This thesis investigates the practices and compositions of gangs in Greater Manchester, England. Primarily drawing from qualitative data gathered in two adult, men's prisons, it explores gang members' activities, how these practices develop on 'the street', and how they are later affected by imprisonment. The thesis also explores the links between race, geographical area and gang affiliation, analysing how a gang member's racial background and area of origin may relate to his gang. The results show the strong influence of gangs at the sample prisons, and how gangs affect the ways in which prisoners negotiate the carceral space: violent practices, gang allegiances and rivalries developed on 'the street' are regularly transplanted into prison. These high levels of gang 'importation' into the sample prisons result in the social and cultural significance of street gangs often penetrating prison walls. Area of origin and shared racial background are strong unifying 'banners' under which many prison gangs operate, and violence is an integral part of life in 'the gang'. However, reflecting the academic literature, gang members often contest the terminology around 'gangs', showing the polarized discourse around these topics. The thesis attempts to resolve some of these debates by presenting a comprehensive gang typology shaped by theory and prisoners' testimonies.

The Chronik Disorder project consists of an exegesis and screenplay. The exegesis discusses research into the film genre, three-act structure, mythic structure and archetypes. The research then informed thematic ideas, character creation and a method for plotting the screenplay and developing the characters. Chronik Disorder is an Australian story, set in contemporary Melbourne, about adolescents and rites of passage. The story explores teenagers and the hip-hop subculture, gangs, graffiti and drug experimentation. The story deals with other issues such as vocational challenges; the breakdown of the nuclear family; father-and-son relationships; and Vietnam veterans and how the war affected them emotionally and impacted on their relationships with their sons. Harley, 17, a hooker in an under-eighteen's rugby union team, dreams of playing with the under-nineteen's Australian Wallabies. Harley's alcoholic father, Kev, takes out his pain caused by his experiences in Vietnam on Harley, who escapes by hanging out with graffiti-based gang Chronik Disorder. When his friend Damian dies, Harley blames himself, ruins his rugby career, and escapes by hanging out with his gang, committing crimes and taking drugs.

The research and project The Chronik Disorder project consists of an exegesis and screenplay. The exegesis discusses research into the film genre, three-act structure, mythic structure and archetypes. The research then informed thematic ideas, character creation and a method for plotting the screenplay and developing the characters. Chronik Disorder is an Australian story, set in contemporary Melbourne, about adolescents and rites of passage. The story explores teenagers and the hip-hop subculture, gangs, graffiti and drug experimentation. The story deals with other issues such as vocational challenges; the breakdown of the nuclear family; father-and-son relationships; and Vietnam veterans and how the war affected them emotionally and impacted on their relationships with their sons. Synopsis of Screenplay Harley, 17, a hooker in an under-eighteen's rugby union team, dreams of playing with the under-nineteen's Australian Wallabies. Harley's alcoholic father, Kev, takes out his pain caused by his experiences in Vietnam on Harley, who escapes by hanging out with graffitibased gang Chronik Disorder. When his friend Damian dies, Harley blames himself, ruins his rugby career, and escapes by hanging out with his gang, committing crimes and taking drugs.

A social issue of great importance in contemporary society is the involvement of youth in gangs. Youth involvement in gang activity has dominated the national media and the minds of public policy makers in contemporary society. In this thesis I examine how Latino and Chicano youth sub-culture, language, dress, and style, has been first, misinterpreted and secondarily reconstructed, as a criminal subculture by public policy makers, local law enforcement officials, public school administrators, and the general public. The construction of Latino and Chicano youth subculture as criminal has occurred through the process of labeling. In this process culture and crime have become intertwined where specific cultures and their members are perceived and then reclassified as criminal subcultures. This thesis provides a case study of the process of labeling in a community located in the Pacific Northwest. The community where this research project was conducted has undergone tremendous fluctuations in its population demographics. These changes have led to underlying tensions and conflicts between the various ethnic and linguistic groups represented in the community. It is within this context that the issue of youth gangs must be analyzed. The specific purposes of thesis are to: provide the theoretical framework to view the social discourse of youth gangs; document and analyze the community context which has contributed to the emergence of the social discourse of youth gangs; to document how culture, style, and crime have become intertwined to inaccurately characterize Latino and Chicano youth sub-culture as gang culture; to document and analyze how the social discourse of youth gangs has been constructed as a moral panic; and to provide possible solutions from applied anthropology. / Graduation date: 2002

<p>Violent crime has proven to have profound negative effects, particularly on those living within communities where violence is a dominant feature. The victims often tend to be adolescents, who, while striving for a better future, are often quite vulnerable to its effects. The present study addresses this important social phenomenon which faces the youth of South Africa. There is a growing need to understand the manner in which the ever-increasing exposure of adolescents living in communities which have high rates of violence affects its victims as well as determine those factors which could provide resiliency against those devastating effects. Moreover, this study focuses on adolescents&rsquo / sense of hope as a resiliency factor. The purpose of this research study was to ascertain adolescents&rsquo / understanding of and the meaning they give to exposure to community violence and the extent to which that exposure affects their sense of hope. In this qualitative study, data was collected by means of two, one hour focus groups comprising a total of 14 participants, 14-15 years of age, residing in a community with high rates of violence. The format of the discussion was semi-structured and conducted in English. Various theories were used in order to better describe the information, such as the social learning theory, feminist theory and Bronfenbrenner&rsquo / s ecological model, but the epistemological framework utilized was social constructionism. Ethical principles such as confidentiality and obtaining informed consent were strictly adhered to. The information received from the participants was analyzed using Braun and Clarke&rsquo / s (2006) thematic analysis and presented in two thematic categories with corresponding themes discussed accordingly</p>

Quantitative and qualitative data from the 2002 Latino Adolescent Transition Study were used to explore differences in acculturative stress and gang involvement between foreign-born and U.S.-born Latino middle school students. Regression analyses showed significant interactions between discrimination stress and immigration status as well as adaptation stress and immigration status. U.S.-born youths were significantly more likely to be gang-involved if they experienced discrimination stress. They were also less likely to be gang-involved if they experienced high adaptation stress. A minority of primarily foreign-born youths identified economic inequality and prejudicial attitudes as factors that differentiated them from Americans. Those reporting economic inequality were more likely to be gang-involved than those who did not. These findings suggest that the origins of gang involvement could differ between the two immigrant generations. Whereas U.S.-born Latinos may be more negatively affected by discrimination, foreign-born Latinos may be more sensitive to their comparatively low economic status.

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Peninsula Technikon, 2003. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-106). Also available online.

The objective of this thesis was to research and gain knowledge about people involved in organized crime in Sweden. By conducting interviews we were able to analyze what factors played a role in an individual's choice to become a member of a criminal gang, as well as to gain an overall picture of these people. The qualitative research was carried out in three different cities in Sweden. Three people, aged between 30 and 60, who are currently members of a gang, were interviewed. In these interviews they shared their life stories in terms of childhood, youth, gang involvement as well as their hopes for the future. The results were then further analyzed to explore any similarities and differences among the participating individuals. Furthermore, these results were then compared with previous research on the topic, as well as different theories. We were  able to conclude several common trends in the experiences of the interviewed people despite all of them being unique. Among other findings, we could see that theories regarding risk factors for criminal development were mostly coherent with that of the interviewees. Risk factors can be segregated into the individual level, family level, peer level, school level and community level. Research on risk factors were shown to match the interviewees' life stories quite well. Some of the common factors were that two of the people who were interviewed came from broken family relationships, all three described themselves as drawn to peer groups seeking excitement, and all three said that their time at school was characterized by violence. All the people interviewed are active members of a gang because it "suited their needs. They all noted, however, that a disadvantage of this lifestyle is that it comes with a lot of stress, especially the fight against the judiciary. It was clear to all three people that they find it difficult to obey the law and that it would be difficult to leave the criminal underworld completely. This means that chronic criminality, as well as other behavior, is the result of habits that are fundamentally difficult to break.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1961.

<p>Violent crime has proven to have profound negative effects, particularly on those living within communities where violence is a dominant feature. The victims often tend to be adolescents, who, while striving for a better future, are often quite vulnerable to its effects. The present study addresses this important social phenomenon which faces the youth of South Africa. There is a growing need to understand the manner in which the ever-increasing exposure of adolescents living in communities which have high rates of violence affects its victims as well as determine those factors which could provide resiliency against those devastating effects. Moreover, this study focuses on adolescents&rsquo / sense of hope as a resiliency factor. The purpose of this research study was to ascertain adolescents&rsquo / understanding of and the meaning they give to exposure to community violence and the extent to which that exposure affects their sense of hope. In this qualitative study, data was collected by means of two, one hour focus groups comprising a total of 14 participants, 14-15 years of age, residing in a community with high rates of violence. The format of the discussion was semi-structured and conducted in English. Various theories were used in order to better describe the information, such as the social learning theory, feminist theory and Bronfenbrenner&rsquo / s ecological model, but the epistemological framework utilized was social constructionism. Ethical principles such as confidentiality and obtaining informed consent were strictly adhered to. The information received from the participants was analyzed using Braun and Clarke&rsquo / s (2006) thematic analysis and presented in two thematic categories with corresponding themes discussed accordingly</p>