An examination of the provided statement makes several mistaken assumptions about street gangs or rather it makes assumptions that were true 30 to 40 years ago but are today largely obsolete. What must be understood is that gangs, like all social groups, have a certain progression in their development wherein overtime they take on more characteristics that further distinguish them from their original incarnations (Venkatesh, 1997). For example, the infamous criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha was originally created to protect Salvadoran immigrants from various well established African American and Mexican gangs in the Los Angeles area (Michele, n.d.). Keeping in mind the fact that social groups tend to change over time, it can be seen in the case of Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 (an abbreviation for the name of the gang) that they changed from protecting Salvadoran immigrants to more criminal enterprises resulting in their current standing as one of the most proliferate and violent gangs in the U.S. and the world. The same can be said for other gang organizations in the U.S. such as the “Bloods” and the “Crips” who also evolved from being a collection of individuals with minor misdemeanors to being involved in major crimes such as drug trafficking, murder, rape and human trafficking. This type of group progression is thus seen as instances where gangs in the U.S. operate on more than a local level but rather encompass national and international levels of operation. This can be seen in the operations of MS-13 which has aggressively expanded to well over 50,000 members in various states in the U.S. alone and 100,000 globally (Breve, 2007). In this particular case it can be seen that their operations have expanded well beyond local levels and it has also been known that various “branches” do indeed communicate with each other utilizing cellphones or email in order to coordinate killings, shipments of drugs and other forms of criminal activity (National Gang Intelligence Center, 2009). Gangs are no longer isolated to particular neighborhoods but rather through natural progression they have incorporated aspects similar to that of criminal cartels in order to better survive and make money through various criminal enterprises (Abadinsky, 2010). While it may be true that certain subgroups of gangs have certain “spheres of influence” within particular areas the fact remains that a rather informal method of leadership can be seen in various cases involving MS-13, the Crips and the Bloods wherein certain “hits” made against particular law enforcement personnel were ordered by MS-13 leaders located in El Salvador (Sullivan & Logan, 2010). This resulted in several members from other states actually going to New York to perform the “hit”. It is based on similar cases such as these that it can be seen that gangs are no longer limited to particular spheres of influence since a form of “organized crime” can be seen wherein activities are conducted across state and national borders thus creating an international rather than a mere local threat (Abadinsky, 2010). Based on this it can be seen that the statement provided is once again inaccurate or more to the point obsolete in its portrayal of the isolation of gangs within particular spheres of influence. Lastly, another concept introduced by the controversial statement provided was the fact that it is supposedly impossible to determine where street gangs have the most influence or know what activities they engage in. The inherent problem with this particular statement is the fact that it is purely fallacious due to the fact that most law enforcement departments do in fact know which particular gangs hold the most influence in particular areas and what activities they engage in. This information comes not only from arrests and subsequent interrogations of gang members arrested for various crimes but it also comes from members of local communities who often can easily inform law enforcement officials which gang operates in what area and the extent of their operations (Sullivan, 2002). It is based on this and the earlier facts presented that it can be seen that the controversial statement provided is based on ideas or concepts probably from several years before social changes happened with the “gang” social group. As such believing in such a statement will not only result in improper law enforcement initiatives but could also potentially allow gang activity to continue to expand unabated as a result.
Reference List
Abadinsky, H. (2010). Organized crime (9th ed.). Florence, KY: Thomas Wadsworth Publishing.
Breve, F. (2007). The MARAS. Military Review, 87(4), 88. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
MICHELE, N. (n.d). Profile: Mara Salvatrucha gang in the US and Central America. All Things Considered (NPR).
National Gang Intelligence Center. (2009). Gang types. Web.
Sullivan, J. P. (2002). Drug Cartels, Street Gangs, and Warlords. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 13(2), 40.
Sullivan, J. P., & Logan, S. (2010). MS-13 LEADERSHIP: Networks of Influence. Counter Terrorist, 3(4), 46-58.
Venkatesh, S. (1997). The Social Organization of Street Gang Activity in an Urban Ghetto. American Journal of Sociology, 103(1), 82.