1. “Stones run it”: taking back control of organized crime in Chicago, 1940-1975.
- Author
-
Cooley W
- Subjects
- Bullying physiology, Bullying psychology, Chicago ethnology, Criminals education, Criminals history, Criminals legislation & jurisprudence, Criminals psychology, Economics history, Economics legislation & jurisprudence, History, 20th Century, Humans, Law Enforcement history, Social Alienation psychology, Black or African American education, Black or African American ethnology, Black or African American history, Black or African American legislation & jurisprudence, Black or African American psychology, Crime economics, Crime ethnology, Crime history, Crime legislation & jurisprudence, Crime psychology, Power, Psychological, Social Control, Informal history, Socioeconomic Factors history, Violence economics, Violence ethnology, Violence history, Violence legislation & jurisprudence, Violence psychology
- Abstract
In the 1960s and 1970s African American “supergangs” emerged in Chicago. Many scholars have touted the “prosocial” goals of these gangs but fail to contextualize them in the larger history of black organized crime. Thus, they have overlooked how gang members sought to reclaim the underground economy in their neighborhoods. Yet even as gangs drove out white organized crime figures, they often lacked the know-how to reorganize the complex informal economy. Inexperienced gang members turned to extreme violence, excessive recruitment programs, and unforgiving extortion schemes to take power over criminal activities. These methods alienated black citizens and exacerbated tensions with law enforcement. In addition, the political shelter enjoyed by the previous generation of black criminals was turned into pervasive pressure to break up street gangs. Black street gangs fulfilled their narrow goal of community control of vice. Their interactions with their neighbors, however, remained contentious.
- Published
- 2011
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