This project investigates how youth in San Salvador, El Salvador define and participate in the co-creation of safety in their neighborhoods. For many years, El Salvador topped the rankings of most dangerous countries because of street gang violence and homicides. As the homicide rates have fallen in recent years, due to mass incarceration of street gang members, trust in state authority to effectively participate in the co-creation of safety has empowered young Salvadorans to also participate in that co-creation through reclaiming space. By painting over gang graffiti, the youth are participating in discourse in a public sphere, making claims to safety in their communities. Feelings and understanding of safety are also influenced by the representation and reputation of a place, thus this project included the creation of a participatory documentary for the youth to be a part of the representation of their country and communities. The documentary shows the painting over of gang graffiti and includes participant responses to questions about safety and representation. The video along with the interview responses show that the youth’s feelings of safety are tied to their physical environment, including the presence of gang graffiti, and that they are eager for their country to overcome the historical representation of being a dangerous place.

Det brottsförebyggande arbetet har stött på stora utmaningar i att förebygga att barn och unga rekryteras till kriminella gäng. Genom att arbeta förebyggande i tidiga åldrar och stärka barns prosociala utveckling minskar risken att unga individer utvecklar antisocialt beteende. I en mindre kommun i Sverige arbetar personal på mötesplatser, tidigare benämnt ungdomsgård, med att stärka barn och ungas prosociala utveckling. Detta arbete utformas utifrån den sociala utvecklingsmodellen [SDM]. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur personal på mötesplatser upplever sitt arbete med att stärka barn och ungas prosociala utveckling, och hur detta kan minska nyrekrytering till kriminella gäng. Analysen baseras på fyra intervjuer. Resultaten visar att det går att arbeta med modellen för att stärka barn och ungas prosociala utveckling. Respondenterna lyfter att barn och unga behöver känna att de hör hemma någonstans och ser att mötesplatserna kan utgöra ett positivt sammanhang för dem att utvecklas i. SDM strukturerar arbetet och ger möjligheter till att minska unga individers sårbarhet för gängrekrytering, men det förebyggande arbetet måste börjas tidigt. / It is challenging to prevent youths' from getting recruited to criminal gangs. Strengthening youths' prosocial development will in parallel reduce the risk of developing antisocial behavior. In a small municipality in Sweden, youth centers are working to strengthen youths' prosocial development. Their work is based on The Social Development Model [SDM]. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how staff at these youth centers work to strengthen prosocial development in youth, and how this can reduce recruitment to criminal gangs. Four interviews with staff from the youth centers were carried out. Results showed that by employing the SDM enhances youths’ prosocial development. Youths explicitly have a need to feel that they belong somewhere. Respondents also expressed that their work with SDM at the youth centers creates a positive context where youth can develop. SDM provides structure and reduces vulnerability in youth which in turn hinders gang recruitment. Nonetheless, in order for the prevention to be successful, it has to start early.

A frequent news feature today deals with gang crime. The problem of gang crime has emerged as one of the biggest societal challenges to deal with in modern times. News reporting can many times be received by the recipient casually without questioning the content of what is presented. The purpose of this study is to study how gang crime and the areas associated with it are presented in the newspaper media, as well as what effects this may have for residents in the areas that are often associated with gang crime. In this study, the newspaper media will be represented by Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet. The research questions answered in the study are "How is gang crime presented in Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet?" and "How are identities for areas and residents reproduced through this representation?". In order to answer the questions, discourse analysis has been used as a method for the study's approach. Discourse analysis has also been used as a theoretical approach together with the concepts of stigma and stereotypes. The study is based on Michael Foucault's (1993) view of discourse analysis.A majority of the newspaper articles that write about the phenomenon of gang crime showed a strong connection between drug trafficking, violence and shootings, as well as the relationship between gang crime and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Power is expressed in several different ways, in this study the portrayal of gang crime in the media has contributed to a stereotypical image of gang criminals and gang crime that spreads like rings on the water to others around who look or talk a certain way, or live in a certain area. The results of the study show that stigmatization of criminals and crime contributes to people of a certain ethnicity, gender and age who come from socio-economically vulnerable areas often being associated with gang criminals and gang crime. This is done through the mass media's creation and recreation of stereotypical images that come with news reporting which the majority of people accept without question.

Gang membership is associated with increased exposure to risky behaviors, including violent victimization and other negative health outcomes (Krohn and Thornberry 2008; Howell and Decker 1999) Using a sample of 74 African American female gang members from Champaign IL, this study explores the association between gang friendships and risky sexual behavior, specifically the number of sexual partners an individual has had. I argue that gang friendship networks are proxies for risky behavior and this may extend into the realm of sexual health as well. Understanding the effect of friendship may help to explain an individual’s propensities towards risky sexual behavior above and beyond individual level attributes, as friendship has been linked to peer influence. I will examine three main research questions. (1) What is the broad effect of friendship on sexual risk taking among female gang members? (2) How does gang affiliation alter the effect of friendship? and (3) How does the effect of friendship differ based on the strength of the tie? Findings suggest that friendship networks have a strong prediction effect on number of sexual partners amongst gang women in my sample, but varies based on type of friendship and strength of tie. Results suggest that affiliated gang friends increase the likelihood of having more sexual partners, whereas non-affiliated and non-gang friends decrease this likelihood. When disaggregated, the strength of the relationship is significant.

This study investigated the perceptions of Hmong youth gang members and professional workers related to the following research questions: How does a Hmong youth become a gang member? Why are Hmong youth involved in gangs? What are the benefits of being in a gang? What are the activities that Hmong youths do in a gang? How does a gang member get out of the gang? An open-ended survey questionnaire was used for the Hmong youth gang members. A standardized open-ended interview approach was used for the professional workers. Twenty-eight youth gang members and ten professional workers participated in this study. The data collected from this study were analyzed using description, classification, and interpretation techniques. The findings show that a Hmong youth can become a gang member by forming a gang, jumping in (being beaten), or committing a criminal activity. It was found that the youth gang members joined the gang for a variety of reasons, such as having siblings or friends who were in the gang, intimidation, discrimination, fun and excitement, family problems, or school problems. The most frequently stated reasons were gang friends and intimidation. The findings show that the gang provides the gang member friendship, social bonding, belonging, economic gain, respect, support, protection, fun and excitement. The activities that the youth gang members engage in include smoking, drinking, partying, dealing drugs, stealing, fighting, drive-by shootings, and home invasions. The study indicates that jumping out (being beaten), moving away, or getting married are the different ways that a Hmong youth gang member can get out of the gang.

The thesis examines the subcultural activities and online fan community of Drainers (fans of the music collective Drain Gang) through TikTok. A netnographic analysis of fans’ engagement and community cultivation through prosumption is done through participation observation.  Samples taken using a non-probability purposive sampling method are analyzed, categorized, and coded. By using theories of prosumption, uses and gratifications and a contemporary online take on subcultural theory from Bennet (2004) as well as Genova et al. (2022), the samples provide an insight into Drainers and their subculture.  Results from the study suggest that community within TikTok is easy to find, yet difficult to regulate. It can thus be both a space for creative participation and opportunity for exploring identity as much as it can be for receiving negative comments and further stigmatization. Regardless of the app’s implications and limitations, it does successfully provide a platform for fans to connect, bond, share ideas and create authentic identity and a subcultural status.  While plenty of previous research concerning fans and their communities exist, this study is through researcher’s immersion opening up a discussion about Drain Gang’s subculture and fans, which is essentially an untouched area of research. Although limitations are present such as lack of possibility to pick samples on TikTok based on publication date, as well as bias while collecting samples, it provides an insight into the online community and subculture which can be used to further explore the topic.

Syftet med den här studien har varit att undersöka hur socialarbetare beskriver sitt arbete med barn och ungdomar som befinner sig i gängkriminella miljöer och hur de uppfattar gynnsamma faktorer och hinder i sitt arbete. Kvalitativa intervjuer med sex socialarbetare har gjorts. Handlingsutrymme, people-processing, people-changing, people-sustaining och social brottsprevention har använts i analysen. Resultatet visade att socialarbetarnas arbete med barn och ungdomar i gängkriminella miljöer innefattar arbete som faller innanför och ett som faller utanför uppdraget. Faktorer som ansågs gynnsamma var bland annat några utbildningar, handböcker, stöd från kollegor och chefer samt individuellt förvärvad kunskap. Hinder i arbetet innefattar bland annat ostrukturerade introduktioner, brist på utbildning, bristande insatser och en allmän kunskapsbrist samt bristen på kunskap och lämpliga insatser för målgruppen. De gynnsamma faktorerna kan även vara hinder såtillvida att även om de har kunskap om målgruppen är den inte tillräcklig, särskilt beträffande insatser vilket var studiens främsta fynd. / The aim of this study was to examine how social workers conduct their work with juveniles and young adults in gang-criminal environments based on their perception of favorable factors and obstacles. The applied method was qualitative interviews with six different social workers where the theoretical perspectives were discretion, people-processing, people-changing, people-sustaining and social crime prevention. The results revealed that their work includes both work within their professional duties, such as investigation and work outside of their duties, for instance supporting roles. In addition, the outcome shows favorable aspects that include training courses, manuals, independently gained knowledge and support from colleagues and supervisors. However, the obstacles were unstructured introductions, a lack of training, general lack of knowledge and efforts suitable for the target group. It became apparent that the success factors were also regarded as challenges and that the lack of knowledge, especially interventions, was the primary finding of the study.

Syftet med denna studie är att, genom en netnografisk undersökningsmetod, få en större inblick för hur gängrelaterade brott och den kriminella livsstilen porträtteras i musikgenren gangsterrap. Materialet som analyserats består av 25 låtar av fem olika svenska rapartister på den sociala medieplattformen Youtube. Studien inkluderar även en analys av publikens reaktioner och gensvar på musikens innehåll, genom en analys av kommentarsfälten. Genom en tematisk analysmetod för att analysera det insamlade materialet var det möjligt för oss att identifiera betydelsefulla teman. Vidare har analysen genomförts med stöd av tre teoretiska ramverk: intrycksstyrning, kultivationsteorin och symboliskt kapital. Studiens resultat visar att gangsterrappens musikinnehåll består av skildringar av våldsam karaktär, förhärligande av riskabelt beteenden samt diverse referenser som kan relateras till gängkriminalitet i verkligheten. Analysen visar även ett övervägande neutralt förhållningssätt av publiken gentemot våldsamma illustrationer, och kriminella aktiviteter tycks sällan ifrågasättas. / The aim of this study is to obtain a greater insight of how gang-related crime and the criminal lifestyle is portrayed in the music genre gangster rap. Through a netnographic research method, 25 songs by five different Swedish rap artists on the social media plattform Youtube have been analyzed. The study also includes an analysis of how the audience reacts and responds to the content of the music, by examining the comment sections. Using a thematic analysis as a method for analyzing the collected data allowed us to identify important or interesting themes. Furthermore, the analysis was carried out with the support of three theoretical frameworks: impression management, cultivation theory and symbolic capital. The study shows that the music content consists of occurring depictions of violent nature, glorification of risky behavior and various references that can be related to gang crime in real life. The analysis also shows a predominantly neutral approach from the audience towards violent imagery, and criminal activities rarely seem to be questioned.

No description available.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur studie- och yrkesvägledare beskriver det förebyggandearbetet med barn och unga som riskerar att hamna i en gängkriminell kontext. För att få en djupare förståelse för problematiken och de arbetsmetoder som tillämpas för att stödja elever i riskzonen förgängkriminalitet, utgår studien från en kvalitativ metod där empirin samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta studie- och yrkesvägledare som är verksamma på grundskolor i utsatta områden. Resultaten från studien visar att en central del av det förebyggande arbetet sker i form av samverkan med skolans elevhälsoteam, polis, socialtjänst och övriga aktörer inom det samverkande fältet. En viktig slutsats är att en stor del av arbetet utgår från ett relationsfrämjande förhållningssätt. Vidare är deras upplevelse att vägledningsinsatser spelar en betydande roll för att främja framtidstro hos elever som befinner sig i riskzonen för att hamna i en gängkriminell kontext. Tidiga vägledningsinsatser, upplevsdärför vara av betydelse redan i lägre åldrar. Genom att stärka elevers självförmåga, självkänsla och vidga deras handlingshorisont inför framtida val, kan detta få en förebyggande effekt. Detta arbete försvåras dock på grund av bristande förutsättningar för ett långsiktigt förebyggande arbete som tenderar att dels, i vissa fall, stagnera och dels leda till att arbetet istället får ett fokus på att möta det behov som är mest akut. / The purpose of this study is to examine how study and career counselors describe preventive work with children and adolescents at risk of becoming involved in gang-related activities. To gain a deeper understanding of the issues and the methods applied to support students at risk of gang involvement, the study adopts a qualitative approach, collecting empirical data through semi-structured interviews with eight study and career counselors working in compulsory schools in vulnerable areas. The results of the study show that a central part of the preventive work is carried out through collaboration with the school’s student welfare team, police, social services, and other actors in the collaborative field. An important conclusion is that a significant part of the work is based on a relationship-building approach. Furthermore, their experience is that career counselor’s interventions play a significant role in promoting hope for the future among students at risk of involvement in gang-related activities. Early career counselor’s interventions are therefore perceived to be important even at younger ages. By strengthening students’ self-efficacy, self-esteem, and broadening their horizon of action, this can have a preventive effect. However, this work is challenged by the lack of conditions for long-term preventive work, which tends to, in some cases, stagnate and, in others, lead to a focus on meeting the most acute needs.