Interaction of A New Type of Gang and New Media in Turkey: Daltons Street Gang Social Media Content Analysis

The study aims to explain, describe and explore the content produced by the Dalton Gang through new media and communication tools. As a result of the preliminary examination, it was seen that the social media platform that the Dalton Gang used most actively and reached the largest audience was the TikTok Application. For this reason, the case study was limited to the accounts and content on the TikTok application. The 6 most active gang member accounts (158 TikTok content) were determined as a sample. The MAXQDA program was used in the analysis of the data. The prominent results of the study are as follows. The Dalton street gang is the first representative of the third-generation gang type which produce their own image and publish it directly through social media. The gang is aware that the physical power in the social networks and the symbolic power in social media amplify each other. The gang are following strategies to disrupt the existing field of power in the criminal habitat by producing written, visual and audio content on the subject of challenge and determination. Even though the gang cannot dominate the crime habitat, it has managed to gain enough capital to be an actor. The gang has created a unique and autonomous criminal culture (area, capital, habitus) by using symbolic and physical power together. Therefore, it is understood that Dalton gangs are not a temporary phenomenon but indicate a new period (street gangs’ period) in Turkey's criminal history.