Gang

Gangs. The word summons many thoughts and emotions, but the most readily available are mostly negative ones. Think “gang wars,” “gang violence,” “gang bang,” “gang up on,” or “gang signs”. However, a gang does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, so where did this negative meaning come from? Merriam-Webster’s first result for //gang// is, “a combination of similar implements or devices arranged for convenience to act together” (“Gang [Def 2]”, 2013). Therefore, a gang does not need to have such a negative connotation, as it can be just a group of people working together for the common good. It doesn’t even have to be a gang of people, it can simply be a collection of related objects. To this point, collections of buffalo, deer, elk, turkey, or weasels can all be formally referred to as gangs as opposed to herds, flocks, prides, and so on (Tersigni, 2003). The word gang is also used in a non-negative way in popular culture. Fans of the New York Jets refer to themselves and their team as Gang Green, and rapper Wiz Khalifa refers to his posse and followers as the Taylor Gang.
 * More Than Just a Group of Thugs **
 * By Mike Ray **

Despite these positive examples, nowadays the word gang is overwhelmingly used to refer to a group of bad guys, whether they are schoolyard bullies, pirates, thugs, criminals, or most commonly, urban gangs. Today, this negative connotation is often what sets the word apart from other closely related words like group, club, organization, or pack. The Oxford English Dictionary defines //gang// as “A set of things or people,” but doesn’t do so until the seventh entry under the word gang (“Gang, n.”, 2013). If gang is most commonly used to refer to a group of people, then why is it so low on the list? According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word gang originated around the 1300s and comes from the Old English word //gang// which meant, “a going, journey, way, passage,” as well as the Old Norse word //gangr// meaning “a group of men, a set” (“Gang [Def 1]”, 2013). For example, the Old English version of //gang// was used in writing in 1606 in //Hist. Twelve Caesars// by P. Holland in essentially the same sense that the word //gait// is used today. It was written, “Some special one, whose gesture habitt and gang [L. //incessum//] hee might..imitate” (“Gang, n.”, 2013). This version of the word //gang// was so common that it was used as recently as 1894 in //Poems// by R. Reid when he wrote, “I kent it was nane but the laddie I socht, in pairt by his lassie-like gang” (“Gang, n.”, 2013).  However, by the  1600s the word began to refer to a group and was specifically used in nautical speech. A specific example of this can be found in 1694 in //Narbrough’s Acct. Several Late Voy//, “The main Mast must be unrig’d, and a new gang of shrouds fitted” (“Gang, n.”, 2013). By the 1630s, the word started to be used to refer to any group of people traveling together and included the negative undertone that it has today (“Gang [Def 1]”, 2013). This is shown in 1632 in //Birch’s Court & Times Charles I// by R. F. Williams who wrote, “Nutt the pirate with all his gang of varlets” (“Gang, n.”, 2013). This shows that almost immediately after //gang// came to refer to a group it took on the negative connotation that is so common today. This may have been out of necessity as the words squad, crew, team, clique, crowd or bunch all refer to group of people anyway and there was not another word that meant a group of bad people. Or maybe it was due to the word’s nautical roots and could have been used to refer to a group of pirates or thieves on the high seas. Regardless of the reason, today, gang is most frequently associated with criminals or urban gangs.

Although urban gangs certainly provide a negative connotation, there are still many positive features which makes them particularly attractive to the study of groups. Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans are members of urban gangs around the country which usually operate as a business selling drugs or guns in the territory that they have claimed as their own. Being a gang member can be particularly dangerous due to widespread violence between gangs over feuds, territory, or drug deal gone wrong. Despite such a dangerous and violent context, gang members are generally known to be extremely loyal to their fellow members, even to the point of death. Gangs treat each other like families and are incredibly tight knit. Gang violence often escalates very quickly because gangs refuse to back down from a challenge because it would dishonor the gang. There are very few other groups in the world that one could study which would have such a dynamic of incredible loyalty to one another. Whether gang is used to refer to positive groups negative groups like urban gangs, this cohesiveness and entitativity is certainly prevalent.

References Gang [Def 1]. (2013) In Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from [] Gang [Def 2]. (2013) In //Merriam-Webster.com //. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from []

Gang, n. (2013) In OED Online Retrieved September 3, 2013, from <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tersigni, D. (2003). Animal Group Names. //The Almighty Guru//. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[]