The organisational structure, social networks and criminal activities of outlaw motorcycle gangs: Literature review

Photo of motorbike gang
Abstract

Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) are often reported to be disproportionately involved in crime. Debate continues about the relationship between the organisational structure of these groups and the extent and types of criminal activities undertaken by group members.

A systematic review of the existing literature was conducted to examine the organisational structures that underpin the criminal activity of OMCGs. The available empirical research, though scant, supports the notion that, at least in some clubs or chapters, the structure of OMCGs facilitates criminal activities by individuals or small cliques, sometimes in collaboration with non-members.

References

URLs correct as at February 2024
*included in systematic review

*Amicis A 2009. Hells Angels Criminal Enterprise. Unpublished manuscript. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, US

*Australian Crime Commission (ACC) 2013. Outlaw motorcycle gangs factsheet. Sydney: ACC

*Ayling J 2009. Criminal organizations and resilience. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 37(4): 182–196

*Barker T 2014. Outlaw motorcycle gangs as organized crime groups. New York: Springer

*Barker T 2011. American based biker gangs: International organized crime. American Journal of Criminal Justice 36: 207–215

*Barker T 2004. Exporting American organized crime: Outlaw motorcycle gangs. Journal of Gang Research 11(2): 37–50

*Barker T & Human KM 2009. Crimes of the big four motorcycle gangs. Journal of Criminal Justice 37: 174–79

*Blokland A, Soudijn M & van der Leest W 2017. Outlaw bikers in the Netherlands: Clubs, social criminal organizations, or gangs? In A Bain & M Lauchs (eds), Understanding the outlaw motorcycle gangs: International perspectives. Durham: Carolina Academic Press: 91–114

*Blokland A, van der Leest W & Soudijn M 2019. Officially registered criminal careers of members of Dutch outlaw motorcycle gangs and their support clubs. Deviant Behavior. Advance online publication.

*Blokland A, van Hout L, van der Leest W & Soudijn M 2019. Not your average biker: Criminal careers of members of Dutch outlaw motorcycle gangs. Trends in Organised Crime 22: 10–33

Borgatti SP, Everett MG & Johnson JC 2018. Analyzing social networks. California: Sage

Bright DA, Hughes CE & Chalmers J 2012. Illuminating dark networks: A social network analysis of an Australian drug trafficking syndicate. Crime, Law and Social Change 57(2): 151–176

*Collier K 2014. Outlaw motorcycle gangs and the growing problem for police. Wichita Falls, TX: Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas. https://shsu-ir.tdl.org/handle/20.500.11875/1942

Decker SH, Bynum T & Weisel D 1998. A tale of two cities: Gangs as organized crime groups. Justice Quarterly 15(3): 395–425

Densley JA 2012. The organisation of London’s street gangs. Global Crime 13(1): 42–64

Dorn N, K Murji & South N 1992. Traffickers: Drug markets and law enforcement. London: Routledge

Finckenauer JO 2005. Problems of definition: What is organized crime? Trends in Organized Crime 8(3): 63–83

*Goldsworthy T & McGillivray L 2017. An examination of outlaw motorcycle gangs and their involvement in the illicit drug market and the effectiveness of anti-association legislative responses. International Journal of Drug Policy 41: 110–17

*Gottschalk P 2016. Maturity levels for outlaw groups: The case of Hells Angels MC. Pakistan Journal of Criminology 8(3): 1–15

*Gottschalk P & Markovic V 2016. Transnational criminal organizations (TCOs): The case of combating criminal biker gangs. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 11(1): 30–44

Hagan FE 2006. “Organized Crime” and “organized crime”: Indeterminate problems of definition. Trends in Organized Crime 9: 127–137

*Harris KJ 2004. The brotherhood of bikers. Australian Police Journal 68(4): 186–189

*Haut F 1999. Organized crime on two wheels: Motorcycle gangs. International Criminal Police Review 28: 474–475

*Hopper CB & Moore J 1990. Women in outlaw motorcycle gangs. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 18: 363–387

Hughes CE, Bright DA & Chalmers J 2017. Social network analysis of Australian poly-drug trafficking networks: How do drug traffickers manage multiple illicit drugs? Social Networks 51: 135–147

*Jahnsen SO 2018. Scandinavian approaches to outlaw motorcycle gangs. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 543. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi543

Kenney M 2007. From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and terrorist networks, government bureaucracies and competitive adaptation. Pennsylvania: Penn State Press

Khangura S, Konnyu K, Cushman R, Grimshaw J & Moher D 2012. Evidence summaries: The evolution of a rapid review approach. Systematic Reviews 1(1): 1–10

*Klement C 2019. Outlaw biker violence and retaliation. PLOS One 14(5): 1–27

*Klement C 2016a. Crime prevalence and frequency among Danish outlaw bikers. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention 17(2): 131–149

*Klement C 2016b. Outlaw biker affiliations and criminal involvement. European Journal of Criminology 13(4): 453–472

*Lauchs M 2019a. A global survey of outlaw motorcycle gang formation. Deviant Behaviour 18(1): 1–16

*Lauchs M 2019b. Are outlaw motorcycle gangs organized crime groups? An analysis of the Finks MC. Deviant Behavior 40(3): 287–300

*Lauchs M, Bain A & Bell P 2015. Outlaw motorcycle gangs: A theoretical perspective. London: Palgrave

*Lauchs M & Gilbert J 2017. Outlaw motorcycle gangs. In A Deckert & R Sarre (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice. Melbourne: Palgrave Macmillan: 159–174

*Lauchs M & Staines Z 2019. An analysis of outlaw motorcycle gang crime: Are bikers organised criminals? Global Crime 20(2): 69–89

*McDermott E 2006. Motorcycle gangs: The new face of organized crime. Journal of Gang Research 13(2): 27–36

*McNally D & Alston J 2006. The use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in the examination of an outlaw motorcycle gang. Journal of Gang Research 13(3): 1–25

*Monterosso S 2018. From bikers to savvy criminals: Outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia: Implications for legislators and law enforcement. Crime, Law and Social Change 69: 681–701

*Morgan A, Dowling C & Voce I 2020. Australian outlaw motorcycle gang involvement in violent and organised crime. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 586. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi586

*Morselli C 2009. Hells Angels in springtime. Trends in Organized Crime 12(2): 145–158

*Myers H 2006. Organized crime in Oregon. Salem, Oregon: State of Oregon Department of Justice

*Piano EE 2018. Outlaw and economics: Biker gangs and club goods. Rationality and Society 30(3): 350–376

*Piano EE 2017. Free riders: The economics and organization of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Public Choice 171: 283–301

Pool R 2017. The verification of ethnographic data. Ethnography 18: 281–286

Powell WW 1990. Neither market nor hierarchy: Network forms of organization. In LL Cummings & BM Staw (eds), Research in organizational behaviour. Connecticut: JAI Press: 295–336

Pyrooz, DC, Sweeten G & Piquero AR 2013. Continuity and change in gang membership and gang embeddedness. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 50: 239–271

*Quinn JF 2001. Angels, bandidos, outlaws, and pagans: The evolution of organized crime among the big four 1% motorcycle clubs. Deviant Behavior 22(4): 379–399

*Quinn JF & Forsyth CJ 2009. Leathers and Rolexs: The symbolism and values of the motorcycle club. Deviant Behavior 30(3): 235–265

*Quinn J & Koch DS 2003. The nature of criminality within one-percent motorcycle clubs. Deviant Behavior 24(3): 281–305

Reuter P 1983. Disorganized crime: The economics of the visible hand. Massachusetts: MIT Press

*Richardson A 1991. Outlaw motorcycle gangs: USA overview. Los Angeles, California: State of California Department of Justice

*Rostami A & Mondani H 2019. Organizing on two wheels: Uncovering the organizational patterns of Hells Angels MC in Sweden. Trends in Organized Crime 22(3): 34–50

*Scaramella G, Brenzinger M & Miller P 1997. Outlaw motorcycle gangs: Tattoo-laden misfits or sophisticated criminals? Crime and Justice International 13(9): 10–13

*Shields D 2012. The infamous ‘one percenters’: A review of the criminality, subculture, and structure of modern biker gangs. Justice Policy Journal 9(1): 1–33

Smith RG (ed) 2018. Organised crime research in Australia 2018. Research Report no. 10. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rr/rr10

Thompson GF 2003. Between hierarchies and markets: The logic and limits of network forms of organization. New York: Oxford University Press

*Veno A 2009. The brotherhoods: Inside the Australian motorcycle clubs, 3rd ed. Sydney: Allen & Unwin

*Vergani M & Collins S 2015. Radical criminals in the grey area: A comparative study of Mexican religious drug cartels and Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 38(6): 414–432

von Lampe K 2016. The ties that bind: A taxonomy of associational criminal structures. In GA Antonopoulos (ed), Illegal entrepreneurship, organized crime and social control. New York: Springer: 19–35

von Lampe K 2015. Organized crime: Analyzing illegal activities, criminal structures, and extra-legal governance. California: Sage

*Zabyelina Y 2019. Russia’s Night Wolves Motorcycle Club: From 1%ers to political activists. Trends in Organized Crime 22(1): 51–65