Why Street Gangs Exist

[RuthlessCray]

This is streetgangs.com so let's talk about why streetgangs exist and what are the root causes of gang violence.

It's a subject I've thought about for many years, I have some strong opinions and thoughts but I don't pretend to know all the reasons or know all the answers. I'll give some thoughts if anyone else replies with their opinion.

[Lakko97]

Roots of gang violence? Ok, lets take a look in history lil bit.

In 50s, the separating, racism, hardcore racial riots by whites around all over USA.... This is real root of this. This was reason to creating groups firstly created for protect their members, u kno - in the unite is power. We called em "gangs". But when some "good" guys brought drugs to neibourhoods, shit started there man.

But lets thinkin: Today, what else can black brothers do for example in South Central LA? U stay there or try go out from ghetto and find job - impossible man, u cant get job anywhere. Separating was there fo so long, and unfortunately STILL is. So u turn your ass back to the hood and u will thankful to god for every day u stay alive. Both of this possibilities are bad, u just gotta choose "smaller evil". This is reality, alas! If u grew up in the hood, there is pretty small chance that you leave, u have to join gang and roll with em, there aint no other choise, like Mc Eiht sang:

"Its not that you wanna but you have to"

[bumperjack]

Gangs go back along ways past the 1950's my friend,Street gangs.com lets have a look at street gangs 1900-1920's Since America was still in it's startup phase and hadn't secured enough funding for an established street gang training program, many of the so called "gang members" were nothing but filthy immigrants and homeless beggars. Gangs were a collection of beareded guys and dirty children who sat around a barrel which had been lit on fire a few years before. Since the majority of the population was covered with mud and soot from the nearby coal mills, nobody could tell anybody apart, and gang warfare was nearly impossible. The majority of gang members time was split between playing a harmonica and dodging spinning newspapers that carried bold print headlines reguarding World War 1.thats just the begining of street gangs!!! stay tuned for years (1920's to 1940's) The favorite street gang crimes in the 1900-1920's was Loitering: There was nothing else to do, so gangs just stood around and wore those stupid gray driving hats that all the retired people wear these days. Vandalism: When loitering, the gang members would lean up against walls of various mom and pop stores which sold candle wax or whatever stores sold back in them days. As a result, all the coal atoms on their clothes would rub off on the store walls and it would look like a couple hundred people had been vaporized by alien ray guns on the side of the store. Police would try to arrest the street gangs for this, but the cops were so dirty they wouldn't be able to see their uniforms and would forget they were actually on the police force. The 1920's-1940's "Street gangs" Foreign, non- American countries began to export their most proficent criminals, ensuring that the United States had a steady supply of Tommygun purchasers. Gang bosses from Ireland and Italy began to take over the "mean streets" of New York, Chicago. and to a lesser extent, downtown Beloit. Many gangsters chose colorful and intensely stupid nicknames like "The Nose" "Crazy Legs" and "Sticky Fingers" because their last names(which were highly foreign) sounded goofy. People would easily forget how dumb their real name was, if they chose a nickname such as Antonio "Spinnin Crawdad" Magalabeli. Gangsters weren't as filthy as they were in the previous 20 years because the power industry shifted from using coal to...well,something else I guess. There's a lot of footage of people working in steel mills back then, so I guesspower plants were fueled by really hot melted steel. Extortion: Street gangs would threaten to burn down a shopkeeper's store if he didn't pay them a certain number of dollars every week. Store owners would usually come up with the cash because mob gangs were fat, hulking,unbelievably ugly men who had divots the size of peach pits in their face. Each gang owned a particular "turf" a section of the city that contained all the abandoned warehouses along the coastline. Coastline property was highly prized back then, as it allowed easy access to dump dead bodies and partake in the following illegal activity.

[Sentenza]

Gangs exist since 2000 years at least. London has had gangs since at least 500 years too.

[bumperjack]

yes gangs go back along way into history,we can go back as far as history will let us, I have 114 years of gang history at my fingertips,Stenenza lets here some history from back then do some homework and share? I have given 1900- to present,If gangs go back that far were is the history to back it up,Stenenza? I dont doubt your sources, but Iam a history buff on gangs been involved along time, been to school and back many times,I will post 1940's-1960's next I've already given accounts from 1900-1920, 1920-1940,and this is Real History on gangs by expert source's on this topic read on...BUMPERJACK666 WOODLIFE 14/88 16/23 23/16 12/88 REAL SOLDIERS CO. CO. BOYZ

[Sentenza]

Sure, i think its an interesting topic....

Ancient Rome:

Clodius became the leader of what Cicero described as a “gang of young incorrigibles” (as qouted in Huzar 24). These youths from powerful families were involved in drinking and playing dice. They seemed almost to desire that their actions would shock respectable Rome. Among Clodius’s gang were Mark Antony and Curio, who would later become rising political stars on their own.
[...]
In retaliation, Pompey gave his support to Titus Annius Milo, an impoverished nobleman who would soon become Clodius’s worst enemy (Heaton 71). Milo formed his own gang to counteract that of Clodius, and thereafter, until the death of Clodius in 52 BCE, the streets of Rome were filled with blood as the two rival gangs battled each other for control.

http://papersiwrote.blogspot.de/2006/09 ... -late.html

Then you had some hybrid gangs mixed of chariot race hooligans and street thugs.

As fully developed, there were four factions, the Red, White, Green, and Blue.
[...]
By this time, the Blues (Vénetoi) and the Greens (Prásinoi) had come to overshadow the other two factions of the Whites (Leukoí) and Reds (Roúsioi), while still maintaining the paired alliances, although these were now fixed as Blue and White vs. Green and Red.
[...]
The Blue-Green rivalry often erupted into gang warfare, and street violence had been on the rise in the reign of Justin I, who took measures to restore order, when the gangs murdered a citizen in the Hagia Sophia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot_racing

Here are some examples of old london gangs:

The Damned Crew, or Cursed Crew, was the name given to a group of young gentlemen in late 16th and early 17th century London noted for habitually swaggering through the streets while the worse for drink, assaulting passers-by and watchmen. The earliest certain reference to such a group appears in a sermon preached by Stephen Gosson at St Paul's Cross on 7 May 1598, when he claimed that a gang of roisterers of that name - “menne without feare, or feeling, eyther of Hell or Heauen, delighting in that title”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damned_Crew

The Mohocks were allegedly a gang of violent, well-born criminals that terrorized London in the early 18th century, attacking men and women alike. Taking their name from the Mohawk Indians,[1] they were said to kill or disfigure their male victims and sexually assault their female victims. The matter came to a head in 1712 when a bounty of £100 was issued by the royal court for their capture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohocks

The Hawkubites were a gang that terrorized the city of London from 1711 to 1714, during the reign of Queen Anne.[1] It is claimed that the Hawkubites beat up women, children, watchmen, and old men in the streets after dark.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkubites

Paris:

Les Apaches were a French street gang that operated in turn-of-the-century Paris before the advent of World War I. They were called Apaches because they were so ferocious during attacks that a policeman, upon hearing of their crimes, exclaimed that they were as vicious as Apache warriors.

India:

The Thuggee of 1800s India were a gang of killers, robbers, and assassins who were as deadly and shadowy as ninjas. They left such an impact with their activities that the word “thug” literally derives from them, and they operated with such brutality that they put the Mafia to shame with a Guinness World Record for highest gang death toll (yes there is a record for that, apparently).

http://listverse.com/2013/07/30/10-bada ... m-history/

Manchester:

Scuttlers were members of neighbourhood-based youth gangs (known as scuttling gangs) formed in working-class areas of Manchester, Salford, and the surrounding townships during the late 19th century. It is possible to draw parallels with the London street gangs of the 1890s, whose behaviour was labelled hooliganism.

A scuttler is a lad, usually between the ages of 14 and 18, or even 19, and scuttling consists of the fighting of two opposed bands of youths, who are armed with various weapons.

— Alexander Devine, Scuttlers and Scuttling: Their Prevention and Cure. (Manchester, 1890)
Gangs were formed throughout the slums of central Manchester, in the townships of Bradford, Gorton and Openshaw to the east and in Salford, to the west of the city. Gang conflicts erupted in Manchester in the early 1870s and went on sporadically for thirty years, declining in frequency and severity by the late 1890s.[1]

Scuttling gangs were territorial fighting gangs, as reflected in their names; the "Bengal Tigers" came from the cluster of streets and courts off Bengal Street in Ancoats. Most gangs took their names from a local thoroughfare, such as "Holland Street" (Miles Platting) or "Hope Street, Salford".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttlers

Japan:

Kabukimono (傾奇者 (カブキもの)?) or hatamoto yakko (旗本奴?) appeared in Japan, between the end of the Muromachi era (AD 1573) and the beginning of the Edo period, (AD 1603). Kabukimono is often translated into English as "strange things" or "the crazy ones", believed to be derived from kabuku meaning "to slant" or "to deviate". They were masterless or wandering samurai or ronin, or men who had once worked for samurai families who, during times of peace, formed gangs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabukimono

Some of them are old as fuck.

[bumperjack]

Great history and yes great topic,I enjoy gang history and how it evovled after some many years,They had some real warriors in the Roman Empire,and they fought to the death with swords no guns hand to hand combat first line of defense for any soldier. In anyones army,gang,group or club,thank you for sharing your history on early gangs quite interesting really,Sentensa

[Sentenza]

Here are some pics:

Les Apaches from Paris

A weapon they used:







Gang rumble with the police:

"a pitched battle with knives and revolvers took place, during which three Apaches were killed and seven wounded. The fighting spread to the neighboring streets and cafes".
"Eight policemen, requisitioned by the frightened shopkeepers, tried to separate them. Then what always happens, happened. The thugs at once forgot their personal differences to make common cause against the "agents"...

"So it happened that for a full hour, the Place de la Bastille in central Paris was a bloody battle ground on which the police did the bleeding. From a dozen tough bars came reinforcements to the Apaches."

Soon it was reported that over a hundred more had joined their fellows in combat.

"Of the eight original policemen, six were finally carried to the St. Antoine Hospital, and all with bullets somewhere in them; and the battle would have ended in the triumph of the toughs had not policemen off duty, plain clothes men, detective inspectors, soldiers and firemen come to the rescue. Nine wounded Apaches were left on the ground by the fleeing bands."

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2012/12/15 ... es-apaches

[silentwssj]

Hey everyone! I am back from working 2 weeks straight in the middle of nowhere! It sure is nice to have some internet again even if it is only for the weekend! Anyhow, I have been wondering when someone was going to pose this question! I am not going to bore you guys with all the obvious answers that come from sociological textbooks! We all know about Economics and Racism! The thing is those issues played no part in my personal story! Instead, I will simply tell you guys like it was from my personal point of view!

First off, I am from Varrio Horseshoe, Which is a Norteno gang from the West side of San Jo, Califas! I started Banging at the age of 16! I was not actually jumped into my neighborhood until I turned 18 though! There are a few reasons why I choose this lifestyle! Initially, I would say that it had to do with acceptance, fitting into my environment and the pure rush that is experienced by living this life! You see, I was criminally minded from a young age. I began using Drugs at the age of 11! I was an adrenaline junkie who loved the excitement that committing crimes brought! Everyone around me was a Norteno, so quite naturally I followed in their footsteps! I saw the older homies running around the neighborhood and I to wanted a piece of the respect that they got from everyone. There were 2 things that stood in my mind. 1. They did what they wanted to, where they wanted to, and how they wanted to. Nobody could or would stand up to them and that appealed to me. 2. The love, respect and camaraderie that they gave each other! I truly felt the love from them! These were dudes that would fight shoulder to shoulder with you. It is very empowering to know that your homies will be there for you no matter what the situation might be! As time rolled on there were other benefits that were realized as well. 1. Good drug connections, which led to money and power! It also fed my addiction as well! 2. Women and all the partying that came with it! Looking back on those years, I was simply young and did not have any moral compass to really guide me through it all. There were big things happening around me and I wanted to be apart of it all! The best way that I can describe it would be to say that it gave me a meaning and purpose. You see to be a Norteno was presented to me as a righteous thing! The way that it was run down to me was that we were fighting for a cause that affected all of us individually! Our purpose was to keep out all southerners who we perceived as disrespecting our People, Varrios, and side of the state! You see we felt that we had a unity that they did not! We for the most part respected each other and each others varrios! There was genuine love for your fellow Norteno! We knew that they did not share that kind of love for each other! LA is a hot bed of southern on southern violence and we honestly looked down on them for that! We also felt that they preyed on there own kind and that rubbed us wrong as well! If you look at the history of the North-South split they had no love for the Raza! Instead they preyed on there own! They called us Wet backs and Farmers and tried to treat us as less than! Truth be told though we are all the same. We share the same history, origins, and blood! We looked at that them as a cancer that had to be cut out! In our eyes they were the very thing that they portrayed us as being. You see up North, Nortenos are the Chicanos and Surenos are the immigrant farmers! This caused us to view them as hypocrites and in denial of our shared history and plight! This is the view point that your average Norteno has of all Surenos in general! Anyhow! to sum it all up Respect, Power, and Money are the root causes of all gangs! If you can tie it together with a cause then you get true believers who will stop at nothing to push their agenda! Looking back on it all, I can only pray for those still living that life! Silent!

[Sentenza]

Another interesting question would be why its mostly poor communities that are affected?

[bumperjack]

Stenenza another good question, there are 6 major risk factors that contribute to gang involvement in urban environments:lack of jobs for youth,poverty compounded by social isolation,domestic violence, nrgative peer networks,lack of parental supervision,early academic failure and lack of school attachment,These risk factors increase the odds that a young person will join a gang, but its not a guarantee as we see members joining from suburbs and seemingly stable family environments. The reasons why young people join gangs from can vary from simple to more complex. A Sense of"Family" Young people might feel that they don't recieve enough support or attention at home. They may be trying to escape a negative home life, or may be looking for a father figure. Gangs often make promises to give unconditional support, and to become the "Family"they never had. Need for food or Money, Gangs may present themselves as a means of survival to youth who lack basic essentials such as food, clothing and shelter. More and more, gang members use their affiliation to make a profit through illegal activities, such as selling drugs and auto theft. Desire for protection, Communities with high gang activity often see young people join a gang just to survive. It is often easier to join the gang than to remain vulnerable and unprotected in their neighborhoods. Peer Pressure, Kids and teens face constant pressure to fit in, and they may not have the support they need to avoid the pressures to join a gang. Peer pressure can come in the form of intimidation, coercion, a dare, harassment, friendly persuasion, or repetitious begging.Family history or tradition, Families can have gang involvement spanning over multiple generations. This is one of the toughest forms of pressure to escape, as the gang lifestyle is deeply rooted in family traditions and values. Excitment, Some young people get a rush out of defying authority, or committing crimes. They may be attracted to the gang lifestyle, as it lives outside the law and participates in many illicit behaviors. To Appear Cool, Gangs have mastered the art of manipulation to attract potential recruits. They wear the latest fashion trends, throw the hottiest parties, and drive the coolest cars. They can appear to have the perfect lifestyle to a young kid who's looking to fit in somewhere. They offer an image of "cool" that has been glorified by the media and entertainment industry.

[ManorLad]

I cant explain my self as well as u lot but i know me n my lot got together cos we was sick of getting the shit kicked out of u n our stuff took n also to stop other lads burgaling our families houses n stuff n that's pretty much it