NCJ Number
147622
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (January 1967) Pages: 119-131
Date Published
1967
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Eighty New York City street workers responded to a questionnaire that solicited information on the types of gangs with which they work.
Abstract
The survey findings point toward the beginnings of a more sophisticated type of delinquent group. Although continuing to come from neighborhoods that lack stability and provide multiple opportunities for delinquency, many New York gangs have shifted from the more tightly structured, aggressive gangs of the 1950's to a loosely knit group with informal leadership and less cohesive organization. Many of the larger fighting gangs have dissolved into smaller cliques in which violence is more diffuse and individualistic. Aggression remains the chief mechanism of group maintenance, but extreme intergroup conflict has declined. As group solidarity has weakened, the group's tolerance for a wider range of deviance has increased. This general shift in gang patterns has been accompanied by an increase in social ability, occupational aspirations, and involvement in the larger society. The data also reveal a certain ambivalence by gang members toward their own group, thus supporting Short and Strodtbeck's findings about the unsatisfying nature of gang life. Many of these current changes reflect communities' attempts to offer these groups more than recreational facilities and consultative services. They also have important implications for agency and community intervention programs. 8 tables and 23 footnotes