NCJ Number
147254
Journal
American Sociological Review Volume: 39 Dated: (April 1974) Pages: 238-251
Date Published
1974
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the social context in which gang violence occurs in a Mexican American community.
Abstract
The authors say that gang violence arises in situations in whice one party impugns the honor of his adversary. This sort of conduct violates the norms of interpersonal etiquette and constitutes a violation of "personal space." Gang members fluctuate uneasily between conventional and honor-bound responses to these kinds of insults. The paper outlines a theory of normative ambiguity that deals with this movement between two antithetical codes of conduct. Footnotes, references