What is the difference between greaser gangs and regular gangs?

Answer 1

There are several differences. Most importantly, "regular gangs" usually contain a hierarchy-- an obvious leader, and those those follow that leader and specific rules within the hierarchy Those types of gangs usually focus on violence or drugs for the main reason of being a gang-- more power in numbers. If they were to get into a fight, their gang members would back them up; but more often than not, those people aren't really friends with each other. They are just in the gang for the purpose of safety in numbers, or for the sake of violence or drugs. Also, in a regular gang, everyone is replacable-- if a member dies, someone takes their place to do their job. "Greaser gangs" are more like families. They are groups of friends and siblings who hang out together. They also have a 'safety in numbers' complex, though they depend on each other more than that. Most of the "Greaser gangs", as described in S. E. Hinton's "The Outsiders", are usually poorer and come from broken homes, so they depend on each other for food, shelter and comfort, as well as protection from Socs and rival gangs. Some of the "Greaser gangs" focus more on violence, like Tim Shepard's gang, but the gang most often referred to in "The Outsiders", or "The Curtis Gang", is mostly focussed on self-preservation. They all honestly care about each other, as was described in the book, and that is the biggest difference between "Greaser gangs" and "regular gangs". They care about what happens to them, and no one is replacable, like in a regular gang.

Answer 2

A "greaser" gang is a slang term coined in the 50's to describe gangs of "rebel" teenage boys who wore a greased back style of hair. There really isn't a "regular" gang per say, just varied types of gangs.