American Gangs and British Subcultures: A Commentary

• Published date: 01 January 1982
• Author: R.G. Whitfield
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X8202600113
• Date: 01 January 1982
• Subject Matter: Articles

90

American

Gangs

and

British

Subcultures:

A

Commentary

As

this

highly

topical

article

comparing

English

and

American

gang

structures

and

sub-cultures

originates

from

the

United

States,

we

thought

it

appropriate

to

ask

Mr.

Whitfield,

a

distinguished

member

of

the

Probation

Ser-

vice,

to

provide

a

commentary,

which

is

printed

below

(The

Editors).

This

is

an

ambitious

paper

in

that

it

tries

to

account

for

apparent

transatlantic

differences

in

adolescent

group

behaviour

by

reference

to

a

much

broader

social,

economic

and

political

canvas.

With

the

under

21’s

accounting

for

something

like

half

of

those

found

guilty

of

indictable

offences

and

with

the

bulk

of

juvenile

offending

taking

place

in

small

groups

this

must

be

an

area

of

considerable

interest.

But

how

does

it

seem

from

this

side

of

the

Atlantic?

Are

the

differences

as

marked

as

the

authors claim

and,

if

so,

what

are

the

implications?

From

a

British

standpoint

if

it

is

true

that

gangs

are

not

a

part

of

the

youth

scene

then

this

is

surely

a

fairly

recent

phenomenon,

for

the

literature

of

the

19th

and

20th

century

contains

plenty

of

reference

to

gang

delinquency-groups

like

the

Gonophs,

Fagins

Gang

or

the

Swell

Mob-and

from

the

accounts

given

by

men

like

Mayhew

and

Chesney

they

would

seem

to

have

met

the

requirements

of

the

definition

used

in

this

paper.

More

recently,

Hells

Angels,

who

seem

to

have been

superseded

by

the

more

peaceful

Bikers,

have

certainly

displayed

a

rigid

structure,

hierarchy

and

allocated

roles

as

the

hallmark

of

their

operations.

If

true

gangs

are

no

longer

a

part

of

the

British

scene,

as

the

authors

claim,

have

they,

then,

disappeared

as

part

of

a

larger

pattern

of

social

change?

This,

it

seems

to

me,

is

where

the

argu-

ment

is

weakest

for

I

think

any

British

reader

would

take

issue

with

the

rigid

class

structure

portrayed

by

the

authors.

I

do

not

think

it

has

been

true

for

twenty

years

and,

in

fact,

observation

of

current

subcultures

produces

some

support

for

this.

By

basing

themselves

on

a

specific

style

of

music,

dress

or

ideas

groups

can

and

do

surmount

class

boundaries

much

more

effectively

than

those

traditional

gangs

based

on

geographical

territory.

One

possible

answer

is

that

gangs

are

subcultures

writ

small;

understandable,

workable

sub-divisions

of

a

larger

life-style

which

accepts

a

much

greater

degree

of

cross-class

mobility

than

the

authors

of

this

paper

allow.

It

may

be

that

membership

is

not

parti-

cularly

stable

or

permanent;

that

affiliations

may

vary

and

loyalties