Reference no: EM133327458

Question: Why this gang myth surprised you the most? In your response, explain the myth/reality for the myth (summarize what you read) AND explain why it surprised you.

Case Study: Myth 15: Gangs Were Actively Involved in the Crack Cocaine Epidemic

Skolnick (1989, 1990) interviewed imprisoned members of the California Crips and Bloods in the late 1980s. The gang members said they were transforming themselves into formal criminal organizations to profit from the "crack cocaine epidemic." They also claimed they were expanding their criminal operations across the country. The California gang members' story influenced public perceptions of gangs via broadcast media in several ways. The myth of formal organization is particularly important. The notion that gangs were becoming huge powerful criminal organizations-much like highly structured corporations-became widely accepted. A national conference concluded that "it is well known that gang members are key players in the illegal drug trade," and that "there is clear evidence ... that the demand for drugs, especially crack cocaine, has led to the migration of Los Angeles gang members across the country" (Bryant, 1989, pp. 2-3). The threat drug-trafficking youth gangs represented to the nation seemed apparent. "The fierce circle of drugs, profits, and violence threatens the freedom and public safety of citizens from coast to coast. It holds in its grip large jurisdictions and small ones, urban areas and rural ones" (T. Donahue, in Bryant, 1989, p. 1). Representatives in other levels of the federal government immediately began promoting this assumption (Hayeslip, 1989; U.S. Attorney General, 1989; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1989).

Because the growth in youth gun violence in the period from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s coincided with the so-called crack cocaine epidemic, a couple of researchers suggested that these developments were related and could involve gang members. Blumstein and Rosenfeld (1999) stated the assumed connection:

As the crack epidemic spread in the mid- and late-1980s, so did the danger around inner city drug markets, driving up the incentive for more kids to arm themselves in an increasingly threatening environment. That environment also became a prime recruiting ground for urban street gangs.

It is difficult to find convincing empirical evidence of a nationwide crack cocaine epidemic in the scholarly literature (for convincing evidence to the contrary, see Hartman & Golub, 1999; Reeves & Campbell, 1994). Only a few cities appear to have experienced such widespread cocaine use to qualify as an "epidemic," principally Los Angeles, Oakland, New York City, Detroit, Miami, and Washington, DC (Reeves & Campbell, 1994, p. 160). Street gangs' involvement was very limited. There is evidence that some Los Angeles Crips and Bloods gangs were involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking (Cockburn & St. Clair, 1998). However, more extensive research showed that street gang involvement in cocaine drug trafficking in California was overstated (Klein, Maxson, & Cunningham, 1991; Maxson, 1998; Maxson, Woods, & Klein, 1996). In general, empirical support for Blumstein and Rosenfeld's (1999) hypothesis is not convincing. In two studies these widely respected scholars cite, Cork (1999) and Grogger and Willis (1998) attempted to show a causal connection between youth violence and a presumed crack cocaine epidemic, but actual crack use could not be distinguished from other more widespread means of ingesting cocaine (Golub & Johnson, 1997), and neither of these studies empirically established the expected connection directly to gangs.

The crack cocaine phenomenon was not as widespread as Blumstein and Rosenfeld presumed; it was limited to a few cities. Moreover, Ousey and Lee (2004) note that "different drug 'epidemics' have hit different cities at different points in time"; hence, Blumstein and Rosenfeld's hypothesis does not universally apply. In reality, drug distribution and related drug wars are overwhelmingly the province of adult criminal organizations and cartels (Eddy et al., 1988; Gugliotta & Leen, 1989; Klein, 2004), not street gangs that are without the financial backing and access to banks for money laundering that adult organized crime groups enjoy. Researchers have long doubted that gangs composed largely of adolescents could manage interstate drug-trafficking operations (Howell & Decker, 1999). There are a few exceptions, of course, and Pittsburgh and Detroit are two of these, in which gang involvement in drug trafficking was extensive (see Chapter 8). But the most authoritative sources are in agreement that the so-called crack cocaine epidemic was an instrumental part of the Reagan administration's "war on drugs" (Brownstein, 1996; Reeves & Campbell, 1994).