NCJ Number
147650
Journal
Adolescence Volume: 3 Issue: 59 Dated: (1968) Pages: 53-78
Date Published
1968
Length
26 pages
Annotation
The author shares his observations and speculations about juvenile gang members based on the partial results of 5 years of field research with African-American and Mexican- American gangs in Los Angeles.
Abstract
The discussion includes brief case studies of three gang members and some general conclusions drawn from their behavior and life events. Topics addressed include gang leadership, individual deficiencies of gang members, core gang members compared to fringe members, and gang-member offenses. Gang leadership is not a structured position in the gang held by certain select persons. Leadership is best defined as "a collection of functions that may be undertaken at various times by a number of members." Leadership also varies with activities. The author's strongest impression of gang members is their "caricature of adolescence." Gang members have adolescent characteristics to a degree that makes them caricatures. They are more shy, more dependent on peers, and more ambivalent about appropriate role behaviors than the average adolescent. Compared to fringe gang members, core members tend to have more individual problems and aggressiveness and are more dependent on the gang. The most common offenses are petty theft. Generally, the gang member is frustrated, insecure, and trapped in an environment of deprivation. The psychological and sociological rewards of gang life do not meet members' depth of need. Getting older is still the gang member's best hope for a better life until social theorists and practitioners are able to translate their observations into theory and their theory into action more powerful than the natural variables of urban society. 14 references