Whereas mainstream criminological literature and the approaches that flow from it tend to treat crime as an occasional "social breakdown," this essay contends that the high levels of violent crime in America's inner cities point, instead, to a broader process of "regime breakdown." This is because the most pressing need of urban residents, as for all citizens, is security for their lives and property. The failure of the criminal justice system to provide such security in urban areas has damaged governmental legitimacy and created opportunities for "alternative" regimes that more effectively provide both rewards (including security) and punishment. The authors maintain that the alternative regime that is increasingly performing these functions in America's inner cities is the well-armed and organized urban street gang. The growing power of street gangs as alternative regimes derives in large part from the rational, if often reluctant, support they receive from the residents of inner- city neighborhoods. Whereas youth join street gangs to acquire the opportunity and status thought to be denied them in mainstream society, other inner-city residents often choose to cooperate with the gangs, rather than with the police, because they realistically perceive that gangs are an ever-present threat to their survival. It is thus the failure of government to protect inner-city residents that drives even the most law- abiding among them into a position of rational accommodation with gang power. The end result of this process is a vicious cycle; a cycle in which police ability to enforce the law continues to decline, the power of the gangs continues to grow, and the law- abiding citizens of America's urban areas grow increasingly disillusioned. 21 notes