Drug use and drug selling are common activities among many, but not all, gangs. The relationship between gangs and drug selling is extremely variable. There is a difference between drug gangs and street gangs. Graffiti is often important in establishing gang identity. Is also often acts as a symbolic form of gang conflict.
Violence associated with gangs is more lethal now than ever before.
Intra gang violence is more common than inter gang violence or violence directed outside the gang. Status problems are a major issue among gang peers, and status threats cause violence problems at both the individual and the group level. Prevalence rates of delinquent and violent behavior for female gang members exceed the rates for non gang males. Most youth do not join a gang until their teenage years. Gang members as individuals often have conventional values and concerns.