### social organization:

Gang
* Many gangs have territories in multiple states.
* Most gangs use hand signs to identify their gang and as a form of communication.
* affect society in terms of heightened fear, crime, and economic costs.
* also use graffiti to communicate with other gangs
  - weapons to protect their turf and their drug operations from one another
* are a fact of life in American society
  - logical response to society's failure to make teenagers feel belonging
  - popular source for many violent crimes due to poor family life
  - problem in most cities, even in small cities
  - really big problem because they influence kids and kill people
  - also about money and power and organized criminal activity
  - frequently violent, criminal, and dangerous
  - groups of people who collectively engage in bully behavior
  - highly mobile and can move in and out of any neighborhood
  - just a group of people that think they have a higher power onver someone else
  - often violent and intimidating
  - one of the results of poverty, discrimination and urban deterioration
  - organized groups whose distinctive languages and dress identify their members
  - still very gender-stratified and are mostly led by males
  - terrorist cells
* are the epitome of fatherless life
  - only form of recreation and companionship available to some young people
  - typical example of deviant behavior
  - threat groups that threaten the social fabric of our society
  - usually a product of the area in which they are active
* are, almost by definition, criminal organizations.
* attempt to instill fear, and use intimidation tactics against rival gangs and the community.
* can also vary tremendously in numbers and age ranges of members
  - meet needs that go unfulfilled in other aspects of a child's life
* control their turf where they traffic drugs with violence.
* create problems for ALL of society- economically, emotionally, and morally.
* depend on both individual and group participation.
* do destructive acts to others
  - traditionally come from ghettos
* draw young people away from school and home and into a life of violence.
* establish their reputation by the types and severity of the crimes they commit.
* exercise control over their neighborhoods by fear.
* exist in areas that provide a hospitable environment
  - many settings and among all racial groups
  - virtually every community
* fight for respect and over turf, sometimes blowing away innocent kids.
* have chapters in every state and run like loosely managed, multinational corporations.
* involve all races and socio-economic levels, and their activity often affects innocent people.
* is association
  - rivers
  - tools
  - units
* know no gender.
* make people feel afraid to participate in neighborhood activities.
* operate by tempting and seducing children into self-destructive behavior.
* operates in cities
  - metro cities
* performs activities
  - such activities
* promise power to youth who feel powerless over their lives.
* pull teens away from school and home into a life of violence.
* recruit children in and around schools.
* relate to violence, and so on.
* tend to be composed of young people, mainly male, with similar ethnic and racial backgrounds
  - local, transitory and fluid in nature
  - operate with impunity in many school environments
* thrive on intimidation and notoriety
  - the power and control they enjoy within their communities
* use firearms and violence to protect their territories and supplies
  - graffiti as a way to mark territory, or serve as a warning or challenge to a rival gang
* use graffiti to gain recognition or to express the identity of the gang
  - identify themselves and their territory and to communicate messages
  - mark territory and identify themselves
  - symbols to identify their membership, territory, and loyalty
* usually have a group name or designation
  - leader or some one that takes control
* vary in size by type of gang.