A gang is defined in Webster's dictionary as group of persons working to unlawful or antisocial ends; for example, a band of antisocial adolescents or a group of persons having informal and close relations. Generally a gang may be defined as people who share a common Identity, usually through a gang name and individually or collectively engage in criminal activity. A good example of this is The Outsiders.
Criminal street gangs have become one of the most serious crime problems all over the world. Gang violence, particularly assaults, drive-by shootings, homicides, and brutal home-invasion robberies, accounts for one of the largest, single, personal threats to public safety. In the outsiders there are many assaults between the Socs and the Greasers.
A gang is also a group of persons having informal and close relations. Many reasons why adolescents and older aged groups join gangs are to get away from their every day problems and to fit into a group. It is known that many gang members suffer from family depression and have many problems with school. So when some one joins a gang they have a sense of belonging. Also many people (adolescents mainly) join a gang to feel safe and protected in the streets and help other people to feel safe, and that when they get into trouble with another gang or the law they have their gangs backing them up. In The Outsiders there are many close relationships between members of the Greasers.
Many gangs also use drugs to fund their unlawful acts. For some gangs this is there way of making a living, a way of paying bills and buying their cars and such. Gangs make millions of dollars each year through the sale of illegal drugs; drugs that have been sold, frequently by kids, to kids. Since drugs make gangs massive amounts of money, gangs co-operate with each by setting out boundaries and sometimes amalgamating to make their gangs extremely large and powerful.
