A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities. Historically the term referred to both criminal groups and ordinary groups of friends, such as Our Gang. Most commonly, the word "gang" refers to street gangs (a.k.a. youth gangs), groups who take over territory ("turf") in a particular city, sometimes simply for lack of something better to do, and are often involved in "providing protection" (a thin cover for extortion, as the "protection" is usually from the gang itself), or in other criminal activity. Since roughly the 1970s, street gangs have been strongly connected with drug sales (especially crack cocaine). Some commit burglaries, car theft, and armed robbery. Many members retain their gang affiliations when sent to prison.
Gangs have been known to claim colors such as red or blue, a trend that started as far back as the late 18th century and early 19th century with Mexican bandits and roving marauders in what would later become the Southwest/Western United States. (In the United States, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, "gang colors" can refer to the entire design of a gang jacket.)
Gangs often spread by a parent or family moving out of the gang neighborhood, and the children taking the gang culture and lore with them to a new area and recruiting new members for their old gang. This concept has been referred to as satellite gangs. Some offshoots of the original NorteņoThe Nortenos ( Spanish for "northerners"), also called Nuestra Familia (Our Family), are a coalition of Hispanic gangs in North America, based in northern California. A member of these gangs is a norteno (male), nortena (female), or simply "northerner"; b/ SureņosThe Surenos or Sur for short, are a Hispanic street gang with origins in Southern California, connected with the Mexican Mafia prison organization. Opposing the Mexican Mafia is the Nuestra Familia, which similarly has spawned a street chapter, the Norten concept include CripsThe Crips are one of the largest Los Angeles, California youth gangs. The Crips are identified by the blue color worn by their members. The Crips were formed by Stanley "Tookie" Williams and Raymond Washington in 1971, after the two became fed up with ran and the BloodsThe Bloods are one of the two largest Los Angeles, California youth gangs, and are also one of a number of gangs operating on a worldwide level. The Bloods, like their rivals the Crips, are African American. Due to the loose network of territorial gangs,, African AmericanAfrican Americans also known as Afro- Americans or black Americans comprise an ethnic group in the United States of America whose dominant ancestry is from Sub-Saharan West Africa. Many African Americans also claim European, Native American, or Asian ance gangs. Other large gangs include the Aryan BrotherhoodThe Aryan Brotherhood or AB is a predominantly caucasian (white) gang that originated in California's San Quentin State Prison in 1967. The AB was first established to protect its members from the more numerous black and Mexican gangs. They are said to ha, a mostly prison-based white power gang, the Nazi Low Riders , or NLR, the Latin KingsThe Latin Kings started out as a social organization for the advancement of the Hispanic community in the Chicago area in the 1940s. The organization spread nationally, and by the 1970s it came to be dominated by individuals engaged in criminal activity,, the Gangster Disciples of Chicago, and Los Angeles-based 18th Street gang. In the 1980s, other gangs, such as the Central American Mara Salvatrucha, the Asian Boyz (ABZ), and the Tiny Rascal Gang (TRG) emerged, especially from Southern California. At one point, there was an alledged cybergang by the name of Glock 3, but it turned out to be a hoax.
Apart from street gangs, there are motorcycle gangs (such as Hells Angels), prison gang s (such as the Mexican prison gang Eme and the Mexican Mafia), organized criminal mafias (a term deriving originally from the Italian, but now also applied to the Russian Mafia), and Asian criminal gangs (such as Chinese triads and the Japanese yakuza).
Some commentators use "gang" to refer to small, informal, and disorganized "street gangs," while " syndicate" or " organized crime" are used to refer to larger international organizations which may control entire legitimate businesses as "fronts" for their illegal operations.
The word "gang" generally appears in a pejorative context, though within "the gang" itself members may adopt the phrase in proud identity or defiance.
