Neighborhoods, Markets, and Gang Drug Organization

Abstract

Researchers have debated whether gangs are selling drugs “freelance” or whether gang drug selling is more organized. Some have speculated that gangs are evolving into organized crime. This article uses contingency theory from the literature on organizations to examine the sources of variation in drug-selling organization of gangs from Milwaukee. In the turbulent environment surrounding drug selling, inflexible vertically organized drug businesses are unlikely to be successful. The failure of this kind of entrepreneurial drug gang in Milwaukee is described. Most gang drug sales in Milwaukee were by neighborhood-based, loosely organized operations. Neighborhood-based drug-selling organization varied according to the lucrativeness and stability of the drug market. Complexity of gang drug organization generally varied inversely to the degree that drug sales were centered on the neighborhood as a market. Ethnicity may also exercise an independent effect on organization. Research needs to pay more attention to organizational theory and the neighborhood context of gang activities and organization.

The Ecology of Gang Territorial Boundaries*

“…The amount of local between‐gang competition at equilibrium experienced by gang 1 at location s is likewise . In general, within‐ and between‐gang competition could be realized through any number of gang‐related activities including tagging (Block and Block, 1993; Klein, 1995), aggressive displays (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996; Vigil, 1988), and drug dealing (Cohen et al, 1998; Hagedorn, 1994). Here we make the reasonable assumption that violence, although certainly underreported, is proportional to competitive effects.…”

Conditions That Increase Drug Market Involvement: The Invitational Edge and the Case of Mexicans in South Texas

“…This was especially the case as one proceeded down the hierarchy to the neighborhood level (Hagedorn, 1994). This market characteristic changed, at least temporarily, with the explosion of crack cocaine in the 1980s and 1990s when the social hierarchy of drug dealing changed primarily to vertically integrated dealing organizations comprised primarily of minorities (Johnson et al, 1990).…”

Violent Youth in Boot Camps for Non-Violent Offenders

“…Indeed, use of drugs that lessen inhibition, gang membership, and carrying weapons encourage violence in ways which are just beginning to be identified, understood and explained (e.g., Hagedorn, 1994;Loeber & Farrington, 1998;Pallone & Hennessy, 1996, 1998. Only selected influences on violence are investigated in the present study.…”