Gangs, Race, and 'The Street' in Prison: an Inductive Analysis
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Gangs, Race, and ‘the Street’ in Prison: An Inductive Analysis Dev Rup Maitra Trinity Hall Institute of Criminology University of Cambridge This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2017 i ii ABSTRACT Gangs, Race, and ‘the Street’ in Prison Dev R Maitra 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. iii DECLARATION This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text This thesis, including footnotes, does not exceed the permitted length as set out by the Faculty of Law Degree Committee. ………………………………………………………………………………..…………. Dev R Maitra Date: 20th September 2017 iv In memory of my father, S. K. Maitra. Thank you for all you did, and sorry you were not here to witness any of this. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The road of this PhD has been a long and rocky one. I would like to begin by thanking Professors Gelsthorpe, Liebling and Lösel, who interviewed and accepted me in 2012 for a 1+3 ESRC funded MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge. Without this scholarship, I simply would not have been able to pursue a master’s degree and Doctorate. I would like to sincerely thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for their generous financial support. I also wish to thank Trinity Hall and the Institute of Criminology for additional funding. As for the research itself, many individuals deserve thanks and praise. First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Alison Liebling, for supervising me during my five years at the Institute of Criminology. In the wider field, thanks go to prison officers Bob Styles, Steve Ryan and Malcolm for facilitating much of the research at HMP Manchester, and to Gavin Eaton, Ian Whiteside and Stu Briggs for offering such a warm welcome and assistance during my time at HMP Forest Bank. Thanks to the many other custody staff, wing officers, chaplaincy teams and members of prison management at both prisons, not all of whom I got to know by name, but towards whom I am deeply grateful. I know my research was conducted at a time when the HM Prison Service had faced unprecedented strains and challenges. I know it was not always easy to have a researcher on the wings, let alone to help him along the way. I am immensely grateful to all those who took time out of their already stretched working days to offer guidance and lend me a helping hand. I am also indebted to the help provided by several voluntary organizations in Manchester: Fathers Against Violence, Mothers Against Violence, Mancunian Way, and Cornerstone. Thanks also go to Greater Manchester Police, who were helpful in all their dealings with me, whether within prison walls or at their headquarters. I wish to thank Greater Manchester’s youth workers, gang outreach workers, community members, halfway house volunteers and staff who helped me ‘find my feet’ in an unknown area, on a difficult subject. Alongside my supervisor, I received help from several academics, both in Cambridge and outside. I wish to extend my thanks to these individuals. At the Institute of Criminology, to Dr Ruth Armstrong, Professor Anthony Bottoms, Dr Paolo Campana, Dr Ben Crewe, Dr Caroline Lanskey, Nicki Padfield, Dr Maria Ttofi and Dr Ryan Williams. A special thanks to Stuart vi Stone at the Institute’s Radzinowicz Library, for his assistance, employing me as a librarian, for his financial and moral support. Thanks to Joanne on reception for the smiles and cups of tea. Outside of Cambridge University, thanks to Dr James Densely at Metropolitan State University, Dr Martin Glynn at Birmingham City University, and Professor Ross Deuchar, Professor Chris Holligan and Robert McClean at the University of the West of Scotland. Further, I wish to thank Dr Bella Boyce and Fabio Tartarini at the University of Suffolk. Thanks also to all those at City University, Hong Kong. To wider family and friends, both here and abroad – from my time spent in Cambridge, to my life before. I wish to give special thanks to certain individuals, for their friendship, guidance and support. From my time in Cambridge: Daniel and Meredith, Rin and Jane, Ed, Olga, Thomas, Nico, John, Kirstine, Antoinette VH, Roman, Joana, Victor, Matthew, Sean, Amy, Aiden, Rachel, Sarah and Dexter. From my time before Cambridge: Martin and Liz, James, Ben, Bilal, Maya, Sajid and so many others who helped me along the way. To Jyoti, Bill, Somadi, Bordi, Pratikshita, and all my extended family around the world; in memory of Sejomama, Chotomama, and all those we’ve lost along the way. And those who are still around. A special thanks to my mother for all her love and hard-work, and to my late father, who never got to see any of this. I had never set foot inside a prison before 2013, and it has been a steep learning curve in many ways. I have spoken to so many prisoners, and it would take more than one thesis to fully convey their experiences, their voices, their stories. I hope this thesis goes someway in articulating their experiences. For reasons of anonymity, I cannot thank any of these men by name, but it is their stories which this thesis contains, and seeks to convey. Dev Maitra University of Cambridge, 20th September 2017 vii CONTENTS PAGE Chapter One: Research Overview and Aims 1 1.1 Research Objectives 1 1.2 Thesis Structure 2 1.3 Justification for the Study 3 1.4 Methodological Overview 5 1.5 Limitations 6 Chapter Two: Introduction 7 2.1 The History of Greater Manchester 7 2.2 The History of Manchester’s Street and Prison Gangs 11 2.2.1 The Past – How Greater Manchester’s Street Gangs Evolved 11 2.2.2 The QS Gang 12 2.2.3 Gooch and Doddington 14 2.2.4 ‘Gunchester’ 15 2.2.5 The History of Manchester’s Prison Gangs 19 2.3 The Academic Deficit 20 Chapter Three: Methodology 22 3.1 Sample 22 3.2 Background to the Study 24 3.3 Sample Sites 27 3.3.1 Greater Manchester 27 3.3.2 HMP Manchester 28 3.3.3 HMP Forest Bank 29 3.4 ‘Getting In, Getting On, Getting Out’ 30 3.4.1 ‘Getting In’ 31 3.4.1.1 Getting in to HMP Manchester 31 3.4.1.2 Getting in to HMP Forest Bank 32 3.4.2 ‘Getting On’ 33 3.4.2.1 ‘Do No Harm’ – Ethics and Fieldwork 34 3.4.2.2 ‘Getting on’ at HMP Manchester 35 viii 3.4.2.3 ‘Getting on’ at HMP Forest Bank 42 3.4.3 ‘Getting Out’ 47 3.5 Development of the Research Process Post-Prison 48 3.5.1 Ethics on ‘the street’ 51 3.6 Questionnaires and Methods of Data Collection 52 3.7 Recording and Transcribing of Data 53 3.8 Data Analysis 53 3.9 Anonymity and Confidentiality 54 3.12 Personal Safety 55 Chapter Four: Defining the Gang 58 4.1 Defining ‘the Gang’ 58 4.2 Prison Gangs 64 4.3 Organised Crime 67 4.4 The Functions of Gangs in the Community and in Prison 70 4.5 The Relationship Between Prison and the Wider Community 72 4.6 The Debate Around ‘Gang Talk’ and ‘Gang Talkers’ 74 4.7 ‘The Gang’ Redefined 75 4.8 ‘Set up to Fail’ – Labelled as Gang Members 76 4.9 Arriving at an Operationalizable Definition of Gangs 81 4.10 A Reconceptualization of Yablonsky’s (1962) framework 84 4.11 The Spontaneous Gathering 89 4.12 The Contemporary Violent Gang 91 4.13 The Enterprise Gang 100 Chapter Five: Greater Manchester’s Street Gangs – the Present 112 5.1 The Legacy of Gooch and Doddington 112 5.2 The Salford Lads 117 5.3 Conclusion 121 Chapter Six: Gangs and Race 123 6.1 Race on the Streets 123 6.2 Critical Race Theory (CRT) 131 6.3 Race Behind Bars 135 ix 6.4 Race, Reconciliation and the Contemporary Situation 141 Chapter Seven Gangs Behind Bars 146 7.1 Introduction 146 7.2 Institutional Cultures and Practices 147 7.3 Signalling in Prison: “Who Do You Chill With?”