Intergroup violence is assumed to play a key role in establishing and maintaining gang competitive dominance. However, it is not clear how competitive ability, gang size and reciprocal violence interact. Does competitive dominance lead to larger gangs, or allow them to remain small? Does competitive dominance lead gangs to mount more attacks against rivals, or expose them to more attacks? We explore a model developed in theoretical ecology to understand communities arranged in strict competitive hierarchies. The model is extended to generate expectations about gang size distributions and the directionality of gang violence. Model expectations are explored with twenty-three years of data on gang homicides from Los Angeles. Gangs may mitigate competitive pressure by quickly finding gaps in the spatial coverage of superior competitors. Competitively superior gangs can be larger or smaller than competitively inferior gangs and a disproportionate source or target of directional violence, depending upon where exactly they fall in the competitive hierarchy. A model specifying the mechanism of competitive dominance is needed to correctly interpret gang size and violence patterns.

中文翻译：

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竞争优势，帮派规模和帮派暴力的方向性

团体间暴力被认为在建立和维持帮派竞争优势中起着关键作用。但是，尚不清楚竞争能力，帮派规模和相互暴力如何相互作用。竞争优势会导致更大的帮派，还是让他们保持小规模？竞争优势会导致帮派对对手发动更多攻击，还是使他们遭受更多攻击？我们探索在理论生态学中发展的模型，以了解按严格的竞争等级制度安排的社区。扩展该模型以生成有关帮派规模分布和帮派暴力的方向性的期望。通过使用来自洛杉矶的二十三年帮派凶杀案数据，探索了模型期望值。帮派可以通过迅速找到上级竞争者在空间上的差距来缓解竞争压力。具有竞争优势的帮派可能比具有竞争力的劣等帮派更大或更小，并且定向暴力的来源或目标不成比例，这取决于它们在竞争等级体系中的确切位置。需要一个模型来说明竞争优势的机制，以正确解释帮派规模和暴力模式。