Ganging up on gangs: why the gang intervention industry needs an intervention

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The British Journal of Forensic Practice

ISSN: 1463-6646
Currently published as: Journal of Forensic Practice

Online from: 1999

Subject Area: Health and Social Care

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Document Information:
Title:	Ganging up on gangs: why the gang intervention industry needs an intervention
Author(s):	James Densley, (University of Oxford, UK)
Citation:	James Densley, (2011) "Ganging up on gangs: why the gang intervention industry needs an intervention", The British Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 13 Iss: 1, pp.12 - 23
Keywords:	Evaluation, Intervention, Policing, Prisons, Street gangs
Article type:	General review
DOI:	10.5042/bjfp.2011.0046 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Abstract:	Following a recent significant rise in ‘gang-related’ teenage homicide in London, this paper critically examines the Greater London gang phenomenon and the city's burgeoning gang intervention industry. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews with gang members and representatives of the gang intervention industry, the paper presents some of the perils and pitfalls of the current approach to gangs. It argues instead for a sustained yet sober appreciation of the gang phenomenon which includes a shift away from more punitive measures towards a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach that is both meaningful and measurable.