It’s Gang Life, But Not As We Know It

Densley, James A.

doi:10.1177/0011128712437912

Cited by 109 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Earlier studies of London street gangs found hierarchically structured entrepreneurial gangs (Densley 2012;Pitts 2007Pitts , 2008. We accept that there is a diversity of gangs and drug markets (see Fagan 1989;Weisel 2002), and gangs and the markets within which they operate are in a constant state of flux.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Structural changes may even represent an adaptive response to counter-measures (see Kenney 2007;Windle and Farrell 2012). As such it may be best to view gang structures on a continuum from the less organized to the more organized (see Curry et al 2013;Decker et al 1998), and from the more recreational to the more entrepreneurial (Densley 2012). The evidence presented below suggests that the gang members / ex-gang members we interviewed experienced their gang as not particularly well organized but fairly entrepreneurial; or at least some individuals are entrepreneurial.…”

Section: Gang Structures: the British Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Going solo: the social organisation of drug dealing within a London street gang

Windle

Briggs

2015

Journal of Youth Studies

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This paper presents a single case study of one street gang in one London borough. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 gang members, or former gang members, and seven practitioners. The practitioners and gang members / ex-gang members reported different perspectives on how the gang was structured and drug dealing was organised. The gang members / ex-gang members suggested that the gang is a loose social network with little recognisable formal organisation. Although individual gang members sell drugs, the gang should not be viewed as a drug dealing organisation. Rather it is a composition of individual drug dealers who cooperate out of mutual self-interest. Therefore, some gang members are best described as independent entrepreneurs while others are subcontractors looking to 'go solo'. The seven practitioners, however, tended to describe a more hierarchically structured gang, with formal recruitment processes. This divergence of perspective highlights an important consideration for policy and research.1 School of Business and Law, University of East London, University Square, Stratford, London, UK; Criminology, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Europea, Madrid, Spain. Corresponding author: J.Windle@uel.ac.uk Windle, J. and Briggs, D. (2015). ''Goin Solo: The Social Organisation of Drug Dealers within a London Gang'. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(9): 1170-1185 Pre-publication copy 2 Going Solo: The Social Organisation of Drug Dealing within a London Street GangIn recent years, political and social concern has increased around the proliferation of street gangs 2 in the UK. David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, has described them as:Territorial, hierarchical and incredibly violent … mostly composed of young boys... They earn money through crime, particularly drugs, and are bound together by an imposed loyalty to an authoritarian gang leader (cited in Wintour et al. 2011).There is, however, a lack of empirical research on how gangs are structured, and their role in drug distribution in the British context Ralphs et al. 2009). This paper is based upon a time-limited, exploratory study conducted over seven months in 2012/2013. During this period we interviewed 12 gang members and former gang members, and seven practitioners in one London borough (Rose Borough) with, what might be termed, an emerging gang problem (see Decker and Curry 2002;Fox and Lane 2010). The research objectives were to investigate how the boroughs gangs were structured, and how the gangs organised drug dealing. The findings are presented here in the form of a case study of one of the boroughs gangs: Red Gang. 3 2 This paper takes as a starting point the Eurogang definition of a street gang as a 'durable and street orientated youth groups whose involvement in illegal activity is part of their group identity ' (Klein et al., 2006. p. 414).We do, however, acknowledge that the term street gang is highly contested. For in-depth definitional debates please refer to Joseph and Gunter (2011), Smithson and colleagues (2012....

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Gang Structures: the British Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Going solo: the social organisation of drug dealing within a London street gang

Windle

Briggs

2015

Journal of Youth Studies

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“…When youth referred to gangs, they were referring to both the organized crime syndicates who largely control the drug trade in British Columbia (namely, a North American outlaw motorcycle gang and transnational Chinese gang), as well as a handful of more local street gangs. As has been described elsewhere (Densley, 2014), while these more local street gangs may have begun as loose groupings of youth formed in high schools and juvenile detention facilities, as they have grown and formed alliances with organized crime syndicates they have also come to play a significant role in large scale drug trafficking in British Columbia, including across the Canada-US border.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

The material, moral, and affective worlds of dealing and crime among young men entrenched in an inner city drug scene

Fast

Shoveller

2017

International Journal of Drug Policy

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A large body of previous research has elucidated how involvement in drug dealing and crime among marginalized urban youth who use drugs is shaped by the imperatives of addiction and survival in the context of poverty. However, a growing body of research has examined how youth’s involvement in these activities is shaped by more expansive desires and moralities. In this paper, we examine the material, moral, and affective worlds of loosely gang affiliated, street level dealing and crime among one group of young men in Vancouver, Canada. Drawing on longitudinal interviews with 44 young men from 2008 to 2016, and ethnographic fieldwork with a group of approximately 15 of those young men over the same time period, we argue that for these youth, dealing and crime were not solely about economic survival, or even the accrual of highly meaningful forms of “street capital” in the margins. Rather, as “regimes of living,” dealing and crime also opened up new value systems, moral logics, and affects in relation to the tremendous risks, potential rewards, and crushing boredom of life in the margins. These activities were also understood as a way into deeply desired forms of social spatial belonging in the city, which had previously only been imagined. However, across time dealing and crime ultimately “embedded” young men in cycles of incarceration, destitution, addictions, and mental health crises that ultimately reinforced their exclusion – from legal employment, but also within the world of crime. The findings of this study underscore the importance of adopting a life course perspective in order to meaningfully address the harms associated with involvement in dealing and crime among youth in our setting.

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“…However, because the unit of analysis in this area of study typically is "gang members" not "gangs," less is understood about continuity and change at the group level (see Short 1998). What we do know is gangs exist on a wide spectrum from the simple to complex (Klein and Maxson 2006) and gangs can and do change over time (Ayling 2011;Densley 2014;Thrasher 1927;Weisel 2002). Truly observing this change, however, is difficult owing to crosssectional data.…”

Section: Gang Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Breakers to Bikers: The Evolution of the Dutch Crips ‘Gang’

Roks

Densley

2019

Deviant Behavior

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Based on ethnographic fieldwork and a content analysis of secondary sources, the current study presents an in-depth case study of gang evolution. We chart the history and development of the Dutch Crips, from playgroup origins in the 1980s to criminal endeavors in the 1990s, to its rebirth as an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang in the 2000s. At each evolutionary stage, we examine the identity of the group, its organization, the nature of its criminal activities, and branding. We highlight how, over 30 years, the Crips constantly reinvented themselves to meet their members' age-defined needs and to attract future generations to the group.

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It’s Gang Life, But Not As We Know It

Cited by 109 publications

References 75 publications

Going solo: the social organisation of drug dealing within a London street gang

Going solo: the social organisation of drug dealing within a London street gang

The material, moral, and affective worlds of dealing and crime among young men entrenched in an inner city drug scene

From Breakers to Bikers: The Evolution of the Dutch Crips ‘Gang’

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