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Guns and Gangs

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Young people's involvement in street crime. Role of gangs' in young people's lives ... Fashion accessories' symbols of power/status, street cred' and being in' ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Guns and Gangs


1
Guns and Gangs
  • Jan Stockdale
  • London School of Economics
  • and Political Science
  • the resurgent city
  • Leverhulme International Symposium
  • April 2004
  • Gavin Hales, Portsmouth University ICJS
  • and LB Brent Community Safety
  • and Eliza Grainger, LSE

2
Evidence
  • Young peoples involvement in street crime
  • Role of gangs in young peoples lives
  • Modelling gun culture
  • Nature of gun crime
  • Action to tackle gun culture/crime

3
Key questions
  • Why gangs?
  • youth culture/lifestyle
  • benefits of gang membership
  • Why guns?
  • practical functions
  • symbolic value
  • Why now?
  • context/viable life styles
  • cultural changes

4
Young peoples lifestyles
  • Consumer culture must have
  • Fashion glamorisation of violence
  • Music reflects and reinforces norms
  • Status and reputation
  • Protection
  • Limited skills and opportunities

5
Gangs some key features
  • Criminal vs. conflict gangs
  • Hanging out together vs. business purpose
  • Identity and reputation management
  • Key features unity distinctive identity
    status structure and leadership illegal and/or
    violent conduct
  • Tension/conflict endemic - easily triggered

6
Definition
  • Group membership valuable but consequences
  • When does a group become a gang?
  • Reserve gangs for groups
  • doing things we dont like
  • playing role in street life and/or organised
    crime
  • associated with particular communities
  • Stereotype - negatively
  • But, not all gangs dangerous/imply guns
  • Dangers moral panic, self-fulfilling prophecy

7
Gang membership
  • If you want to be famous, you have to be
    talented. If you want to be the toughest, you
    have to join a gang.
  • Named group commitment and solidarity
  • Benefits
  • protection/back-up
  • identity
  • status and reputation
  • enjoyment friendship
  • generates respect and fear in others
  • Associated with violence/other offences
    potential disadvantage but how it is out there

8
Gun culture
  • Shootings
  • planned vs. spontaneous
  • public/stylised vs. private
  • pride/respect vs. disrupted crime/vie for control
  • involve different types of gangs
  • No such thing as gun culture - interaction of
    spheres of influence with gun availability
  • Hales (2003) guns feature in
  • popular/youth culture
  • fear culture
  • crime culture
  • Context lack of education/opportunity/provision
  • Gangsta rap music - media images
  • Fashion accessories symbols of power/status,
    street cred and being in
  • Dispute resolution - disrespect shootings
  • Up stakes - access to illegal weapons

9
Popular or youth culture
  • Identity
  • Interplay of ethnicity and masculinity
  • Peer pressure/support
  • Power and control
  • Fashion and consumerism
  • Music and media
  • Status/street cred
  • Sub-cultural norms

10
Fear culture
  • Fear of victimisation
  • Lifestyle risks
  • Competition for resources/control
  • Turf wars
  • Mistrust of police
  • Perceived need for protection/back-up
  • Insurance policy
  • Need for exit strategies

11
Crime culture
  • Social/economic exclusion
  • Career progression
  • Management of drugs markets
  • Control of organised crime
  • Normative behaviour
  • Control of territory
  • Gang disputes
  • Escalation of violence

12
Gun crime
  • Gun crime and gang membership
  • same causal factors/rewards?
  • premature/misleading to equate the two?
  • Sherman (2003) gun crime results from
  • access to a gun
  • carrying a gun
  • encountering a potential victim
  • being motivated to use gun on them

13
Interventions
  • Prevention, diversion and control/enforcement
  • Not Another Drop targets fearful communities,
    disaffected youth and violent criminals
  • Manchester Multi-Agency Gangs Strategy MMAGS
    (Corrigan, 2002)
  • Tilley (2002) range of interventions....but
    criticised for failing to address..very things
    that might propel young people to pick up a gun
  • ASBOs badging prohibited

14
Operation Trident/Trafalgar
  • Trident all black community murders/non-fatal
    shootings or discharges
  • Black community concern that Trident targeted
    just black people
  • Concerns among Asian, Turkish and other
    communities that they did not have Trident
  • MPA gun scrutiny Trident needs to expand
  • Renamed Trafalgar/broader remit January 2004

15
Trident/Trafalgar Activities
  • Partnership gt growing community confidence
  • Effective IAG 16 members of black community
    provides guidance/knowledge
  • Advertising/radio campaigns
  • Involvement of faith communities
  • Action/legislation on firearms and replicas
  • Witness protection remains a major challenge

16
Overview
  • Conjunction of cultural changes
  • Need to understand and make positive use of
    popular/youth culture
  • Significance and impact of fear culture must be
    recognised/addressed
  • More violent nature of crime culture key issue
  • Crime culture flourishes in context of
    social/economic exclusion
  • Multiplicity of complex problems require
    contextualised strategies/joint working

17
Implications
  • Early intervention avoid too little, too late
  • Dependent on levels of trust that currently do
    not exist plus victim/witness support
  • Need to deal effectively with those involved in
    gun crime, prevent involvement and in longer
    term tackle causes of gun crime
  • Commitment and funding for sustainability
  • Courageous research plus innovative policy and
    imaginative practice

18
Contact details Jan Stockdale j.stockdale_at_lse.a
c.uk 020 7955 7705
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