Biker Gangs

While browsing the Internet for intelligent things to say on this blog, I came across the following article examining Biker Gangs. Although this article is almost a year old and this blog is not intended to focus on one particular type of gang, I believe that it is still relevant to our discussion here. Of particular interest is the list of what police call typical characteristics of biker gangs:

(1) Biker gangs show off their colours in public
(2) Biker gangs use force and violence to survive and grow. Intimidation, arms and explosives are their weapons of choice.
(3)The organizations have a hierarchical structure. Committing crimes is left to new recruits while those higher up reap the rewards.
(4)The hierarchical structure allows the leaders to operate with impunity while flaunting their image of power to attract recruits and draw them into crime.
(5)It is difficult for law-enforcement agencies to infiltrate these organizations because becoming a member involves committing crimes. North American clubs also tend to require their members to own American-made bikes, often Harley-Davidsons.

When comparing this list to the "Stalky Model," we can see quite a difference in the way biker gangs operate and the SModel. Here, brawn (#2) beats out cunning (SModel: "individual cunning and pluck - beats brawn and size"). There is no "respect for the larger system" (SModel), as leaders operate with impunity and performing a crime is a new recruit's initiation in the biker gang.

However, there is a great deal of emphasis placed on performance in biker gangs, which is part of the SModel.

Here is the full article from the website of the CBC.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bikergangs/

Let me know what you think.

E.