In gangs they retaliate for things most people wouldn’t retaliate for. For example your car malfunctions and ends up hurting someone not knowing it was a gang member, some gangs have rules it doesn’t matter your action was a complete accident, retaliation is needed, why do a lot of gangs believe that?
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For a lot of them it’s a misguided way of finding agency when they’ve grown up in areas where it doesn’t occur naturally.
The same reason prison exists. The fear of punishment helps with respecting the rules.
Also i guess it’d be easy to lie about a murder on a rival gang was an accident.
I feel youre looking for some sort of very specific moral problem which cant be answered. Also i dont think the average gang cares as much about who’s fault it is and more about how things can hurt their status. Also, revenge needs to be taken.
That idea seems related to the concept of moral luck, you can look into that for more info.
Think about it this way: something bad happens to you that someone did. The other person says it was an accident, it wasn’t their fault, or that it was _your fault_. You can try and say it wasn’t your fault or that they’re to blame, but no one believes you. Now a terrible thing has happened and instead of getting support, everyone says “that’s what you get”.
But one day someone comes along and says “that’s fucked up, you didn’t do anything wrong. Same thing happened to me so I know what you’re going through.” Then the same thing happens again. Something bad happens to you, someone else did it, they say it’s not their fault. But now your friend comes over and says yes, it is their fault. They’re on your side, and since it’s their fault the other person needs to do something to make it right. Since it’s two people against one, the other person says sorry, helps you for the damage they’ve done, and they go on their way. And if they don’t, your friend will back you up and protect you if they try to make you do something for them.
Then a third accident happens. This time it’s _your_ fault. You messed up and someone got hurt. They say it’s your fault. But now your friend shows up and says no, you didn’t do anything wrong, the other person did. Now it’s two-against one, and the other person who had hurt needs to do something to fix this. And if they don’t, your friend will back you up and protect you if they try to make you do something for them. something wrong than you did.
Take that logic and it applies not just to gangs, but really any organization that can leverage it’s numbers to change perception of what it’s members have done. An athlete does something bad but his team has his back and says he didn’t do it. A cap does something bad but the police said he didn’t. A politician does something bad but his party says he didn’t. Etc etc.
What you see happen with gangs is just how having a large group works when they act as a community. When something bad happens to a member of that community, they will leverage the influence of their organization to demand compensation for any damage done, and that’s putting it nicely. And this is just what happens in an accident: sometimes there are folks who maliciously do bad things and still get away with it precisely because they belong to a gang or organization who will back then up. And how do you deal with people like that?
By having a gang of your own to back you up.
Gangs are about status and belonging. You belong – hence are the object of maintaining status.
Because people who think that way are far more likely to be part of a criminal gang that people who don’t. If you aren’t comfortable engaging in violent and illegal activity, you’re not going to be part of a criminal gang.
The psychology of a gang member is that of a bully. Bullies lack empathy, which means that can’t feel good by making others feel good, and they desire dominance, which means that no insult or injury can be left unpunished.
How peope end up this way, and how they can be cured, is a fascinating subject. This psychology lecture (quite long, but so interesting I put it on my channel) details the causes and solutions, including the case of a violent gang leader whom the lecturer was able to help: https://youtu.be/ZhcT7jf5Av4
This is an emotional response and it’s not exclusive to gang members. People’s first reaction when feeling wronged is often to look for someone to blame and punish, even if the situation doesn’t warrant it.
It’s not well logically thought out, and is usually based in some level of entitlement. (and a lack of intelligence)
Consider how sometimes when people get angry at someone else they break their stuff. Despite the myth that it’s just them losing control, it is almost always very deliberately done because the person feels entitled to punish the person they feel has upset them.
In a sense it stems from a warped sense of justice. They seek to get justice by evening things out, but they don’t care to factor in motivation or context. They only care that the final outcome is that they hurt. It doesn’t matter why they’re hurt or who hurt them or how, only that they hurt.
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