In Glasgow, street gangs have existed for decades, with knife crime becoming a defining feature.
More than a decade on from Deuchar’s original fieldwork, this book explores the transitional experiences of some of the young men he worked with, as well as the experiences of today’s young people and the practitioners who work to support them.
Through empirical data, policy analysis and contemporary insights, this dynamic book explores the evolving nature of gangs, and the contemporary challenges affecting young people including drug distribution, football-related bigotry and the mental health repercussions emerging from social media.
For many children and young people, Britain is a harmful society in which to grow up. This book contextualises the violence that occurs between a small number of young people within a wider perspective on social harm.
Aimed at academics, youth workers and policymakers, the book presents a new way to make sense of this pressing social problem. The authors also propose measures to substantially improve the lives of Britain’s young people – in areas ranging from the early years, to youth services and the criminal justice system.
Whereas crime more generally has fallen over the last 20 years, levels of serious youth violence remain high. This book presents innovative research into the complex relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious youth violence. While the implementation of trauma-informed approaches to working with adolescents in the justice system are becoming common practice, there remains a dearth of research into the efficacy of such approaches.
Foregrounding young people’s voices, this book explores the theoretical underpinnings of trauma and the manifestations of childhood adversity. The authors conclude by advocating for a more psychosocial approach to trauma-informed policy and practice within the youth justice system.
Which underlying problems pose the greatest threat to British society in the 21st century? A hundred years after its philanthropist founder identified poverty, alcohol, drugs and gambling among the social evils of his time, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation initiated a major consultation among leading thinkers, activists and commentators, as well as the wider public. The findings have now been brought together in this fascinating book.
Individual contributors range across the political spectrum but the book also reports the results from a web survey and consultation with groups whose voices are less often heard. The results suggest that while some evils - like poverty - endure as undisputed causes of social harm, more recent sources of social misery, such as an alleged rise in selfish consumerism and a perceived decline in personal responsibility and family commitment, attract controversy.
Depending on their dynamics, neighbourhoods may serve to contain or exacerbate youth violence. This book uses fascinating ethnographic and interview data to explore the disappearance of localised relationships in a South London housing estate. Through a comparative analysis of the experiences of different generations, James Alexander considers the impact of both wider socio-economic developments, and the gradual move from neighbourly to professional support for young people.
As well as evaluating the effectiveness of youth work programmes, he considers how the actions of neighbours and the decisions of policymakers influence how supported young people feel, and consequently, their vulnerability to criminal influences.
Boys and young men have been previously overlooked in domestic violence and abuse policy and practice, particularly in the case of boys who are criminalised and labelled as gang-involved by the time they reach their teens.
Jade Levell offers radical and important insights into how boys in this context navigate their journey to manhood with the constant presence of violence in their lives, in addition to poverty and racial marginalisation. Of equal interest to academics and front-line practitioners, the book highlights the narratives of these young men and makes practice recommendations for supporting these ‘hidden victims’.
Described by the National Crime Agency as a ‘significant threat’, county lines involve gangs recruiting vulnerable youth to sell drugs in provincial areas. This phenomenon has impacted local drug markets, increasing criminal activity and violence.
Exploring how county lines evolve, Harding reveals extensive criminal exploitation and control in the daily ‘grind’ to sell drugs.
Drawing upon extensive interviews and case studies, this timely book gives voice to users and dealers, providing an in-depth analysis of techniques, relationships and ‘trapping’.
With county lines now a critical issue for policing and government, this is an invaluable contribution to literature on gangs, youth violence and drugs.
Drawing upon unique empirical data based on interviews with high-profile ex-offenders and experts, this book sheds new light on drug markets and gangs in the UK. The study shows how traditional methods of tackling gang violence fail to address the intertwined nature of those criminal activities which can overlap with other organised crime spheres. McLean sparks new debate on the subject, offering solutions and alternatives.
This book aims to challenge current thinking about serious youth violence and gangs, and their racialisation by the media and the police. Written by an expert with over 14 years’ experience in the field, it brings together research, theory and practice to influence policy. Placing gangs and urban violence in a broader social and political economic context, it argues that government-led policy and associated funding for anti-gangs work is counter-productive. It highlights how the street gang label is unfairly linked by both the news-media and police to black (and urban) youth street-based lifestyles/cultures and friendship groups, leading to the further criminalisation of innocent black youth via police targeting. The book is primarily aimed at practitioners, policy makers, academics as well as those community-minded individuals concerned about youth violence and social justice.
Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. 50 years after the establishment of the Runnymede Trust and the Race Relations Act of 1968 which sought to end discrimination in public life, this accessible book provides commentary by some of the UK’s foremost scholars of race and ethnicity on data relating to a wide range of sectors of society, including employment, health, education, criminal justice, housing and representation in the arts and media.
It explores what progress has been made, identifies those areas where inequalities remain stubbornly resistant to change, and asks how our thinking around race and ethnicity has changed in an era of Islamophobia, Brexit and an increasingly diverse population.
