Birds of a Feather Fight Together: Status-Enhancing Violence, Social Distance and the Emergence of Homogenous Gangs

This study proposes a theoretical framework for understanding two empirical findings from gang research: (1) gangs are generally racially homogenous, even in heterogeneous environments, and (2) gang violence tends to be intra-racial. We draw from the extensive literature on street gangs as well as f...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gravel, Jason (Author) ; Allison, Blake (Author) ; West-Fagan, Jenny (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: Journal of quantitative criminology
Year: 2018, Volume: 34, Issue: 1, Pages: 189-219
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Game Theory
Status
Group formation
Violence
Gangs
Game theory
Description
Summary:This study proposes a theoretical framework for understanding two empirical findings from gang research: (1) gangs are generally racially homogenous, even in heterogeneous environments, and (2) gang violence tends to be intra-racial. We draw from the extensive literature on street gangs as well as from research on group formation and status-enhancing behavior to develop a theoretical model of gang formation.
ISSN:1573-7799
DOI:10.1007/s10940-016-9331-8