ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of three years of studying gangs in a declining Midwestern rust belt city, St. Louis, Missouri. It explains both the origin of gangs and the decisions of individuals to join a gang focuses on the role of threat. Threat describes a process in which perceptions and interactions work together to produce behavior. Threat plays an important role in accounting for the origins of gangs. The process of joining the gang has two elements; the first is a series of “pulls” that attract individuals to the gang, the second are the “pushes” that compel individuals to join the gang. The chapter considers what gang members regard as the positive features or advantages of gang membership. Gang members in St. Louis reported that women were integrated into their gangs, even though those gangs were dominated by males.
