Gang (group)
Gang generally stands for a group of mostly young people who band together to do something together, for example as a 'rascal gang', a 'boy gang' or a 'girl gang'.
According to German criminal law , it is also a term for several criminals working together and thus a criminal organization . In colloquial language, especially in the hip-hop scene, the anglicism gang is also used for this .
Definition of terms in German law
The legal concept included in the opinion of the German case law up to the year 2001, at least two, according to a decision of the Senate Criminal again at least three band members, "who have communed with the will continue for some time more independent, more uncertain in detail offenses to commit the type of offense specified in the law ”. The overwhelming opinion of the literature also takes the position that there must be at least three gang members. This is justified by the fact that only three members are more dangerous, which results from the group dynamics , among other things . Furthermore, accomplices should not be recorded in gang crimes that have nothing to do with organized crime . The term is relevant, for example, in the case of gang theft in accordance with Section 244 (1) No. 2 of the Criminal Code (StGB).
According to the more recent case law of the Federal Court of Justice , it is no longer necessary for all gang members to be on site together, which represents a so-called "action risk". Rather, it is sufficient if the gang members collaborate in any organizational form (example: one steals the thing , the other stands as " Schmiere ", the third sells it as a fence ). The gang members do not need to know each other or have met personally. The will to connect with at least two others to commit future crimes is sufficient .
United States
new York
In the US, the term " gang " is used for a street gang ; Such criminal associations were formed as early as the 1860s, such as B. the Irish Boodles in New York City . Pushed by the waves of immigration, the formation of ethnically oriented street gangs increased. In these classic gangs, known as the "Big Five", the Irish organized themselves with the Whyos , Hudson Dusters or Gophers , Italians in the Five Points Gang and Eastern European Jews in the Eastman Gang . After 1900 only the Eastmans and the Five Pointers were essentially left.
Almost all of these Big Five were harnessed by Tammany Hall politicians ; Gangs like the Eastman Gang or the Whyos offered illegal services based on a price list. However, the Mafia and the Camorra had also come to New York City. About the Black Hand Gang was Unione Siciliana infiltrated. The Italian voices controlled by it were certainly of particular interest to Tammany Hall . Supported by the alcohol prohibition , five clans of the US Mafia emerged, which are also called the Five Families . Accordingly, these classic street gangs were dissolved from New York City by 1920.
los Angeles
The city of Los Angeles in California is a stronghold of gangs in the USA . South Los Angeles , in particular, is the most dangerous part of the city. Here the Bloods and Crips , the 18th Street Gang , the Mara Salvatrucha , and other gangs fight each other. In addition, there are always clashes between African Americans and Latinos . All of these gangs claim a certain territory and each have their own distinctive symbols, such as colors, clothes, tattoos , hand signals and graffiti .
Historically, today's gangs in Los Angeles go back to increasing clashes between blacks and whites during the 1940s. At that time, numerous blacks moved to Los Angeles, but could not find adequate living space in the ghettos of the time . The attempt to break out of the ghetto and move into living space in other parts of the city was countered by the local white residents who tried to achieve segregation , some of which went as far as the entry of racial restrictions in the land registers and made large parts of the city inaccessible to non-whites. Blacks were only able to find living space in the south and southwest, where the residential areas of the lower, white middle class were, but they also met resistance here.
Against this background, black residents in front of the borders of the Central Avenue ghetto were terrorized by gangs of white youths like the Spookhunters in the mid to late 1940s . In return, the first black gangs such as the businessmen, Slausons or Flips were founded , which often offered the only protection against racist attacks, but at the same time also represented a cultural or social home.
Germany
At the end of the 1970s, particularly in Hamburg, numerous street gangs based on the American model formed, such as the Champs , Die Löwen , Grave Diggers and Streetboys , who forcibly enforced their territorial claims in the city . As a result, in the 1980s, especially in the vicinity of the red-light district , there were violent clashes among the street gangs, but also with poppers , right-wing skinhead groups and the police. Numerous members of the street gangs got into red-light shops. After a murder case within the street boys in 1986 and due to increasing pressure from the authorities, the street gangs lost their importance and most of the groups fell apart.
Other coining terms
As early as the early 20th century, gangs were often equated with mercenaries . In 1905 Meyer's Konversationslexikon defined "gangs" as:
“After the fall of the feudal war constitution in the Middle Ages, the associations of the rented troops brought together through advertising etc. They formed formal war trade associations and gained political importance in Italy ( condottieri ) and France. According to the place and manner of their appearance, especially in France, they had different names, such as B. aventuriers, bandits, brigands, cantatours (they sang on the march), mille-diables, fendeurs (iron eaters), coterels, routiers, roustres, retondeurs etc. As the names suggest, they committed multiple misdeeds, and Charles VII. put an end to them after the orderly companies were established. The band under Louis XII. were more properly formed foot troops. In Germany, the B. were forerunners of the Landsknechte . "
During the Russian Civil War , partisans operating against the Bolsheviks or the Cheka and the Red Army , such as Nestor Makhno, were called bandits in order to denounce their political motives.
During the Second World War , the term was mainly used in the form of fighting gangs by National Socialist propaganda . With this degradation, the rather heroic-sounding term partisan should be avoided.
In the course of the 1968 movement , which - partly - in the form of terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction , the June 2nd Movement and the Revolutionary Cells , united to form criminal associations, the term “gang” experienced a positive effect in parts of the alternative movement Reinterpretation. “Form gangs!” Was a common slogan in this area in the 1970s and was often printed in pamphlets in connection with the portrait of Pippi Longstocking or sprayed on house walls.
In the hip-hop scene, the term “gang” was also positively coined , not least in the form of a romanticization of ghetto life. Life as a " gangster " in a street gang is glorified in gangsta rap . On the other hand, hip-hop also appeared as a pacification of gangs, for example in initiatives such as the influential Zulu Nation organization founded by the New York DJ Afrika Bambaataa . The term gang is also used here for the circle of friends.
In the 1970s, Mao Zedong , chairman of the Chinese Communist Party , coined the term Gang of Four to denote a group of four leaders of his state party that he disliked, including Jiang Qing , his wife.
In an alternate meaning, the term is also used for non-criminal groups, especially young people doing something together.
Functional meaning
According to the 'theory of the protective framework', the venture researcher Siegbert A. Warwitz assigns a double protective function to the formation of gangs among young people in their risky undertakings and, if necessary, also illegal actions : on the one hand, being absorbed in the anonymity of a larger group seems more difficult to identify the individual as the perpetrator, even make it disappear. On the other hand, it is believed that the act committed together reduces the responsibility for the individual because the guilt is spread over many shoulders. The determination of a main culprit or a specific part of the crime becomes particularly difficult if the gang turns out to be a conspiratorial community:
“ The gang also serves as a protective framework that many young people like to use in their risky ventures: The act committed together weakens the severity of the offense for the individual, they say: 'It wasn't me. It was all of us together, 'is the common excuse that is used to relieve the burden of dividing the guilt among several people. "
Others
Gang wars (such as in Mexico and Brazil) are not uncommon among large gangs that have competing sales markets in the same geographic area. They serve to enlarge the area of influence. The less gang competition per crime group, the greater the monopoly of a gang.
See also
literature
- Marek Fuchs, Jens Luedtke: Youth gangs and gang-related behavior , In: Herbert Scheithauer (Hrsg.): Problem behavior and violence in adolescence . Manifestations, conditions of origin, prevention and intervention, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008.
- Stefan Schubert : Gangland Germany. How criminal gangs threaten our lives. Riva Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-86883-326-3 .
- Subchapter : Soviet methods of combating banditry. In: George Leggett: The Cheka. Lenin's political police. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1981, ISBN 0-19-822552-0 , pp. 334-338.
- Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . Cutter. 2nd, expanded edition. Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .
Web links
- Los Angeles Gangs at www.streetgangs.com (English)
- Criminal youth gangs
Individual evidence
- ↑ BGH, judgment of March 22, 2001, Az.GSSt 1/00, full text = NJW 2001, 2266.
- ^ Roland Schmitz in Munich Commentary on the Criminal Code . Volume 3 (§§ 185-262) to § 244 margin no. 35 f.
- ↑ Mike Davis : City of Quartz. Excavation of the Future in Los Angeles and recent essays . 3. Edition. Verlag der Buchladen Schwarze Risse et al., Berlin et al. 1999, ISBN 3-924737-23-1 , p. 189-194 .
- ↑ Mike Davis : City of Quartz. Excavation of the Future in Los Angeles and recent essays . 3. Edition. Verlag der Buchladen Schwarze Risse et al., Berlin et al. 1999, ISBN 3-924737-23-1 , p. 335-337 .
- ↑ Olaf Wunder: Street gangs - youth in the 80s . In: MOPO Magazin (= Our Hamburg . No. 8 ). No. 8 . Morgenpost Verlag, Hamburg 2017, p. 38-49 .
- ^ Gangs in Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 2. Leipzig 1905, p. 324 .; Retrieved from zeno.org on April 9, 2019
- ↑ Leggett, pp. 334-338.
- ↑ Cf. Gabriele Klein , Malte Friedrich: Is this real? The culture of hip hop (= Edition Suhrkamp 2315). Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-518-12315-7 , p. 27.
- ↑ Duden | Gang | Spelling, meaning, definition, synonyms, origin. Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
- ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: The theory of the protective frame. In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior . Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, pages 227–238.
- ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior . Cutter. Baltmannsweiler 2016, page 235/236.
