Gang crime

A gang is a group of friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior. Some criminal gang members are "jumped in" (by going through a process of initiation), or they have to prove their loyalty and right to belong by committing certain acts, usually theft or violence. A member of a gang may be called a gangster, a gang banger, or, less specifically, a thug.

A number of gangs have gained notoriety throughout history, including the Italian mafia, the Russian mafia, the Yakuza in Japan, the gangs of New England, African-American gangs, Latino gangs, and biker gangs.

The word "gang" derives from the past participle of Old English gan, meaning "to go". It is cognate with Old Norse gangster, meaning "journey." It typically means a group of people, and may have neutral, positive or negative connotations depending on usage.

In discussing the banditry in American history Barrington Moore, Jr. suggests that gangsterism as a "form of self-help which victimizes others" may appear in societies which lack strong "forces of law and order"; he characterizes European feudalism as "mainly gangsterism that had become society itself and acquired respectability and power but gang violences were frequent occurances".

A wide variety of gangs, such as the Order of Assassins, the Damned Crew, Adam the Leper's gang, Penny Mobs, Indian Thugs, Chinese Triads, Snakehead, Japanese Yakuza, Irish mob, Pancho Villa's Villistas, Dead Rabbits, American Old West outlaw gangs, Bowery Boys, Chasers, the Italian mafia, Jewish mafia, and Russian Mafia crime families have existed for centuries. According to some estimates the Thuggee gangs in India murdered 1 million people between 1740 and 1840.

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