ABSTRACT
Gangs involved in criminality are one such social grouping. Organised crime and related criminal networks are also fundamentally social aspects of criminality. They have many similarities to terrorism which is also inevitably part of a social process and often generated as part of a social network. Gang membership does increase the likelihood of being involved in crime. It is reported that at least half of the twenty-seven teenage murders in London in 2007 were gang related. The term group implies a rather informal or casual set of people who do not necessarily have clear assignment of roles. In contrast, a team implies regular roles and shared ideas of offending activities. Roles arise from the demands of the task, and so, different crimes will involve more or less role differentiation, while individual expertise and interactions determine role allocation, and the experience of offending together gives role clarity.
