A recording of the 'Social Divisions & Identities' session from the Cumberland Lodge conference on 'Understanding and Policing Gangs' in June 2019, featuring presentations from:
- John Pitts, Vauxhall Professor of Socio-legal Studies at the University of Bedfordshire's Institute of Applied Social Research (0:50)
- Lord Victor Adebowale CBE, Chief Executive of Turning Point (from 17:52)
This session was chaired by Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney QPM, national policing lead for children and young people, and the guest presentations were followed by group discussions and questions for the panel.
Prof Pitts shares some of his wide-ranging research into the changing face of youth crime and gang culture in the UK today, drawing on examples from across the country. He addresses the question of how a sense of alienation, inequality and lack of belonging in disadvantaged communities can propel individuals to join high-risk groups. He also talks about the 'racialisation' of disadvantaged communities.
Lord Adebowale describes his work on youth crime prevention and with gang members, including his work on the London Youth Crime Prevention Board. He talks about the 'flow' and 'stock' of gang membership, touching on knife crime, fear as a driver, declining youth service infrastructure, and the influence of parenting, as well as the rehabilitation of offenders and behavioural interventions. He describes gang culture not as a 'youth problem', but as 'an adult problem, which makes it our problem'.
Find out more about this conference at: https://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/whats-on/understanding-and-policing-gangs
