Its scouse soldier ’s lad init! An examination of modern Urban street gangs on Merseyside

Its scouse soldier’s lad init! An examination of modern Urban street gangs on Merseyside Robert Francis Hesketh Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- This paper aims to discuss the emergence of the contemporary Urban Street Gang (USG) on Merseyside. In terms of gang scholarship in the UK, Merseyside has been greatly neglected despite regular reports in national mainstream media that suggest Merseyside USGs represent some of the most criminally active and violent members in the UK. A specific methodology has been omitted because the author while providing a viewpoint from Hesketh (2018), also wishes to encapsulate observations from the remaining two pieces of research conducted on Merseyside (Smithson et al., 2009; Robinson, 2018). For this reason, a summary of the methods used in each of the three studies is provided. The paper will highlight observations drawn from all three research studies that were prevalent with USG members throughout the Merseyside county at the time of each study. They include aspects surrounding territoriality, belonging and identity through dress style as well as USG structures and motivation for joining. In particular, the paper will address also address the role of drugs which has transformed the structural make-up of many Merseyside USGs from relatively loosely knit-street corner groups involved in anti-social behaviour (ASB) to more structural...
Source: Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice - Category: Criminology Authors: Source Type: research
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