Cover: Local perspectives in Ending Gang and Youth Violence areas

Local perspectives in Ending Gang and Youth Violence areas

Perceptions of the nature of urban street gangs

by Emma Disley, Mark Liddle

To improve understanding of how local experiences of street gangs may have changed recently, and to better understand the national gangs picture and the challenges and emerging threats facing local areas, the UK Home Office commissioned RAND Europe to deliver research in 33 local areas which are part of the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme. The study drew upon the experiences of practitioners from a range of agencies who are involved in formulating local responses to urban street gangs and pulled together the most recent research and practice literature. The aim was to support strategic decision making around future work to improve outcomes for individuals and communities affected by gangs and gang activity.

Please note: This report is not available on the RAND website but can be downloaded from the GOV.UK website.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    Estimated numbers of gangs and gang members

  • Chapter Three

    Perceptions of the defining features of gangs

  • Chapter Four

    Age of gang members and involvement of young people in gangs

  • Chapter Five

    Gang structure and initiation

  • Chapter Six

    Inter-gang cooperation and conflict in custody and the community

  • Chapter Seven

    Visibility, identifiers and use of social media

  • Chapter Eight

    Criminal activities including organised criminal activities and use of weapons

  • Chapter Nine

    Involvement of women and girls in gangs

  • Chapter Ten

    Radicalisation

  • Chapter Eleven

    Discussion

  • Appendix A

    Methods and approach

  • Appendix B

    Survey instrument

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was prepared for the Ministry of Justice and conducted by RAND Europe.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

Our mission to help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis is enabled through our core values of quality and objectivity and our unwavering commitment to the highest level of integrity and ethical behavior. To help ensure our research and analysis are rigorous, objective, and nonpartisan, we subject our research publications to a robust and exacting quality-assurance process; avoid both the appearance and reality of financial and other conflicts of interest through staff training, project screening, and a policy of mandatory disclosure; and pursue transparency in our research engagements through our commitment to the open publication of our research findings and recommendations, disclosure of the source of funding of published research, and policies to ensure intellectual independence. For more information, visit www.rand.org/about/research-integrity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.