Past and present gang scholarship is marked by debate as to the appropriate criteria for defining gangs and gang membership. Mara Salvatrucha, or MS‐13, highlights some obstacles in conceptualizing gangs and operationalizing gang membership. Although MS‐13 has generated attention in recent years, little systematic criminological research exists on the gang. Drawing on in‐depth interviews and surveys of law‐enforcement gang experts, we link long‐standing issues of gang definition and measurement to MS‐13 in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

中文翻译：

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定义MS-13的概念和经验障碍

关于界定帮派和帮派成员资格的适当标准的争论标志着过去和现在的帮派奖学金。玛拉·萨尔瓦特鲁查（Mara Salvatrucha）或MS-13强调了在概念化帮派和实施帮派成员资格方面的一些障碍。尽管近年来MS-13引起了人们的注意，但该团伙几乎没有系统的犯罪学研究。通过对执法帮派专家的深入访谈和调查，我们将长期存在的帮派定义和衡量问题与华盛顿特区大都会区的MS-13联系起来。