SG2043- Key Issues in Criminolog
Lecture 8
Does London Have a Gang Problem?
,LECTURE OVERVIEW
❖What is a ‘gang’?
❖Gangs in Criminology
❖Do gangs exist?
❖Who, rather than what, is a gang?
❖London’s gang problem
,WHAT IS A GANG? (IN UK LAW)
Section 34(5) of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 defines acts
‘gang-related’ if the targeted group:
❖“Consists of at least 3 people”
❖“Uses a name, emblem or colour or has any other characteri
that enables its members to be identified by others as a group
❖“Is associated with a particular area”
,WHAT IS A GANG? (IN UK LAW)
Youth / peer group involved in
petty offending
Semi-organised youth group
practising serious criminality
Highly organised criminal
enterprise consisting of adults
,SIGNS OF GANG INVOLVEMENT
Behaviour
❖Withdrawing from the family
❖Loss of interest in school
❖Dropping positive activities like sports
❖Changes in behaviour reported by the school
❖Unexplained extra money or new possessions e.g. clothes, trai
jewellery, computers / games, mobile phones
❖Staying out late without permission
❖Increasingly secretive or vague about their whereabouts, activ
or friends
❖New nickname
,SIGNS OF GANG INVOLVEMENT
Visual signs
❖Dressing differently, perhaps in a particular style or colour
Unexplained physical injuries
❖Using tags or graffiti on books / possessions
❖Using hand signals to speak with friends in ‘code’
Source: Gangs | Lambeth Child Safeguarding (lambethsab.org.uk)
,GANGS IN CRIMINOLOGY
❖Play groups in disadvantaged areas that crystallise through confl
(Thrasher, 1927)
❖Vehicles for local youth sociability – can mature into more dedic
criminal organisations (Foote Whyte, 1943)
❖“A relatively durable, predominantly street-based group of youn
people who: (1) see themselves (and are seen by others) as a
discernible group, (2) engage in a range of criminal activity and
violence, (3) identify with or lay claim over territory, (4) have som
form of identifying structural feature and (5) are in conflict with o
similar gangs” (Centre for Social Justice, 2009: 2)
, GANGS IN CRIMINOLOGY (CONTINUED)
❖Two different perspectives:
Those that accept state
definitions vs. critical research
that challenges such definitions
and the (punitive) logic and
thinking that gives rise to them
❖Contested definition(s) of the
‘gang’ throughout the history of
gang studies
Lecture 8
Does London Have a Gang Problem?
,LECTURE OVERVIEW
❖What is a ‘gang’?
❖Gangs in Criminology
❖Do gangs exist?
❖Who, rather than what, is a gang?
❖London’s gang problem
,WHAT IS A GANG? (IN UK LAW)
Section 34(5) of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 defines acts
‘gang-related’ if the targeted group:
❖“Consists of at least 3 people”
❖“Uses a name, emblem or colour or has any other characteri
that enables its members to be identified by others as a group
❖“Is associated with a particular area”
,WHAT IS A GANG? (IN UK LAW)
Youth / peer group involved in
petty offending
Semi-organised youth group
practising serious criminality
Highly organised criminal
enterprise consisting of adults
,SIGNS OF GANG INVOLVEMENT
Behaviour
❖Withdrawing from the family
❖Loss of interest in school
❖Dropping positive activities like sports
❖Changes in behaviour reported by the school
❖Unexplained extra money or new possessions e.g. clothes, trai
jewellery, computers / games, mobile phones
❖Staying out late without permission
❖Increasingly secretive or vague about their whereabouts, activ
or friends
❖New nickname
,SIGNS OF GANG INVOLVEMENT
Visual signs
❖Dressing differently, perhaps in a particular style or colour
Unexplained physical injuries
❖Using tags or graffiti on books / possessions
❖Using hand signals to speak with friends in ‘code’
Source: Gangs | Lambeth Child Safeguarding (lambethsab.org.uk)
,GANGS IN CRIMINOLOGY
❖Play groups in disadvantaged areas that crystallise through confl
(Thrasher, 1927)
❖Vehicles for local youth sociability – can mature into more dedic
criminal organisations (Foote Whyte, 1943)
❖“A relatively durable, predominantly street-based group of youn
people who: (1) see themselves (and are seen by others) as a
discernible group, (2) engage in a range of criminal activity and
violence, (3) identify with or lay claim over territory, (4) have som
form of identifying structural feature and (5) are in conflict with o
similar gangs” (Centre for Social Justice, 2009: 2)
, GANGS IN CRIMINOLOGY (CONTINUED)
❖Two different perspectives:
Those that accept state
definitions vs. critical research
that challenges such definitions
and the (punitive) logic and
thinking that gives rise to them
❖Contested definition(s) of the
‘gang’ throughout the history of
gang studies
