▁G angs ▁Work , ▁grew ▁out ▁of ▁his ▁Ph D ▁research ▁and ▁reflect s ▁upon ▁the ▁“ war ▁on ▁gang s ” ▁launched ▁after ▁the ▁ 2 0 1 1 ▁ri ots . ▁The ▁British ▁Journal ▁of ▁C rimin ology ▁mentions ▁the ▁book ' s ▁“ crit ical ▁eth n ography ▁and ▁first - class ▁field work ”, ▁con cluding ▁that ▁“ D ens ley ’ s ▁work ▁points ▁the ▁way ▁to ▁how ▁gang ▁research ▁should ▁be ▁done ▁in ▁the ▁future .” ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁book ▁and ▁in ▁later ▁research , ▁D ens ley ▁used ▁signal ing ▁theory ▁to ▁make ▁sense ▁of ▁how ▁and ▁why ▁youth ▁join ▁gang s . ▁ ▁He ▁found ▁that ▁pros pective ▁gang ▁members ▁signal ▁their ▁potential ▁value ▁to ▁the ▁gang ▁by ▁eng aging ▁in ▁violent ▁and ▁criminal ▁acts ▁that ▁are ▁beyond ▁the ▁capacity ▁of ▁most ▁people . ▁ ▁D ens ley ▁also ▁used ▁signal ing ▁theory ▁to ▁advance ▁a ▁model ▁of ▁dis eng agement ▁from ▁gang s ▁that ▁allows ▁ex - gang ▁members ▁to ▁communicate ▁their ▁un ob servable ▁inner ▁change ▁to ▁others ▁and ▁satisfy ▁community ▁expect ations ▁that ▁des istance ▁from ▁crime ▁is ▁real . ▁ ▁For ▁D ens ley , ▁religious ▁conversion ▁in ▁prison ▁was ▁one ▁example ▁of ▁a ▁dis eng agement ▁signal . ▁ ▁D ens ley ' s ▁work ▁expl ores ▁the ▁rational ity ▁of ▁gang ▁behavior . ▁ ▁He ▁developed ▁an ▁influ ential ▁model ▁of ▁gang ▁evolution ▁that ▁explains ▁the ▁relationship ▁between ▁gang s ▁and ▁organized ▁crime . ▁ ▁He ▁found ▁that ▁recre