Street gangs in America: a serious social and criminal justice concern

 Introduction 

Street gangs remain a serious social and criminal justice concern in America and many other parts of the world. In the American context, the years between the 1960s and 1990s saw a sharp increase in gang problems in cities and counties. Though most of the U.S. cities reported an increase in gang activities during that period, most dramatic increases were recorded in cities in the Old South (Howell & Griffiths, 2018). The growth of gangs in the 1960’s American cities can be attributed to economic segregation that promoted family disorganization and reduced the level of social control over youths and post-Civil Right Movement’s government policies that reduced anti-gang influences. An increase in gang organizations and activities were also due to the massive influx of immigrants after the passage of the Immigrant and Nationality Act of 1965. The immigrant population faced assimilation problems and social rejection, especially the “new second generation” and some disgruntled youths turned to gangs for solace. Street gangs in the U.S. can be classified as traditional or neo-traditional depending on their size, the duration they have been in operation, age range, territorial scope, structure, and crime versatility (Klein & Maxson , 2001). The traditional gangs, for example, are larger in size (more than 100 members), have existent for more than 20 years, are clearly sub-grouped, and are territorial in sense. The range of criminal activities in which traditional gangs are involved in is also diverse. Neo-traditional gangs, on the other hand, have smaller membership (above 50 but below 100), are sub-grouped, and are territorial as well. The members of neo-traditional gangs have a smaller age range and engage in versatile criminal activities. Also, neotraditional gangs are gangs that have been existence for ten years or less and that are slowly evolving into traditional gangs. This paper will present a comparative analysis of two American gangs: Latin Kings, a traditional gang, and Juggalo, a neotraditional gang. 

Gang Structure: Latin Kings v. Juggalos 

Latin Kings is a traditional gang that was established in Chicago in the 1940s. Initially, the Mexican and Puerto Rican men who established Latin Kings meant it to be a community protection entity. At the time, Latinos in North America were suffering from racial discrimination and oppression and the group saw the need for a group that would offer them protection. However, Latin Kings would evolve into one of the most notorious criminal gangs in Chicago in three decades. In the early 1970s, Latin Kings was associated with various serious crimes, including drug trafficking, homicides, and violent robberies (Knox & McCurrie, 1996). Today, the gang has grown in size and has a presence in numerous American major cities. Though members of the gang identify themselves as Latin Kings, its membership is open to individuals from any nationality or ethnic background. Currently, Latin Kings is made up of more than 160 structured subgroups operating in 31 states and over 160 cities. It is estimated that Latin Kings has between 3,000 and 7,500 members who are affiliated with the Chicago-based leadership hierarchy (Brotherton, Brotherton & Barrios, 2014). Its main sources of income include street-level sales and distribution of illegal drugs, such as marijuana, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and heroine. The gang is also involved in a range of criminal activities, such as money laundering, homicides, assault, identity theft, and burglary. 

Juggalo, on the other hand, is a neotraditional criminal gang that operates in the state of California under the banner of Juggalos, a larger and more established street gang. Though Juggalo has been operating in California for years, it is only recently when it was declared a gang under the state laws. Members of Juggalo, who consider themselves fans of Insane Clown Posse band, have for years fought against being classified as a criminal gang. The band that Juggalo members associate with has been criticized for lyrics that are “frightening and frighteningly stupid” and that contain references to high levels of sexual depravity and violence (Barker, 2012). The other thing that makes Juggalo a unique gang is that it does not affiliate itself to any nationality, gender, or ethnic group. Rather, Juggalo’s membership is largely racially and ethnically heterogeneous and includes both sexes and individuals of diverse ages. Also, Juggalo’s gang members consider themselves family and wear clothes with a logo of “hatchet man” as an expression of solidarity (Zachariah, 2014). They form a unified front of Americans who have defined as outcasts and who have created their own outfit and subculture to gain social acceptance. Though the gang has consistently denied involvement in any forms of crime and violence, FBI records link them to crimes that include vandalism, robberies, assaults, drug sales and possessions, and destruction directed towards police officers. However, unlike Latin Kings, Juggalo members are not associated with murder and homicide crimes. In the view of Zachariah (2014), Juggalo meets the definition of a street gang because the organization has a symbol and a name and its members have collectively or individually been involved in activities that are common among criminal gangs. For a group to qualify as a gang, it has to have at least three members and to engage in one or more specified criminal activities. While Juggalo is an organization that lacks formal leadership, hierarchy, or command structure, it has a name and a symbol and some of its members individually engage in more or less aggressive criminal activities.   

Rules on Group Dynamics 

Individuals who join Latin Kings have to swear an oath of allegiance to the gang and after reading the gang manifesto and rules. The gang’s manifesto, also known as the Chicago manifesto, requires Latin King’s members to be patient, but not to despair. Members should know when it is time to attack and when it is time to rest and not to break patience and jump into action before it is the right time. The Chicago manifesto also seeks to create a family-like culture within the group by warning members not to turn their backs on one another (Knox & McCurrie, 1996). The manifesto requires Kings, as they call themselves, to love one another with generous hearts and to be honest because breaking their honesty and acting falsely violates the will of their nation and creator. Latin King’s rules, on the same note, are precise and clear and draw directly from the Chicago-based gang traditions. The rules spell the structural hierarchy of Latin Kings, meanings of the number of beads and colors worn by members, officers, and other rank-and-file members, sanctions and punishments that apply to particular violations, and proper way of conducting meetings and communicating grievances (Brotherton, Brotherton & Barrios, 2014). There are also rules about the amount of money that each member should pay and how it should be used and prayers at the start and conclusion of meetings. Prayers are said in events that include funerals, weddings, initiations, and baptisms. The requirements about verbal and non-verbal gestures that Latin King’s gang members should employ during exchanges with one another are quite precise and highly ritualized. 

As a neo-traditional gang, Juggalos are not as structured as Latin Kings and the group does not have clear rules on what members are expected to do. This gang reaches its fans through music and encourages all members of the Juggalo family to embrace one another and celebrate their diverse cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic statuses. According to Fudge (2014), Juggalos is a loosely organized gang that is comprised of diverse members, including working-class white men and women and economically deprived minorities. Though the gang has refuted involvement in criminal activities, the FBI believes that some of its members and subsets engage in criminal activities, such as drug sales and use, assaults and theft. However, the group leaders claim that their group is not associated with and does not control any known geographic territory and that what it does is to cultivate positive qualities in the society, including friendship, the pursuit of common interests, and solidification of community life. Thus, in the absence of a strong organizational structure, geographical territory to control, and written rules, Juggalo members who engage in criminal activities do not do so to promote the organization’s corporate goals, but in pursuit of individualized interests. To promote their family culture, however, Juggalo members hold an annual event that is known as Dark Carnival (Zachariah, 2014). During the week-long event, Juggalo family members gather and partake in activities that include smoking, drinking, and listening to music. Some members of the Juggalo family engage in recreational drug use during the annual week-long event, but this is usually not part of the gang’s scheduled activities. Others bring with them families and partners and because the traditional Juggalo family does not allow members to judge others, they consider these variations part of their ultimate experience. At the Dark Carnival festivities, Juggalos carry with them Faygo Soda, a kind of inexpensive soda that they shower in or spray at each other as a symbol of baptism from poverty. Strangers passing by the event are also given free Faygo soda as a language of acceptance and friendship. 

Gang Membership 

   Latin King has an elaborate framework that spells the responsibility and roles of each gang member based on age and rank. Members of Latin Kings, for instance, should be role models to the Latino community and other members of their gang. Depending on age, one should be attending school, free of hard drugs, working or looking for work, promoting the interests of Latino cultural history, or taking care of their families (Brotherton, Brotherton & Barrios, 2014). However, the degree to which gang members conform to these standards varies greatly. In the doctrine of the Chicago manifesto, members of Latin Kings slowly and progressively enter into the gang experience and evolve through various stages of development before they attain the level of consciousness that constitutes the hallmark of true “Kingism” (Knox & McCurrie, 1996). The three stages to true Kingism include the primitive stage, conservative stage, and New King stage. At the primitive stage, Latin Kings' gang members act on impulse and are likely to execute actions without thinking about them seriously. In the second, conservative stage, Latin King Warriors have become tired of the primitive stage and is no longer willing to engage in activities that as fighting and hanging on the corner. Latin King’s gang members accept the realities of life at this stage and most of them get married and learn to live in a society that exploits and dehumanizes people of color and maintains them under the yoke of economic and social slavery (Brotherton, Brotherton & Barrios, 2014). At the New King Stage, gang members develop into self-aware decision-makers and focus on driving revolution and bringing freedom to the oppressed. To the New King, everything has meaning and human life is more valuable than material and worldly things. 

Becoming a Juggalo member, on the other hand, is not as complicated as becoming a member of Latin Kings. What an individual requires to do is to appreciate Insane Clown Posse’s music and be attending events and concerts organized by the band. This way, one would slowly adopt the Juggalo lifestyle and become a member of the Juggalo gang. Insane Clown Posse is a band that was founded by Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J and whose lyrics focus on highlighting social problems and injustices, such as poverty and oppression (Zachariah, 2014). Membership to Juggalo is open to all people regardless of their socio-economic class, family and ethnic background, gender, and age. An individual can join Juggalo either as a way of distinguishing his or her identity or as a means of finding a group that he or she can call a family. Juggalos are kind and non-judgmental and are always committed to making everyone feel at home. Though Juggalo gang members resist the mainstream societal norms, they are bonded by their common love for hip hop music, friendship, and individualism (Barker, 2012). People who have been misunderstood by the society in their whole lives also find Juggalo their perfect home and family. This includes people who have been rejected by the society for being poor or overweight and looking weird. Men who have breasts the size are seen displaying them proudly during Dark Carnival festivals. 

Crime and Aggressiveness 

  Latin Kings is a gang that has been profiled as a level three organization. According to Knox and McCurrie (1996), a level three gang is characterized by its formal organization, centralization, high level of authoritarianism and violence, and aggressiveness. Level three gang organizations also have written constitutions and by-laws, just like Latin King’s Chicago manifesto. Latin Kings is aggressive both to members of the gang and outsiders or non-members. From FBI records, Latin Kings is involved in crimes that range widely in terms of seriousness and aggressiveness. The more aggressive crimes that the group has been associated with include robberies, drive-by shooting, and car-jacking ( Klein & Maxson , 2001). Latin King’s gang members have also been arrested and convicted for less aggressive crimes that include money laundering, drug trafficking, fraud, extortions, drug use, possession and sale of stolen goods, graffiti, vandalism, and property and status offences. In the gang, there are career criminals who spend most of their time distributing crack cocaine and receiving stolen goods for resale. However, there are gang members who are not oriented to crime yet they choose to be part of Latin Kings (Brotherton, Brotherton & Barrios, 2014). To them, crime for money and instant gratification squander opportunities for education and legitimate work, but being a member of the gang is also important because it assures them safety while according them a distinct identity. 

Equally notably, Latin Kings is an organization that is known to be aggressive towards leaders and gang members who violate the organization’s code of conduct (Barker, 2012). Leaders, for example, can be fined for not meeting their obligations of maintaining group cohesion and protecting members from outside interference. Sanctions for failing to meet financial obligations also include being beaten by at least four members of the gang for up to 60 seconds. For members, as Barker (2012) highlights, punishment for deviance includes losing a firearm assigned by the gang or paying a fine of up to $50. 

Juggalo is a gang that denies being aggressive or even being involved in non-violent criminal activities. However, studies show that some Juggalo members have been implicated in crime. A report released by the Justice Department’s National Gang Intelligence Center in 2011 and that led to the classification of Juggalo as a crime outfit, for example, characterized Juggalo as a disorganized, sporadic, and individualistic gang whose members engage in petty theft, simple assault, vandalism, and personal drug possession and use (Zachariah, 2014). However, the report also noted that Juggalo is slowly evolving from a neo-traditional gang to a traditional outfit as evidenced by the involvement of its members in more aggressive crimes. Juggalo’s subsets in urban and suburban cities of California, in this case, engage in crimes such as assaults and robberies. These crimes are committed by the younger generation of gangs that are keen to take the organization’s subculture to another level. Most criminally-active and aggressive Juggalo members identify themselves as members of the larger Juggalo family and display the organization’s lifestyles in addition to observing other traditions associated with the gang, such as listening to Insane Clown Posse’s music and attending the Dark Carnival annual festivities. In January 2011, for example, an 18-year-old male identified as a member of the Juggalo family was accused of assaulting a couple, shooting them, and wounding them seriously as they walked along Maple Valley in Washington DC’s King County (Zachariah, 2014). The previous year, a Juggalo family member assaulted a university student and attempted to rob her outside the University of Delaware, Newark. Other aggressive behavior linked to Juggalo includes violently attacking homeless people in cities inside and outside California. 

In Illinois’ city of Chicago, Latin Kings have been on the record intimidating judicial system officials. Latin King’s gang has great control over the legal and social systems in their territories and often kidnaps witnesses who testify against them and threaten them with death and other dire consequences (Knox & McCurrie, 1996). Also, the gang has wealthy leaders to bail out gang members to are arrested and bribe judicial officers for parole when members are jailed. Less moneyed neotraditional gangs like Juggalo, however, do not have much control of their territories and their leaders cannot afford to bribe judicial officers, and for these reasons, their members mostly serve custodial sentences when arrested, prosecuted, and convicted. Equally notably, neotraditional gangs have many competitors in their territories that neutralize their authority and aggressiveness (Zachariah, 2014). Gangs like Juggalo concentrate more on competing with and toppling their rivals and direct little energy to aggressive behaviours. 

Conclusion 

The focus of this paper was to present a comparative analysis of two American gangs: Latin Kings, a traditional gang, and Juggalo, a neotraditional gang. In the analysis, it has emerged that traditional gangs differ from their neotraditional counterparts in terms of the level of control they have over their territories, the type of crimes they engage in, their size, and their organizational structures. Compared to Juggalo, for example, the Latin King is larger in size and is better organized with rules and clear hierarchies. Latin King is also involved in more serious and aggressive crimes compared to Juggalo, with the latter often denying any involvement in crime. However, Juggalo is growing in size and soon, it is likely to evolve from neotraditional to a traditional gang. Latin King has been known to be a criminal street gang because it has clear hierarchies, leadership, code of conduct, and structure and its members collectively engage in unlawful activities. Leaders in each territory collect money from gang members and those who fail to pay the money face sanctions, such as having their guns confiscated or being slapped with hefty fines. Latin King also judicial decision-making either through bribing of judicial officers or by threatening and intimidating witnesses in cases in which its members are implicated in the crime. On the other hand, Juggalo qualifies as a criminal gang not because the organization has a hierarchy, leadership, or clear governance structures, but because it has a name and a symbol and its members are individually involved in criminal activities. 

References 

Barker, T. (2012). North American criminal gangs: street, prison, outlaw motorcycle, and drug trafficking organizations. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press. Link www.amazon.com/North-American-Criminal-Gangs-Organizations/dp/1611630711 

Brotherton, D. C., Brotherton, D. & Barrios, L. (2014). The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation: street politics and the transformation of a New York City gang: Columbia University Press. Link www.books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KhetLynY5jsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Brotherton,+D.+C.,+Brotherton,+D.+%26+Barrios,+L.+(2014).+The+Almighty+Latin+King+and+Queen+Nation:+street+politics+and+the+transformation+of+a+New+York+City+gang:+Columbia+University+Press.+&ots=XnsXZ191C4&sig=fWMB5P_QzWCZweo5ErOWqayCwC0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 

Howell, J. C. & Griffiths, E. (2018). Gangs in America's communities . 3 rd Ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. Link www.us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/gangs-in-americas-communities/book255560 

Klein, M. & Maxson, C . (2001).  Gang Structures, Crime Patterns, and Police Responses:  A Summary Report . A summary Report. Link www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/188510.pdf   

Knox, G. W., & McCurrie, T. F. (1996). Gang Profile: The Latin Kings. Journal of Gang Research , 4 (1), 43-72. Link www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/gang-profile-latin-kings 

Zachariah, D. F. (2014). Gang Definitions, How Do They Work? What the Juggalos Teach Us About the Inadequacy of Current Anti-Gang Law , 97 Marq. L. Rev. 981-1040. Link www.scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5208&context=mulr