Citation

Gannon TM. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 1967; 4(1): 119-131.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1967, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/002242786700400108

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Research into the types of gangs serviced by the street workers of the New York City Youth Board points to the beginnings of a more sophisticated type of delinquent group. Although continuing to come from neighborhoods which lack stability and offer multiple opportunities for delinquency, many New York gangs have shifted from the more tightly structured, aggressive gangs of the 1950's, to a rather loosely-knit group with informal leader ship and less cohesive organization. Many of the larger fighting gangs have dissolved into smaller cliques in which violence is more diffuse and individualistic. Aggression remains the chief mechanism of group maintenance, but extreme intergroup con flict has declined. As group solidarity has weakened, the group's tolerance for a wider range of deviance has increased. This overall shift in gang patterns is accompanied by an increase in social ability, occupational aspirations, and involve ment in the larger society. The data also reveal a certain ambivalence on the part of gang members toward their own group, thus supporting Short and Strodtbeck's findings about the unsatisfying nature of gang life. Many of these current changes reflect the fact that society is apparently beginning to offer these groups more than recreational facilities and consultative services; they also indicate important implications for agency and commu nity intervention programs.