| Abstract: | Third generation street gangs are a crime and security problem in many global cities, internationally linked ethnic Diasporas, and cross-border regions where insecurity and criminal non-state actors reign. Widely known as third generation gangs (3 GEN Gangs), complex gangs operate with broad reach—often across borders—and can develop mercenary and at times political and potentially terrorist objectives. The typology of the three generations of gang evolution (based on the interaction of politicization, internationalization, and sophistication) is recounted, recent trends in transnational street and prison gangs are explored and future potentials are suggested. |
