Abstract
Historical gang literature traditionally perceived street gangs as boisterous outfits occasionally engaged in delinquency. In recent decades however, street gang behavior has come to be seen ever more as encroaching upon criminality, primarily due to its involvement in drug supply. This article aims to provide a brief historical review as to how the practice of drug supply entered into the life of the street gang, with specific emphasis on The War on Drugs in the 1970s and the rise of the crack cocaine economy in the 1980s.
Highlights
What do gang members do? Research tells us that the vast majority of a gang member’s time is spent “hanging out” and not doing very much [1]
Research tells us that compared to their non-gang peers, gang members engage in a disproportionate amount of delinquent/criminal activity [2]
As drug markets became saturated and gang-related homicides reached unprecedented highs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gang members began migrating from large urban centers to smaller towns and cities to establish new markets
Summary
What do gang members do? Research tells us that the vast majority of a gang member’s time is spent “hanging out” and not doing very much [1]. Research tells us that compared to their non-gang peers, gang members engage in a disproportionate amount of delinquent/criminal activity [2]. As drug markets became saturated and gang-related homicides reached unprecedented highs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gang members began migrating from large urban centers to smaller towns and cities to establish new markets. This gave rise to gang franchising or importation, whereby gangs from big cities either colonized gangs in other locations or recruited local youth to establish their own gangs. The aim of this article, is to add some important cultural and historical context to this narrative and to more clearly align the literature on gangs with the literature on drug markets
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