NCJ Number
225270
Date Published
2008
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This chapter on street gangs in the Netherlands focuses on the conflicts they experience, with attention to the nature of the opposing parties in the conflicts and the causes of the conflicts.
Abstract
Frederic Thrasher, who conducted a study of gangs in Chicago (“The Gang,” 1927), referred to group dynamics when he said the gangs integrate through conflict. He does not refer to quarrels between individual members but rather the process in which cohesion between group members grows as a result of a common adversary outside the group. Throughout the Netherlands, Moroccan boys have become known for their involvement in gang conflict within neighborhoods. The conflicts mostly involve neighborhood resident’s complaints about nuisance behaviors by gangs of Moroccan boys. The recent emergence of youth groups that wear Lonsdale brand clothing and have extreme Right sympathies has roots in the early 1990s. Central to the emergence of the Lonsdale group style are dance parties where loud, monotonous electronic music is played and drugs are consumed. Lonsdale youth indicate that they feel hampered and even besieged by migrant youth. Lonsdale groups have picked fights with migrant groups. Data suggest that Lonsdale groups are found mainly in smaller cities and the countryside; whereas, Moroccan boys are mostly involved in neighborhood conflicts within the large Dutch cities. Inter-gang or intra-gang use of firearms seldom occurs, and the drug trade is not an economic activity of Dutch gangs. Both types of gangs are aggressive and violent as part of their group identity. Moroccan gangs are criminally active as part of their group identity. It is unclear as to the extent of group-related criminality among Lonsdale groups. 2 tables and 47 references