Before we define gangs, it helps to begin with understanding what organised crime is. This order matters because students often hear the word “gang” first because it appears so often in news stories, police briefings, films, music, and social media. But not all organised crime is gang-related, and not all gangs operate like organised crime groups. It would be incorrect, however, to state that the two are not connected because they often are.  Starting with organised crime, though, does help us see the broader picture: group-based crime, profit, opportunity, power, and the social conditions that make some illegal markets possible (Beare, 2015; Chatterjee, 2006; Klein et al., 2006).

What is Organised Crime?

Organised crime generally refers to serious criminal activity carried out by groups, networks, or associations for material benefit. Typically, people may picture mafia families, outlaw motorcycle clubs, cartels, or street-based drug networks. Those examples can be useful, but they are only part of the story. Organised crime can also involve fraud, money laundering, firearms trafficking, extortion, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, labour exploitation, cybercrime, and the use of legitimate businesses to hide or support illegal activity (Beare, 2015; Chatterjee, 2006).

In Canadian law, the term used is “criminal organization.” Section 467.1(1) of the Criminal Code defines a criminal organisation as a group, however organised, that is composed of three or more persons in or outside Canada and one of its main purposes or activities, the facilitation or commission of one or more serious offences that would likely result in a material benefit, which includes financial benefit. The definition also excludes groups that form randomly for the immediate commission of a single offence (Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, s. 467.1(1); Chatterjee, 2006).

This legal definition is important because it affects how cases are investigated and how individuals are charged and sentenced. With that in mind, it is important to understand that a legal definition does not tell the whole social story because both the law and community issues are social constructs. More specifically, the legal definitions alone do not explain why particular communities may be more heavily policed, why some young people become connected to criminal networks, why some harms receive more public attention than others, or how racism, colonialism, poverty, gender, and immigration policy can shape both crime and criminalisation. In other words, it does not explain how organised crime is both a legal category and a social problem (Chatterjee, 2006; Ezeonu, 2014; Wiley et al., 2017).

What is a Gang?

The word “gang ” is more difficult to define than it may first appear. It can describe friendship groups, youth groups, street groups, criminal networks, prison groups, or media-labelled groups. Because the word carries fear and stigma, we need to use it carefully. A broad definition can pull too many young people into the category of “gang member,” while a narrow definition can miss real patterns of violence, coercion, and exploitation (Esbensen et al., 2001; Ezeonu, 2014; Magnus et al., 2019).

Early gang research was largely influenced by the Chicago School (see 8 Sociological Theories of Crime) and Frederic Thrasher’s work, which connected gangs to “interstitial” urban spaces and to young people whose needs for belonging, recreation, identity, and social support were not being met by families, schools, or communities (Thrasher, 1933). This does not mean that gangs are harmless. Rather, it serves as a reminder that gangs are not created in a vacuum. They emerge in social contexts where young people may be searching for safety, respect, income, excitement, protection, or a sense of belonging and being seen.

Definitions of gangs have shifted over time. Spergel (1990) noted that youth gang definitions during the 1950s and 1960s were often shaped by social reform and welfare-oriented thinking. By the 1970s and 1980s, public discourse became more punitive, especially as gang discussions became linked to drugs, violence, and the War on Drugs. This history matters because definitions are not neutral; they are shaped by the politics, fears, media stories, and enforcement priorities of their time (Spergel, 1990; Butters et al., 2011). See Chapter 3 for a discussion on moral panics and the media representations of crime and other social problems.

A commonly used research definition comes from the Eurogang tradition, which defines a street gang as “any durable, street-oriented youth group whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activity” (Klein et al., 2006, pp. 418-419). This definition is useful because it does not require a formal hierarchy, a single ethnicity, a fixed territory, or a permanent membership list. It also recognises that gang identity belongs to the group, not simply to the way outsiders label individual young people (Klein et al., 2006; O’Brien et al., 2013).

Organised Crime and Gangs: The Connection

Gangs and organised crime can overlap when a gang or gang-connected network becomes involved in serious offences for material benefit. For example, a street-based group may become connected to drug trafficking, firearms, extortion, or money laundering. A youth street gang may also have relationships with older, more established criminal actors. At the same time, organised crime can exist without looking like a street gang. Fraud networks, money laundering operations, human trafficking networks, and corporate-facing criminal schemes may be highly organised but not fit popular images of “gangs” (Beare, 2015; Chatterjee, 2006).

British Columbia is a helpful example because many groups do not fit older stereotypes of gangs as fixed, neighbourhood-based, ethnically uniform groups (Tyakoff, 2003). Growing up in the 90’s and 2000’s in the Lower Mainland, I – Dr. Mangat – can share anecdotally that most gangs were ethnically organised. I vividly recall there was the Punjabi Mafia and Bindy Johal era, which were predominantly South Asian (see B.C. gangster Bindy Johal shot on crowded nightclub dancefloor), and then there were the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle groups, which were predominantly White (see RCMP discuss the Hells Angels and Big Circle Boys), or the Triads, which were Asian.

Research and policing experience suggest that Lower Mainland gang networks are often fluid. People may shift alliances, cooperate across group names, or work with others when there is money to be made. Prowse (2013) described this as loyalty to money rather than loyalty to one stable organisation.  Pyrooz et al. (2020) similarly note that gang membership and affiliation can change over time. Social network analysis is useful here because it encourages us to look at relationships, exchanges, conflicts, and opportunities rather than assuming that gang boundaries are obvious or permanent (Bouchard & Konarski, 2014; Ouellet et al., 2018).

One way to think about the connection is to imagine a set of overlapping circles.  One circle is organised crime: serious group-based offending for benefit. Another circle is gangs: groups with identity, relationships, and some involvement in illegal activity. The overlap includes gang-connected organised crime, such as drug distribution networks or violent conflicts over markets. Note that the circles are not identical. Understanding this can help us avoid exaggeration, stereotyping, and oversimplification (Beare, 2015; Klein et al., 2006; O’Brien et al., 2013) while still recognising that there could be overlap. See Figure 16.1 below for a graphical representation of the connection between gangs and organised crime, which is informed by scholarship on gang definitions, organised crime definitions and the blurred boundaries between street gangs, organised crime groups and criminal networks and how they operate (Klein et al., 2006; O’Brien et al., 2103; Bouchard & Konarski, 2014; Pyrooz et al., 2020).

This distinction between organised crime and gangs is especially important in Canada because racialised, immigrant, and Indigenous communities have often been discussed through the language of gangs. Some people in these communities have been involved in organised crime, but entire communities should never be treated as criminals. A critical criminological approach asks us to hold two truths together: organised crime can cause serious harm, and the way we define and respond to it can also reproduce harm when it relies on racism, colonial assumptions, fear, or overly broad labels (Chalas & Grekul, 2017; Ezeonu, 2014; Wiley et al., 2017).