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Bullying Gangs Among Immigrant Adolescents From the Former Soviet Union in Israel: A Psycho-Culturally Determined Group Defense

NCJ Number
192701
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 247-265
Author(s)
Eugene Tartakovsky; Julia Mirsky
Date Published
March 2001
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article describes and analyzes the phenomenon of bullying gangs, which emerged in groups of adolescents who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union (FSU) without their parents.
Abstract
Bullying gangs identified in the current study were typically an alliance of a number of adolescents who sought to gain control over a large group of their peers through establishing and maintaining a group hierarchy. They terrorized group members of the same gender in various ways, such as physical and moral humiliation, physical violence, extortion of money and personal property, demands for personal services, etc. Gang members usually related to group members of the opposite gender as their property. In addition to terrorizing their peers, all gang members consumed alcohol, and most were suspected and some were caught in drug consumption. Many had difficulties at school. In all cases, the gangs were formed within a short time, typically within the first 2 to 3 weeks upon the youths' arrival. This study suggests that the formation and behavior of gangs of FSU youth be viewed as a defense mechanism used by the youth in an attempt to gain control in an unfamiliar environment and in the absence of a reliable parental figure. Immigration and adolescence, the alienating attitudes of the absorbing environment, and culturally determined models of behavior are discussed as factors that contribute to the formation of such gangs. 3 notes and 35 references