pg 2
(The Study of Threes)
http://threesology.org
Note: The title "Criminal Twos" was conceived of after I had run a spell check of page 1 in the evening prior to going to bed. As I lay in bed, my mind ventured to and fro into the realm of recalling the common expression "Terrible Twos" which refers to the state of affairs some parents experience with respect to a child who reaches two years of age. For some, it is a tumultuous time for which the only consolation is that the period is one the child will grow out of and a parent's exhausted patience can projectively look towards Heaven and exclaim "Thank God!".
While many parents endure a "terrible twos era" of a child's life, other parents say their child didn't experience a similar eventful period until a later age, be it three, four... or a child's teenage years. While the maturational "growing pains" of teenagers can be a considerably trying time for parents and child as well, the reasons for such have not been looked at from a threesological perspective. On a fundamental level, such a perspective acknowledges, organizes and designs a specific observational perch, just as does any artistic, religious or scientific interest, mix and match as you will. However, by avoiding the ensuing characteristics of biased fanaticism which breeds a tunnel-visioned blindness, there are some benefits to harboring an open-minded "giving the benefit of a doubt... non-punishing listener" approach.
As a Threesological researcher, I attempt to not only identify simplistic correlational models with respect to innumerated comparisons, such that in one instance any pattern-of-three example can be lumped with all other patterns-of-three, but also identify qualitative differences as I did on the previous page with respect to patterns-of-two. With this said, while lots and lots and lots of teenagers express a pattern-of-two orientation, it must be acknowledged that most teenage minds are in a transitional phase of development from which they will emerge into a predominant three-patterned orientation as called for by cultural requirements, even though most will be unaware they have transistioned into a three-patterned frame of thinking. In many cases, some acquire a greater usage of a culture's dominant underlying orientation, whether or not they are aware of it.
But some teenagers do not transition out of a patterns-of-two focus and develop a form of two-patterned thinking that quite commonly leads them along a path of confrontation— into criminality. I am not talking about age-related status offenses such as a teenager drinking an alcoholic beverage or using tobacco. And I am not talking about teenagers having arguments that turn into fist fights over something the child, as an adult, would view as a trivial concern. For whatever reasons you would like to consider, some have chips on their shoulders under conditions which promote them to intentionally seek out confrontations, while others conceal a "ready, willing, and able" defensive posture in a silent reserve of potential that they express in a school sport or other class activity such as in a debating or chess club, or promoting a friend for a student body office against competitors.
Lots of teenagers join teams, clubs or gangs, for which they may remain a member of far into their adult years, long past when others have moved their lives onto other interests. It is those whose association in such a group which is also engaged in criminality, (white and blue collar crime notwithstanding), that is to be discussed at present. Instead of looking at a specific individual or a specific gang, let's look at a multitude of gangs with respect to the names they employ for self-identification an organize such names according to an inferred numerical relationship.
| 1- Word Names | 2- Word Names | 3- Word Names |
|
Bandidos Bishops Blodgettes Bloods Boozies Bosozoku Crips Enchanters Five Prisoners Goodlows Grandel Judas Kelleys Mafia Magnificents Marielitos Matatones Mexikanemi Natoma Nietas Norteños Outlaws Pagans Pachucos Pueblos Shorties Silenciosos Skinheads Sureños Untouchables Warrior YaKuZa yakuza |
Aryan Brotherhood (ABH) Asian Bloods Asian Boyz (ABZ) sian Crips Asian Mafia Asian Pride (AP) Baby Avenues aka Avenue Cribs Bad Boys Barrio Azteca Border Brothers Brown Union Cambodian Crips Cheap Boys Compton Crips Confederate Hammerskins Crittenden Crew Denver Lanes Dirty Punks (Asian female) Dog Pound Driver Brothers Eastside Crips 18th Street El Esquadron El Rukns F Mob 1512 Crew Five Percenters Florencia 13 Folk Nation (Crips) 14 words G 27 G-27 Gangster Disciples (nation) Gardenia 13 Grupo (Group) 27 Gypsy Jokers Hatian Mafia Hatien Boys Hawaii Boys Hawaii Brothers Harrison Gents Hell's Angels Hobart Stars Hothead Boys Hoover Nation Imperial Gangsters Inglewood Crips Insane Unknowns La Eme La Familia La Mugre La Ñeta (Puerto Rican) La Raza Lady Rascals (Asian female) Langston Crew Latin Gents Latin Kings Latin Ladies (Hispanic female) Latin Queens Lincoln Westmoreland Los Solidos (The Solid Ones) Los Zetas Lue Boys Malditos 13 Mandingo Warriors Mara Salvatrucha Mau Mau Mellon Mob Mexican Mafia Mickey Cobras Midnite Pearls (Hispanic female) MS 13 Neo-Nazis [Ñeta Association (Asociacion Ñeta)] Norteños 14 Northern Structure Orchestra Albany Orleans Crew Pachucos 21 Parkland Crew People Nation (Bloods) Pomona Girls (Asian female) Purple Hearts Rat Hunters Raza Unida Renegade Slauson Riverside Locos Rock Machine Rosedale Crew Savage Nomads Savage Skulls Shorty Folks Shower Posse Sinaloan Cowboys Southside Scissors (Asian Female) Straight Edge (sXe) Sur 13 Sureño 13 Surenos 38 Sureños Trece Texas Mafia Texas Syndicate The Mob 31st Street 3500 Crew Tiny Rascals Toy Soldiers 20 Luv 211 Crew 203 Crew 28th Street Valentine Bloods (VB) Vatos Locos Vice Lords Viet Pride(VP) Wally Girls (Asian Female) Westside Crips Wetback Power Woodland Crew Young Guns Young Lords Zulu Nation |
African American Council Afrikan Liberation Army Afrikan National Ujamaa Alabama Avenue Crew Allison Street Crew Arizona Aryan Brotherhood Arizona's Old Mexican Asian Hillside Crips Asian Northside Crips Asian Westside Crips Athens Park Boys Avalon Garden Crips Ba Hala Na Barrio Pobres Locos Barry Farms Crew Black Gangster Disciples (BGD) (BGD = Street Killing Boys) Black Guerrilla Family Black P Stones Black Panther Party Bloods (United Blood Nation) Born to Kill Brothers of Struggle Brown Mexican Pride Brown Pride 13 Brown Side Locos Bull Dogs (F-14) Cash Money Boys Clifton Terrace University Condon Terrace Crew Congress Park Crew Conservative Vice Lords (CVL) Diamond Street Gang Dirty White Boys Dominicans Don't Play E Street Crew East Side Latinos (ESL) Elm City Boys Fairfax Village Crew Fern Street Crew 1st generation Goths 501 Capers Crew 58th Street Mob Five Percenters (5%) 14th & Clifton Four Corner Hustlers Gangster Killer Bloods (GKB) Greene Avenue Stompers H Street Crew Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos Highland Court Crew Hit Squad Brims (HSB) Hmong Nation Society Imperial Vice Lords Insane Gangster Disciples Insane Hmong Pride Insane Clown Posse (ICP) Insane Spanish Cobras Insane Vice Lords (IVL) Kentucky Courts Crew Ku Klux Klan (KKK) La Cosa Nostra (LCN) La Familia Nation La Gran Familia La Mara Park La Mara R La Nuestra Familia Levis Street Crew Lincoln Heights Crew L.A. 213 18's Lueders Park Hustlers Mad Stone Villains (MSV) Maniac Latin Disciples Mara Salvatrucha 13 Masters Of Destruction (Hmong) Mexican Crazy Killers(MCK) Mexican Posse Kings (MPK) Michigan Park Crew Money and Murder (SMM Montana Avenue Crew Moon City Locos (MCL) Naylor Road Crew Nazi Low Riders New Mexico Syndicate Nine Trey Gangsters (NTG) 92 Hoover Crips Old Mexican Clique (OMC) Oriental Ruthless Boys Park Morton Crew Piru Street Boys Pissed Off Bastards Playboy Gangster Crips Potomac Gardens Crew Puro Vato Locos (PVL) Puros Vatos Locos Queen Street Crew Riggs Road Crew Rolling 30s Crips Rolling 60s Crips Santa Ana Boys Simon City Royals Sons of Samoa Stanton Terrace Crew Street Killer Boys Supreme White Power (SWP) 10th Place Crew The L.A. Brims The Mexican Boys The New Moon (1970's) Tiny Little Rascals Tiny Rascal Gangsters (TRG) Todd Place Crew Tongan Crip Gangsters (TCG) TRG (Asian) 12th Street Crew Two Two Boys United Blood Nation (UBN) Varrio Loco Town (VLT) Wellington Park Crew White Aryan Resistance (WAR) |
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Many of the names of gangs were taken from: Gangs OR
Us - Robert Walker - Gang identification expert ---
Gangs OR Us- Robert Walker --- |
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Some readers might argue that, according to the previous list, that patterns-of-two are dominant, which would rightly correspond to a dominant pattern-of-two oriented mentality, but often fail to take into consideration that the list is merely illustrative and is not comprehensive... however accurate such an assumption may be if the names of all gangs everywhere, interpreted culture-by-culture, were catalogued. There are many names of gangs that are specific to a small area, while others cover a larger area... sometimes merely by nothing more than a copycat form of self-labeling. There are many names that are not recorded and lots of names that have vanished from history because the group or gang members have either stopped associating with one another as a gang because of disinterest or maturity, or they have died. Other gang names from past eras that were recorded, are buried in the annuals of law enforcement, social worker, or other types of reports. However, one might want to make the case that military exploits are also gang activities, albeit on a more structured and socially accepted as well as accredited level. Hence, a military group called "The Flying Tigers," "Special Forcers," or "The Delta Group", etc., could likewise be recorded a one, two, or three position relative to the quantity of words used in the groups' name.
Curiously, while working in adult and youth corrections facilities years ago in America, I found the predominant perspective amongst inmates to be a patterns-of-two focus that can be described as dichotomies, yet, curiously, many names of gangs exhibited patterns-of-three generally displayed with three-letter designations, like militant-oriented but socially accepted organizations such as the U S Army, FBI, CIA, American Secret Service, and US Marshals, though many other different types of militancy (business, scientific, political) also engaged in such a three-lettered acronymic usage. While the names of many gangs (at least in America) presently show three letter abbreviations, (like so many government organizations), research into the names of gangs of past decades (to the beginning of the 1900's) revealed there was a predominant gang usage of two and one-patterned names or symbols, which included those groups that referred to themselves as "clubs" instead of as a gang.
As a threesological researcher aware of the existence of a one- two- three maturational development trend being exhibited by the human species, not only cognitively but with multiple physiological examples that can not be explained by claiming they are due to cultural fads; it might be considered that the usage of some three-patterned representations arose as nothing more than a "one-upmanship" response to the presence of two-patterned ideas that portrayed the world in a polarized fashion such as heaven/hell, good/evil, light/dark, etc... To take but one example of comparing the developmental trend from a two to a three- linguistically portrayed pattern, let us look at the names which have been adopted by some street gangs over long passages of time; in this case, American gang names.
When we look at the names of gangs in the early decades of the 20th Century and compare these with the names of gangs from the later decades, we see a distinct increase in the usage of three-patterned names that are frequently abbreviated into three letters, with or without mixing in other elements such as numbers or symbols.
|
2-patterned dominant |
3-patterned dominant |
|
|
The Tigers |
WSG- West Side Gangsters |
|
|
3-patterned recurrence |
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|
ABC --- (American Broadcasting
Corporation) |
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A criminal street gang is an ongoing
organization, association or group of three
(3) or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as
one of its primary activities the commission of one or more
criminal acts and that has a common name or common identifying
sign, symbol or specific color apparel displayed, and whose
members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in
a pattern of criminal activity. http://www.wheaton.lib.il.us/pd/gang.html |
||
Yes, there are examples of three-patterned names of gangs before and during the first decades of the 20th Century. But by using a 1- 2- 3 model of organization, we can clearly see there is a distinctive change in the basic structure of the names. There are more one and two-patterned names in the early part of the 20th century, and more three-patterned names in the later part of the same century. This 1- 2- 3 formula becomes even more telling when we look at gangs with a dominant Asian membership. We find a common usage of such two- patterned names as White Eagles, Black Eagles, Red Dragon, etc., and yet the epitome of Asian gangs is the Triad. It is as if the Triad is that which one must strive to be a part of if not by direct membership, then by emulation. Yes there are Asian gangs with three-patterned names. Just as there are other gangs with a predominant minority membership which have three-patterned names. The point to make is that there is a distinctively large absence of gang names with patterns-of-four, five, six, seven, eight, etc... Here we have another reference to the previously mentioned idea about an underlying 1- 2- 3 maturational template that is represented in vocal behavior which no doubt influences how we think.
In the above table, I included examples of 3-lettered Abbreviations to present the consideration that some people might want to think that the young are merely copying (emulating) the behavior of adults in society by adopting three-patterned marks of identification such as when a government agent flashes an identification badge with FBI, ATF, or CIA on it. The showing of the three-patterned identification card/badge is like a gang member flashing a three-patterned gang sign. No less, the handshakes of many young are three-patterned while we see two-patterned "slaps" of palms primarily exhibited by blacks or those involved with blacks. The one-patterned handshake is still widely used by many in a common greeting. However, in parts of Europe, there is the greeting of first kissing one cheek, then the other, then the first one again. Yet, a two-patterned abbreviation of this may be displayed by those having experienced some degree of conflict. Thus, the 1- 2- 3 handshake examples are another reference to the idea of a 1- 2- 3 cognitive template, suggesting a biological counterpart that may have had an initial geophysical influence during life's pristine development.
Chinese people in 1900, considered themselves too polite to exchange a greeting in so barbarous a way as to shake hands in the 1-handed Western style, and preferred to make a motion with their two fists in front of themselves. This gesture became the symbol of solidarity of the Chinese Nationalists. Sports- minded Westerners of that era interpreted the gesture similar to that seen by boxers in a boxing ring, and promptly labeled the nationalists "Boxers" and their rebellion against imperialists as the Boxer Rebellion. The point I'm trying to make in using this example is to provide another indication of a "two-patterned" orientation.
At this point in the discussion let me interject the view of some readers who may hold the notion that we of the present are merely exhibiting instances of the past cloaked in the dress, mannerisms, and language of our time that have manifested into larger social conflicts due nothing more than to the increase in population. For example, whereas in one era abortion was widely participated in with a few dissenters keeping quite for fear of one or more forms of social censorship, the once socially silenced anger turns into modern protest because the presence of like-minded others, as well as free speech laws, contributes to the confidence felt and expressed in the adage "strength in numbers". There are of course other examples such as voting rights for women, child labour, employee rights, etc...
But such foregoing examples foremostly correspond to the industrial age, though the issues themselves may have been of concern by some in the very distant past as one might venture to consider a "cave" woman exhorting her political opinion on the clans male elders. If such expressions were "out of the usual order" of things as traditionally practiced, she might very well have had a verbal condemnation, if not a rock, thrown at her. Nonetheless, there are those readers who actively and frequently attempt to correlate present human behavior as modernized expressions of earlier human behavior. Sometimes in past decades, several centuries ago, or personalized assumptions consistent with what they believe to be was a behavior characteristic of early hominids, sometimes colloquially referred to as "cave man".
Typically, perhaps as a testament to an ongoing undisclosed mental trend, many try to interpret present events with early historical periods such as those thought to have occurred in the middle ages, as a means of enhancing their own understanding by way of interpreting modern behavior as nothing more than recreated past occurrences. Hence, from this perspective, the names of gangs are sometimes viewed as being used as modernized versions of passwords of notoriety, shields, weapons, and various other social tools of "secret" (or secrets hoarding) past organizations, similarly advocated and toted about by mainstream recognized institutions and organizations.
Yet in all the many digressive considerations one might want to discuss as an attributive thought, we come back around to the main discourse by slapping ourselves upside the head, after a swift kick in the pants, forcing us back into some semblance of the present reality, by asking "Why?". Why do some teenagers stuck in a two-patterned mindset when they are subjected to a plethora of threes in our public classrooms?
For those readers who have long forgotten (or never came to realize) the many different kinds of three-patterned information students are subjected to, let me provide a condensed narrative of an American classroom scene. Please be aware that most of the teachers I have known and worked with do not have a working knowledge about different numerically identifiable cognitive variations and did not make any attempt to emphasize a pattern-of-three acknowledgement amongst their students. The following examples are expressed in a format to provide a stark realization of a three-patterned formulaic existence (to be contrasted with a two-patterned world view) and are frequently used in various subtle patterns within a working classroom.
In addition, the school's administration may use a one- two- three bell ringing method as a signaling device. It should also be mentioned that a teacher that uses a two-patterned pass/fail grading system creates unspoken conflict amongst three-patterned thinking students. Such a mentality would perhaps be best placed into a classroom selectively chosen for two-patterned thinking students. |
Most of the kids will (unconsciously) use these and other three-patterned rules-of-thumb as mnemonic devices to turn in relatively acceptable papers. But Lo and Behold, as most teachers will no doubt attest to...there is a boy or girl who just doesn't seem to get it. For theirs is a world made mostly of patterns-of-two:
|
My gang |
Your gang |
Of those inmates I encountered while working for a time in youth and adult male corrections facilities, there was a distinct world-view based on polarities such as My gang/Your gang, Rich/Poor, Right/Wrong, Yes/No, Smart/Dumb, Pretty/Ugly, Weak/Strong, With us/Against us, Good/Bad, Heaven/Hell, Stop/Start, Satan/God, Up/Down, In/Out, Yin/Yang, Positive/Negative, On/Off, Peace/War, Hot/Cold, etc... It is the same mentality used by business, government and religious administrations when it is focused on persuading the public to accept, defend, and support "assertive" (aggressive, assaultive, "attentive") activities that may speciously be referred to as the old parental philosophy of "my way or the highway". There is no middle ground of consideration when this primivity of thought becomes manifest. In contrast, when administrations or individuals are not focused on such activities, a more diplomatic "middle ground" (three pattern alternative) approach comes to the foreground. However, I have seen the usage of a three-pattern being adopted from the singularity of a dichotomy in an attempt to give the impression of being diplomatic when in fact a singular, one-sided approach is being executed.
[As an aside comment while it is in mind: I once worked next to a woman with whom I had previously discussed patterns-of-three with. She had said that she made an attempt to discuss the "threes" realization with her husband but that he didn't understand and was professedly adamant about the recurrence of patterns-of-two. I then told another female co-worker that the husband of this woman had the same mind-set of those I had encountered while working for a time in a prison setting. The second woman I spoke with thought I was prophetic (about the woman's husband having a criminal mind-set) when it was discovered (a short time later) the husband of the other co-worker ended up in prison for molesting young boys in a Boy scout troop he was in charge of. Even I was amazed that my interpretation would be followed by an active portrayal of criminality.]
For a more comprehensive understanding of gangs with respect to human mentality, a list of gangs from all countries since the beginning of hominid development would need to be undertaken. This includes the names of worker gangs such as those that competed with one another during social projects such as the building of the pyramids in ancient Egypt, in which the names of gangs were etched out in stone, no doubt a precursor to the presently used method of identifying, promoting and departmentalizing the egos of groups or individuals working on specific production line products. The usage of batch numbers as a means of identifying potential errors and problems experienced by consumers, removes personal identities from individual workers, in the same manner as military indoctrination methods which uses varying physical, mental and emotional exercises to break down an individual's self identity in order to identify with a group that follows orders without question. It is an old training method developed in ancient times that permitted soldiers to be sent into certain death entanglements, though the leadership themselves were typically saved from the effects of their stupid war game orders.
It must be understood that most gang memberships have an organized mentality of egocentricism. It is a sustained infantile mentality that they have difficulty in growing out of. From their perspective, the world revolves around them. And when the world appears to be focused elsewhere, they may very well engage in one or more activities that provide themselves with a reputation. Quite often it is an illegal activity, since most singular good deeds are felt to be short lived means of acquiring the desired notability commensurate with their lofted sense of self-importance. They all imagine themselves to be a "force to be reckon with" if your inclination towards them is hostile.
Like kingdoms of old that saw themselves as the world center, since so very few inhabitants of a kingdom had experiences outside the small conclave in which they lived, map makers were paid to place the King's claimed domain in the center of the map, typically with exaggerated boundaries, and those boundaries beyond as forbidden territories, belonging to something described as undesirable, be it evil or hostile. Along these same limited worldview lines, it is not too infrequent that a localized sporting event (such as martial arts contests or boxing bouts) will claim that the overall winner is a "world" champion, because to the participants, the "world" is an expressed exercise of their limited vision and experiences within the relatively small area they exist in. For gang members this is directly proportional to the limited range of tactics (such as bullying and various forms of intimidation) that they use to try to enforce their perspective on others as the right and only one. Some of them will argue that they do indeed have lots of experiences, having lived in several different places, yet they fail to recognize that those they associate with in each place, is but another rendition of the same conditions they were experiencing in one or more other places. Like a prisoner going from one jail or prison to another: it is easy to point out individualized differences in the institutions, but they are wholly ignorant of the fact that they are still talking about the "world" which exists in the institutions.
Another example of a limited world view is the event of a gang member going from one city to another in an attempt by parents or relatives to try to get the individual away from "bad influences", only to find that no matter where the individual goes, they tend to get into trouble, and conservatively expressed as "like flies attracted to a dung heap". The only way to change the recurring mindset of the individual is to strip them totally naked from everyone and everything that promotes their criminally oriented mentality, whether or not they are associated with a gang. An oppositional frame of two-pattern thinking can be altered to a two-patterned dualistic frame of mind, if provided the corrective conditions. But sending someone to a relative who keeps in touch with a parent whose way of interacting with the individual perpetuates their mindset, does not accomplish this task.
Sending them to relatives who are a constant reminder of a previous place and conditions does not provide the necessary forced incentives to change when they will invariably watch the same television programs, listen to the same music, and look for familiar cultural signs as they did in the previous place, from the perspective of the same two-patterned oppositional mentality. They need prolonged and sustained distractions from all of it... a new way of life based on a philosophy that directs the whole of their energies towards completion of a life altering task that is meaningful and logically defensible. This of course is for the most stubborn-to-change individuals, whereas many more need less strict and long term self-changing instruction. Society at large does not typically provide such program agendas and those who would be effective at organizing and running such a program are not sought out with the appropriate level of funding to accomplish this end. Instead, more and more tax dollars are allocated for a ludicrously bulging criminal justice system.
Parents are, most often, left to their own devices in dealing with a criminally- involved problem child, which is a variation of a too much, not enough, or tough love stance. Some efforts work, others do not do so well for particular individuals under particular contexts. Some parents give up. They have not the energy, time, nor resources to effect any sustained level of direct intervention. Such a loss of a child is a loss not only to the child themselves, but to their family, and all of humanity as well. The extremely few and far between programs which work, use various options of letting a child's own obstinacy to change be that which changes them. Native Americans used to break wild stallions by putting them in a pit with water and mud so that the impulses were eventually tamed by the expenditure of impulsive energy seeking not to be constrained. Metaphorically speaking, you need to find the appropriate water and mud pit (Chinese finger puzzle) for your wild, intractable stallion. Don't let an unwanted pregnancy or birth of a child be an individual's motivation for "settling down", when they do not have the maturity, marketable job skills, nor education needed for bringing up a child that may have to be brought up by the wild stallion's parents, grand parents, a relative, or some stranger.
Your Questions, Comments or Additional information are welcomed:
Herb O. Buckland
herbobuckland@hotmail.com