Research & reports
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Author | Madeline Petrillo |
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550516666745 |
| Subject Matter | Research & reports |
Research & reports
Research & reports
Dangerous Associations: Joint Enterprise, Gangs
and Racism
To what extent do ‘gang’ discourses influence the process of criminalization of
young black men? To answer this question the authors of this report considered two
key issues: the relationship between the ‘gang’ and those convicted of serious youth
violence and how the discourse of the ‘gang’ is used in the process of prosecution in
joint enterprise (JE) cases.
The report presents an analysis of a range of data sources from Greater Man-
chester, Nottingham and London, a JE prisoners’ survey and two JE case studies.
The research found evidence that the gang construct is racialized to BAME men.
Communities with higher concentrations of BAME people were more likely to be
identified by the police as having a gang problem. Importantly, the police gang lists
do not correspond to serious youth violence incidents in the same locations. In
Greater Manchester, for example, 89%of those identified and registered to gang
lists are BAME individuals. However, 77%of serious youth violence was perpe-
trated by white individuals. Further analysis found the gang label is particularly
attributed to men in the ‘black’ group (Black British, Black Caribbean, Black African
and/or Black Mixed groups). For example, 81%of those identified as gang affili-
ated in Greater Manchester were from this group yet this group committed only 6%
of serious youth violence. Furthermore, the gang databases failed to respond to the
changing nature of gang problems. The research found that significant reductions in
the levels of gang-related firearms discharges and fatalities have not been accom-
panied by a reduction in the resourcing of gang units. As the report states:
If these police ‘gang’ lists increasingly fail to map onto serious youth violence incidents
in the same location, we cannot assume that their construction is an objective response
to violence occurring within particular communities. (p. 11)
The research also considered the extent to which the gang discourse was used in
collective punishments, specifically JE cases. Evidence was found of a racialized
application of JE. Survey data revealed that where gangs were introduced in court
for the prosecution of JE cases, 69%involved BAME prisoner and 30%white
prisoners. The report goes into some detail about the ways in which gang involve-
ment is established in court and how it differs between BAME and white groups.
Probation Journal
2016, Vol. 63(3) 371–375
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0264550516666745
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The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
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