What is gang culture?: three conceptualizations of an elusive concept
Over the last century of gang scholarship, it is difficult to find a more ubiquitous yet underdefined term than “gang culture.” What, precisely, have researchers meant when they deployed this term, and how might contemporary studies reconcile these past conceptions to productive effect? Toward impro...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
The Oxford handbook of gangs and society
Year: 2024, Pages: 375-394 |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Over the last century of gang scholarship, it is difficult to find a more ubiquitous yet underdefined term than “gang culture.” What, precisely, have researchers meant when they deployed this term, and how might contemporary studies reconcile these past conceptions to productive effect? Toward improving the theoretical, analytical, and methodological precision of ongoing gang scholarship, the chapter contends that researchers have historically adopted three primary conceptualizations of gang culture: (1) culture-as-values, (2) culture-as-toolkit, and (3) culture-as-products. Each conception generates divergent frameworks for understanding what gang culture “is,” as well as its causal influence on the attitudes, behaviors, and social organization of gangs and gang-associated individuals. As this chapter argues, these divergent conceptualizations carry implications not just for scholarship, but also for policy and community interventions. By embracing the latter two conceptions, researchers can move toward asset-based approaches that reduce the harms of overly punitive responses to gangs. |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 389-394 |
| ISBN: | 9780197618158 |