THE MYSTERIOUS MC-CLUBS: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE, SYMBOLS, BROTHERHOOD, AND CRIMINAL INVOLVEMENT AMONG LEGAL AND ILLEGAL MC-CLUBS

Abstract: Mc-clubs are marked as mysterious with dangerous motorcycles and deviant. Research has noticed both the illegal and legal clubs, but few have performed a comparison. The paper describes the similarities, differences, and the characteristics among legal and illegal mc-clubs. The comparison is done by looking at the structure, symbols, brotherhood, and criminal involvement. The depiction of the clubs is done by the help of Edwin M. Lemert’s terms primary and secondary deviance and Lewis Yablonsky’s definition of the social, delinquent, and violent gang. A content analysis based on 28 previous and current articles has been used to find the specific themes the clubs have in common and what characterizes and separates them. The clubs were shown to have similar structure, symbols and brotherhood, the difference lying in the intensity of the three components. The major difference is the criminal involvement. The illegal clubs reject the conventional society where the deviance is a form of identity, sharing it with like-minded in a violent setting. The legal clubs, however, conform and simultaneously deviate and have their own community with values and beliefs. Implications and future research is discussed.