GANGS IN MILITARY

GANG WAY: MILITARY-TRAINED GANGSTER DISCIPLES IN CHICAGO

By

Irving L. Miller

Jeffrey Rush, D.P.A., Faculty Mentor and Chair

Deborah Gangluff Ph.D., Committee Member

Antonio Johnson, DBA., Committee Member

Charles Tiffan, Ph.D., Dean, School of Public Safety

Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Capella University

1 January 2011



( Irving L. Miller 2011

ABSTRACT

Gangs have had an influence upon the city of Chicago for more than sixty years. Today, a derivative of the Disciples - one of the original violent street gangs of the 1960s - the Black Gangster Disciples threaten to take that influence to another level. A new phenomenon is taking place. Gangs are joining the military to receive training and bring that training back to their members. This is a small qualitative study to determine if the Black Gangster Disciples are joining the Illinois Army National Guard and then returning to Chicago after their initial training to train other members of their gang, if they are using that training to further the gang's agenda in the city of Chicago, and what the effect will be, if any, on the safety and security of the city of Chicago. The qualitative methodology of conducting loosely structured interviews of Chicago police officers, Illinois Army National Guard recruiters and Illinois national guardsmen assigned to Chicago area units are used to discover reoccurring themes and grounded theory of why this phenomenon is now taking place.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the support provided by the members of Chicago Police Department's Terrorism Awareness and Response Academy from October 2005 to April 2010.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTiii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSiv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Purpose of the Study2

Background of the Study4

Statement of the Problem7

Rationale9

Research Questions11

Significance of the Study11

Definition of Terms12

What is a gang?12

Expected Outcomes14

Conceptual framework14

Organization of the Remainder of the Study14

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW16

BGDs18

Indigenous Gangs18

Transnational Gangs19

Conclusions22

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY24

Phenomenology26

Phenomenological Design28

Imaginative Variation30

Sampling Design31

Measures31

Data Collection Procedure32

Limitations32

Internal Validity33

Expected Findings33

Ethical Considerations33

Informed Consent35

Confidentiality35

Rationale for a Qualitative Study36

Sample36

Data Collection and Processing Procedures37

Data Analysis Procedures40

Reliability/Dependability42

Validity43

Reliability (If using Questionnaire)44

Interviewing45

Data Analysis49

Qualitative Data Analysis49

Quantitative Data Analysis50

Data Security: Participant Anonymity and Document Retention50

Summary51

REFERENCES53

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This is a qualitative phenomenological study about gangs in the military; specifically, the Black Gangster Disciples (BGDs), a Chicago street gang whose members join the Illinois Army National Guard (ILARNG), receive training, and return home to Chicago with the express intent to use their military training to further the gang's agenda on the streets of Chicago. Gangs have been romanticized in the movies; for instance, in the case of the movie West Side Story. This movie has been used for years as a basic descriptor for gang members, gang organizations, situational crimes attributed to gangs, and the psychological makeup of gang members (Siegel & Welsh, 2008). Defining a gang has resulted in a range of descriptors. According to Siegel & Welsh (2008), gangs are traditionally composed of males under the age of 30 who have territories and “colors” identifying which gang they belong to and are loosely organized, while Huff (1989) segregates gangs into categories, each with its own descriptors. The BGDs are evolving from a traditional street gang to more of a criminal business ...