Where are all these gangs we hear about?
Howard Williamson
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
What are these gangs that everyone is so preoccupied about these days? There was a time when there was some consensus that the UK, with the early exception of Glasgow and the later exception of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, did not have gangs, at least not by the established American definition of the term.
The term conjures up ideas of romance and terror, although not in equal measure. It suggests something about belonging and exclusivity as well as violence, which is perhaps the reason one of the most celebrated post-war youth work initiatives was called The Stonehouse Gang. The 1960s gangs of the Krays and the Richardsons in London were of a rather different order.
Beyond England's large cities, there is still a view that "gang" is an overused word for what are often no more than nuisance groups of youths resorting to low levels of aggression and violence - or even less. Certainly banging off an air rifle from time to time does not constitute the worst excesses of gang violence and intimidation.
When I first wrote about the Milltown Boys in south Wales - who these days would definitely be depicted as a gang - I was emphatic that they were not a gang, although I recall some fairly robust territorial encounters, using fists, knives and airguns, with the neighbouring Fairfield lads. I was adamant that they were a network, finding common cause on bigger issues with those who were weekday and weekend rivals.
Commentators say that arriving at a definition is a problem, yet we accepted the American definition for a long time (which is why we did not have gangs). Now there is the Eurogang thinking that offers a broader perspective but it is not one with infinite criteria.
If we are not to arrive at the position where gangs, in all their forms, are everywhere - a rather unhelpful position for policy development - then we must try to pin down their boundaries: age and size of membership; territorial affiliation; composition, structure and hierarchy; activity and purpose; tightness or fluidity; back-up resources (sticks, knives, guns). To what extent are these important in shaping such a framework to ensure compliance and dominance?
Journalists, academics, professionals and civil servants have become almost mischievous in addressing the challenge of gangs. There is plenty of global evidence and debate from which we should draw and to which we should contribute. Young people are the primary perpetrators and victims within gang culture: let us not understate the situation but let us not overstate it either.
- Howard Williamson is professor of European youth policy at the University of Glamorgan, and a member of the Youth Justice Board. Email howard.williamson@haymarket.com.
