Gangs in some form have been around for centuries. No one knows how many gangs exist in America today. Today there are thousands of gangs in America but they all seem to be smaller attachments of the larger gangs, such as the Crips, Bloods, and Latin Kings.
In California alone there are an estimated 175,000-to 200,000-gang members. In a 2001 survey of police departments 91% said there was gang activity in one or more schools in their area. Many people don't understand the magnitude, make up, or psychology of the gang mentality.
There have been many definitions of the term "gang" over time, one definition of the term is, a group is considered a gang if it has a formal organizational structure, identifiable leadership, identifiable territory, and recurrent interaction, and is engaged in serious or violent criminal behavior (combating street gangs 1). The average gang is composed of males, ages 12 to 21. Although research on gang ethnicity is sketchy at best, one survey of gangs in large cities indicated that approximately 48% of all gang members are African-American, 43% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 5% white (combating street gangs 2).
Today when we think of gangs we think of the Bloods and Crips, which originated in California in the late 60's. All gangs have an identifiable six levels of membership. The first level is a wanna-be. Wanna-be's aren't actual members yet, though they wear the gang colors, use the gangs graffiti and signs, and associate with known gang members. The next level is the fringe. The fringe is able to function outside of the gang and lacks direction. Cliques, which are associate, fringe, and wanna-be gang members who hang around one or more hardcore gang members, are the next level. The fourth level of membership is the associate. An associate has made a personal commitment to the gang culture. Level five is the hardcore member. Hardcore gangsters are the older, more violent members and they make up about 10% of gang membership.