Contents

Contents

Foreword Revisiting City Gangs......................................................................................................... 12

Walter Miller the Scholar and the Person...........................................................................15 Making City Gangs a Book ..................................................................................................16 Putting City Gangs in Context ............................................................................................17 Concordance with Current Gang Research .........................................................................18 Discordances with Contemporary Research........................................................................25 The Gangs of City Gangs .....................................................................................................26 How to Read City Gangs ......................................................................................................26 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................27 References. ...........................................................................................................................28 Chapter One An Urban Lower Class Community................................................................................. 30 Introduction .........................................................................................................................30 Midcity in the 1950's ............................................................................................................33 What is a Lower-Class Community? ...................................................................................40 Population and Age Distribution.........................................................................................48

Table 1.1 Population by Type Classes, Midcity and Port City ........................................49 Population and Sex Distribution .........................................................................................49

Table 2.1 Population by Sex and Age, Midcity and Port City .........................................50 Race, National Origin, and Religion....................................................................................52

Table 3.1 Negroes and Foreign Born, Midcity and Port City ..........................................53 Educational Status ..............................................................................................................57

Table 4.1 Adult Educational Status, Midcity and Port City ...........................................59 Occupational Status.............................................................................................................59

Table 5.1 Male Occupational Status, Midcity and Port City...........................................63 Income ..................................................................................................................................63

Table 6.1 Income Status: Midcity and Port City 1950 and 1960.....................................66

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Summary: Demographic Characteristics of Midcity ...........................................................66 Social Status Levels within a Lower Class Community .....................................................67

Chart 1.1 Defining Criteria of Social Status Levels ........................................................72 Demographic Characteristics of Different Social Status Levels.........................................72 Population, Education, and Occupation ..............................................................................73

Table 7.1 Midcity Population by Social Status Level ......................................................74 Age and Social Status ..........................................................................................................74

Table 8.1 Age and Social Status in Midcity .....................................................................75 Sex, Family Heads, and Social Status.................................................................................76

Table 9.1 Female Prevalence, Family Heads, Marital Status & Family Size by Social Status Level ......................................................................................................................79 Race, National Origin, and Social Status............................................................................81 Table 10.1 Race, National Origin and Social Status .......................................................82 Table 11.1 Race, Social Status, and Selected Demographic Characteristics ..................86 Income and Social Status.....................................................................................................87 Table 12.1 Income and Social Status ...............................................................................88 Unemployment and Social Status .......................................................................................90 Table 13.1 Male Unemployment and Social Status.........................................................90 Housing and Social Status...................................................................................................91 Table 14.1 Renting, Room Occupancy and Rent by Social Status ..................................92 Status Levels, Cutting Points and Subcultures ..................................................................95 Summary: The Urban Lower Class Community as an Organized Form ...........................98 Chapter Two The Evolution of an Urban Lower Class Community................................................ 104 1630-1780: An English Country Village: Farm Laborers, Craftsmen, Servants, and Slaves .................................................................................................................................107 1780-1840: A Pre-industrial-revolution Mill and Market Town - Artisans, Mill Workers, and Paupers .......................................................................................................................121 1840-1880: A Small Industrial City- Native and Immigrant Laborers ............................127 1880-1910: A Classic Urban Slum- English, Irish, Jews and Negroes .............................133 The Persistence of a Lower Class Subculture in Midcity .................................................160 Economic and Ecological Articulation: The Keystone of Subcultural Persistence ...........163

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Chapter Three The Persistence of Lower Class Subculture ................................................................ 171

Stability and Adaptivity Processes: The Mechanisms of Subcultural Persistence ..........171 Economic-ecological Flexibility: Generalism and Intermittency ......................................171 Class Stability via Ethnic Replacement ............................................................................177 The Exodus of Higher Status Populations ........................................................................182 Lower Class Subculture as an Intrinsic Component of a Viable Societal Adaptation .....190 Chapter Four Youth Crime in an Urban Lower Class Community .................................................. 205 The Gang and "Normality" ................................................................................................207 Gangs and Race..................................................................................................................213 The "Solidarity" of the Gang..............................................................................................218 The Gang as "Conventional"..............................................................................................230 Summary: The Urban Adolescent Street Gang as a Stable Associational Form .............231 General Characteristics of the Urban Adolescent Street Gang ........................................232 The Gang as a Persisting Form .........................................................................................234 What is a Gang? .................................................................................................................237 The Urban Adolescent Street Gang: Defining Criteria.....................................................240

Chart 1.4 The Urban Adolescent Street Gang: Defining Criteria.................................241 Variation in Gang Characteristics.....................................................................................248 Perception and Gang Prevalence.......................................................................................257 Characteristics of City Gangs............................................................................................264 Status Characteristics and Illegal Involvement ...............................................................266 Age-status of Gang Members.............................................................................................269

Table 1.4 Seven Intensive-Study Gangs: Age Status ....................................................270 Social Status of Gang Members.........................................................................................271

Table 2.4 Seven Intensive Study Gangs: Social Status .................................................272 Chart 2.4 Defining Criteria of Social Status Levels ? Gang as Unit ............................281 Illegal Involvements by Gang Members............................................................................283 Table 3.4 Seven Intensive Study Gangs: Illegal Involvements Ranged by Frequency.285 Illegal Involvement and Gang Characteristics .................................................................285

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Table 4.4 Seven Intensive Study Gangs: Status Characteristics and Illegal Involvement ........................................................................................................................................ 286 Chapter Five The Corner Gangs of Midcity ......................................................................................... 291 Table 1.5 Corner Gangs and Gang Subunits in Three Study Neighborhoods ..............311 Table 2.5 The Seven Intensive Study Gangs .................................................................312 The Bandit Neighborhood..................................................................................................314 Relations among Bandit Subdivisions...............................................................................322 The Senior Bandits ............................................................................................................324 Law Violation, Cliques, and Leadership ...........................................................................326 The Junior Bandits ............................................................................................................335 Law Violation, Cliques, and Leadership ...........................................................................336 The Molls............................................................................................................................343 Law-Violation, Cliques, and Leadership ...........................................................................345 The Outlaw Neighborhood.................................................................................................353 Relations Among Outlaw Subdivisions .............................................................................357 The Senior Outlaws ...........................................................................................................362 Law Violation, Cliques, and Leadership ...........................................................................363 The Junior Outlaws ...........................................................................................................371 Law Violation, Cliques, and Leadership ...........................................................................372 The Royal Neighborhood....................................................................................................378 Relations Among Royal Subdivisions ................................................................................381 The Kings ...........................................................................................................................382 Law Violation, Cliques, and Leadership ...........................................................................385 The Queens ........................................................................................................................394 Law-violation, Cliques, and Leadership............................................................................397 Chapter Six Male Adolescent Crime and Demographic Characteristics ..................................... 405 Legend for Table 1.6 ..........................................................................................................411 Table 1.6 Demographic Characteristics Showing Poor Association with Juvenile Court Rates: 1950 - 1960 ..........................................................................................................412

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Table 2.6 Demographic Characteristics Showing Good Association with Court Rates: 1950 - 1960......................................................................................................................416 Demographic Correlates and Subculture Bases of Delinquency ......................................417 Male Adolescent Crime and Demographic Change...........................................................428 Changes in Demographic Features ...................................................................................430 Trends in Crime Rates.......................................................................................................435 Table 3.6 Male Adolescent Court Rates by Social Status Levels ..................................436 Demographic Change and Change in Crime Rates...........................................................438 Table 4.6 Changes in Demographic Characteristics and Changes in Court Rates 1950 to 1960 ................................................................................................................................. 441 Table 5.6 Population Change and Juvenile Court Rates in 1960 by Social Status Level, Degree of Population Loss 1950 to 1960 ........................................................................445 Table 6.6 Demographic Correlates of Juvenile Court Rates, 1950 and 1960 Compared ........................................................................................................................................ 447 Summary: Youth Crime and Demography: Theoretical Relevance..................................450 Chapter Seven Family Relationships of City Gang Members.............................................................. 457 Family and Gang as Agents of Socialization.....................................................................457 Family and Gang as Separate Spheres .............................................................................471 Girls, Gangs, and Families ................................................................................................480 School- Extended Education as an Option ........................................................................486 Pattern and Dynamics of the Drop-out Decision...............................................................493 Table 1.7 Seven Intensive Study Gangs, High School Drop-outs & Graduates............495 Table 2.7 Lower Class II & Lower Class III High School Graduates and Drop-outs ...495 Table 3.7 Lower Class II Only High School Graduates & Drop-outs............................496 Table 4.7 Older & Younger Gang Members ? Whites Only ? High School Graduates & Drop-outs ........................................................................................................................498 Table 5.7 Bandits & Outlaws High School Graduates & Drop-outs .............................498 The In-School Experience ..................................................................................................499 The Pattern of Disapproved Behavior ...............................................................................506 Table 6.7 Forms of School Behavior (Relative to Project Evaluative Positions)...........509 Table 7.7 Group Standings in Project-Disapproved Behavior.......................................510

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Work ...................................................................................................................................510 Table 8.7 Occupational Distribution of Males, 1964 .....................................................525 Table 9.7 Comparison of Unemployment to High School Drop-outs.............................525 Table 10.7 Occupational Categories of Bandits, Outlaws, and Kings...........................526 Table 11.7 Forms of Work Oriented Behavior (Relative to Middle Class Evaluative Standard) ........................................................................................................................529 Table 12.7 Group Standings in Project Disapproval Orientation to Work ...................530 Table 13.7 Discrepancy Between Actions & Sentiments...............................................530

Chapter Eight Female Sexual and Mating Behavior ............................................................................ 535

Sex and Mating as Separable Spheres ..............................................................................535 Two Forms of Childrearing Unit .......................................................................................537 Plural Mating and Collective Motherhood ........................................................................546 Sexual Intercourse and the Concept of "Reputation"........................................................560 Homosexuality ...................................................................................................................576 Prostitution ........................................................................................................................577 Disapproved Forms of Sex and Mating Behavior..............................................................580

Table 1.8 Forms of Sexual Behavior (Relative to Idealized Middle Class Standards) .583 Table 2.8 Group Standings in Project Disapproved Forms of Sexual Behavior ...........584 Table 3.8 Forms of Mating Behavior (Relative to Evaluative Position of Project Workers) .........................................................................................................................587 Table 4.8 Group Standings in Project-Disapproved Forms of Mating Behavior ..........588 Chapter Nine Male Sexual and Mating Behavior ................................................................................ 595 Females as Agents of Actualization and Contamination..................................................597 Corner Girls, Sisters, Lovers, Wives, and Mothers...........................................................605 Incest ..................................................................................................................................635 Homosexuality ...................................................................................................................641 Chapter Ten Drinking Behavior in City Gangs .................................................................................. 659 Drinking as Ritual .............................................................................................................659 Reasons for Drinking .........................................................................................................663

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Ways of Drinking ...............................................................................................................673 Four Patterns of Drinking Behavior ..............................................................................674

Controls Over Drinking .....................................................................................................676 Differences Among Groups in Disapproved Forms of Drinking Behavior........................681

Table 1.10 Forms of Drinking Behavior (Relative to Project Evaluative Position) ......684 Table 2.10 Group Standings in Project-Disapproved Drinking Behavior.....................685 Table 3.10 Association of Factors with Disapproved Drinking Actions ........................687 Chapter Eleven Theft Behavior in City Gangs ......................................................................................... 691 The Importance of Theft ....................................................................................................691 What is Theft?....................................................................................................................701 Types of Theft.....................................................................................................................707 The Character of Theft in Midcity Gangs..........................................................................709 Summary of Statistical Analysis of Theft .........................................................................712 The Patterning of Theft-Oriented Behavior......................................................................715 Table 1.11 Frequency of Theft for the Seven Intensive Contact Groups During-Contact ........................................................................................................................................ 716 Table 2.11 Theft Event Ratios........................................................................................716 Table 3.11 Forms of Theft Behavior (Relative to Project Evaluative Position) ............717 Table 4.11 Group Standings in Project-Disapproved Behavior.....................................718 The Patterning of Theft Incidents .....................................................................................721 Frequency and Distribution...............................................................................................722 Table 6.11 Distribution of Theft.....................................................................................726 Collectivity of Theft............................................................................................................726 Table 7.11 Collectivity of Theft ......................................................................................728 Participation in Theft ........................................................................................................728 Table 8.11 Participation in Incidents of Theft During Contact Period .........................730 Subcultural Characteristics and the Patterning of Theft Incidents.................................731 Table 9.11 Theft Frequency by Subcultural Characteristics ........................................733 Table 10.11 Theft Frequency by Subcultural Characteristics ? Selected Combinations of Sex, Social Status, Ethnic Status, and Age ...................................................................735 Targets of Theft..................................................................................................................738

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Table 11.11 Theft Distribution, Participation and Collectivity by Subcultural Characteristics................................................................................................................ 740 Table 12.11 Theft Distribution by Subculture...............................................................742 l Characteristics ? Selected Combinations of Sex, Social Status, Age, and Ethnic Status ........................................................................................................................................ 742 Table 13.11 Targets of Theft ..........................................................................................743 Table 14.11 Targets of Theft: Locality and Identity ......................................................744 Table 15.11 Targets of Theft ? 12 Targets, Ranked in Order .......................................745 Table 16.11 Targets of Theft "Localism" by Group........................................................746 Table 17.11 Targets of Theft "Identity" by Group .........................................................747 Place Theft .........................................................................................................................748 Table 18.11 Targets of Theft, Place of Theft..................................................................749 Person Theft.......................................................................................................................750 Table 19.11 Targets of Theft, Person Theft ...................................................................751 Objects of Theft ..................................................................................................................753 Table 20.11 Objects of Theft ? Male and Female Thefts: 18 Object Categories, in Rank Order ............................................................................................................................... 759 Chapter Twelve Incentives for Adolescent Theft Behavior ................................................................... 766 Chart 1.12 21 Incentives for Theft .................................................................................768 Table 1.12 Four Major Orders of Theft Incentive Ranked by Frequency .....................769 Acquisitional Incentives for Theft .....................................................................................769 Table 2.12 Acquisitional Incentives Ranked by Frequency...........................................771 Immediate Necessity..........................................................................................................772 Extended Necessity............................................................................................................773 Immediate Facilitative Utility...........................................................................................774 Extended Facilitative Utility .............................................................................................775 General Utility ...................................................................................................................776 Representational Utility ....................................................................................................782 Theft as an Alternative Mode of Income Acquisition........................................................784 Acquisitional Theft and Subcultural Characteristics .......................................................790

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