CRIMINAL AND DELINQUENT SUBCULTURESThe child’s most important early learning experi-
ences take place in the family, but other influences
quickly assert themselves, especially as children
associate with age and gender peers. With the
beginning of adolescence, the latter become espe-
cially powerful as young people experience impor-
tant biological and social changes. It is at this point
that youth subcultures become especially significant.
Subcultures are dynamic and ever changing,
influenced by both external and internal forces
and processes. Substantial knowledge gaps exist at
each level of explanation; precisely how they relate
to each other is not well understood, however. By
documenting the ongoing interaction among gang
members and between gang members and others,
group processes help to inform the nature of the
relationship in ways that are consistent with what is
known at the individual and macro levels of expla-
nation. Both intragang and intergang fighting of-
ten serve group purposes, for example, by demon-
strating personal qualities that are highly valued by
the gang or by reinforcing group solidarity (see
Miller, Geertz, and Cutter 1961; Jansyn 1966).
Gang conflict often occurs when a gang believes its
‘‘rep,’’ its ‘‘turf,’’ or its resources (for example, its
share of a drug market) are threatened by another
gang. Threats to individual or group status often
result in violent or other types of criminal behav-
ior (Short 1997).
CONCLUSIONThe rich research materials that have accumulated
regarding criminal and delinquent subcultures sug-
gest two conclusions: (1) there is a great variety of
such adaptive phenomena, and (2) they are of an
ever-changing nature. Because they both effect
social change and adapt to it, subcultures—includ-
ing criminal and delinquent subcultures—contin-
ue to be important theoretically, empirically, and
practically (that is, as a matter of social policy).
Robert Sampson and his colleagues (1997) find
that willingness to intervene on behalf of the com-
mon good, together with collective efficacy (social
cohesion among neighbors), is associated with
lower rates of violent crime in Chicago neighbor-
hoods. This suggests that developing ways to en-
courage identification of neighbors with each oth-
er and encouraging them to help one another in
their common interests will enhance local social
control and help weaken the influence of subcul-
tures that encourage criminal and delinquent
behavior.(SEE ALSO: Crime, Theories of; Criminology; Juvenile Delin-
quency and Juvenile Crime; Juvenile Delinquency, Theories
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