Rage in the city of angels: The historical development of the skinhead subculture in Los Angeles

This study examines the historical development of the racist skinhead subculture in Los Angeles. The skinhead subculture is a highly diverse network of gangs that has experienced significant changes over the last twenty-five years. I use an in-depth case study approach that relies upon extensive observation of and interviews with current and former skinheads to explain how and why L.A. skinhead gangs have changed over time. I argue that the Los Angeles skinhead subculture has moved through three phases of organizational emphasis which I characterize respectively as social, political, and economic oriented gangs. My aim is to analyze how skinheads have absorbed differing and almost contradictory elements since emerging in Los Angeles. In doing so, I show the plasticity and flexibility of skinhead gangs as they adapt and respond to wider social changes and thus challenge previous scholarship that view gang subcultures as relatively static, unchanging phenomena

Amerikan dreams: Dialogues with white supremacists

The following is an ethnographic study of white supremacy. Using a cultural studies approach, I focus on ideology and how members of the openly white supremacist Army of Israel (AOI) practically accomplish aspects of their ideology on a daily basis. Further, I juxtapose the articulations of white supremacy by members of the extreme right with more mainstream culture, situating the AOI\u27s virulent form of white supremacy within a pattern of thinking and behavior that exists on a continuum embedded within the larger culture, including our political and economic institutions, everyday practices and unconscious (Ansley 1997; Feagin and Vera 1995; Kovel 1970; Fanon 1967)

Disillusionment and Change: A Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Gang Exit

Exit from street gangs has received increased attention in recent years; however, a number of important questions regarding the process of leaving remain unanswered. Relying on identity theory, we present a cognitive-emotional theory of gang exit that emphasizes functional dimensions of anger in terms of motivating individuals to pursue identity change related to gang membership. Specifically, anger provides gang members with an opportunity to identify the gang as a major source of their problems. According to identity theory, anger is generated when there is an inability to meet an identity standard. This article argues that an inability to meet identity goals produces disillusionment and anger, which reduces the relative importance of the gang identity and facilitates exit from gangs