The Proliferation of Gangs in the United States

Abstract

To speak of the proliferation of gangs in the U.S. in the last two decades requires some care. First, each of the three veteran scholars most closely associated with recognizing and documenting this proliferation has at one time implied the need for theoretical caution. The range of evidence for the existence of gangs historically and internationally prompted Irving Spergel’s suggestion (1990:174) that “youth gangs may be an endemic feature of urban culture.” While Malcolm Klein (1995b) has pointed out that the recent history of gang problems can only be described as an “extended upswing,” he has also spoken of “gang cycles.“In answer to the question of the possibility of “a new wave of gang violence” in the early 1970s, Walter Miller (1982:7) characterized the U.S. gang problem as a series of waves,

There was no new wave, but rather a continuation of an old wave-a wave that strikes with great fury at one part of the shore, recedes, strikes again at another, ebbs away, strikes once more...

This research would not have been possible without the access to data afforded to the author by the National Youth Gang Center, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Cheryl L. Maxson, and Malcolm W. Klein. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the cooperating agencies and colleagues.