Unfortunately, the gangs seldom, if ever, worry about the venue where they meet. Being prepared often means that some of the gang members are armed. A shooting can happen and innocent people can end up hurt, or killed. Belonging to a gang requires members to help their fellow gang members. The manager did not give an order or direct the players to run out and fight. They did it on their own, to back up their fellow ball player and to let the other team know that they are not intimidated or scared.
This same behavior occurs within the gang culture. Gang members help each other in the commission of crime and protecting each other. There are no written rules or orders. It is understood that one gang member helps the other. In the gang sub-culture, a member could be disciplined for this.
Most street gangs have no formal leadership structure. Often, the most active or the most violent gang members lead the gang. Some street gangs have an identified person who is in charge. Gang members in these types of gangs follow orders to complete a crime.
Other gangs use titles similar to the rank structure of the U. These gangs operate with a para-military style of leadership. A few street gangs even require written reports after the commission of a crime. To join a gang a potential member has to prove that he or she is worthy of membership. It is another way to pass a first test of loyalty. There are other ways to join a gang. A new member could be sponsored by an existing member. This new member could be a family member, or someone who is well known by the rest of the gang.
The answer to this question depends on the paradigm within which retaliation is viewed. Typically speaking, retaliation is conceptualized as a form of behavior concerned with righting wrong. This definition represents one of the earliest criminological entrees into retaliation, Wolfgang Psychological conceptualizations of retaliation define it as a means of exacting vengeance. Examples of a psychological version of retaliation may be found in Buss , which views retaliation as a possible outcome of anger.
Felson , a chapter on dispute-related violence, is perhaps the best-known psychological typology of predation and retaliation. Somewhat differently, sociological conceptualizations of retaliation define it on a more concrete level; retaliatory actions are those that respond to deviance and do not make use of the government for help i. Mocan uses cross-national data to explore the effect of cross-national and cross-individual differences on vengeful feelings.
Black, Donald. Crime as social control. American Sociological Review — DOI: This article makes clear that sometimes crime, such as assault or vandalism, may itself be social control, just as is law. This conception of retaliation may be labeled purely sociological, as compared to psychological.
Buss, Arnold H. The psychology of aggression. New York: John Wiley. In an early examination of different types of aggression, Buss proposes that some such acts are motivated by anger within the offender that results from previous encounters. Aggressive actions that emerge out of the anger of offenders may be seen as retaliation.
Cooney, Mark, and Scott Phillips. Typologizing violence: A Blackian perspective. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy — Criteria for evaluating typologies and definitions are also proposed. Felson, Richard B. If the strategy succeeds, the gangs will be destroyed, and the homicides solved, after years of investigations and prosecutions.
This approach is effective but difficult. Federal and local prosecutors have used it to cut murders and shootings in large, medium, and small cities. Operation Ceasefire in Boston cut the gang homicide rate; Project Safe Neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia, reduced overall shootings; and Operation Silent Night in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, cut homicides to zero for years and shootings to a fraction of prior levels.
But these efforts took significant investments of time and money. The second strategy relies on subtler work by prosecutors and investigators, though it, too, requires time and skill to develop. While gang members are unlikely to provide incriminating information about their own associates, they sometimes will provide information about the criminal activities of other gangs. In this approach, retaliation is turned into a tool for law enforcement, and the gangs manage to destroy each other through criminal convictions.
The third, and best, approach is simply not to let the cycle start. This approach requires empowering law enforcement to send drug dealers, felons with guns, and other violent criminals to jail. Both police and criminal offenders should have confidence that a good investigation will end up with the offender in jail for the appropriate amount of time. Citizens need to know that prosecutors and police stand as a sword and shield to protect them from those who would do them harm.
Experienced, no-nonsense prosecutors need to spearhead these efforts. Today, cities led by prosecutors with actual experience in tackling complex violent crime, such as Detroit and San Diego, have a chance to fight their way out of this cycle. Cities with progressive prosecutors who lack real-life experience in prosecuting and disrupting violent crime have virtually no chance of understanding what is happening, much less stopping it.
Past experience as a politician, public defender, or community organizer is of little use when bullets are flying and young men are dying. The cycle of ping pong murders is already underway. Only a coordinated effort by the police, prosecutors, and the courts will stop it. Politicians and civic leaders need to confront the problem—and that means letting the criminal-justice system do its job.
Tom Hogan has served as a federal prosecutor, local prosecutor, elected district attorney, and criminal defense lawyer. Gary Tuggle has been a police officer, a special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the police commissioner of Baltimore. Send a question or comment using the form below.
0コメント