RT Article
T1 Crossing lines: Structural advantages of inter-racial criminal street gang violence
JF Trends in organized crime
VO 27
IS 3
SP 235
OP 262
A1 Bichler, Gisela
A2 Norris, Alexis
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1904143423
AB Since gang violence typically occurs within racial and ethnic communities, gangs observed to launch counter-normative, inter-racial attacks draw attention to the variable social processes that may underpin conflict relations. Controlling for other factors previously found to influence the structure of gang-on-gang conflict, this study investigated whether gangs launching inter-racial attacks were placing themselves in a strategic position that may offer networked advantages for criminal enterprise. Examining the conflict patterns of 136 criminal street gangs operating in the City of Los Angeles we observed structural characteristics akin to what is observed among successful organizations interlinked by competitive business relations. MR-QAP nodal regression models suggest that gang violence reflects structurally efficient attack patterns. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of our main results. We conclude that inter-racial patterns of street gang violence may reflect a subset of violence associated with competitive processes that advance criminal enterprise.
K1 Efficiency
K1 Competitive Advantage
K1 Social Network
K1 Inter-racial conflict
K1 Criminal street gang violence
DO 10.1007/s12117-022-09468-9