ABSTRACT
What we term “geographic gangs” (as opposed to newer cyber groups such as Anonymous that have no geographic turf) have populated American popular culture for decades. Most recently, the television series Gangland focused on specific gangs in each episode. And some of the most highly rated fictional shows, such as Sons of Anarchy, highlight gang life. However, the real impact of gangs is much greater than what is portrayed in movies, books, and documentaries. In Los Angeles alone, there have been African American “gangs” for more than ninety years and Latino “gangs” for more than seventy (Marcovitz 2010, 20–21). These gangs are often generational in nature—current members typically have relatives who were members of the same gang in years past. The gangs have a strong affiliation with certain neighborhoods, staking out turf lines that coincide with neighborhood boundaries. To their members, the gangs serve several functions in the ’hood. The gang has both practical and symbolic meaning for its members, fulfilling functions of protection, solidarity, and, for some, becoming an alternative family (Hagedorn 2004, 330), or removing themselves from familial controls and family problems (Pogrebin 2012). They preserve the ethnic quality and provide “rites of passage” for young males entering adulthood. In addition, they provide an alternative means of earning income 180in high-unemployment areas, a means to gain social respect, and a feeling of being protected as well as having companionship and support (Pogrebin 2012).
