So what do we know about gangs in the 21st century?

Gangs are a conscious product of young people organizing their lives on the streets. They usually begin as unsupervised male or female peer groups within defined urban spaces. Some, but not all, evolve into formal organizations with social, economic, or political functions, and have older members. Gangs also organize within certain institutions, such as prisons and the military, with variable ties to outside street gangs or organizations.

As the US economy has restructured over the past century, so have gangs. The US gang problem has passed through three stages.

1. The industrial era (1920s-40s), when immigrant and migrant youth fought one another over turf as they attempted to use the industrial ladder to become Americanized.

2. The twilight of the industrial era (1950s-70s), when cities were abandoned by whites and minority gangs fought over crumbling ghettoes. Like others, gang members were influenced by both nationalism and revolutionary politics before being suppressed and moved into the prisons.

3. The post-industrial era (late 1980s- ) when many gangs have become a major part of the informal (underground) economy within poor neighborhoods. Gang violence often results from battles for control over local drug markets. The war on drugs has politicized gangs and strengthened ties between the prison and the streets.

The public's view of gangs is still mainly shaped by the media and law enforcement, who typically define gangs as organized crime.

In order to counter the superficiality of the mass media, these web pages present a research-based perspective. This view also challenges mainstream social science which typically underestimates the creative response of young people to the conditions of their lives.