It means....
In modern usage, gang often refers to loosely organized groups that control a territory through readiness to use coordinated violence, especially against other gangs. Violence also serves to maintain organization within the gang and to control gang members (Decker and Van Winkle, 1996; Horowitz, 1983; Sanchez-Jankowski, 1991; Yablonsky, 1962)[9]A gangster is a criminal who is, or at some point almost invariably becomes, a member of a persistent violent crime organization, such as a gang. As an adjective it can be used as an unflattering depiction of the violent and devious methods commonly used by mobsters, and the derived form gangsterism it implies such methods as practice or habit. The term gangster is most commonly used in reference to members of the criminal organizations associated with the American offshoot of the Cosa Nostra and the American prohibition, such as the Chicago Outfit and the Five Families, and individuals such as Al Capone, Chase Maracle and Bugsy Siegel. Gangs are as diverse and dissimilar as the ideologies and belief systems which influence and motivate them.[10] Extremist and hate groups in some states have acquired the label, as the extremist groups operate very similarly to corporate gangs.[11] While hierarchy, colors, and turf are not emphasized as much within these extremist groups, symbols, signs, codes, special languages, and group collaboration and participation in patterns of criminal activity, especially crimes against human rights and civil liberties, are as much a part of the gang type behavior as they are to more traditional 'street gangs'.[12] 'Terrorities' have expanded to include the Internet for some gangs. Crips, Bloods, MS-13, 18th Street gang, and other "web bangers" are among some gangs posting on personal and social networking Web sites taunting other gangs, boasting of illegal exploits, and, according to George W. Knox, director of the National Gang Crime Research Center[9], influencing and recruiting new members.[13] Tod Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University in Virginia states: “Gangs already have their own alphabet, their own language, their own hand signals, so why not use the Internet?” Gang members, using home computers communicate with each other using their own coded language to brag about criminal exploits and to organize crimes on the street, including fights with rival gangs.[14]White Aryan Resistance (WAR) and the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) are two American-based white-supremacist or neo-fascist groupuscules or gangs who have been quick to exploit the advantages the Internet and the World Wide Web offer for organizing, recruiting, and developing their small, splinter groups of extremists. While the Internet provides these gangs with the opportunity to communicate with a wider audience, the threat of increased influence on disenfranchised and underprivileged youths may be exaggerated.[15]Gang members have also been joining and organizing within the U.S. military and learning military skills in Iraq, a phenomenon an FBI report calls "a threat to law enforcement and national security."[16]In environments with few social supports, gangs provide young members a sense of belonging, and protection from other gangs; often, where prospects for gainful employment are poor, they also provide an illegal means of earning a living.
[edit] Classification
The dissimilarity between some gangs has prompted the generation of categories to classify gangs based on finances and activities. They also can account for some of the drop out rates in public school systems.[17] Scavenger gangs are characteristically disorganized and often represent the least successful of all the types of gangs. Members of scavenger gangs may be low achievers, and may be prone to violent or erratic behavior. Because these gangs are not well organized, leadership of scavenger gangs may change frequently and without reason. Scavenger gangs often turn to low-level crime, usually committed spontaneously and without planning. If a scavenger gang can become more organized, it may be able to grow into a territorial gang.[10] Territorial gangs are typically more organized than scavenger gangs, but their primary purpose is still social. Some may sell drugs, but this is not a defining characteristic of the territorial gang. Territorial gangs will often use violent means to defend their territory; in some cases this helps the gang to bond and reinforces the social structures of the gang. Gang members may be attracted to territorial gangs because they have difficult home lives.[10] Corporate gangs are highly organized conspiracies, constructed for the purpose of marketing drugs and gaining maximum profits. The symbolism and turfs that are significant to territorial and scavenger gangs are meaningless to corporate gangs. Members of corporate gangs are expected to follow a certain etiquette, and severe punishment can be expected for any faux pas. Leadership of a corporate gang requires a higher level of intelligence than other gangs, and bosses in these gangs will often be highly successful career criminals.They also can be very territorial and can not wear the color of another gang.[10]
[edit] Gang signs
Main article: Gang signal
Gangs often establish distinctive, characteristic identifiers including graffiti tags[18] colors, hand-signals, clothing, jewelry, hair styles, fingernails, slogans[19], signs such as the swastika, the noose, or the burning cross[20], flags[21] for example the Confederate flag, secret greetings, slurs, or code words and other group-specific symbols associated with the gang's common beliefs, rituals, and mythologies to define and differentiate themselves from rival groups and gangs.[22]As an alternative language, signs, symbols, and slurs in speech, graffiti, print, music, or other mediums communicate specific informational cues used to threaten, disparage, taunt, harass, intimidate, alarm, influence[23], or exact specific responses including obedience, submission, fear, or terror. One study focused on terrorism and symbols states: "... Symbolism is important because it plays a part in impelling the terrorist to act and then in defining the targets of their actions."[24] Displaying a gang sign, such as the noose, as a symbolic act can be construed as "... a threat to commit violence communicated with the intent to terrorize another, to cause evacuation of a building, or to cause serious public inconvenience, in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience...an offense against property or involving danger to another person that may include but is not limited to recklessly endangering another person, harassment, stalking, ethnic intimidation, and criminal mischief."[25]
Thats all u need 2 know.