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Gangs
 International Library of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Penology - Second Series

Series Editor: Gerald Mars and David Nelken

Titles in the Series:

Gender and Prisons

Dana Britton

Detecting Deception
David Canter and Donna Youngs

Offender Profiling
David Canter and Michael Davis

Recent Developments in Criminological Theory

Stuart Henry

The Criminology of War

Ruth Jamieson

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Criminology and

Criminal Justice
Mark M. Lanier

Women Police
Mangai Natarajan

Crime and Immigration

Graeme Newman and Joshua Freilich

Crime and Social Institutions

Richard Rosenfeld

The Death Penalty, Volumes I and II

Austin Sarat

Gangs
Jacqueline Schneider and Nick Tilley

Corporate Crime
Sally Simpson and Carole Gibbs

Crime and Deviance in Cyberspace

David Wall

Quantitative Methods in Criminology

David Weisburd and Shawn Bushway

Surveillance and Social Control

Dean Wilson and Clive Norris
Gangs

Edited by

Jacqueline Schneider
Department of Criminology, University o f Leicester, UK

and

Nick Tilley
"i

Nottingham Trent University and Jill Dando Institute o f Crime Science,

University College London, UK
First published 2004 by Ashgate Publishing

Reissued 2018 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© Jacqueline Schneider and Nick Tilley 2004. For copyright of individual articles please refer to the
Acknowledgements.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Publisher’s Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but
points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes
correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.
ISBN 13: 978-0-815-38913-2 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-351-15780-3 (ebk)
Contents

Acknowledgements ix
Series Preface xiii
Introduction xv

PART I THEORY AND CONCEPTS

1 Robert K. Merton (1938), ‘Social Structure and Anomie’, American Sociological

Review, 3, pp. 672-82. 3
2 Walter B. Miller (1959), ‘Lower Class Culture as a Generating Milieu of Gang
Delinquency’, Journal o f Social Issues, 14, pp. 5-19. 15
3 Lewis Yablonsky (1959), ‘The Delinquent Gang as a Near-Group’, Social
Problems, 7, pp. 108-17. 31
4 Malcolm W. Klein and Lois Y. Crawford (1967), ‘Groups, Gangs, and
Cohesiveness’, Journal o f Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, pp. 63-75. 41
5 Robert M. Gordon (2000), ‘Criminal Business Organizations, Street Gangs and
“Wanna-be” Groups: A Vancouver perspective’, Canadian Journal o f
Criminology, January, pp. 39-60. 55

PART II THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF GANGS

6 Anne Campbell, Steven Munce and John Galea (1982), ‘American Gangs and
British Subcultures: A Comparison’, International Journal o f Offender Therapy
and Comparative Criminology, 26, pp. 76-89. 79
7 R.G. Whitfield (1982), ‘American Gangs and British Subcultures: A Commentary’,
International Journal o f Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 26,
pp. 90-92. 93
8 Judith Bessant (1995), “‘Hanging Around the Street”: Australian Rockers, Sharpies
and Skinheads of the 1960s and Early 1970s’, Journal o f Australian Studies, 45,
pp. 15-31. 97
9 Cheryl L. Maxson, Kristi J. Woods and Malcolm W. Klein (1996), ‘Street Gang
Migration: How Big a Threat?’, National Institute o f Justice Journal, 230,
pp. 26-31. 115
10 Andrew Davies (1998), ‘Youth Gangs, Masculinity and Violence in Late Victorian
Manchester and Salford’, Journal o f Social History, 32, pp. 349-69. 121
11 Christopher Adamson (2000), ‘Defensive Localism in White and Black: A
Comparative History of European-American and African-American Youth Gangs’,
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23, pp. 272-98. 143
VI Gangs

12 Scott Poynting, Greg Noble and Paul Tabar (2001), ‘Middle Eastern Appearances:
“Ethnic Gangs”, Moral Panic and Media Framing\ Australian and New Zealand
Journal o f Criminology, 34, pp. 67-90. 171

PART III GANGS AND CRIM E

13 Ruth Horowitz and Gary Schwartz (1974), ‘Honor, Normative Ambiguity and
Gang Violence’, American Sociological Review, 39, pp. 238-51. 197
14 Ruth Horowitz (1987), ‘Community Tolerance of Gang Violence’, Social
Problems, 34, pp. 437-50. 211
15 Jacqueline L. Schneider (2001), ‘Niche Crime: The Columbus Gangs Study’,
American Journal o f Criminal Justice, 26, pp. 93-105. 225
16 Scott H. Decker and G. David Curry (2002), ‘Gangs, Gang Homicides, and Gang
Loyalty: Organized Crimes or Disorganized Criminals’, Journal o f Criminal
Justice, 30, pp. 343-52. 239
17 Anthony A. Braga (2003), ‘Serious Youth Gun Offenders and the Epidemic of
Youth Violence in Boston’, Journal o f Quantitative Criminology, 19, pp. 33-54. 249

PART IV DRUGS AND GANGS

18 Jeffrey Fagan (1989), ‘The Social Organization of Drug Use and Drug Dealing
Among Urban Gangs’, Criminology, 27, pp. 633-69. 273
19 Malcolm W. Klein, Cheryl L. Maxson and Lea C. Cunningham (1991), ‘“Crack,”
Street Gangs, and Violence’, Criminology, 29, pp. 623-50. 311
20 John M. Hagedorn (1994), ‘Neighborhoods, Markets, and Gang Drug
Organization’, Journal o f Research in Crime and Delinquency, 31, pp. 264-94. 339

PART V GIRLS AND GANGS

21 Anne Campbell (1984), ‘Girls’ Talk: The Social Representation of Aggression by

Female Gang Members’, Criminal Justice and Behavior, 11, pp. 139-56. 373
22 Meda Chesney-Lind (1993), ‘Girls, Gangs and Violence: Anatomy of a Backlash’,
Humanity and Society, 17, pp. 321-44. 391
23 Karen Joe Laidler and Geoffrey Hunt (2001), ‘Accomplishing Femininity Among
the Girls in the Gang’, British Journal o f Criminology, 41, pp. 656-78. 415

PART VI POLICY AND PRACTICE

24 John M. Hagedorn (1991), ‘Gangs, Neighborhoods, and Public Policy’, Social

Problems, 38, pp. 529-42. 441
 Gangs vii

25 Irving A. Spergel and Susan F. Grossman (1997), ‘The Little Village Project: A
Community Approach to the Gang Problem’, Social Work, 42, pp. 456-70. 455
26 Eric J. Fritsch, Tory J. Caeti and Robert W. Taylor (1999), ‘Gang Suppression
Through Saturation Patrol, Aggressive Curfew, and Truancy Enforcement: A
Quasi-Experimental Test of the Dallas Anti-Gang Initiative’, Crime and
Delinquency, 45, pp. 122-39. 471
27 Karl G. Hill, James C. Howell, J. David Hawkins and Sara R. Battin-Pearson
(1999), ‘Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from
the Seattle Social Development Project’, Journal o f Research in Crime and
Delinquency, 36, pp. 300-22. 489
28 Anthony A. Braga, David M. Kennedy, Elin J. Waring and Anne Morrison Piehl
(2001), ‘Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An
Evaluation of Boston’s Operation Ceasefire’, Journal o f Research in Crime and
Delinquency, 38, pp. 195-225. 513
29 Karen Bullock and Nick Tilley (2002), ‘Shootings, Gangs and Violent Incidents
in Manchester: Developing a Crime Reduction Strategy’, Home Office Crime
Reduction Research Series, Paper 13, (Briefing Note), pp. 1-2. 545

Name Index 547

Acknowledgements

The editors and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright material.

American Journal of Criminal Justice for the essay: Jacqueline L. Schneider (2001), ‘Niche
Crime: The Columbus Gangs Study’, American Journal o f Criminal Justice, 26, pp. 93-105.
Copyright © 2001 Southern Criminal Justice Association.

American Sociological Association for the essays: Robert K. Merton (1938), ‘Social Structure
and Anomie’, American Sociological Review, 3, pp. 672-82; Ruth Horowitz and Gary Schwartz
(1974), ‘Honor, Normative Ambiguity and Gang Violence’, American Sociological Review,
39, pp. 238-51.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology for the essay: Scott Poynting, Greg Noble
and Paul Tabar (2001), ‘Middle Eastern Appearances: “Ethnic Gangs”, Moral Panic and Media
Framing’, Australian and New Zealand Journal o f Criminology, 34, pp. 67-90.

Blackwell Publishing Ltd for the essay: Walter B. Miller (1959), ‘Lower Class Culture as a
Generating Milieu of Gang Delinquency’, Journal o f Social Issues, 14, pp. 5-19.

Canadian Criminal Justice Association for the essay: Robert M. Gordon (2000), ‘Criminal
Business Organizations, Street Gangs and “Wanna-be” Groups: A Vancouver Perspective’,
Canadian Journal o f Criminology, January, pp. 39-60. Copyright © 2000 Canadian Criminal
Justice Association.

Elsevier for the essay: Scott H. Decker and G. David Curry (2002), ‘Gangs, Gang Homicides,
and Gang Loyalty: Organized Crimes or Disorganized Criminals’, Journal o f Criminal Justice,
30, pp. 343-52. Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Home Office for the essay: Karen Bullock and Nick Tilley (2002), ‘Shootings, Gangs and
Violent Incidents in Manchester: Developing a Crime Reduction Strategy’, Home Office Crime
Reduction Research Series, Paper 13, (Briefing Note), pp. 1-2.

Humanity and Society for the essay: Meda Chesney-Lind (1993), ‘Girls, Gangs and Violence:
Anatomy of a Backlash’, Humanity and Society, 17, pp. 321-44.

Journal of Australian Studies for the essay: Judith Bessant (1995), “‘Hanging Around the Street”:
Australian Rockers, Sharpies and Skinheads of the 1960s and Early 1970s’, Journal o f Australian
Studies, 45, pp. 15-31.
X Gangs

Journal of Social History for the essay: Andrew Davies (1998), ‘Youth Gangs, Masculinity
and Violence in Late Victorian Manchester and Salford’, Journal o f Social History, 32,
pp. 349-69.

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers for the essay: Anthony A. Braga (2003), ‘Serious Youth
Gun Offenders and the Epidemic of Youth Violence in Boston’, Journal o f Quantitative
Criminology, 19, pp. 33-54. Copyright © 2003 Plenum Publishing Group.

National Association of Social Workers for the essay: Irving A. Spergel and Susan F. Grossman
(1997), ‘The Little Village Project: A Community Approach to the Gang Problem’, Social
Work, 42, pp. 456-70. Copyright © 1997 National Association for Social Workers, Inc., Social
Work.

National Institute of Justice Journal for the essay: Cheryl L. Maxson, Kristi J. Woods and
Malcolm W. Klein (1996), ‘Street Gang Migration: How Big a Threat?’, National Institute o f
Justice Journal, 230, pp. 26-31.

Oxford University Press for the essay: Karen Joe Laidler and Geoffrey Hunt (2001),
‘Accomplishing Femininity Among the Girls in the Gang’, British Journal o f Criminology, 41,
pp. 656-78. Copyright © 2001 Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD).

Sage Publications, Inc. for the essays: Malcolm W. Klein and Lois Y. Crawford (1967), ‘Groups,
Gangs, and Cohesiveness’, Journal o f Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, pp. 63-75.
Copyright © 1967 Sage Publications, Inc.; Anne Campbell, Steven Munce and John Galea
(1982), ‘American Gangs and British Subcultures: A Comparison’, International Journal o f
O ffender Therapy and Com parative Crim inology , 26, pp. 76-89. Copyright © Sage Publications,
Inc.; R.G. Whitfield (1982), ‘American Gangs and British Subcultures: A Commentary’,
International Journal o f Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 26, pp. 90-92.
Copyright © 1982 Sage Publications, Inc.; John M. Hagedom (1994), ‘Neighborhoods, Markets,
and Gang Drug Organization’, Jo urnal o f Research in Crime and Delinquency, 31, pp. 264-94.
Copyright © 1994 Sage Publications, Inc.; Anne Campbell (1984), ‘Girls’ Talk: The Social
Representation of Aggression by Female Gang Members’, Criminal Justice and Behavior, 11,
pp. 139-56. Copyright © 1984 Sage Publications, Inc.; Anthony A. Braga, David M. Kennedy,
Elin J. Waring and Anne Morrison Piehl (2001), ‘Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and
Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston’s Operation Ceasefire’, Journal o f Research in Crime
and Delinquency, 38, pp. 195-225. Copyright © 2001 Sage Publications, Inc.; Eric J. Fritsch,
Tory J. Caeti and Robert W. Taylor (1999), ‘Gang Suppression Through Saturation Patrol,
Aggressive Curfew, and Truancy Enforcement: A Quasi-Experimental Test of the Dallas Anti-
Gang Initiative’, Crime and Delinquency, 45, pp. 122-39. Copyright © 1999 Sage Publications,
Inc.; Karl G. Hill, James C. Howell, J. David Hawkins and Sara R. Battin-Pearson (1999),
‘Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from the Seattle Social
Development Project’, Journal o f Research in Crime and Delinquency, 36, pp. 300-22. Copyright
© 1999 Sage Publications, Inc.
 Gangs xi

University of California Press for the essays: Lewis Yablonsky (1959), T h e Delinquent Gang
as a Near-Group’, Social Problems, 7, pp. 108-17. Copyright © 1959 Society for the Study of
Social Problems; Ruth Horowitz (1987), ‘Community Tolerance of Gang Violence’, Social
Problems, 34, pp. 437-50. Copyright © 1987 Society for the Study of Social Problems; John
M. Hagedom (1991), ‘Gangs, Neighborhoods, and Public Policy’, Social Problems, 38, pp. 529-
42. Copyright © 1991 Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first
opportunity.
Preface to the Second Series

The first series of the International Library of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Penology has
established itself as a major research resource by bringing together the most significant journal
essays in contemporary criminology, criminal justice and penology. The series made available
to researchers, teachers and students an extensive range of essays which are indispensable
for obtaining an overview of the latest theories and findings in this fast changing subject.
Indeed the rapid growth of interesting scholarly work in the field has created a demand for a
second series which like the first consists of volumes dealing with criminological schools and
theories as well as with approaches to particular areas o f crime criminal justice and penology.
Each volume is edited by a recognised authority who has selected twenty or so of the best
journal articles in the field of their special competence and provided an informative introduction
giving a summary of the field and the relevance of the articles chosen. The original pagination
is retained for ease of reference.
The difficulties o f keeping on top of the steadily growing literature in criminology are
complicated by the many disciplines from which its theories and findings are drawn (sociology,
law, sociology of law, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy and economics are the most obvious).
The development of new specialisms with their own journals (policing, victimology, mediation)
as well as the debates between rival schools of thought (feminist criminology, left realism,
critical criminology, abolitionism etc.) make necessary overviews that offer syntheses of the
state of the art.

GERALD MARS
Visiting Professor, Brunei University, Middlesex, UK

DAVID NELKEN
Distinguished Professor o f Sociology, University o f Macerata, Italy;
Distinguished Research Professor o f Law, University o f Cardiff, Wales;
Honourary Visiting Professor o f Law, LSE, London, UK
Introduction

This volume has been brought together by an American (Schneider) and an Englishman (Tilley).
Both of us currently live in Nottingham, where official worries about gangs in Nottingham date
back at least eight or nine hundred years. The legendary Robin Hood and his Merry Men were
an archetypal, early Nottingham gang, operating in the Middle Ages. At the time of writing, we
are both involved in a project that is looking at patterns of shooting in the city, in particular
those associated with gangs, with a view to developing a preventive strategy. These circumstances
shape the perspective we bring to gangs.
We wonder how much the situation for policing and criminological research has changed since
Robin Hood’s time. Although accounts of Robin Hood-type gangs have been widely documented
through time and space, albeit often with some difficulty in separating myth from reality (see
Hobsbawm, 1969), social science research investigating the nature and development of these
groups really only began in the early 1900s. Volumes of analyses have been devoted to the study of
gangs, their formation, structure, criminal activity, official responses to and the community’s
tolerance of them, with two pieces of work providing the impetus for present-day criminological
and sociological gang research. In America, Fredrick Thrasher’s (1927) seminal piece on gangs
in Chicago provided the first systematic study on the nature and structure of criminal gangs.
Since then, research, which largely tends to compile case-study analyses of particular groups
or cities, has been built around the original ideas forwarded by Thrasher. In England, the number
of studies devoted solely to gangs is relatively small in comparison to those generated in America.
However, Stanley Cohen’s (1972) work on the evolution or, more accurately, the social construction
of the 1960s ‘Mods’ and ‘Rockers’ is crucial for the study of gangs and societal reaction to
them. In England, modern-day accounts relate not only the Mods and Rockers, but have moved
on to include the Teddy Boys of the 1950s, the Yardies, who are said to largely control the drug
trade in several of England’s larger cities, and other city-specific gangs that have persisted over
significant periods (see, for example, Bullock and Tilley, Chapter 29, this volume).
Schneider (1995) identified three stages of gang research in the USA: the Exploratory Stage
(pre-1950s); Theory Generation (1950s-1960s); and the Stage of Diversity (post-1960s). During
the first stage, researchers documented as many characteristics and patterns of behavior amongst
gangs and their members as possible. The works of Thrasher (1927), Merton (Chapter 1, this
volume), Tannenbaum (1939), Shaw and McKay (1942) and Whyte (1943) provided the
empirical observations necessary for the work of the next generation - the theoreticians. Cohen
(1955), Bloch and Neiderhoffer (1958), Miller (Chapter 2, this volume), Cloward and Ohlin
(1960) and Yablonsky (1962 and Chapter 3, this volume)1paid particular attention to hypothesis
testing and theoretical development, which laid the foundation for researchers in the third stage.
Research from the 1970s onwards lacks intellectual coherence. Contrary to the generations that
preceded them, researchers delved into a number of different topical investigations. For example,
some specialized in looking at the criminal nature of gangs; others looked at structural elements;
and still others looked at demographic characteristics. The topics were diverse and did not tie
in coherently with the body of works produced as a whole.
XVI Gangs

The essays in this volume are based loosely on themes running through the gang literature
worldwide. Needless to say, selected essays represent only a small portion of the overall body
of literature that exists. However, they do embody a comprehensive attempt to understand
activity that appears to occur as a result of some group process. What is less clear from existing
studies is the extent to which these suppositions feed moral panics or contribute to the
misidentification or overspecification of a problem. In today’s social science climate, the notion
that gangs might well be nothing more than a group of likeminded people who engage in
similar activities is tantamount to heresy.
Generally speaking, several underlying assumptions run throughout all gang research since
the 1970s:

1. Gangs exist.
2. Gangs are purposeful.
3. Gangs commit crimes - frequently very serious types of crime.
4. Gangs survive beyond the lifetime of any given member.
5. Gangs direct the activities of their members.
6. Gangs require special social intervention to reduce their existence and criminality.
7. Gangs are social groups that often replace more traditional social institutions such as the
family.
8. Gangs actively recruit and initiate new members.
9. Gangs have structure, albeit to varying degrees of formalization.
10. Gangs are instrumental groups that offer disenfranchised youths economic alternatives to
those offered by mainstream society.

For obvious reasons, the above list is not exhaustive, but it does reflect the general themes
coursing through the literature.

Theory and Concepts

Part I of this volume is organized around theory and concepts. In Chapter 1 Robert Merton
situates anti-social behavior within the context of cultural values and class structure. His
seminal essay, first published in 1938, has provided generations of structural sociologists and
criminologists with the foundation for studying group phenomenon. Gang formation is caused
by the lack of integration between means and ends for gang members. Continuing along these
lines, Walter Miller (Chapter 2) examines patterns of behavior that result from lower-class
groups having distinctly different cultural systems from those of the middle class. Delinquent
gangs are merely a variant of what he terms ‘adolescent street corner groups’. Building on
Merton’s earlier work, Miller believes that crime is a result of those attempting to achieve
valued ends through means that are available uniquely to those in lower-class structures.
In Chapter 3 Lewis Yablonsky introduces the concept of a ‘near-group’ which, although
originally postulated in 1959, seems to be growing in significance for today’s researchers.
Deviant groups and criminal gangs exist on a continuum of organizational characteristics, ranging
from crowds through to highly organized criminal groups or firms. Perhaps the most enduring,
but ignored, finding from Yablonsky is his observation that ‘[m]ost gang theorizing begins
 Gangs X Vll

with an automatic assumption that gangs are defined sociological groups’ (p. 32). He continues
by stating that ‘misconceived theories’ pertaining to gangs and their developments are based
on popular images reported in the press rather than on scientific observations.
Malcolm Klein and Lois Crawford (Chapter 4) call on Thrasher and Yablonsky’s work to
show a continuum of ‘gangness’ in terms of structure and activity. They compare gangs to
other more benign social groups in order to identify distinguishing characteristics. Whilst
they found similar characteristics for gangs and non-delinquent groups, delinquency appeared
to be the main defining attribute of gangs. Klein and Crawford draw a distinction between the
types of group in terms of internal and external cohesion. Internal sources of cohesion (goals,
membership stability, group norms, and so on) appear to be less important to gangs than external
mechanisms.
The final essay selected for Part I is based on work stemming from Canada. Robert Gordon
(Chapter 5) uses his work to illustrate the need for Canadian-specific research to document
gangs and their formation rather than relying on the work emanating from America or England.
The work, however, builds on the notion set out by other authors in Part I - namely, that a
continuum of gang behavior exists.

The History and Development of Gangs

Perhaps research has come full circle by needing to return to the historical roots of looking at
gangs in terms of near-groups and cultural values. However, the question for new generations
of gang researchers might well be this: to what extent do the activities within these groups
resemble those of organized crime firms as opposed to those of groups of friends and associates
who, from time to time, commit crimes when with one another?
Part II of this volume relates to the history and development of gangs, although none of the
essays goes back as far as Robin Hood. Andrew Davies (Chapter 10) takes us back to the
nineteenth-century ‘scuttlers’ in Manchester and Salford, showing how themes of masculinity,
violence, territoriality and honor were to be found in these British working-class gangs. Anne
Campbell, Steven Munce and John Galea (Chapter 6) compare groups in Britain and the United
States in the period after the Second World War. For gangs to exist, they suggest, there must be
face-to-face interaction, internal structure including leadership and role allocation, territoriality
and stable membership. However, they argue that in Britain, unlike in the United States, there
is little evidence of gangs with these attributes; British gangs can be better characterized as
youth subcultures. In the different contexts of the United States and Britain, they highlight the
relatively greater salience of class in Britain and race in the United States. In Chapter 7
R.G. Whitfield questions Campbell et al. ’s conclusions, arguing that gangs have a long history
in Britain and that class is of diminishing significance. He maintains that gangs comprise
‘subcultures writ small’.
Judith Bessant (Chapter 8) looks at ‘rockers’, ‘sharpies’ and ‘skinheads’ in Australia in the
1960s and early 1970s. Like Campbell and her colleagues she refers to both the post-war growth
in youth culture and the importance of class. She also notes the emergence of a collective
identity amongst different groups as well as their rivalry, fights, mutual loyalty and territoriality.
However, the groups she studied lacked exclusive membership, leadership or rules of behavior
and, in this sense, they did not comprise ‘gangs’. Scott Poynting, Grey Noble and Paul Tabar
xviii___________________________________ Gangs

(Chapter 12), also writing with an Australian focus, discuss the role of the media in creating a
moral panic over ethnic gangs in Sydney at the end of the twentieth century. They draw on
Leslie Wilkins’s pioneering work on deviancy amplification (Wilkins, 1964), since adopted
and developed by others, to interpret the response to Lebanese Australian young men and their
adaptation to the treatment meted out to them. In relation to this theme, Cheryl Maxson, Kristi
Woods and Malcolm Klein (Chapter 9) look at the role of migration as a mechanism for spreading
gangs in the United States. However, they do not find it to play a major role. Christopher
Adamson (Chapter 11) compares the developments of youth gangs amongst African-
American and European-Americans in the United States since 1787. Whilst acknowledging
some similarities - a basis in social disadvantage, mutual violence, defensive localism, a place
to forge identity and potential source of social status - he highlights the very different experiences
of these groups across time. In particular, he shows how variations in gang formation and
activity need to be understood in terms of the differences in economic and structural conditions.

Defining Gangs

The essays relating to the history and development of gangs do, in some cases, explicitly raise
questions of definition. Across all of them we see rather different formations, functions and
activities across time, across country and across groups within a given country. It may be
unhelpful to lump all these together as ‘gangs’. Using an everyday scare term may occlude
more than it reveals when attached to such diverse groups and social movements.
The task of researching gangs has been fraught with difficulties since the 1970s. Central to
these difficulties are issues of definition and reliance on certain forms of data for analyses.
These methodological issues have been acknowledged as limitations in most of the existing
research, but they have not been explored as being potentially serious flaws contributing to the
proliferation of myth, or as aggravating factors that exacerbate what is essentially a relatively
uncomplicated social process. Although the term ‘gang’ is used universally by researchers,
police, social workers, media and the general public, its meaning is not applied consistently.
Hearing the word ‘gang’ conjures up a myriad images - from the acute, exclusive and manifest
group loyalties and conflicts depicted tragically in West Side Story through the violent
gangsters controlling the streets of Los Angeles to the group of youths skateboarding through
the city centre. The degree of disparity between these, in terms of criminal activity, cohesion,
purpose, and structure, reflects the disparities in the ways in which the term ‘gang’ itself is
used.
Defining the term ‘gang’ is tricky, but perhaps essential. In order to conduct research or to
implement plausible crime reduction initiatives, unambiguously and accurately capturing the
target phenomenon is crucial. Winfree, Fuller, Vigil and Mays (1992, p. 29) describe the evolution
of gang research as having an ‘almost schizophrenic path’, which they say is due to the lack of
definitional consensus on the term. Horowitz (1990) not only excuses this imprecision, but also
condones it. She says that because a number of special interest groups (that is, police, prison,
media and schools) exist, they will need their own definitions and that these definitions will
necessarily differ. According to Horowitz, problems may arise when policy-making comes into
play ; however, she offers no remedy for these problems except that the implications of having
different definitions ought to be studied.
 Gangs xix

Nearly 15 years later criminal justice agencies still do not apply the term ‘gang’ in consistent
or productive ways, if they apply it at all. Police organizations often take the lead in identifying
local groups, gangs, their members and their specific criminal activities, although assumptions
about what constitutes a gang, a gang activity or membership of a gang vary both between
agencies and within them. Whatever view or views prevail, however, due to data protection
issues and the sensitive nature of the information, these data are rarely shared with crime
reduction partners. This opens the door for other agencies independently to adopt their own
definitions, which help frame the varying perspectives found on the issue. The variations in
definition are often not even recognized. The outcome is not only confused and incoherent
local strategic and tactical decision-making, but also a situation that allows one agency to
maintain an account of a problem even when data held by another agency may refute it. Crime
and disorder partners could benefit from a more systematic approach in identifying the existence
of gangs in the first instance, followed by ways of measuring their impact. In other words,
crime and disorder partners should know:

1. what comprises a gang

2. if, given these parameters, gangs exist
3. what constitutes membership of a gang
4. whether the criminal activities of gang members reflect the wishes of the overall group.

The use of consistent definitional criteria may avoid the danger of overstating the existence
of gangs and overestimating the problems they cause. It may also help prevent the over-
sensationalization of the issue by the media.
Under current systems, ancillary issues arise relating to the ways in which police count
numbers of gangs, numbers of members of gangs and the volume of crime attributable to gangs.
The potential problem of circularity becomes important here. Anecdotal evidence often serves
as the basis for classification, or intelligence information provides the justification for naming
a particular gang and its membership. If it is then accepted, without independent corroboration,
that gangs exist, information substantiating their existence can be constructed. This is not to
say that officers, or even researchers, manufacture the evidence to support their presuppositions.
Rather, if one assumes that a situation exists, a self-fulfilling prophecy begins: intelligence is
sought and sources tasked in relation to the presumed problem, the intelligence is constructed
and construed in terms of that presumed problem, and the original impression is reinforced.
What is also unclear from existing studies is the degree to which the aforementioned
suppositions are supported simply because of the type of data used to study gangs. Police data
serve as the basis for much, if not most, gang research. Either recorded crime data are used to
analyze gang-related crime patterns or intelligence files are used to identify who belongs to
specific gangs so that qualitative interviews can be conducted with ‘known’ gang members.
The misidentification of someone as a gang member or as belonging to the wrong gang can
severely affect research outcomes. To further complicate matters, knowing how to classify an
incident as being ‘gang-related’ is important. Chicago and Los Angeles have taken the lead in
trying to distinguish between ‘gang-related’ offences and all others. Their definitions as to
what makes something ‘gang-related’ differ: Chicago’s is more restrictive than that used in Los
Angeles.2But what is not known is the extent to which these are reliable and valid measures of
gang activities and their underlying motivations.
XX Gangs

Future generations of gang researchers certainly have obstacles to overcome. Definitional

issues and problems must be dealt with. It may be useful in future to differentiate more clearly
between levels of gang organization and formalization. Some, for example, seem like ephemeral
packs of predators, others like embryonic organized crime firms, others like chapters of national
or international movements, and still others like territory-based friendship groups. It is unhelpful
in criminological research to lump all these together. Detailed crime pattern analyses and network
analyses should help work out the extent to which crime is committed in packs of loosely
affiliated youths or in organized, purposeful criminal enterprises. It is important, too, to recognize
that even when gang members do commit crime together, their behavior is not necessarily
gang-motivated; it may more simply be a by-product of shared opportunities and interests. A
key practical question is that of whether intervention and reduction strategies should change
where crimes are committed by ‘known gang’ members. It may be more efficient and effective
to concentrate on the acts themselves rather than the group membership of those engaged in
them.
Parts III to VI of this volume represent that almost schizophrenic nature of gang research to
which Winfree et a l (1992) refer. Parts III and IV are dedicated to activities that gangs routinely
engage - violence and drugs. The role that girls play in criminal gangs is explored through a
series of essays in Part V. Policy initiatives that are aimed at reducing or suppressing gang
activities are included in the final chapters of the volume.

Gangs and Crime

Ruth Horowitz’s and her colleagues’ work with Chicano gangs provide a foundation that enriches
our understanding about how these groups manage to exist amongst communities. Her work
with Schwartz (Chapter 13) examines the normative process within a community that influences
gang members’ responses to various stresses and strains. Their findings showed that, within the
Chicano gangs, adherence to a code of personal honor shapes the individual’s reaction to insults.
According to Short and Strodtbeck (1965), gangs provide an attractive alternative for gang
members to find status given that they often lack appropriate socialization mechanisms that
enable them to respond more appropriately to social strains. Using this hypothesis as the
foundation for their work, Horowitz and Schwartz found that Chicano gangs operate under a
different cultural experience. Social honor shapes the responses that these gang members make.
Building on this, Horowitz demonstrated that, 13 years later, Chicano gangs are basically an
accepted part of the community’s social fabric (Chapter 14). Gang members will respond within
a range of behaviors that are accepted amongst the general community. This enables the Chicano
gang members to develop their own mechanisms of adaptation when pursuing culturally imposed
expectations; however, the gang members must balance their pursuit with the tolerance of the
community. If they operate outside the tolerance level, gangs are well aware that they jeopardize
their perceived levels of legitimacy amongst the larger community.
The remaining essays in Part III look at gang activity from a structural viewpoint. Researchers
use organizational elements in order to examine gang behavior and crime. For example,
Jacqueline Schneider (Chapter 15) uses criminal histories of gang leaders in order to develop a
profile of gang activity for each of the identified gangs in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Finding that
some gangs specialize in certain types of criminal activity over other forms, she suggests that
 Gangs xxi

intervention and prevention activities might well benefit from using a more macro-approach
rather than focusing on the activities of the individual gang member. In Chapter 16 Scott Decker
and David Curry examine the social organization of gang homicides compared to non-gang-
related killings. Finding that the majority of killings are intra-gang in contrast to the widely
held belief that gangs kill rival gang members, Decker and Curry question the degree to which
gangs are cohesive. Finally, in Chapter 17, Anthony Braga shows how patterns of youth homicide
in Boston, USA, are clustered among the city’s most prolific serious gun-crime offenders rather
than amongst the more diffused street drug trade.

Drugs and Gangs

The essays in Part IV continue to take a structural perspective, but concentrate specifically on
drugs-related crime. In Chapter 18 Jeffrey Fagan examines the social organization of drug-dealing
in three American cities. His research identifies four types of gangs that had varying degrees of
drug-dealing capabilities. Fagan concludes that gangs’ varying degrees of organizational and
social structures influence the degree to which the gangs are equipped to traffic drugs. Next,
Malcolm Klein, Cheryl Maxson and Lea C. Cunningham (Chapter 19) examine the degree to
which gangs play a part in the distribution of crack cocaine and the subsequent violence that is
believed to accompany that distribution. Although they fail to demonstrate that gangs are the
main impetus behind the drug’s sale and associated violence, they do show that individual
members do play a part. This important distinction between gangs’ behaviors and the actions of
their individual members is an important one to make. All too often, it is supposed that gangs
act in unison for a greater purpose; however, research continues to struggle to find evidence to
support this ideology. John Hagedom (Chapter 20) continues along the lines that Klein and his
colleagues set into motion. In large part, he finds that gangs are loosely organized groups of
neighborhood-based groups that are not organizationally suited to large-scale drug-trafficking.

Girls and Gangs

Gang members are overwhelmingly male, and most of the literature is related to males as gang
members. The essays collected in Part V, however, deal with girls and gangs. Anne Campbell
(Chapter 21) reports on a full-time three-year study of three New York gangs and discusses the
ways in which girls talk about their fights. She finds that the most discussed fights are one-on-
one, and that most reported fights are domestic and are concerned with personal integrity rather
than being gang-related. In Chapter 23 Karen Joe Laidler and Geoffrey Hunt report on a long-
term study of ethnic gangs (African American, Latina and Asian American) in the San Francisco
Bay area that began in 1991 and involved interviews with male and female gang members.
They draw on 141 interviews with female respondents across three snowball samples taken at
different times. They find that female, like male, gang members seek respect, but that the
content of that respect differs. For males it has to do with power and control. For females,
across ethnic groups, however, it is also associated with the pursuit of respectability, including
‘being feminine’. Meda Chesney-Lind (Chapter 22) writes against an intense media interest at
the time (1993) in girls’ violence and highlights the almost exclusive treatment of males in
XXll Gangs

gangs in the early literature. She notes the exaggerated accounts of growth in female gang
criminality in particular violence, at the same time pointing out that, at earlier points, this has
been understated. Chesney-Lind locates girl gang membership in the context of the severe
social disadvantages experienced and interprets media responses as a means of demonizing
the young women in gangs at the expense of addressing the racism and sexism to which they
are responding.

Policy and Practice

Part VI concerns policy and practice. Anthony Braga, David Kennedy, Elin Waring and
Anne Piehl (Chapter 28) discuss Boston’s Operation Ceasefire, which achieved a rapid fall
in the number of injuries and deaths caused by firearms. It did so by focusing not on gangs
per se, but on a specific behavior in which they were engaged. The strategy, which involved
the application of well-publicized leverage on gangs in relation to use of firearms, emerged
from close cooperation between researchers at Harvard, including the authors, and
practitioners from various agencies in Boston. In Chapter 29 Karen Bullock and Nick Tilley
describe the findings of analyses undertaken in connection with an effort to mount a sister
project in Manchester, England, using principles akin to those that had been applied in
Boston.
Eric Fritsch, Tory Caeti and Robert Taylor (Chapter 26) report on a project in Dallas where
three tactics were applied to reduce gang violence: ‘aggressive curfew enforcement’, ‘aggressive
truancy enforcement’ and ‘saturation patrol’. Their findings suggest that the aggressive curfew
enforcement and aggressive truancy patrol were responsible for a statistically significant fall in
violent gang-related offences, with minimal displacement. Other offences were not reduced.
Irving Spergel and Susan Grossman (Chapter 25) describe the Little Village Gang Violence
Reduction project in Chicago, which was directed by Spergel. The project comprised an inter-
agency and community initiative focusing on violent youth gang problems, which were reduced
over a four-year period. It involved a series of interrelated strategies including both social
interventions and enforcement. Spergel and Grossman stress the close working practices and
shared mission that developed between community youth workers - many of whom had once
belonged to gangs - and police officers, probation workers, residents and representatives of
local organizations, and the targeting of ‘hard-core gang youths’. As with the Boston project
the researchers also worked closely with those implementing the initiative.
In contrast, Karl Hill, James Howell, David Hawkins and Sara Battin-Pearson (Chapter 27)
do not report an actual intervention. Instead they report a Seattle-based prospective study of
risk factors at age 10 to 12 associated with gang membership at age 13 to 18, with a view to
identifying potential points of preventive action. Gang membership was defined by an answer
to the questions, ‘Do you belong to a gang?’ and ‘What is the name of the gang?’. The strongest
predictors at age 10-12 were the availability of marijuana in the neighborhood, living in a
neighborhood where many youths are in trouble, living with one parent and another non-parent
adult in the home, having initiated marijuana use, having engaged in violence, low academic
achievement, and being identified as learning disabled at school. Exposure to multiple risk
factors substantially heightened overall risk. The authors suggest measures that might impact
on the identified risk factors.
 Gangs xxiii

John Hagedorn (Chapter 24) again does not report a specific program, but focuses instead on
research-based policy recommendations. Drawing on three Milwaukee studies to show how
deindustrialization has altered youth gangs, he shows how maturing out of gangs has been
undermined by the loss of job opportunities in factories and their replacement with part-time
work in the illegal drug economy. Older gang members then furnish models for new recruits.
Hagedorn also looks at local neighborhood conditions, noting the lack of effective community
institutions, and the presence of ‘a checkerboard of struggling working class and poor families,
coexisting, even on the same block, with drug houses, gangs, and routine violence’ (p. 446).
He stresses the ensuing tensions and absence of control. Hagedorn has four suggestions: that
public spending and private investment be concentrated in the most impoverished areas; that
programs be fully evaluated to see whether they are having an impact on gangs or those most in
need; that family preservation programs be funded; and that large bureaucracies become more
neighborhood-based and more open to input from clients and the neighborhoods they serve.
These measures are directed at strengthening local institutions to complement major jobs
programs.

Final Thoughts

We cannot, at this distance in time, be certain about Robin Hood and his Merry M en’s significance
or exploits, though the stories appear compelling and are echoed in various ways in many other
parallel developments in places and times far from Sherwood Forest (Hobsbawm, 1969).
Likewise with more modern forms of gangs, we have plenty of plausible myths and legends
upon which to make suppositions about gangs and the kinds of things gangs do. It is, we think,
hard to escape myth and legend even in present-day gang research. To us, local myths and
legends appear to continue to play a part in shaping police work, as well as in the police data
that are created and then processed by criminologists. This is not to say that we are locked into
their reproduction or to their acceptance; rather, we need to be cautious and critical about the
data that provide the foundation of our work and resulting ideology. Additionally, as researchers
we need to work with agencies in order to help them avoid succumbing to assumptions that are
all too easily confirmed and reproduced. We need to be in the business of demystification. We
think that this volume makes a good start by bringing together a wide range of what we deem
to be high-quality literature on the nature, composition, activities, social foundations for, and
policy responses to, social phenomena labeled ‘gangs’.

Notes

1 Due to the nature of this publication, the classic works of these authors are not included in this volume.
We would be remiss if we did not suggest that the reader peruse these classics as they provide a rich
source of background and theoretical rationale for the study of gangs.
2 For an incident in Los Angeles to be classified as ‘gang-related’ an identified member of the gang
simply has to be taken to have committed the offence - regardless of whether the gang itself ordered
the act. In Chicago, however, a more restrictive definition has been set. Here, for an offence to be
recorded as ‘gang-related’ it must be ordered by the gang (for a detailed discussion see Maxson and
Klein, 1990).
XXIV Gangs

References

Bloch, Herbert and Neiderhoffer, Arthur (1958), The Gang: A Study in Adolescent Behavior, New York:
Philosophical Press.
Cloward, Richard A. and Ohlin, Lloyd E. (1960), Delinquency and Opportunity: A Theory o f Delinquent
Gangs, New York: The Free Press.
Cohen, Albert K. (1955), Delinquent Boys: The Culture o f the Gang, Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
Cohen, Stanley (1972), Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation o f the Mods and Rockers, London:
Paladin.
Hobsbawm, Eric (1969), Bandits, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Horowitz, Ruth (1990), ‘Sociological Perspectives on Gangs: Conflicting Definitions and Concepts’, in
C. Ronald Huff (ed.), Gangs in America , Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 37-54.
Maxson, Cheryl L. and Klein, Malcolm W. (1990), ‘Street Gang Violence: Twice as Great, or Half as
Great?’, in C. Ronald Huff (ed.), Gangs in America, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 71-100.
Schneider, Jacqueline L. (1995), ‘Organizational Perspectives and Patterns of Criminality Among Gang
Leaders’, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, USA.
Shaw, Clifford and McKay, Henry (1942), Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas, Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Short, James and Strodtbeck, Fred (1965), Group Process and Gang Delinquency, Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Tannenbaum, Frank (1939), Crime and the Community, New York: Columbia University Press.
Thrasher, Fredrick M. (1927), The Gang: A Study o f 1,313 Gangs in Chicago, Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Whyte, William Foote (1943), Street Corner Society, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wilkins, Leslie T. (1964), Social Deviance: Social Policy, Action and Research, London: Tavistock
Publications.
Winfree, L. Thomas jr, Fuller, Kathy, Vigil, Teresa and Mays, G. Larry (1992), ‘The Definition and
Measurement of “Gang Status’’: Policy Implications for Juvenile Justice’, Juvenile and Family Court
Journal, 43, pp. 29-37.
Yablonsky, Lewis (1962), The Violent Gang, New York: Macmillan.
 Part I
Theory and Concepts
 [1]
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND ANOMIE
R o b e r t K. M e r t o n
Harvard University

T
here persists a notable tendency in sociological theory to attribute
the m alfunctioning of social structure prim arily to those of m an’s
imperious biological drives which are not adequately restrained by
social control. In this view, the social order is solely a device for “ impulse
m anagem ent” and the “social processing” of tensions. These impulses
which break through social control, be it noted, are held to be biologically
derived. N onconform ity is assumed to be rooted in original n ature .1 Con-
formity is by implication the result of an utilitarian calculus or unreasoned
conditioning. This point of view, whatever its other deficiences, clearly
begs one question. It provides no basis for determ ining the nonbiological
conditions which induce deviations from prescribed patterns of conduct.
In this paper, it will be suggested th a t certain phases of social structure
generate the circumstances in which infringem ent of social codes constitutes
a “ norm al” response .2
The conceptual scheme to be outlined is designed to provide a coherent,
system atic approach to the study of socio-cultural sources of deviate
behavior. Our prim ary aim lies in discovering how some social structures
exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in the society to engage in
nonconformist rather than conformist conduct. The m any ramifications of
the scheme cannot all be discussed; the problems mentioned outnum ber
those explicitly treated.
Among the elements of social and cultural structure, two are im portant
for our purposes. These are analytically separable although they merge
imperceptibly in concrete situations. The first consists of culturally defined
goals, purposes, and interests. I t comprises a frame of aspirational refer-
ence. These goals are more or less integrated and involve varying degrees
of prestige and sentim ent. They constitute a basic, but not the exclusive,
component of w hat L inton aptly has called “ designs for group living.”
Some of these cultural aspirations are related to the original drives of man,
but they are not determ ined by them. T he second phase of the social

1 E.g., Ernest Jones, Social Aspects of Psychoanalysis, 28, London, 1924. I f the Freudian
notion is a variety of the “ original sin” dogma, then the interpretation advanced in this paper
may be called the doctrine of “ socially derived sin.”
* “ Normal” in the sense of a culturally oriented, if not approved, response. This statement
does not deny the relevance of biological and personality differences which may be significantly
involved in the incidence o f deviate conduct. Our focus of interest is the social and cultural
matrix; hence we abstract from other factors. It is in this sense, I take it, that Jam es S. Plant
speaks of the “ normal reaction of normal people to abnormal conditions.” See his Personality
and the Cultural Pattern , 248, New York, 1937.
4 Gangs

SOCIAL ST R U C T U R E AND A N O M IE 673

structure defines, regulates, and controls the acceptable modes of achieving

these goals. Every social group invariably couples its scale of desired ends
with moral or institutional regulation of permissible and required procedures
for attaining these ends. These regulatory norms and moral imperatives
do not necessarily coincide with technical or efficiency norms. M any pro-
cedures which from the standpoint of particular individuals would be most
efficient in securing desired values, e.g., illicit oil-stock schemes, theft,
fraud, are ruled out of the institutional area of perm itted conduct. The
choice of expedients is limited by the institutional norms.
To say th at these two elements, culture goals and institutional norms,
operate jointly is not to say th a t the ranges of alternative behaviors and
aims bear some constant relation to one another. The emphasis upon certain
goals may vary independently of the degree of emphasis upon institutional
means. There may develop a disproportionate, at times, a virtually ex-
clusive, stress upon the value of specific goals, involving relatively slight
concern with the institutionally appropriate modes of attaining these goals.
The limiting case in this direction is reached when the range of alternative
procedures is limited only by technical rather than institutional considera-
tions. Any and all devices which promise attainm ent of the all im portant
goal would be perm itted in this hypothetical polar case .3 This constitutes
one type of cultural m alintegration. A second polar type is found in groups
where activities originally conceived as instrum ental are transm uted into
ends in themselves. The original purposes are forgotten and ritualistic
adherence to institutionallyprescribed conduct becomes virtually obsessive .4
Stability is largely ensured while change is flouted. The range of alternative
behaviors is severely limited. There develops a tradition-bound, sacred
society characterized by neophobia. The occupational psychosis of the
bureaucrat may be cited as a case in point. Finally, there are the inter-
m ediate types of groups where a balance between culture goals and institu-

3 Contemporary American culture has been said to tend in this direction. See Andr6
Siegfried, America Comes of Age, 26-37, New York, 1927. The alleged extreme(?) emphasis
on the goals of monetary success and material prosperity leads to dominant concern with
technological and social instruments designed to produce the desired result, inasmuch as in-
stitutional controls become o f secondary importance. In such a situation, innovation flourishes
as the range of means employed is broadened. In a sense, then, there occurs the paradoxical
emergence of “ materialists” from an “ idealistic” orientation. Cf. Durkheim’s analysis of the
cultural conditions which predispose toward crime and innovation, both of which are aimed
toward efficiency, not moral norms. Durkheim was one of the first to see that “ contrairement
aux iddes courantes le criminel n’apparait plus comme un 6trc radicalement insociable, comme
une sorte d’eldment parasitaire, de corps Stranger et inassimilable, introduit au sein de la
soci6t£; c’est un agent rdgulier de la vie sociale.” See Les Regies de la MSthode Sociologique,
86-89, Paris, 1927.
4 Such ritualism may be associated with a mythology which rationalizes these actions so
that they appear to retain their status as means, but the dominant pressure is in the direction
of strict ritualistic conformity, irrespective of such rationalizations. In this sense, ritual has
proceeded farthest when such rationalizations are not even called forth.
 Gangs 5

674 A M ER IC A N SOCIOLOGICAL R EV IEW

tional means is m aintained. These are the significantly integrated and

relatively stable, though changing, groups.
An effective equilibrium between the two phases of the social structure
is m aintained as long as satisfactions accrue to individuals who conform
to both constraints, viz., satisfactions from the achievement of the goals
and satisfactions emerging directly from the institutionally canalized
modes of striving to attain these ends. Success, in such equilibrated cases,
is twofold. Success is reckoned in term s of the product and in terms of the
process, in term s of the outcome and in term s of activities. Continuing
satisfactions m ust derive from sheer participation in a com petitive order
as well as from eclipsing one's com petitors if the order itself is to be sus-
tained. The occasional sacrifices involved in institutionalized conduct m ust
be compensated by socialized rewards. The distribution of statuses and
roles through com petition m ust be so organized th at positive incentives
for conform ity to roles and adherence to status obligations are provided
fo r every position within the distributive order. A berrant conduct, there-
fore, m ay be viewed as a sym ptom of dissociation between culturally defined
aspirations and socially structured means.
Of the types of groups which result from the independent variation of
the two phases of the social structure, we shall be prim arily concerned
with the first, nam ely, th at involving a disproportionate accent on goals.
This statem ent m ust be recast in a proper perspective. In no group is
there an absence of regulatory codes governing conduct, yet groups do vary
in the degree to which these folkways, mores, and institutional controls
are effectively integrated with the more diffuse goals which are p art of the
culture m atrix. Em otional convictions m ay cluster about the complex of
socially acclaimed ends, meanwhile shifting their support from the cultur-
ally defined im plementation of these ends. As we shall see, certain aspects
of the social structure m ay generate countermores and antisocial behavior
precisely because of differential emphases on goals and regulations. In the
extreme case, the latter m ay be so vitiated by the goal-emphasis th a t the
range of behavior is limited only by considerations of technical expediency.
The sole significant question then becomes, which available means is most
efficient in netting the socially approved value ?5The technically m ost fea-
sible procedure, whether legitim ate or not, is preferred to the institutionally
prescribed conduct. As this process continues, the integration of the society
becomes tenuous and anomie ensues.

5 In this connection, one may see the relevance of Elton M ayo’s paraphrase of the title of
Tawney’s well known book. “ Actually the problem is not that of the sickness of an acquisitive
society; it is that of the acquisitiveness of a sick s o c i e t y H u m a n Problems of an Industrial
Civilization, 1 5 3 , New York, 1 9 3 3 . M ayo deals with the process through which wealth comes
to be a symbol of social achievement. He sees this as arising from a state of anomie. We are
considering the unintegrated monetary-success goal as an element in producing anomie.
A complete analysis would involve both phases of this system of interdependent variables.
6 Gangs

SOCIAL S T R U C T U R E AN D A N O M IE 675

Thus, in com petitive athletics, when the aim of victory is shorn of its
institutional trappings and success in contests becomes construed as “ win-
ning the gam e” rather than “ winning through circumscribed modes of
activity,” a premium is implicitly set upon the use of illegitimate but tech-
nically efficient means. The star of the opposing football team is surrepti-
tiously slugged; the wrestler furtively incapacitates his opponent through
ingenious but illicit techniques; university alumni covertly subsidize
“students” whose talents are largely confined to the athletic field. The
emphasis on the goal has so attenuated the satisfactions deriving from
sheer participation in the com petitive activity th a t these satisfactions are
virtually confined to a successful outcome. T hrough the same proc-
ess, tension generated by the desire to win in a poker game is relieved by
successfully dealing oneself four aces, or, when the cult of success has be-
come completely dom inant, by sagaciously shuffling the cards in a game of
solitaire. The faint twinge of uneasiness in the last instance and the sur-
reptious nature of public delicts indicate clearly th a t the institutional rules
of the game are known to those who evade them , but th at the emotional
supports of these rules are largely vitiated by cultural exaggeration of the
success-goal.6 They are microcosmic images of the social macrocosm.
Of course, this process is not restricted to the realm of sport. The process
whereby exaltation of the end generates a literal demoralization, i.e., a
deinstitutionalization, of the means is one which characterizes m any 7
groups in which the two phases of the social structure are not highly inte-
grated. The extreme emphasis upon the accum ulation of wealth as a
symbol of success 8 in our own society m ilitates against the completely
effective control of institutionally regulated modes of acquiring a fortune .9
Fraud, corruption, vice, crime, in short, the entire catalogue of proscribed

6 It is unlikely that interiorized norms are completely eliminated. Whatever residuum

persists will induce personality tensions and conflict. The process involves a certain degree of
ambivalence. A manifest rejection o f the institutional norms is coupled with some latent
retention of their emotional correlates. “ Guilt feelings,” “ sense of sin,” “ pangs of conscience”
are obvious manifestations o f this unrelieved tension; symbolic adherence to the nominally
repudiated values or rationalizations constitute a more subtle variety o f tensional release.
7 “ M any,” and not all, unintegrated groups, for the reason already mentioned. In groups
where the primary emphasis shifts to institutional means, i.e., when the range of alternatives
is very limited, the outcome is a type o f ritualism rather than anomie.
8 Money has several peculiarities which render it particularly apt to become a symbol of
prestige divorced from institutional controls. As Simmel emphasized, money is highly abstract
and impersonal. However acquired, through fraud or institutionally, it can be used to purchase
the same goods and services. The anonymity of metropolitan culture, in conjunction with this
peculiarity of money, permits wealth, the sources of which may be unknown to the community
in which the plutocrat lives, to serve as a symbol of status.
• The emphasis upon wealth as a success-symbol is possibly reflected in the use o f the term
“ fortune” to refer to a stock of accumulated wealth. This meaning becomes common in the
late sixteenth century (Spenser and Shakespeare). A similar usage of the Latin fortuna comes
into prominence during the first century B.C. Both these periods were marked by the rise to
prestige and power of the “ bourgeoisie.”
 Gangs 7

676 A M E R IC A N SOCIOLOGICAL R E V IE W

behavior, becomes increasingly common when the emphasis on the cultur-

ally induced success-goal becomes divorced from a coordinated institutional
emphasis. This observation is of crucial theoretical im portance in examining
the doctrine th a t antisocial behavior most frequently derives from bio-
logical drives breaking through the restraints imposed by society. The
difference is one between a strictly utilitarian interpretation which con-
ceives m an's ends as random and an analysis which finds these ends deriv-
ing from the basic values of the culture .101
Our analysis can scarcely stop at this juncture. We m ust turn to other
aspects of the social structure if we are to deal with the social genesis of the
varying rates and types of deviate behavior characteristic of different so-
cieties. T hus far, we have sketched three ideal types of social orders con-
stitu ted by distinctive patterns of relations between culture ends and
means. T urning from these types of culture patterning, we find five logically
possible, alternative modes of adjustm ent or adaptation by individuals
within the culture-bearing society or group .11 These are schematically
presented in the following table, where ( + ) signifies “ acceptance," ( —)
signifies “ elim ination" and ( ± ) signifies “ rejection and substitution of new
goals and standards."
C ulture Goals Institutionalized Means
I. Conform ity + +
II. Innovation + —

III. Ritualism — +
IV. R etreatism — —

V. Rebellion 12 ± ±

Our discussion of the relation between these alternative responses and

other phases o f the social structure m ust be prefaced by the observation
th at persons m ay shift from one alternative to another as they engage in
different social activities. These categories refer to role adjustm ents in
specific situations, not to personality in toto. To treat the development of
this process in various spheres of conduct would introduce a complexity
unm anageable within the confines of this paper. For this reason, we shall
be concerned prim arily with economic activity in the broad sense, “ the
10 See Kingsley Davis, “ Mental Hygiene and the Class Structure/’ Psychiatry , 1928, I,
esp. 62-63; Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action, 59-60, New York, 1937.
11 This is a level intermediate between the two planes distinguished by Edward Sapir;
namely, culture patterns and personal habit systems. See his “ Contribution of Psychiatry to
an Understanding o f Behavior in Society,” Amer. J. Sociol., 1937, 42:862-70.
121 his fifth alternative is on a plane clearly different from that of the others. It represents
a transitional response which seeks to institutionalize new procedures oriented toward revamped
cultural goals shared by the members of the society. It thus involves efforts to change the
existing structure rather than to perform accommodative actions within this structure, and
introduces additional problems with which we are not at the moment concerned.
8 Gangs

SOCIAL ST R U C T U R E AN D A N O M IE 677

production, exchange, distribution and consumption of goods and serv-

ices” in our com petitive society, wherein wealth has taken on a highly
symbolic cast. Our task is to search out some of the factors which exert
pressure upon individuals to engage in certain of these logically possible
alternative responses. This choice, as we shall see, is far from random.
In every society, A daptation I (conform ity to both culture goals and
means) is the m ost common and widely diffused. Were this not so, the
stability and continuity of the society could not be m aintained. T he mesh
of expectancies which constitutes every social order is sustained by the
modal behavior of its members falling within the first category. Conven-
tional role behavior oriented tow ard the basic values of the group is the
rule rather than the exception. I t is this fact alone which perm its us to
speak of a hum an aggregate as comprising a group or society.
Conversely, A daptation IV (rejection of goals and means) is the least
common. Persons who “ adjust” (or m aladjust) in this fashion are, strictly
speaking, in the society but not of it. Sociologically, these constitute the
true “ aliens.” N ot sharing the common frame of orientation, they can be
included within the societal population merely in a fictional sense. In this
category are some of the activities of psychotics, psychoneurotics, chronic
autists, pariahs, outcasts, vagrants, vagabonds, tram ps, chronic drunkards
and drug addicts .13 These have relinquished, in certain spheres of activity,
the culturally defined goals, involving complete aim-inhibition in the polar
case, and their adjustm ents are not in accord with institutional norms.
This is not to say th a t in some cases the source of their behavioral adjust-
m ents is not in p art the very social structure which they have in effect
repudiated nor th a t their very existence within a social area does not
constitute a problem for the socialized population.
This mode of “ adjustm ent” occurs, as far as structural sources are con-
cerned, when both the culture goals and institutionalized procedures have
been assimilated thoroughly by the individual and imbued with affect and
high positive value, but where those institutionalized procedures which
promise a measure of successful attainm ent of the goals are not available
to the individual. In such instances, there results a twofold m ental conflict
insofar as the moral obligation for adopting institutional means conflicts
with the pressure to resort to illegitim ate means (which may attain the goal)
and inasmuch as the individual is shut off from means which are both legiti-
m ate and effective. The com petitive order is m aintained, but the frustrated
and handicapped individual who cannot cope with this order drops out.
13 Obviously, this is an elliptical statement. These individuals may maintain some orienta-
tion to the values of their particular differentiated groupings within the larger society or, in
part, o f the conventional society itself. Insofar as they do so, their conduct cannot be classified
in the “ passive rejection” category (IV). Nels Anderson’s description of the behavior and atti-
tudes of the bum, for example, can readily be recast in terms of our analytical scheme. See
The Hobo, 93-98, et passim, Chicago, 1923.
 Gangs 9

678 A M E R IC A N SOCIOLOGICAL R E V IE W

Defeatism, quietism and resignation are m anifested in escape mechanisms

which ultim ately lead the individual to “ escape” from the requirem ents
of the society. I t is an expedient which arises from continued failure to
attain the goal by legitim ate measures and from an inability to adopt the
illegitimate route because of internalized prohibitions and institutionalized
compulsives, d u r i n g w h ic h p r o c e s s th e s u p r e m e v a lu e o f th e su c c e s s -g o a l h a s
a s y e t n o t been re n o u n c e d . The conflict is resolved by eliminating both
precipitating elements, the goals and means. The escape is complete, the
conflict is eliminated and the individual is a socialized.
Be it noted th at where frustration derives from the inaccessibility of
effective institutional means for attaining economic or any other type of
highly valued “success,” th a t A daptations II, III and V (innovation,
ritualism and rebellion)'are also possible. The result will be determ ined by
the particular personality, and thus, the p a r t i c u l a r cultural background,
involved. Inadequate socialization will result in the innovation response
whereby the conflict and frustration are elim inated by relinquishing the
institutional means and retaining the success-aspiration; an extreme as-
similation of institutional demands will lead to ritualism wherein the goal is
dropped as beyond one’s reach but conform ity to the mores persists; and
rebellion occurs when em ancipation from the reigning standards, due to
frustration or to m arginalist perspectives, leads to the attem pt to introduce
a “ new social order.”
Our m ajor concern is with the illegitimacy adjustm ent. This involves
the use of conventionally proscribed but frequently effective means of
attaining at least the simulacrum of culturally defined success,—wealth,
power, and the like. As we have seen, this adjustm ent occurs when the
individual has assimilated the cultural emphasis on success w ithout equally
internalizing the morally prescribed norms governing means for its attain -
ment. The question arises, Which phases of our social structure predispose
toward this mode of adjustm ent? We m ay examine a concrete instance,
effectively analyzed by Lohm an ,14 which provides a clue to the answer.
Lohman has shown th a t specialized areas of vice in the near north side
of Chicago constitute a “norm al” response to a situation where the cultural
emphasis upon pecuniary success has been absorbed, but where there is
little access to conventional and legitim ate means for attaining such suc-
cess. The conventional occupational opportunities of persons in this area
are almost completely limited to m anual labor. Given our cultural stigm a-
tization of m anual labor, and its correlate, the prestige of white collar work,
it is clear th a t the* result is a strain toward innovational practices. The
lim itation of opportunity to unskilled labor and the resultant low income

u Joseph D. Lohman, “ The Participant Observer in Community Studies,” Amer. Sociol.

Rcv.y 1937, 2:890-98.
10 Gangs

SOCIAL S T R U C T U R E AND A N O M IE 679

can not compete in terms of conventional standards of achievement with the

high income from organized vice.
For our purposes, this situation involves two im portant features. First,
such antisocial behavior is in a sense ‘‘called forth” by certain conven-
tional values of the culture and by the class structure involving differential
access to the approved opportunities for legitim ate, prestige-bearing pur-
suit of the culture goals. The lack of high integration between the means-
and-end elements of the cultural pattern and the particular class structure
combine to favor a heightened frequency of antisocial conduct in such
groups. The second consideration is of equal significance. Recourse to the
first of the alternative responses, legitim ate effort, is limited by the fact
th a t actual advance toward desired success-symbols through conventional
channels is, despite our persisting open-class ideology ,15 relatively rare
and difficult for those handicapped by little formal education and few
economic resources. The dom inant pressure of group standards of success
is, therefore, on the gradual attenuation of legitim ate, but by and large
ineffective, strivings and the increasing use of illegitimate, but more or less
effective, expedients of vice and crime. The cultural demands made on
persons in this situation are incompatible. On the one hand, they are asked
to orient their conduct toward the prospect of accumulating wealth and
on the other, they are largely denied effective opportunities to do so insti-
tutionally. The consequences of such structural inconsistency are psycho-
pathological personality, an d /o r antisocial conduct, an d /o r revolutionary
activities. The equilibrium between culturally designated means and ends
becomes highly unstable with the progressive emphasis on attaining the
prestige-laden ends by any means whatsoever. W ithin this context, Capone
represents the trium ph of amoral intelligence over morally prescribed
“ failure,” when the channels of vertical m obility are closed or narrowed 16

15 The shifting historical role of this ideology is a profitable subject for exploration. The
“ office-bo y-to-president” stereotype was once in approximate accord with the facts. Such
vertical mobility was probably more common then than now, when the class structure is more
rigid. (See the following note.) The ideology largely persists, however, possibly because it still
performs a useful function for maintaining the status quo. For insofar as it is accepted by the
“ masses,” it constitutes a useful sop for those who might rebel against the entire structure,
were this consoling hope removed.This ideology now serves to lessen the probabili ty of Adapta-
tion V. In short, the role of this notion has changed from that of an approximately valid
empirical theorem to that of an ideology, in Mannheim’s sense.
16 There is a growing body of evidence, though none of it is clearly conclusive, to the effect
that our class structure is becoming rigidified and that vertical mobility is declining. Taussig
and Joslyn found that American business leaders are being increasingly recruited from the
upper ranks of our society. The Lynds have also found a “ diminished chance to get ahead”
for the working classes in Middletown. M anifestly, these objective changes are not alone
significant; the individual’s subjective evaluation of the si tuation is a major determinant of the
response. The extent to which this change in opportunity for social mobility has been recog-
nized by the least advantaged classes is still conjectural, although the Lynds present some sug-
gestive materials. The writer suggests that a case in point is the increasing frequency of
cartoons which observe in a tragi-comic vein that “ my old man says everybody can’ t be Presi-
 Gangs 11

680 A M E R IC A N SOCIOLOGICAL R E V IE W

in a s o c ie ty w h ic h p la c e s a h ig h p r e m iu m on e c o n o m ic afflu en ce a n d s o c ia l
ascen t f o r all i t s m e m b e r s } 1
This last qualification is of prim ary importance. I t suggests th a t other
phases of the social structure besides the extreme emphasis on pecuniary
success, m ust be considered if we are to understand the social sources of
antisocial behavior. A high frequency of deviate behavior is not generated
simply by “ lack of opportunity” or by this exaggerated pecuniary em pha-
sis. A com paratively rigidified class structure, a feudalistic or caste order,
may limit such opportunities far beyond the point which obtains in our
society today. I t is only when a system of cultural values extols, virtually
above all else, certain c o m m o n symbols of success f o r th e p o p u la t io n a t la rg e
while its social structure rigorously restricts or completely eliminates
access to approved modes of acquiring these symbols f o r a c o n s id e r a b le p a r t
o f th e s a m e p o p u l a t i o n , th a t antisocial behavior ensues on a considerable
scale. In other words, our egalitarian ideology denies by implication the
existence of noncompeting groups and individuals in the pursuit of pecuni-
ary success. The same body of success-symbols is held to be desirable for
all. These goals are held to tr a n s c e n d c la s s lines> not to be bounded by them,
yet the actual social organization is such th at there exist class differentials
in the accessibility of these c o in m o n success-symbols. F rustration and
thw arted aspiration lead to the search for avenues of escape from a cul-
turally induced intolerable situation; or unrelieved am bition may eventu-
ate in illicit attem pts to acquire the dom inant values .1 718The American stress
on pecuniary success and ambitiousness for all thus invites exaggerated
anxieties, hostilities, neuroses and antisocial behavior.
This theoretical analysis m ay go far toward explaining the varying cor-
relations between crime and poverty .19 Poverty is not an isolated variable.

dent. He says if ya can get three days a week steady on W .P.A. work ya ain’ t doin’ so bad
either.” See F. W. Taussig and C. S. Joslyn, American Business Leaders, New York, 193a;
R . S. and H. M. Lynd, Middletown in Transition , 67 ff., chap, 12, New York, 1937.
17 The role of the Negro in this respect is of considerable theoretical interest. Certain
elements of the Negro population have assimilated the dominant caste’s values o f pecuniary
success and social advancement, but they also recognize that social ascent is at present re-
stricted to their own caste almost exclusively. The pressures upon the Negro which would
otherwise derive from the structural inconsistencies we have noticed are hence not identical
with those upon lower class whites. See Kingsley Davis, op. cit.y 63; John Dollard, Caste and
Class in a Southern Town, 66 ff., New Haven, 1936; Donald Young, American Minority
Peoples, 581, New York, 1932.
18 The psychical coordinates of these processes have been partly established by the experi-
mental evidence concerning Anspruchsniveaus and levels of performance. See K urt Lewin,
Vorsatz, Wille und Bedurfnisy Berlin, 1926; N. F. Hoppe, “ Erfolg und Misserfolg,” Psychol.
Forschung, 1930, 14 :1- 6 3 ; Jerome D. Frank, “ Individual Differences in Certain Aspects of
the Level of Aspiration,” Amer. J. Psychol., 1935, 4 7 :119 -2 8 .
19 Standard criminology texts summarize the data in this field. Our scheme of analysis may
serve to resolve some of the theoretical contradictions which P. A. Sorokin indicates. For
example, “ not everywhere nor always do the poor show a greater proportion of crime . . .m any
poorer countries have had less crime than the richer countries . . . The [economic] improve-
12 Gangs

SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND ANOMIE 681

It is one in a complex of interdependent social and cultural variables.
When viewed in such a context, it represents quite different states of
affairs. Poverty as such, and consequent limitation of opportunity, are
not sufficient to induce a conspicuously high rate of criminal behavior.
Even the often mentioned “poverty in the midst of plenty” will not neces-
sarily lead to this result. Only insofar as poverty and associated disadvan-
tages in competition for the culture values approved for all members of the
society is linked with the assimilation of a cultural emphasis on monetary
accumulation as a symbol of success is antisocial conduct a “normal”
outcome. Thus, poverty is less highly correlated with crime in southeastern
Europe than in the United States. The possibilities of vertical mobility in
these European areas would seem to be fewer than in this country, so that
neither poverty per se nor its association with limited opportunity is suf-
ficient to account for the varying correlations. It is only when the full
configuration is considered, poverty, limited opportunity and a commonly
shared system of success symbols, that we can explain the higher association
between poverty and crime in our society than in others where rigidified
class structure is coupled with differential class symbols of achievement.
In Societies such as our own, then, the pressure of prestige-bearing suc-
cess tends to eliminate the effective social constraint over means employed
to this end. “The-end-justifies-the-means” doctrine becomes a guiding
tenet for action when the cultural structure unduly exalts the end and the
social organization unduly limits possible recourse to approved means.
Otherwise put, this notion and associated behavior reflect a lack of cultural
coordination. In international relations, the effects of this lack of integration
are notoriously apparent. An emphasis upon national power is not readily
coordinated with an inept organization of legitimate, i.e., internationally
defined and accepted, means for attaining this goal. The result is a tendency
toward the abrogation of international law, treaties become scraps of
paper, “undeclared warefare” serves as a technical evasion, the bombing
of civilian populations is rationalized,20 just as the same societal situation
induces the same sway of illegitimacy among individuals.
The social order we have described necessarily produces this “strain
toward dissolution.” The pressure of such an order is upon outdoing one's
competitors. The choice of means within the ambit of institutional control
will persist as long as the sentiments supporting a competitive system,
i.e., deriving from the possibility of outranking competitors and hence en-

ment in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the beginning of the twentieth, has not
been followed by a decrease of crime.” See his Contemporary Sociological Theories, 560- 6 1 ,
New York, 1 9 1 8 . The crucial point is, however, that poverty has varying social significance in
different social structures, as we shall see. Hence, one would not expect a linear correlation
betwecm crime and poverty.
20 See M. W. Royse, Aerial Bombardment and the International Regulation oj IVar, New
York, 1 9 1 8 .
 Gangs 13

682 A M E R I C A N SO C IO LO G IC A L R E V IE W

joying the favorable response of others, are distributed throughout the

entire system of activities and are not confined merely to the final result.
A stable social structure demands a balanced distribution of affect among
its various segments. When there occurs a shift of emphasis from the satis-
factions deriving from competition itself to almost exclusive concern with
successful competition, the resultant stress leads to the breakdown of the
regulatory structure.21 With the resulting attenuation of the institutional
imperatives, there occurs an approximation of the situation erroneously
held by utilitarians to be typical of society generally wherein calculations
of advantage and fear of punishment are the sole regulating agencies. In
such situations, as Hobbes observed, force and fraud come to constitute
the sole virtues in view of their relative efficiency in attaining goals,—
which were for him, of course, not culturally derived.
It should be apparent that the foregoing discussion is not pitched on a
moralistic plane. Whatever the sentiments of the writer or reader concern-
ing the ethical desirability of coordinating the means-and-goals phases of
the social structure, one must agree that lack of such coordination leads to
anomie. Insofar as one of the most general functions of social organization
is to provide a basis for calculability and regularity of behavior, it is in-
creasingly limited in effectiveness as these elements of the structure become
dissociated. At the extreme, predictability virtually disappears and what
may be properly termed cultural chaos or anomie intervenes.
This statement, being brief, is also incomplete. It has not included an ex-
haustive treatment of the various structural elements which predispose
toward one rather than another of the alternative responses open to in-
dividuals; it has neglected, but not denied the relevance of, the factors de-
termining the specific incidence of these responses; it has not enumerated
the various concrete responses which are constituted by combinations of
specific values of the analytical variables; it has omitted, or included only
by implication, any consideration of the social functions performed by illicit
responses; it has not tested the full explanatory power of the analytical
scheme by examining a large number of group variations in the frequency
of deviate and conformist behavior; it has not adequately dealt with re-
bellious conduct which seeks to refashion the social framework radically; it
has not examined the relevance of cultural conflict for an analysis of cul-
ture-goal and institutional-means malintegration. It is suggested that these
and related problems may be profitably analyzed by this scheme.

21 Since our primary concern is with the socio-cultural aspects of this problem, the psycho-
logical correlates have been only implicitly considered. See Karen Horney, The Neurotic
Personality of Our Time , New York, 19 3 7 , for a psychological discussion of this process.
 [2]
Lower Class Culture as a Generating M ilieu o f
Gang Delinquency

Walter B. Miller

The etiology of delinquency has long been a controversial issue, and

is particularly so at present. As new frames of reference for explaining
human behavior have been added to traditional theories, some authors
have adopted the practice of citing the m ajor postulates of each school
of thought as they pertain to delinquency, and going on to state that
causality must be conceived in terms of the dynamic interaction of a com-
plex combination of variables on many levels. The major sets of etiological
factors currently adduced to explain delinquency are, in simplified terms,
the physiological (delinquency results from organic pathology), the
psychodynamic (delinquency is a “behavioral disorder” resulting primarily
from emotional disturbance generated by a defective mother-child rela-
tionship) , and the environmental (delinquency is the product of disruptive
forces, “disorganization,” in the actor’s physical or social environment).
This paper selects one particular kind of “delinquency” 1—law-vio-
lating acts committed by members of adolescent street comer groups in
lower class communities—and attempts to show that the dominant com-
ponent of motivation underlying these acts consists in a directed attempt
by the actor to adhere to forms of behavior, and to achieve standards of
value as they are defined within that community. It takes as a premise
that the motivation of behavior in this situation can be approached most
productively by attempting to understand the nature of cultural forces
impinging on the acting individual as they are perceived by the actor
himself—although by no means only that segment of these forces of which
the actor is consciously aware—rather than as they are perceived and
evaluated from the reference position of another cultural system. In the
case of “gang” delinquency, the cultural system which exerts the most
direct influence on behavior is that of the lower class community itself—a
long-established, distinctively patterned tradition with an integrity of its
own—rather than a so-called “delinquent subculture” which has arisen

1 T h e com plex issues in volved in derivin g a d efinition o f “d elin q u en cy” can n ot

be discussed here. T h e term “d elin q u en t” is used in this p ap er to characterize
behavior or acts com m itted by in d ividu als w ith in specified age lim its w h ich if
known to official authorities could result in leg a l action . T h e con cep t o f a “d e -
lin qu en t” in d ivid u al has little or no u tility in the app roach used h ere; rather,
specified types of acts w h ich m ay be com m itted rarely or freq u en tly by few or
m any ind ividu als are characterized as “d elin q u en t.”
16 Gangs

through conflict with middle class culture and is oriented to the deliberate
violation of middle class norms.
The bulk of the substantive data on which the following material is
based was collected in connection with a service-research project in the
control of gang delinquency. During the service aspect of the project,
which lasted for three years, seven trained social workers, maintained con-
tact with twenty-one comer group units in a ‘“slum” district of a large
eastern city for periods of time ranging from ten to thirty months. Groups
were Negro and white, male and female, and in early, middle, and late
adolescence. Over eight thousand pages of direct observational data on
behavior patterns of group members and other community residents were
collected; almost daily contact was maintained for a total time period of
about thirteen worker years. D ata include workers’ contact reports, par-
ticipant observation reports by the writer—a cultural anthropologist—and
direct tape recordings of group activities and discussions.2

Focal Concerns of Lower Class Culture

There is a substantial segment of present-day American society whose
way of life, values, and characteristic patterns of behavior are the product
of a distinctive cultural system which may be termed “lower class.”
Evidence indicates that this cultural system is becoming increasingly dis-
tinctive, and that the size of the group which shares this tradition is
increasing .3 The lower class way of life, in common with that of all
distinctive cultural groups, is characterized by a set of focal concerns—
areas or issues which command widespread and persistent attention and
a high degree of emotional involvement. T he specific concerns cited here,
while by no means confined to the American lower classes, constitute a
distinctive patterni?ig of concerns which differs significantly, both in rank
2 A three year research p roject is b ein g fin an ced u n d er N a tio n a l In stitutes o f
H e a lth G rant M - 1414, and adm inistered th ro u g h th e B oston U n iversity S chool of
S o cia l W ork. T h e prim ary research effort h a s su b jected all collected m aterial to a
un iform d ata-cod in g process. A ll in form ation b earin g o n som e seventy areas o f b e-
h a v io r (beh avior in reference to sch ool, p o lic e , th e ft, assault, sex, collective
a th letics, etc.) is extracted from th e record s, record ed o n cod ed d a ta cards, and
filed un d er relevan t categories. A nalysis o f th ese d a ta aim s to ascertain the actual
n atu re o f custom ary b ehavior in th ese areas, a n d th e e x te n t to w h ich the social
work effort w as able to effect behavioral ch an ges.
‘ B etw een 40 and 60 per cen t o f all A m erican s are d irectly in flu en ced by
low er class culture, w ith abou t 15 per cen t, or tw en ty-five m illion , com prisin g the
“ hard co re” low er class group-—d efin ed p rim arily b y its u se o f the “fem ale-b ased ”
h ou seh o ld as the basic form of ch ild -rearin g u n it an d o f th e “serial m onogam y”
m a tin g p attern as th e prim ary form o f m arriage. T h e term “low er class cu ltu re”
as used here refers m ost sp ecifically to th e w a y o f life o f th e “hard core” grou p ;
system atic research in this area w ou ld p robab ly reveal at lea st fou r to six m ajor
su btyp es o f low er class culture, for som e o f w h ich th e “ con cern s” presen ted here
w ou ld b e d ifferen tly w eigh ted , especially for th ose subtypes in w h ich “law -ab id in g”
b eh a v io r has a h ig h overt valu ation . I t is im possib le w ith in the com pass o f this
short p a p er to m ake the finer in tracu ltu ral d istin ction s w h ich a m ore accurate
p resen tation w ou ld require.

6
 Gangs 17

order and weighting from that of American middle class culture. The fol-
lowing chart presents a highly schematic and simplified listing of six of
the major concerns of lower class culture. Each is conceived as a “dimen-
sion” within which a fairly wide and varied range of alternative behavior
patterns may be followed by different individuals under different situa-
tions. They are listed roughly in order of the degree of explicit attention
accorded each, and, in this sense represent a weighted ranking of concerns.
The “perceived altematives,, represent polar positions which define cer-
tain parameters within each dimension. As will be explained in more
detail, it is necessary in relating the influence of these “concerns” to the
motivation of delinquent behavior to specify which of its aspects is
oriented to, whether orientation is overt or covert, positive (conforming
to or seeking the aspect), or negative (rejecting or seeking to avoid the
aspect).
The concept “focal concern” is used here in preference to the concept
“value” for several interrelated reasons: ( 1) It is more readily derivable
from direct field observation. (2) I t is descriptively neutral—permitting
independent consideration of positive and negative valences as varying
under different conditions, whereas “value” carries a built-in positive
valence. (3) It makes possible more refined analysis of subcultural differ-
ences, since it reflects actual behavior, whereas “value” tends to wash out
intracultural differences since it is colored by notions of the “official” ideal.

CHART 1
F o c a l Co n c e r n s of L ow er C l a s s C u l t u r e

P erceived A ltern atives

A rea (state, q u ality, c o n d itio n )

1. Trouble: law -ab id in g behavior law -v io la tin g behavior

2. Toughness: p h ysical prowess, s k ill; w eakn ess, in e p titu d e ;
“m ascu lin ity” ; effem in acy;
fearlessness, bravery. tim id ity, cow ard ice.
daring ca u tio n
3. Smartness: ab ility to outsm art, d u p e, g u llib ility, “ con -ab ility” ;
con ;
g a in in g m oney by “w its” ; g a in in g m oney by hard w o r k ;
shrew dness, adroitness in slow ness, d u ll-w itted n ess,
rep artee verb al m aiadroitness

4 . Excitement: thrill; b ored om ;

risk, dan ger; “ dead n ess,” safeness;
ch an ge, activity sam eness, passivity

5 . Fate: favored by fortu n e, b ein g ill-om en ed , bein g “u n lu ck y”

“lu ck y”

6. Autonomy: freed om from extern al con - presence o f extern al co n -

straint ; strain t;
freed om from superordinate p resence o f strong auth ority;
authority ; d ep en d en cy, b ein g “ cared for”
in d ep en d en ce

7
18 Gangs

Trouble: Concern over “trouble” is a dominant feature of lower

class culture. The concept has various shades of meaning; “trouble” in
one of its aspects represents a situation or a kind of behavior which re-
sults in unwelcome or complicating involvement with official authorities
or agencies of middle class society. “Getting into trouble” and “staying
out of trouble” represent major issues for male and female, adults and
children. For men, “trouble” frequently involves fighting or sexual ad-
ventures while drinking; for women, sexual involvement with disadvan-
tageous consequences. Expressed desire to avoid behavior which violates
moral or legal norms is often based less on an explicit commitment to
“official” moral or legal standards than on a desire to avoid “getting into
trouble,” e.g., the complicating consequences of the action.
The dominant concern over “trouble” involves a distinction of
critical importance for the lower class community—that between “law-
abiding” and “non-law-abiding” behavior. There is a high degree of
sensitivity as to where each person stands in relation to these two classes
of activity. Whereas in the middle class community a major dimension for
evaluating a person’s status is “achievement” and its external symbols, in
the lower class, personal status is very frequently gauged along the law-
abiding-non-law-abiding dimension. A mother will evaluate the suitability
of her daughter’s boyfriend less on the basis of his achievement potential
than on the basis of his innate “trouble” potential. This sensitive aware-
ness of the opposition of “trouble-producing” and “non-trouble-produc-
ing” behavior represents both a major basis for deriving status distinctions,
and an internalized conflict potential for the individual.
As in the case of other focal concerns, which of. two perceived alter-
natives—“law-abiding” or “non-law-abiding”—is valued varies according
to the individual and the circumstances; in many instances there is an
overt commitment to the “law-abiding” alternative, but a covert commit-
ment to the “non-law-abiding.” In certain situations, “getting into
trouble” is overtly recognized as prestige-conferring; for example, mem-
bership in certain adult and adolescent primary groupings (“gangs” ) is
contingent on having demonstrated an explicit commitment to the law-
violating alternative. It is most important to note that the choice between
“law-abiding” and “non-law-abiding” behavior is still a choice within
lower class culture ; the distinction between the policeman and the crimi-
nal, the outlaw and the sheriff, involves primarily this one dimension; in
other respects they have a high community of interests. Not infrequently
brothers raised in an identical cultural milieu will become police and
criminals respectively.
For a substantial segment of the lower class population “getting into
trouble” is not in itself overtly defined as prestige-conferring, but is im-
plicitly recognized as a means to other valued ends, e.g., the covertly
valued desire to be “cared for” and subject to external constraint, or the
overtly valued state of excitement or risk. Very frequently “getting into
trouble” is multi-functional, and achieves several sets of valued ends.

8
 Gangs 19

Toughness: The concept of “toughness” in lower class culture repre-

sents a compound combination of qualities or states. Among its most
important components are physical prowess, evidenced both by demon-
strated possession of strength and endurance and athletic skill; “masculin-
ity,” symbolized by a distinctive complex of acts and avoidances (bodily
tatooing; absence of sentimentality; non-concern with “art,” “literature,”
conceptualization of women as conquest objects, etc.) ; and bravery in the
face of physical threat. The model for the “tough guy”—hard, fearless,
undemonstrative, skilled in physical combat—is represented by the movie
gangster of the thirties, the “private eye,” and the movie cowboy.
The genesis of the intense concern over “toughness” in lower class
culture is probably related to the fact that a significant proportion of
lower class males are reared in a predominantly female household, and
lack a consistently present male figure with whom to identify and from
whom to learn essential components of a “male” role. Since women serve
as a primary object of identification during pre-adolescent years, the
almost obsessive lower class concern with “masculinity” probably re-
sembles a type of compulsive reaction-formation. A concern over homo-
sexuality runs like a persistent thread through lower class culture. This is
manifested by the institutionalized practice of baiting “queers,” often
accompanied by violent physical attacks, an expressed contempt for
“softness” or frills, and the use of the local term for “homosexual” as a
generalized pejorative epithet (e.g., higher class individuals or upwardly
mobile peers are frequently characterized as “fags” or “queers” ). The
distinction between “overt” and “covert” orientation to aspects of an
area of concern is especially important in regard to “toughness.” A posr-
itive overt evaluation of behavior defined as “effeminate” would be out of
the question for a lower class male; however, built into lower class culture
is a range of devices which permit men to adopt behaviors and concerns
which in other cultural milieux fall within the province of women, and
at the same time to be defined as “tough” and manly. For example, lower
class men can be professional short-order cooks in a diner and still be
regarded as “tough.” The highly intimate circumstances of the street
c o r n e r gang involve the recurrent expression of strongly affectionate
feelings towards other men. Such expressions, however, are disguised as
their opposite, taking the form of ostensibly aggressive verbal and physical
interaction (kidding, “ranking,” roughhousing, etc.).
Smartness: “Smartness,” as conceptualized in lower class culture, in-
volves the capacity to outsmart, outfox, outwit, dupe, “take,” “con”
another or others, and the concomitant capacity to avoid being outwitted,
“taken,” or duped oneself. In its essence, smartness involves the capacity
to achieve a valued entity—material goods, personal status—through a
maximum use of mental agility and a minimum use of physical effort.
This capacity has an extremely long tradition in lower class culture, and
is highly valued. Lower class culture can be characterized as “non-intel-
lectual” only if intellectualism is defined specifically in terms of control

9
20 Gangs

over a particular body of formally learned knowledge involving “culture”

(art, literature, “good” music, etc.), a generalized perspective on the past
and present conditions of our own and other societies, and other areas of
knowledge imparted by formal educational institutions. This particular
type of mental attainment is, in general, overtly disvalued and frequently
associated with effeminancy; “smartness” in the lower class sense, how-
ever, is highly valued.
The lower class child learns and practices the use of this skill in the
street comer situation. Individuals continually practice duping and out-
witting one another through recurrent card games and other forms of
gambling, mutual exchanges of insults, and “testing” for mutual “con-
ability.” Those who demonstrate competence in this skill are accorded
considerable prestige. Leadership roles in the comer group are fre-
quently allocated according to demonstrated capacity in the two areas of
“smartness” and “toughness” ; the ideal leader combines both, but the
“smart” leader is often accorded more prestige than the “tough” one—
reflecting a general lower class respect for “brains” in the “smartness”
sense.4
The model of the “smart” person is represented in popular media by
the card shark, the professional gambler, the “con” artist, the promoter.
A conceptual distinction is made between two kinds of people: “suckers,”
easy marks, “lushes,” dupes, who work for their money and are legitimate
targets of exploitation; and sharp operators, the “brainy” ones, who live
by their wits and “getting” from the suckers by mental adroitness.
Involved in the syndrome of capacities related to “smartness” is a
dominant emphasis in lower class culture on ingenious aggressive repartee.
This skill, learned and practiced in the context of the comer group, ranges
in form from the widely prevalent semi-ritualized, teasing, kidding,
razzing, “ranking,” so characteristic of male peer group interaction, to the
highly ritualized type of mutual insult interchange known as “the dirty
dozens,” “the dozens,” “playing house,” and other terms. This highly pat-
terned cultural form is practiced on its most advanced level in adult male
Negro society, but less polished variants are found throughout lower class
culture—practiced, for example, by white children, male and female, as
young as four or five. In essence, “doin’ the dozens” involves two antago-
nists who vie with each other in the exchange of increasingly inflammatory
insults, with incestuous and perverted sexual relations with the mother a
dominant theme. In this form of insult interchange, as well as on other
less ritualized occasions for joking, semi-serious, and serious mutual in-
vective, a very high premium is placed on ingenuity, hair-trigger respon-
siveness, inventiveness, and the acute exercise of mental faculties.
Excitement: For many lower class individuals the rhythm of life
fluctuates between periods of relatively routine or repetitive activity and
4 T h e "brains-brawn” set o f capacities are o ften p aired in low er class folk
lore or a cco u n ts o f low er class life, e.g ., “Brer F ox” and “ Brer Bear” in th e U n c le
R em u s stories, or G eorge an d L ennie in “O f M ice a n d M en .”

10
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Title: Peregrinazioni d'uno zingaro per laghi ed Alpi

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEREGRINAZIONI

D'UNO ZINGARO PER LAGHI ED ALPI ***
PEREGRINAZIONI D'UNO
ZINGARO
PER LAGHI ED ALPI
PEREGRINAZIONI D'UNO ZINGARO
PER LAGHI ED ALPI
DI

VALENTINO CARRERA

IL LAGO MAGGIORE, L'OSSOLA,

LA FRUA ED IL GRIES
Io non viaggio mica
Per il minimo scopo:
Non vo' pensare al dopo,
Non vo' durar fatica.
Quel che vuol nascer nasca,
Andrò dove mi porta
Il vapore o la tasca,
Sempre per la più corta.
Giusti.

Seconda edizione corretta ed accresciuta

TORINO
A SPESE DELL'EDITORE.
 Proprietà letteraria
Tip. Letteraria, 1861.
 Miei cari genitori
A voi che stimo ed amo sopra tutti, offro questo libro.
Voi accettatelo con quel sorriso con cui accoglievate le
prime parole che m'insegnaste a balbettare.
Intanto vivete molti anni per la mia felicità.
 SOMMARIO

PARTE PRIMA
Il Lago Maggiore.

1. Che intitolo prefazione onde il lettore lo

salti a piè pari Pag. 9
2. Chi fece l'Italia? 16
3. Le illusioni ed i doganieri — Una cipolla
fra le rose 23
4. Viaggio al naso di S. Carlone — Angera —
Dalle corti d'Amore al Mormonismo 31
5. Il Monterone — Studii fisiologici sopra i
cinque sensi — Il lago a volo d'uccello
— La prima idea 36
6. I piroscafi — Una donna che mangia —
Gli stranieri ed i laghisti — Primato
mascolino — Il concertista di Cannobio
— I contrabbandieri — Rivista di
sponde 45
7. Lesa e Manzoni — Ciarle letterarie — La
calma 55
8. Origine storica di Belgirate, senza
documenti — Le isole Borromee 62
9. D. Bussolini da Mergozzo, capitolo in cui
si dimostra chiaramente che i più beati
sono i poveri di spirito 67
10. L'acqua, canto in prosa — Se l'acqua del 77
Verbano fosse vino — L'arca di Noè e la
nautica — Le guide — La capitale del
 lago Pallanza — Laveno — Ghifa —
Portovaltravaglia — Luino
11. Cannero ed Ettore Fieramosca 86
12. Scoperta del Ticino in Italia — Locarno e
Magadino — Diversità di sistema
metrico — Il Re Gambrino in Italia 89
13. La malinconia a Cannobio — Non tutti i
cattivi principii hanno cattiva fine — Al
lettore indiscreto 93
14. La tempesta sul lago — Quando non si
fanno ceremonie 101
15. Trafiume o Treffiume — Dammi amore e ti
do un mondo 106
16. Storia d'una pentola 110
17. S'io avessi, Dio me ne guardi, un milione
— La villa Poniatowski — Prina 134
18. Intra non si trova che a Intra — Perchè
delle ommissioni — Virgilio a Feriolo —
Salute a chi resta 136

PARTE SECONDA
Per le valli d'Ossola.

1. La sentinella dell'Ossola — Un bagno da

trent'anni — I romantici a Vogogna —
Domodossola — Il mercato 139
3. L'Italia non è che un albergo — 17385
iscrizioni e mezza — Lezioni
archeologiche — Varietà di gusti —
Apologia del farniente — Terzo primato
dell'Italia — Quattro duelli — Che
hanno la coda 145
4. Una giovenca ed il più bel cuore del 162
mondo — Avete buone gambe? — Re
 in Valvigezzo — Anche sull'Alpi si
trovano traditori — Requiescant in pace
5. Trionfo delle castagne sopra la fama di
una illustrazione Dantesca 169
6. Il Sempione — Invenzione di un ponte
per passarvi sotto 175
7. Si parla di paesi non visti 178
8. L'Anzasca — Un nuovo messia 180
9. Quanti disprezzano l'oro 182
10. Stonazioni della fama — Le ossolane non
sono più quelle d'una volta — Caio
Mario ed i Cimbri — Innocenzo IX di
Cravegna — Banchetti funebri — La
valle Diveria 186
11. Premia — Storia nuova di cose vecchie —
La Cravairola 194
12. L'orrida forra di Unterwald 207

PARTE TERZA
La Frua ed il Gries.

1. I casali della valle di Pommat o Formazza 210

2. La Frua o cascata della Toce — Quanto
costi un sorriso di donna 216
3. Altipiani superiori 227
4. Ascensione del Gries — Diacciaie — Le
Alpi parlano 230
5. Confini della valle — Le case, il desco,
l'abito, il commercio, l'agricoltura 241
6. Costumanze curiose — La scolaresca 249
7. Lezione di meteorologia — Il frugnare e le
volute — O mi date ragione, o non mi
fate stare sulle spese 253
8. Dove il paese senza un eroe? — Vita e
miracoli del capitano Guenza 262
9. Ascensione del Retihorn — Il segreto
della costanza in amore — Temporale
sulle Alpi — Conversazione colle nuvole
— Quanto si apprende viaggiando —
Un'aurora sulle Alpi — Quando ci
rivedremo? 269
 PARTE PRIMA
Il Lago Maggiore

I.
Che intitolo prefazione, onde il lettore lo salti a piè pari.

Tutto il mondo è paese.

Prov. ital.

Uno zingaro? Ma ce n'ha ancora degli zingari, fuorchè nella Russia e

nel Trovatore? — Perchè, non ce ne dovrebbe più essere? Lo zingaro
non è forse un pensiero errante di paese in paese, facendo suo con
ardita frode quanto non gli verrebbe concesso dall'umana avarizia?
Ammesso — il che veramente non so — il paragone, lo zingaro può
avere subìto trasformazioni, non mai essersi perduto. Permettete,
signor mio, che io cerchi di vincere, s'è possibile, la vostra ritrosìa
nell'accettarmi a compagno, evocando i benigni influssi
dell'eloquenza tradizionale de' miei avi novellatori e poeti: tolleratemi
dieci minuti... Non sono discreto? Ne spendete tanti a sopportare il
trionfo della ciarla su pelle gazzette e nei parlamenti!
La storia dell'umanità nella nostra tribù dividiamo in tre ere: la
scoperta della foglia di fico, quella dell'America e questa della
fotografia. Dopo la fatale scoperta dei primi nostri nonni, ecco
l'uomo-zingaro che migrando dall'Asia percorre poco alla volta le
plaghe mondiali, lasciando qua e là un lambello del suo saio.
Quell'età non avendo lasciato giornali, nè ritratti d'illustri
contemporanei, per mancanza di sicuri documenti veniamo alla
seconda. Scoperta l'America, gli zingari si precipitano su di essa: a
sentirli sono venuti a seminare la libertà e le patate; tutto d'allora in
poi deve spirare amore, felicità. Mentre gli umanitarii cianciano di
quest'inezia di riformare quel mondo, pillottando colle solite spezie
della cristiana uguaglianza e dei civili diritti la tiritera; mentre
gl'indigeni buoni e semplici come un popolo che non sa un'acca di
mutuo soccorso e di monte di pietà, aprono un tanto di bocca dalla
meraviglia, i missionarii iniziano la riforma facendo scomparire
nell'abisso delle loro tasche i tesori di quelle fortunate contrade:
siccome però il mestiere di moralista è meno facile di quanto si
crede, il tiro si scopre, proteste, recriminazioni, rivolta; il torto è
necessariamente degli Americani poichè l'astuzia, la forza è agli
zingari. I quali, smessi i lenocini della ciaccola, pagano a misura di
carbone la cordiale ospitalità americana.
Un bel dì però, per solenne grazia del proverbio, il gruppo venne al
pettine, e gli zingari, scardassati addovere, sono costretti ad alzare i
tacchi da quella terra non ancora matura.....
— Ma — lasciando la storia in disparte — questi non mi paiono gli
zingari della tradizione....
— Eh! pensate se li conosco! Lo zingaro è volgarmente un
vagabondo che va dicendo la buona ventura nelle capanne del
contadino, pei trivii, nelle osterie e nelle canove in tempo di mercati,
di fiere e di feste; sa rattoppare qualche volta i caldani e le pentole;
compone farmachi e filtri preziosissimi; vende ai più generosi il
prezioso segreto — oh! datene un po' anc'a me per amore di Dio! —
di farsi amare; commuta minuterie dorate senza valore con antichi
smanigli d'oro, non perdendo il destro d'accalappiarvi con quella sua
cera da nesci e di farvi sparire di mano l'anello che ricusaste di
vendergli.
Ma ora tutta questa scienza a che può ancora servire? Vendono
tuttora augurii di nozze e predizioni di fortuna? O, visto che nella
capanna affumicata del contadino, comincia a penetrare la luce che
guizza dai centri di civiltà e di corruzione, lo zingaro, nascosti nella
foresta il tamburo, le nacchere, le carte divinatrici e la non più
magica bacchetta, non è entrato di contrabbando nella città, e con
mille vicende di fogge e di fortuna, non s'è fatto ora sollecitatore
d'impieghi o tagliaborse, letterato di plagi e d'occasione, giornalista o
mezzano? E la scienza per cui gli riusciva di imbarcare il lunario nei
boschi deserti, fra i monti incresciosi, sarà poi sì feconda in
espedienti da far fronte alla desta oculatezza dei cittadini, da sapere
con rapida mano ordire trame impercettibili che pure ad un baleno si
stringano sì fortemente con mille nodi attorno al meglio esperto da
torgli ogni scampo — e se fallisce, quando tutto sta per naufragare
sotto i colpi d'un galantuomo che non vuole perire invendicato, da
risospingerlo al largo dalle secche, risoffiargli in poppa vento e
fortuna in barba agli onesti?
No, questa non è la nostra tribù — a cui non vorrete con dura
parzialità negare l'istinto del progresso alla perfettibilità umana, che
asserite innato in ogni creatura.
No, questa non è la nostra tribù. Il lezzo della società non fu mai la
parte del mondo che ne sia piaciuto di notomizzare, anzitutto per un
certo istinto d'avversione alle dissecazioni, d'orrore per la tabe; e poi
perchè sappiamo per durata esperienza che gli è impossibile il
compiacersi, come oggi si fa con tanto studio, nel diguazzare in
quanto ha di più sucido il maremagno del vizio, sia brutalmente
spudorato o sia inorpellato da larva di passione, senza inzaccherarsi
un tantino i sandali, quand'anche vi aggiriate nelle eleganti sale ove
non si balbetta motto a vanvera — ove, non come nel trivio, manca
la scusa della malsuadente fame e dell'ineducazione: perciò se mai
solleticava le papille della vostra curiosità brama di una storia
terribile d'uno zingaro dalla bruna tinta e dallo sguardo felino, che
d'avventura in avventura, sulle rotaje dell'adulterio e dell'omicidio, vi
facesse correre per le vene il diaccio dello spavento od il fuoco della
voluttà, serbandovi a morale della favola la bella soddisfazione di
vederlo alfine fra le braccia dell'amata, riverginata — scusate la
parola impossibile — dall'amore puro, mentre l'esoso marito sta in
fondo del quadro lungo, disteso, inchiodato da due righe di
pugnale..... per verità vi siete ingannato!
La non sarà così perchè ne pare che tanta filza di delitti non possa
essere figlia della serenamente gioconda fantasia italiana, e perchè
lo zingaro che vi fa invito a peregrinare con lui non appartiene alla
tribù antica, tradizionale, se non per la comunanza..... del peccato
originale.
L'antica s'è riabilitata, direbbe un drammaturgo, e la nuova non è
meno curiosa. Anche essa corre, senza meta, balenando qua e là
senz'altra guida che la bellezza della natura; — anch'essa ama le
sagre, le fiere, i mercati per cogliere sul fatto la scena animata dei
mille popolani dalle diverse foggie, dai diversi tipi; — anch'essa se
può giuocare un bel tiro, lo fa con tutta coscienza, e ruba a man
salva ad un crocchio di ciarloni il racconto che dice più d'un in-foglio
su quella gente, un idilio d'amore ad una bella ragazza, il secreto
d'una lagrima come d'un sorriso. Alcuna volta, quando il demone
ruggente dell'arte non l'agita, e così gli è obbligato a starsene a
bocca asciutta innanzi alla festosa mostra di cento zane di saporite
frutta.... allora stende la mano ad una vezzosa fanciulla per averne
un grappolo d'uva ancora imperlato dalla rugiada, una pesca
erubescente... e non dubitate della sua riconoscenza, veh!
Allo zingaro non mancano modi di trarsi di impiccio: quante volte
pagò lo scotto della cena frugale, narrando alla bella ostessa una
fantastica leggenda, con sì strana eloquenza rappresentandole i casi
amorosi di fate, ondine e silfidi, di genii e di spiriti, che davvero
parve alla curiosa di vedere laggiù nell'ombre l'amante tradito fra
paurosi fantasmi, e di sentire sotto la scranna il rantolo del lupo che
venne ad ingollarsi la perfida!... Chi osa rimprocciare la bella
albergatrice se per schermirsi dagli amanti morti e dai lupi vivi si
allaccia strettamente allo zingaro?
Dirvi come la tribù nuova fiammante veneri come pura sorgente
d'inspirazione la bellezza variata della natura, culto da cui sorge
necessariamente il disprezzo per ogni affettazione; riassumere,
anche per sommi capi, l'indole bizzarra del suo umore; dirvene,
fuggendo, vita e miracoli, sarebbe ad un tempo noiosa cosa per voi e
pericolosa per noi.
Ma se poi non isdegnate la compagnia di questi zingari di buona
pasta che intessendo alle descrizioni leggende e fantasie vi guida —
senza bagnarvi — negli antri muschiosi ove fra i canneti lacustri
amoreggia l'avvenente Verbania; nei casolari montani fra le usanze
patriarcali; sulle diacciaie alpine a conversare colle nubi; sui nembosi
picchi supremi a cantare un inno al sole, alla libertà, ed a farvi
considerare di lassù che bruco microscopico è il cosiddetto re del
mondo — accettate la mano e proverete che lo zingaro fra le
divagazioni della mente e le aspirazioni del cuore non dimentica il
positivo della vita, quella catena che ne rammenta ad ogni slancio
che dessa è troppo corta e che il senso governa più della ragione il
mondo, guidandovi in alberghi d'ogni fatta, quando il paese sia poco
ospitale — e per giunta, se non pagherà lo scotto, condirà colle sue
novelle la refezione.
E poi chi sta a cà niente sa.
Via, smetti l'abito incomodo che t'insacca; indossa la veste casalinga
del viatore; allaccia calzari che sfidino le mordenti scheggie e le
acute punte delle roccie; armati di lungo bastone ferrato ed uncinato
che ti servirà d'appoggio e di spinta, di leva e di scala per l'erte e per
le diacciaie — e quand'anche la tua borsa non sia sonante di molte
monete d'oro, vieni, lo zingaro insegnerà a te ancora a raccontare la
storia del lupo alle belle ostesse.
Se mai l'aspetto di diverse genti, la disuguale misura del bene e del
bello col brutto, la lotta continua del debole col forte, l'armonia
sublime della natura non caccieranno la noia che ti prostra intelletto
e corpo nell'afa neghittosa del fannullare, lo zingaro con fratellevole
cura ti guiderà a quelle regioni — ove si slancia sì sovente e con
tanto desiderio il pensiero — che miseria di mente e di cuore fanno
chiamare dell'impossibile...
Non rigenereremo l'umanità, ma non ci annoieremo, forse.
Intanto l'aurora festosa già piove le sue tinte onnicolori, la frescura
del mattino ne invita; partiamo... all'Alpi!
Un istante: anzitutto lo zingaro, secondo l'antica usanza de' suoi,
tolta nelle mani la vostra destra, dovrebbe spiattellarvi l'avvenire
come il passato, farvi i più lusinghieri augurii che egli si sappia.... ma
che volete? Egli, visti fallire i più cordiali vaticinii, da buona pezza
tiene seco loro broncio, ed amico qual è degli antichi adagi, a chi lo
richiede di predizioni, risponde:
Chi il tutto può sprezzare, possiede il mondo.
Così sia.

II.
Chi fece l'Italia?

Uomo lento non ha mai tempo.

Prov. ital.

.... e la vaporiera fugge rapidamente pei piani del Novarese, mentre

l'occhio posandosi appena sulle borgate, sulle castella che si
succedono una all'altra come le apparizioni d'un sogno febbrile,
assiste ad una serie di scene più o meno curiose, varie sempre.
Così sparve Novara, Bellinzago ed Oleggio che dalla sua altura
contempla il bel pian lombardo, e la vaporiera arrestata un minuto,
rifugge verso il Lago Maggiore.
Presso lo scalo d'Oleggio vidi la storia della civiltà compendiata
nell'area in cui i vetturali attendono l'arrivo delle merci destinate a
quella cittadina. V'era il carro co' buoi, pesante, senza sponde, colle
quattro ruote eguali e massiccie, il timone convergente all'insù e le
cornute bestie che guardavano con occhio stupito la locomotiva
sbuffante, e parevano appuntarsi sui pie' dinnanzi per timore di
appressarlesi. V'era il carrettone dalle due altissime ruote, disadorno,
coi cavalli attelati uno a coda dell'altro; la carrettella corrente; il
cocchio de' nostri padri incomodo, sicuro, e l'elegante carrozza a
doppie molle, verniciata lucente come uno specchio, leggiera e per
ogni modo d'ornati e di agi vaghissima.
Fra l'una e l'altra di queste vetture stavano secoli e stanno: dal carro
de' buoi alla carrozza, il divario tra l'età dell'oro e l'età del ferro; ma
fra essi e la vaporiera un mondo, una distanza quale fra l'antico
copista e Bodoni, fra le torri a segnale ed i telegrafi elettrici, fra il
volgare ed il genio....
Occupiamo i pochi minuti di fermata osservando quegli antichi
veicoli. Se la vaporiera ha immensi meriti, non siamo tanto ingiusti
da negare ad essi i pregi per cui furono tenuti in conto dai nostri
babbi. Oh! quando mi ricordo il bel tempo in cui piccino sedeva a
capo del carro, poggiando i piedi sul timone e con impazienza
infantile andava punzecchiando gli inirritabili buoi ad accelerare il
passo verso i campi, ove poi di corone di millefiori loro cingeva le
corna ed accarezzava con mano fidente il muso velluto e divideva
con essi la merenda con mille feste dei compagni, io non ho più il
coraggio di ridere dei viaggi eterni per cui i nostri vecchi si facevano
saltellare le budella in corpo con una velocità in ragione di due ore
per miglio. Due ore! La vaporiera quando le talenti, unisce Torino a
Milano nello stesso spazio di tempo..... ma ch'è questo vociare?
Una decina di ragazze, cogli spilloni d'argento che irradiano il capo,
sta sopra uno di quei carri, ridendo e scherzando fra di loro: alcuna
accenna al viaggiatore che dai carrozzoni della via ferrata ammicca
con sguardo procace: questa riconosce fra i discesi allo scalo il suo
bulo e lo vorrebbe, senza ch'altri se n'avvedesse, fare avvertito della
sua presenza, mentre con una certa solfa tra il mesto d'una
monotona cantilena e la languidezza d'una canzone che non è in
voga, una voce sfibrata canterellava:
 Novara, Novara
L'è bella città;
Si mangia, si beve.
Allegri si sta!

Se tutta l'allegria dei Novaresi consiste nel mangiare e nel bere,

come dice senz'altro la strofa, l'ha da essere una gaiezza molto
dubbia, pensai; ma già ai poeti debbonsi accordare molte licenze, ed
io non trovando miglior modo di sciogliere la questione, dimenticai il
vate del campanile di S. Gaudenzio per riguardare quel veramente
allegro gruppo di belle e non belle e tutte allegre contadine, le quali
— ora che ci penso — mi ricordano a meraviglia un viaggetto fatto
con una bella ritrosa sopra una stradaccia di campagna, tutta sassi e
gore, per cui ad ogni improvvisa scossa io mi inchinava verso la
giovinetta, e non è a dire s'io secondassi o non l'impulso, e
viceversa, come dicono appunto delle vetture; finchè il carro
essendo ad un tratto entrato nei profondi solchi di un campo, la
vicenda dell'inchinarsi si fece sì violenta e rapida, che io coll'unico
scopo di preservare quella cara personcina da ogni urto, non trovai
che il mezzo di avvinghiarla strettamente nelle mie braccia....
Un fischio — diretto forse alle mie reminiscenze — eccheggia fra le
mura dello scalo, — un secondo acutissimo che passa gli orecchi,
come dice un vicino, e tutto il convoglio si move, cammina, corre,
rivola.... così il tempo da quei dì! Così pure io lascio nello scalo di
Oleggio le riflessioni storiche sugli altri veicoli: il lettore non l'avrà a
male; del resto sa dove andarle a prendere.
Campi, risaie, prati, boschi, giardini, case, uomini ed animali, tutto
resta indietro: la vaporiera è la nemica per eccellenza del verbo
stare; essa corre da un popolo all'altro; cancella un pregiudicio a cui
centomila volumi non bastarono; annulla i dialetti mettendoli a
contatto, e insegna colla necessità la lingua nazionale, spegne
l'ardente face delle antipatie, facendo conoscere con quanto
equilibrio le eccedenze della forza di una regione compensino il
manco di saggezza in un'altra, la virtù militare l'indifferenza artistica,
la gentilezza dei costumi la sapienza civile, eccita e diffonde industrie
— fa l'Italia.
Ben a ragione certi governi avversarono quest'invenzione che
rivaleggia per la forza morale colla stampa!
Dell'inferno è dessa senza dubbio, dice con terrore il buon contadino
nella notte quando dalla mal connessa impannata della finestra della
capanna vede laggiù nella tenebria correre un fantasma dagli occhi
sanguinosi, la bocca ardente e la fronte fumosa, mentre l'aria
echeggia d'acuti sibili e la terra seminata di carboni ardenti trema
sotto i piedi.... Ma direbbe egli che l'inferno inspirò ad un mortale
questa terribile scoperta, s'egli sapesse che, mercè sua, si vince il
tempo e la distanza, e suona con cristiano affetto la voce: Dammi la
destra, anch'io sono tuo fratello?
La vaporiera è dunque la più bella figlia della civiltà, poichè dessa
non serve soltanto a beneficio del commercio, sibbene ai più vitali
interessi dell'esistenza morale. Qual è l'uomo che dalle marine guardi
una nave ad elice sortire, malgrado i venti contrarii e l'agitazione
delle onde, la prora dal porto, ammainate le vele, senz'apparente
impulso, salpando per le più rimote spiaggie dell'Oceano, ove
recherà il nome della sua nazione, — senza sentirsi sollevare
dall'entusiasmo, senza sclamare: questa è la più mirabile opera
dell'uomo!?
Vedete se col vapore si corre presto: in due minuti da Oleggio volai
ai porti liguri e ne ritorno!
Il convoglio attraversava le alture di Borgoticino, quando poco lungi
da quel villaggio mi apparve — eureka! — la prima conca del
desideratissimo Verbano — fra il Vergante e la rupe della festosa
Angera — il quale disserrandosi poi dai colli, cola pel Ticino, al Po,
nell'Adriatico.
Una vaporosa nube si dislagava al cielo, ed i raggi vivissimi del sole
di giugno penetrando qua e là fra gli squarci illuminavano con tale
potenza di tocco la rôcca d'Arona, e laggiù in fondo la punta di
Belgirate ove il lago si svolge a sinistra, che davvero il contrasto di
quelle accese tinte colle ombre delle convalli armonizzava assai bene
colla natura variatissima del quadro.
Un ultimo fischio e il correre si rallenta gradatamente, il convoglio
penetra nei campi, ritorna a riva, entra sotto una tettoia, ove cento
voci — Arona, Arona! — ti fanno accorto che sei finalmente giunto
alla sospirata sponda di quel Lago Maggiore che nella fantasia
t'apparve certamente come una regione incantata a cui sorrida
eternamente cielo e primavera, abitata dalle più avvenenti ondine,
dai più amorosi silfi.
Io vi confesso candidamente di non avere mai fatto questi sogni, e
per la zinganesca mia esperienza che mi ha dimostrato i giudizi
assoluti essere sempre in alcuna parte erronei, e il male dai mille
aspetti mescersi con disuguale misura al bene, e perchè rifuggo dalle
imaginose aspettazioni, le quali per lo più al contatto della realtà
risolvonsi in dure delusioni. Mi pare quindi profittevole....
— Cosa fa il signore? Scenda, il convoglio non procede mica oltre....
— Benissimo; grazie. Parmi profittevole, diceva, di usare nel giudizio
delle regioni che si percorrono, anche coll'intendimento di studiarle
oltre l'epidermide, quella mite benevolenza che ogni onesto desidera
praticata verso il campanile della sua parrocchia. Quanto al bello, al
buono, quantunque spesso il miracolo non faccia il santo, il fidarvisi
è la meglio; quanto al brutto ed all'incivile giova il credere che la
virtù sta di casa dove meno si crede, e che tanti paesi, tante
usanze... E poi gli uomini la pensano così diversamente! Aprite un
libro di proverbii — li dicono la più bella eredità che le generazioni si
tramandino, la sapienza delle nazioni — sentite che armonìa di
opinioni:

Chi sta bene non si move,

e
Non diventan porri che i trapiantati.

Pietra mossa non fa musco,

e
 Chi vuol far roba, esca di casa.

Chi disse donna, disse danno,

e
Senza donna a lato l'uom non è beato;

e cent'altri grossolani e dilicati, che vanno d'accordo che gli è un

gusto ad appaiarli!
— Signore — disse in quella una guardiastazione, la stessa che
m'interruppe già una volta — questa è l'uscita; e m'indicò la porta.
Se questo dabbenuomo non mi cacciasse con tutta quella buona
grazia di cui è suscettibile un guardiano di via ferrata, io vorrei, o
compagno, dimostrarvi come la bellezza oggettiva abbia meno cultori
di quanto è voce.... ma non c'è verso, egli m'insegue sino
all'uscita.... Quest'insistenza mi desta un dubbio: ch'egli abbia inteso
un motto delle nostre chiacchere più o meno estetiche, e voglia
risparmiarne lo spettacolo poco architettonico della stazione? Chi lo
sa? Dopo la democratizzazione del sapere, chi può giurare che sotto
il saio dell'artiere non s'asconda la giornea del professore?

III.
Arona — Le illusioni ed i doganieri. — Una cipolla fra le rose.

Chi tosto giudica, tosto si pente.

Prov. ital.

Orta! — Angera! — Gozzano! — Varallo! — Domodossola! — Albergo

della Posta! — Reale! — d'Italia! — A me il sacco! — Zolfanelli! —
Sigari! — Ecco le strida che invariabilmente accolgono il viaggiatore
all'uscire dallo scalo della ferrovia d'Arona: vociare che mette in non
lieve imbarazzo il viaggiatore che non ha meta prefissa al suo
vagare.
Per mia fortuna, fra tanti vetturali, facchini, camerieri e ciceroni pro
domo sua, una voce che partiva dal mezzo di una folta ispidissima
barba, tuonò al mio orecchio, mentre mi sforzava di attraversare
quella ressa di rompiscatole, il nome dell'ottava meraviglia del
mondo e l'unica di Arona, il S. Carlone, e mi fece così risovvenire di
un monumento intorno al quale aveva sentito nella prima
adolescenza tante mirabilia. Si vada adunque al S. Carlone! Senza
dare risposta ad alcuna delle insistenti domande — unico modo di
liberarsene, a meno però vogliate farvi in dieci per non far torto a
nessuno — mi avvio verso la cittadina, dando occhiate a destra ed a
sinistra, come quegli che senza soffermarsi troppo vuole spendere
poco e vedere molto.
Appena uscito dalla casona dello scalo, un bel giovinotto, dall'assisa
di doganiere — ad Arona vi sono più doganieri che mercanti — con
un garbo da farmi strabiliare, (poichè a me un doganiere era sempre
parso il rappresentante della prepotenza legale, dei pregiudicii
economici, la barriera che impedisce il bacio cosmopolitico dei
popoli) mi fece ricredere pienamente, avvisandomi che se io
desiderava imbarcarmi sopra un piroscafo, il S. Gottardo stava per
salpare, aggiunto poi per soprassello che io avrei potuto girare e
rigirare in lungo ed in largo il lago senza la noia del passaporto.
Malgrado il desiderio di accettare l'invito della tintinnante campanella
del S. Gottardo, io non volli partire senza visitare l'interno della città
pittoresca — al di fuori — ed il famoso monumento al suo cittadino,
benchè sapessi che vi sarei ritornato più d'una volta nelle corse ch'io
aveva in animo di fare lungo le spiaggie verbanesi.
Il S. Gottardo diede l'ultimo tocco di squilla, si staccò con tutta
facilità dallo scalo, e descritta una vaga curva, partì avvolgendosi,
come d'un velo per difendersi dal sole cocentissimo, nei vapori della
caldaia fumante.
Serbatomi per la vetta del colle di S. Carlo il giocondo spettacolo del
lago, come un ghiottone serba ultimo il manicaretto più sapido,
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