STREET GANGS: A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE
This research examines contemporary street gangs in the United States from a perspective of social psychology. Addressed specifically in this research are initiation, group functioning, and psychological effects of gang participation.
It is all too easy and simple minded to state that contemporary street gangs coalesced around the illegal drug trade. Masters (1988) contends that the energy of the young has always been channeled into groups, and that contemporary gang activity is just an extension of that process. Contemporary street gangs, however, represent far more than just an outlet for the energy of the young. More than anything else, these gangs provide a place to belong for groups of young people who are disaffected from their society and from their families.
A variety of reasons underlie the disaffection of young people from their society and their families. One of these factors is divorce, and the accompanying abandonment of the family by one of the parents usually the father. Divorce should not be considered in the legal sense of the word, for marriage does not necessarily characterize many of the homes from which gang members are drawn, and abandonment by one of the parents need not necessarily stem from legal divorce.
The divorce rate per 1,000 persons of marriageable age in the United States increased from 1.6 in 1920 to 5.3 in 1981 (U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1989). Since 1981, the rate has declined slightly, reaching 4.8 in 1988 (U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1989). Considered in another context, there was one divorce for every 7.5 marriages in the United States in 1920, while there was one divorce for every two marriages in 1981 (U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1989). Again, since 1981, the situation has improved somewhat, and, in 1988, there was one divorce for every 2.02 marriages (U.S. National Center for He...