An analysis of outlaw motorcycle gang crime: are bikers organised criminals?

Multilevel determinants of collaboration between organised criminal groups

“…Further, in legitimate settings the visibility of defection from collaborative agreements is a key contingency that ensures ongoing inter-organisational collaboration (Yu and Cannella, 2013), and it may be hard for OMCGs members to operate without being noticed by other groups. The second explanation, which complements the first one, also builds upon previous research showing that OMCGs display high levels of organisation and strong internal culture containing norms, symbols, and rituals (Bjørgo, 2019;Lauchs and Staines, 2019;Morselli, 2009a;Quinn, 2001). These organisational and cultural aspects may provide compensation for the lack of contract-reinforcing institutions by establishing norms of cooperation and settling disputes.…”

“…Interestingly, we also find that members of different biker gangs who are active in the same locations are more likely to collaborate with one another; while for members of other types of criminal group there is no significant effect of being active in the same locations on interpersonal collaboration. This provides evidence for the existence of mechanisms that operate at the dyadic level and that aid biker collaboration, such as signaling or the use of convergence settings (Felson, 2006;Gambetta, 2009;Lauchs and Staines, 2019).…”

“…Firstly, members of different OMCGs may be more willing to trust one another compared to other types of OCGs. OMCG members share subcultural attitudes, practices and norms (Lauchs, 2019;Lauchs and Staines, 2019). In addition, the practices of riding motorcycles and wearing distinctive clothing including group-signifying patches may make members of OMCGs more easily identifiable compared with members of other OCGs.…”

“…First, some OMCGs use organisational practices which include cooperation across clubs and which have allowed them to solve market governance and economic coordination problems. As shown by Morselli (2009a) and Lauchs and Staines (2019), biker gangs display status hierarchies both within and between clubs. Within clubs, individuals higher up the hierarchy direct the action of those lower down the hierarchy.…”

Outlaw biker violence and retaliation

“…Although it does not draw on the selection and facilitation framework from the gang literature [13–15], part of the limited literature on outlaw motorcycle club membership and criminal behavior does consider the relationship between the two. Yet, only a few studies have systematically considered this connection [54, 56–61]. Only one of these studies has longitudinal observations of gang members before and after their gang affiliations are established as well as a comparison group–the combination of which makes it possible to examine the causal direction between outlaw motorcycle club affiliation and heightened criminal involvement [59].…”