole country.
The drug cartel is one of the most advanced in Mexico. Their history is fascinating too, as, at one time, many members were actually a part of the Mexican army which fought against the cartels. But learning their methods, those military members became their own cartel and took over. The gang has 15, members in and out of jail.
United States Department of Justice. White supremacists have been in the news lately, and that includes people associated with the Aryan Brotherhood. In the early s, the attorney general, Janet Reno, started using Rico to charge criminal street gangs. Woods explains that law enforcement typically splits gang activity into three groups: white supremacist prison gangs, outlaw biker clubs and criminal street gangs. He concluded that systemic racism often keeps white gangs categorized as prison and biker groups instead of street gangs — the category drawing the toughest charges and sentences.
This means white gangs are not typically policed as stringently, he writes, and their members can miss interventions sometimes offered to more publicized gangs of color.
Woods blames the media for underreporting white gangs. New gang members have often already tangled with police. A study in Jackson , which focused on urban black gangs, showed that not finishing school and being put into a police car are top precursors for a young person committing worse crime as an adult.
Ivey says no one tried to redirect him as he went in and out of juvenile facilities and prison, where he smoked weed every day. He soon transferred to prison, where he had to defend his new gang allies, the Black Gangster Disciples. Ivey avoided conflicts with the Aryan Brotherhood — who considered the Royals traitors to the white race — but he also had to stand up to his own black allies. During his time behind bars, Ivey studied Royals literature — 50 pages of policies and history — and started networking.
By the time he returned home in , he had claimed the title of Central Mississippi regional captain. On the outside, Ivey started organizing the Royals. I had their backs, they had mine, no matter what. In , Ivey was locked up for four years for manufacturing crystal meth.
In , he returned to a trailer park where a mother of two called Spirit lived and assisted with operations.
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