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Narrator: Listen to part of a discussion in a sociology class. The professor is talking about gangs.
Dr. Jackson: Last class, I asked you to read some articles about gang activity. We’re trying to come  Q23
up with a definition, so let’s just go around the table and share what we found. Tracy, will you begin please?
Tracy: Okay. Um, actually, I read a review of the research for sociological studies on gang  Q24
activity, and I found that gangs have been prevalent for much longer than I’d assumed. I was so surprised, For some reason, I thought that gang activity was a fairly recent phenomenon, but actually, one of the largest studies was carried out by Thrasher in 1936,
Dr. Jackson: Good. Good. I’m pleased that you found that. Thrasher’s study is a classic research investigation. Can you summarize the findings? Of the Thrasher study?
Tracy: Sure. First, I should say that the study included more than 1300 gangs with more than 25,000 members. So... according to Thrasher, a gang is a group that may form spontaneously, but after that, it will.., integrate.., and that happens through conflict and violence. Over time, a spirit of solidarity and an attachment to a local territory kind of forms. What’s most interesting, besides the long history of gangs in the United States, the interesting part.., it’s the fact that not much has changed over the years. And, oh yes, gang behavior seems pretty similar even across cultures.
Dr. Jackson: That is interesting.
Bill: Dr. Jackson, may I go next? I have just a brief comment that seems to fit in here.
Dr. Jackson: Please.
Bill: Well, another classic study, much later, about 1987 or 8, I think, by Joan Moore...that  Q25
study indicated that gang behavior is probably caused by normal adolescent insecurities
... the desire for peer approval, respect, support, acceptance, and, in some cases, protection,  Q28
if the neighborhood is perceived as dangerous, It seems that gangs take the place of the more childish cliques.., those in-groups that develop in high schools.
Dr. Jackson: Good point. And if we can refer back to the Thrasher study, he also suggested that gangs actually form in play groups where children of a very young age begin with the usual games like hide-and-seek or kickball, and progress as they get older to playing craps or engaging in petty theft on the street. Now, back to Moore. Bill?
Bill: Right. Well...
Dr. Jackson: What about Moore’s definition of a gang? That relates to the Thrasher study.
Bill: Oh, I see what mean. I have that right here. Moore defined a gang as an "unsupervised  Q28
peer group who is socialized by the streets rather than by conventional institutions," and I was thinking that the institutions might be schools, churches, organized clubs like boys’ clubs. And one other thing, Moore emphasized that the gang had to define itself  Q26
as a gang, you know, with some kind of criteria for membership that would be recognized by all of the gang members.
Dr. Jackson: Such as?
Bill: Such as participating in a crime, either stealing something and bringing it back to the gang, or... or even killing someone in an initiation.
Sandy: Dr. Jackson, I looked up the definitions of gang members by police departments and law enforcement agencies.
Dr. Jackson: Oh, great. Let’s hear it.
Sandy: Okay. Well, according to the California Youth Gang Task Force, for example, a gang member will be recognizable because of gang-related tattoos, clothing, and paraphernalia like scarves and hats that identify a particular gang and, sometimes these are called the colors, so that allows other people to confirm that the people with the colors on... that they have a right to be on the gang’s turf. And, to follow up on Tracy’s comments about the history of gangs, it looks like these criteria have been in place for a long, long time.
Dr. Jackson: Good job. So far, what I’m hearing though, what I’m hearing refers to gang membership in general. So now let’s talk about the ages of gang members. Typically, who belongs to a gang?
Tracy: Well, this was an eye-opener. There seem to be stages, or maybe not stages, but at least categories of gang membership. It starts about age 10 or 12, which fits in with  Q28
what you were saying earlier about play groups. So these kids are playing together and they start writing graffiti on their school lockers or their notebooks, and they look up to the gang members who are about 14-20. So the little kids are "Peewees" and the teenagers are called "Gang Bangers." But the members who are 20-25 years old. They’re the "Hardcores," and most of the gangs that I read about didn’t have very many
members over 25 years old. So I would say that, in general, gang membership is for young men.
Dr. Jackson: Thanks for your assessment of membership by age. And I would certainly agree with you.
But what about females? Did anyone find any research on their role in gang activity? Bill: I did. And there are a few girl gangs-that’s what they called them in the references...  Q27
but I found that females are generally not considered members of the male-dominated gang. They’re viewed as more of a support system, and an extended social group-friends and girlfriends to party with.
Sandy: That’s what I found, too. And another interesting thing. Maybe this is naive, but I sort of imagined that gang activity was always.., always criminal activity. But, uh, according to a study by... it was James Lasley... he looked at gangs in Los Angeles about ten years ago.., and anyway, he found that they spent a lot of time hanging out, listening to music, drinking beer, and just partying with their girlfriends. And he made another good point. Since they don’t have spending money, to go places like the movies or ball games, the neighborhood is their.., entertainment.
Bill: Yeah. I read that study. Didn’t he say that some of the criminal activity was for fun... not really for financial gain?
Sandy: Exactly. And there seems to be very little planning. Just kind of going with whatever  Q28
turns up. Of course, there are instances of crimes for revenge or honor to maintain the reputation of the gang, but a lot of the time, crimes simply occur while gang members are looking for something to do.