Delinquency and the Gang or Masked Intimacy: Adult Delinquent Gangs in a Chicano Community

• NCJ Number: 148528
• Author(s): R Horowitz
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 43 pages
• Grant Number(s): 77-NI-99-0066
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using the paradox of the minimal utilitarian payoff of membership and the greater payoff in the expressive meaning of membership, this analysis examines the role of the gang in the lives of its members who live in an inner city Chicano neighborhood.

Abstract

The findings show that the continuity of gang membership is based on the nature of the solidarity of the group, not on similar reactions to predictive factors such as a failure to achieve, lack of opportunities, or lack of symbols of maturity. The gang serves a minimal utilitarian function as the members move between legitimate and illegitimate economic activities. The mutual exchange network in which the gang participates is utilitarian in that it provides members with economic and social benefits when they need it. However, the continuing solidarity of the gang is better explained by an examination of the expressive values of this honor-based subculture. 1 table, 7 notes, and 22 references