CRIMINAL AND DELINQUENT SUBCULTURESchanges associated with capitalist values and their
accompanying norms and interests—individual-
ism and competitiveness, acquisitiveness and
exploitativeness—and the relationships that devel-
oped during this period between capitalists and
emerging nation-states. While many of the facts
upon which this Marxist interpretation is based
are generally accepted, careful historical analysis
of economic and political systems and their conse-
quences cautions against any simple or straightfor-
ward interpretation (see Chirot 1985). The con-
nection between global phenomena and crime
and delinquency always is mediated by historical,
cultural, and local circumstances—by the histori-
cally concrete (see Tilly 1981).
James Coleman and his associates (1974) iden-
tified more recent social changes that were associ-
ated with the rise and spread of youth culture
throughout the United States: the Baby Boom
following World War II and the increased afflu-
ence of young people associated with post-World
War II economic prosperity combined to create a
huge youth market with great economic power. At
the same time, young people were spending more
time in school and therefore delaying their en-
trance into the labor force; growing numbers of
women entered the work force, further separating
mothers from youth in homes and neighborhoods;
adults increasingly were employed in large organi-
zations where young people were not present; and
mass media, catering more and more to the youth
market, were greatly expanded. At the close of the
twentieth century, each of these broad social
changes was more pronounced—and their influ-
ence was more widespread throughout the world—
than was the case when these observations were made.
In contrast to accounts of the origins of West-
ern European youth cultures, and of youth culture
in the United States, Ko-lin Chin (1996) traces the
development of Chinese youth gangs in the Unit-
ed States to ancient secret society traditions, and
to the more recent Triad societies that formed in
the late seventeenth century in China, and their
counterpart tongs in the United States. Formed as
political groups representing disfavored Chinese
officials and the alienated poor, these groups ini-
tially stressed patriotism, righteousness, and broth-
erhood as primary values. However, their secret
nature was conducive to clandestine activities such
as gambling, prostitution, and running opium dens.
Competition among Triad societies in these activi-
ties often led to violence. Failure to achieve politi-
cal power led to their further transformation into
criminal organizations involved in extortion, rob-
bery, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes.Street gangs comprised of Chinese adoles-
cents did not form in the United States until the
late 1950s, but their numbers increased dramati-
cally during the following decade, when changed
immigration laws permitted more Chinese to en-
ter the country. Conflict between foreign- and
American-born youths led to the emergence of
gangs, some seriously delinquent. Chin attributes
this development to alienating problems experi-
enced by immigrant Chinese youth in their fami-
lies, schools, and communities, in dramatic con-
trast to their American-born counterparts. From
the beginning, many Chinese youth gangs have
been associated in a variety of ways with estab-
lished adult secret societies in the United States,
Hong Kong, or Taiwan, or in all three places. The
existence of ‘‘Triad-influenced’’ organizations has
been critical to the types of gangs that have emerged
in Chinese communities and to the nature of their
criminal activities.While the origins of delinquent subcultures
may reside in antiquity, the formation and evolu-
tion of modern variations of them can be ex-
plained in terms of more immediate macro-level
developments. Some of these developments relate
primarily to the ongoing activities and interests of
gang members rather than to racial or ethnic
changes, or to sweeping social changes. The na-
ture of these influences is illustrated by a drug-
using group studied by James Short, Fred Strodtbeck,
and their associates (Short and Strodtbeck 1965;
see also Short 1997, 1998). This gang was observed
as it developed its own unique subculture. The
subculture of the ‘‘Pill Poppers,’’ as they became
known to the research team, evolved from their
relationship with a larger, conflict-oriented gang
of which they had previously been a part. The Pill
Poppers’ preoccupation with drugs and their re-
fusal to participate in the more bellicose activities
of the larger gang led to their withdrawal and
increasing isolation, by mutual agreement. The
researchers were able to observe the evolution of
this subculture, which was characterized by nor-
mative approval of drug consumption, an elevated
value on ‘‘getting high,’’ and mutual interest in the