How Have Gangs Changed Essay

Introduction

When we think about what makes up a gang there is so many attributes that it could consist of. There is one thing for sure and it is that the majority of gangs share the same three desires which are “money, power and respect and they’ll get it by any means necessary” (Pieper, 2012: 1). This essay will focus on the ways in which contemporary gangs have changed from those of the 1950s and 60s. I will draw upon the work of many academics, including that of Albert Cohen and his theory that gangs are made up of ‘delinquent boys’. I will mainly be studying gangs in the UK, although will make some reference to US gangs. I will also explore the ways in which gangs have changed tremendously in regards to culture, social class, gender, representations,

Overall, criminological theories have tried to explain the formation and the prevalence of gangs and two primary theories emerged. The first was that of Cohen (1955) and his ‘underclass theory’ which emphasised the strain in low income areas and secondly was Miller (1958) and ‘subcultural theory’ which focuses on poverty areas as generating delinquent behaviour. Whilst these theories can still be applied today to explain the formation of gangs, what makes them problematic is that they do not explain why gangs continue to change and alter their behaviour. Furthermore, these approaches do not consider that gang formation is necessarily determined by a range of factors other than the experience of strain. I think that overall whilst the motivation of gangs hasn’t changed as they all desire money, power and respect, the means by which gang members commit their crimes has changed. My final point is that whilst society continues to change and develop and technology becomes more advanced, gangs will also continue to change as overall they will adapt to society just like all of us as individuals