The Structure of the Gang

Abstract This chapter discusses the organizational character of the gang and the social contexts in which different types of gang organization seem to develop. Major dimensions of gang structure have been identified as “age, size, subgrouping, level of involvement, leadership and role differentiation, and sex” (Klein 1971, pp. 64-65). But it is important also to add the sociocultural and community structural dimensions, especially as they affect race/ethnicity and gender. Political interests, location, and particular time period also condition and provide meaning to gang organization. More specifically, this chapter deals with how gang structures develop, the characteristics of different gang organizations, their component parts, and the functions these organizations or their subunits play in particular social, political, and cultural as well as economic contexts.