The organisation of London's street gangs

This article examines a grossly neglected area of the street gang literature: the nature and extent of gang organisation. Based upon fieldwork with gangs in London, UK, this article illustrates how recreation, crime, and enterprise are not specific gang ‘types’, but rather represent sequential stages in the evolutionary cycle of gangs. This article demonstrates not only how gangs typically begin life as neighbourhood-based peer groups, but also how, in response to external threats and financial commitments, gangs grow to incorporate street-level drug distribution businesses that very much resemble the multi-level marketing structure of direct-selling companies. Gang organisation, in turn, becomes a function of gang business. Gang organisation is conceptualised here on three levels: internal, external, and symbolic. This article examines, respectively, the presence of subgroups, hierarchy and leadership, incentives, rules, responsibilities, and punishments within gangs; how gangs interact with the local and larger community; and how gangs associate with symbolic elements of popular culture in order to convey reputation and achieve intimidation.