Street gangs in Luanda: from amusement to delinquency

Abstract

In the second half of the 1990s, the juvenile groups in Luanda began to transform themselves into street gangs, carrying out marginal activities in predetermined geographical areas. This article examines the causes of juvenile delinquency in the Angolan capital, while also presenting the street gangs’ characteristics and their way of operating. The gang members are conscious of the marginal activity in which they are engaged and the way in which this activity is socially rejected. Using the theory of labelling, the author concludes that once young people have been labelled as delinquents they are socially stigmatised and socially led to assume this label, relapsing into the deviant practice and remaining in the group.