gängtyp

Gängtyp, translating roughly to "gang type," is a concept used in Swedish criminology to classify gangs by their structure, aims, and criminal activities. It provides a framework for comparing groups across time and regions, and for informing policy and preventive work.

Scholars typically distinguish several broad gängtyper. Economic-crime gangs are organized for profit, often with formal hierarchies, and engage in drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, extortion, and money laundering. Territorial street gangs organize around a local neighborhood or district, emphasize turf control, rivalries, and symbolic colors or insignia, and recruit locally, including youths. Ethnic-based gangs are linked to a common ethnic or immigrant background, sometimes functioning as protective networks within migrant communities, while also participating in crime beyond their borders. Hybrid or transitional gangs combine features from different types and can adapt quickly to changing criminal markets, such as evolving drug networks or protection schemes. Network or cyber-focused gangs operate across regions or online, relying on loose affiliations, digital forums, and cybercrime or fraud, with less emphasis on traditional street territory.

Classification relies on indicators such as membership structure, leadership patterns, territory, crime portfolios, recruitment methods, symbolism, and visible public presence. The boundaries between gängtyper are porous; groups may shift type over time or simultaneously exhibit multiple characteristics. Research cautions that typologies are simplifications of complex social phenomena and should be used as analytic tools rather than rigid labels.

See also: gangs; organized crime; criminology; youth crime.