ABSTRACT
Michael Cross has shown how three interrelated youth sub-cultural worlds can be distinguished in South Africa: lumpen and unemployed youth delinquent and semidelinquent subcultures; middle-class cultural rebellion and reformist movements; and working-class student and youth resistance culture, activism, and political militancy. There are a number of elements in the reported experience of widely separate nations and disparate cultures which suggest that American scholars may have some way to go before they can be sure about what really makes American gangs unique. Gangs are recognised as different from other adolescent groups in the greater frequency of their illegal activities, the leadership and purposeful nature of their offending, and their turf claims. There may be advantages in the American context in excluding skinheads, bikers, prison gangs, ‘copy-cat’ gangs, ‘wannabe’ groups, and even ‘so-called drug gangs’ so as to leave a residual category of street gangs.
