The Dangers of Gang Emulation

When I was a teenager in the late l930s, intrigued by criminal behavior, I hung out with a variety of criminals who frequented a bowling alley and a poolroom in Newark, N.J.

Spending a lot of time in these places during my early years, I became involved in a few capers and was most vulnerable to arrest and incarceration. Fortunately, I escaped these possible consequences and my interests led me to become a criminology professor. Our prisons house a large number of “crime-groupies” who were not as lucky as I was. These include adolescents who are “gangsta groupies.”

Most parents don’t worry about their “good kids” joining violent gangs. But parents would be prudent to worry about their teenagers who are enraptured with the gang lifestyle. These fringe gang youths, although not full gang members, are at risk of becoming involved in gang activities that could land them in prison.

“Gangsta rap” music has mesmerized millions of American teenagers who are not involved with violent gangs. The gangsta groupie phenomenon goes beyond the music and includes gangster movies, certain modes of dress and an intrigue with real gang behavior.

The police and the courts tend to draw a limited distinction between full-fledged gangsters and groupies on the scene of a crime. If a groupie is involved in an incident, he is usually treated by the criminal justice system as a co-conspirator subject to the same tough penalties accorded a real gang member--penalties that can be combined with the gang enhancement prison sentences now on the books in many states, including California.

An example:

A youth nicknamed Loco (not his real gang name) had been stabbed two weeks earlier by an enemy gangster. Loco wanted to carry out a revenge drive-by shooting. He acquired a gun and the drive-by shooting was carried out, leaving a youth from the alleged enemy gang wounded. I was hired as an expert witness by the lawyer of a 17-year-old named Joe, a gangsta groupie, who regrettably was in the shooter’s car.

In the process of gathering information about the case, I interviewed Joe at the Orange County Jail and later talked with his parents. Joe came from an apparent “good home” with two nice parents who had been married for more than 20 years. He was their only child. Joe had never been arrested, did not use drugs and had not participated in any prior gang or delinquent activity. He had, in fact, been a long-time Boy Scout, and during my jail interview expressed concern about how his arrest would impact his Eagle Scout status.

Joe claimed to be totally surprised when the shooter opened fire from the car he was in. Joe was now forced to face the brutal consequences of participating in this type of situation.

If Joe went to trial, he faced a 25-year-to-life sentence for his participation as a co-conspirator in a gang shooting. Joe’s attorney accepted a plea bargain that would instead incarcerate Joe for seven to 10 years in an adult prison. Although the sentence was extreme, no one wanted to roll the legal dice that might result in life imprisonment.

From my viewpoint, Joe was guilty of naive, stupid and ignorant behavior, but not premeditated violence. Joe’s intrigue with the gangster culture caused him to drift into this violent incident.

There are thousands of youths like Joe now serving time in America’s prisons who should not be there.

Parents are well advised to keep a closer eye on their baggy-pantsed teenagers whose intrigue with the American gangsta phenomenon could destroy their lives.