ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the theories on why some individuals join organized gangs and crime groups in order to offer perspective and reconcile the often conflicting explanations that have been part of a debate that dates back centuries. An increasing number of scholars are giving more attention to the often hidden dimensions of female participation in organized crime. Experts have observed that if a youth gang has a formal organization with clear leadership and rules and operates within a framework of expectations and sanctions for non-compliance, it is more likely to embrace and succeed at a more advanced level of organized criminality. The researchers made distinctions between the various delinquent subcultures, explaining that variations exist because of 'socially structured anomie based on interclass conflict and the availability of legit and illegitimate opportunity structures differentially organized on an ethnic and neighborhood basis'.
