Exploring demography and sociological factors underlying decisions to join gangs among Indians
In general, gang can be described as a group of friends with identifiable leadership with certain internal organization that engage in various illegal activities such as crimes and drug trafficking. Although voluminous studies have been conducted in the West regarding gangs and gangsterism but ver...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2019
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14972/1/21471-100762-1-PB.pdf http://journalarticle.ukm.my/14972/ http://ejournals.ukm.my/akademika/issue/view/1092 |
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| Summary: | In general, gang can be described as a group of friends with identifiable leadership with certain internal
organization that engage in various illegal activities such as crimes and drug trafficking. Although
voluminous studies have been conducted in the West regarding gangs and gangsterism but very few
studies were actually explored this issue in Malaysia. With this in mind, this study sought to provide some
evidence for reasons behind decisions to join gangs as there is a lack of local qualitative research on the
phenomenon of gangsterism. This lack is largely due to the vulnerability of people coming forward to
share their experiences. The specific aim of this study was to explore demography and sociological factors
behind gangsterism among Malaysian Indians. This study utilised a qualitative research design (semistructured
interview) based on the inductive approach. Ex-gangsters and police personnel were interviewed
individually. Thematic analysis was used to extract main themes and sub-themes. Three demography
factors were identified: age, gender, and educational level. Four sociological factors were generated:
poor parenting style, family members who were also gangsters, gang culture in the neighborhood, and
financial difficulties. Two new factors emerged from the informants: social power and to experience
gangster lifestyles. The outcome of this research is useful for proactive crime prevention in the form of
evidence-based knowledge about demography and sociological factors behind gangsterism. This paper
also briefly discussed intervention, prevention, and suppression strategies that can be used to curb this
gangsterism issue effectively. |
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