NCJ Number
228168
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 288-306
Date Published
August 2009
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the complexity of street gang homicides and focuses on the situational factors that lead to gang members' susceptibility to this violent behavior within the context of a disadvantaged minority community.
Abstract
Findings show how locally embedded social processes associated with specific gang types, ecology, drugs, circumstances, and motives unfold into homicidal events. Data show that the circumstances and motives of the majority of homicides were predicated on the collective goals and activities of the gang, such as drive-bys or a dispute over turf. These gang homicides were distinct from those that were simply gang member homicides. The latter were homicides committed by gang members but not necessarily for the promotion of the gang's interests, such as retaliation. Among the gang member homicides, the nature and intensity of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim varied, from neighborhood associates to drug acquaintances to strangers. Data clarified how all the homicides were associated with distinct street gang values. Social differences between adolescents were the bases for conflict among youth. Geographic proximity of gang territories emerged as an important characteristic in explaining gang homicides. The relationship between drug and violence was related to psychopharmacological, economic, compulsive, and systemic factors; alcohol use, but not drug use was associated with arrests for violent crime. Firearms were used in almost all of the homicides. Finally, in San Antonio, Latino homicides and other violent crimes had not been neutralized by a large influx of immigrants as in other cities. Data were collected from 28 homicides involving 160 male Mexican-American gang members between 14 and 25 years old. Table and references