The Bandidos Biker Gang - Term Paper Example

Sociologically speaking, the gang presents the fraternal connectivity from which they became disengaged after the military experience, while the motorcycle represented a sense of freedom in which they could rebel from what they had experienced within the war (Barkin and Bryjak 118). In 1966, similar to the earlier manifestations of biker gangs as they emerged from those disenfranchised from the military and war, a Vietnam War veteran, Donald Chambers, began organizing dockworkers, most of which were also veterans of the Vietnam War.

Chambers wanted a group that reflected true outlaws, which was not hard to organize. He chose the name Bandidos because he revered the Mexican revolutionary spirit and in particular Pancho Villa and Emilio Zapata. Unlike the Hell’s Angels who had a strict, all white policy, the Bandidos allows Hispanics to enter into their ranks. Spanish is the language that was used to create the names of officers with the leader being called el president and the secretary-treasurer called el secretario (Caine 12).

The club is structured the way a country or corporation is structured. The main club has a president who has control over all of the activities of the club throughout the world. His say is final. The ‘mother’ club is the hub of all of the activity of the individual chapters. The United States is divided into four regions, each having their own vice president. The national secretary keeps the records and financial dealings of the club in order. The enforcer acts as the law, his ability to act as a bodyguard to the president, or el president, extending to enacting the violence that might be necessary for a violation against the club.

The mother club is over the regional clubs, which are then over the individual chapters within that region. In addition, when a group wants to come into the group and become fully patched over, they must be a hangaround club for a period of time. Becoming a member of the club, at all levels, is a matter of putting in time and building a trust with the club. Trust with the club is at the center of all activities (Abadinsky 256). The original crime that the Bandidos initiated themselves into the outlaw life with was that of stealing motorcycles and chopping them into parts.

This is still a part of their business interests, but is relegated to the ‘prospects’, those men who are not yet full members and are in their probationary period. ‘Prospects’ are a form of labor that provide a shield between the ‘patched in’ members, those who are full members, and the criminal activity that is being conducted. ‘Prospects do all of the duties that would put the full members at risk and there are usually around thirty of these initiates hanging around to do the risk-taking (Caine 13).

Motorcycle gangs, the Bandidos included, have strict structures of law. The club has a written set of laws that are so strict that most violations will result in severe penalties, including and most often death (Abadinsky 256). Therefore, the process of becoming a member is long and has as much myth attached as reality. The stories of the initiation rites of prospects into motorcycle gangs consist of a series of stories that are sexual, contain liberal use of urine and feces, as well as pain and torment.

It is believed, however, that the terrible stories are