University of Huddersfield Repository Smithson, Hannah, Christmann, Kris, Armitage, Rachel, Monchuk, Leanne, Whitehead, Antony and Rogerson, Michelle Young People’s Involvement in Gangs and Guns in Liverpool Original Citation Smithson, Hannah, Christmann, Kris, Armitage, Rachel, Monchuk, Leanne, Whitehead, Antony and Rogerson, Michelle (2009) Young People’s Involvement in Gangs and Guns in Liverpool. Research Report. University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/24788/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. 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For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ Young People’s Involvement in Gangs and Guns in Liverpool Dr Hannah Smithson Kris Christmann Dr Rachel Armitage Leanne Monchuk Dr Antony Whitehead Michelle Rogerson January 2010 The authors Dr Hannah Smithson and Dr Rachel Armitage and Michelle Rogerson are senior research fellows, Dr Antony Whitehead is Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Kris Christmann is a research fellow and Leanne Monchuk is a research assistant at the Applied Criminology Centre, University of Huddersfield. Acknowledgements The research team would like to thank a number of people and organisations for their help and assistance in carrying out this study. We would like to thank the DISARM Partnership for their support and patience in carrying out such a sensitive piece of work. The Matrix Police team, in particular, Inspector Alison Foulkes for her assistance in the gathering of data and contacts. North Liverpool YOS for identifying young people to interview. Alan and Maria at Positive Futures in Kirkdale for their inspirational insights into the lives of the young people they worked with. Hindley YOI for allowing the team to visit the prison and interview such a large number of young men. Finally, to the young people without whom we would not have gathered the unique insight into the realities of their lives. Page 3 of 121 Contents Contents .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Key Findings and Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 8 Section 1 Research aims and Methodology .................................................................................................. 14 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 14 1.2 Structure of the Report ..................................................................................................................... 14 1.3 Research Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 15 1.5 Liverpool and the Research Study Areas ........................................................................................... 19 Section 2 The Extent and Nature of Young People’s Involvement with Gangs in Liverpool ......................... 23 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Defining Gangs ................................................................................................................................... 23 2.3 The Extent and Nature of Gang Involvement in the UK .................................................................... 24 2.4 The Extent and Nature of Gang Involvement in Liverpool ................................................................ 25 2.5 Factors Influencing Gang Involvement: The Research Evidence ....................................................... 32 2.6 Factors Influencing Gang Involvement: Evidence from Liverpool Evidence ...................................... 34 2.7 Summary: The Extent and Nature of Young People’s Involvement with Gangs ................................ 47 2.8 Key Findings: The Extent and Nature of Young People’s Involvement with Gangs ........................... 47 Section 3 The Extent and Nature of Young People’s Involvement with Guns in Liverpool ........................... 49 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 49 3.2 The Extent and Nature of Gun Crime in the UK ................................................................................. 49 3.3 The Extent and Nature of Gun Crime in Liverpool ............................................................................. 51 3.4 The Impact of Media Reporting on Gun Crime .................................................................................. 55 3.5 Factors Influencing Involvement with Illegal firearms: The Research Evidence ................................ 57 3.6 Factors Influencing Involvement with Illegal Firearms: Evidence from Liverpool ............................. 59 3.7 Summary: The Extent and Nature of Young People’s Involvement with Gun Crime ......................... 62 3.8 Key Findings: The Extent and Nature of Young People’s Involvement with Guns ............................. 62 Section 4 Intervening in Gangs and Guns: Which interventions look promising? ......................................... 64 4.1 The Response to Gangs: Models of Gang Intervention ..................................................................... 64 Page 4 of 121 4.2 The response to Gangs – Intervention Programmes in the US .......................................................... 66 4.3 The Response to Gangs – Interventions Programmes in the UK ....................................................... 70 4.4 The Response to Guns – Intervention Programmes in the UK .......................................................... 72 4.5 The Response to Gangs and Guns: Interventions in Liverpool .......................................................... 77 4.6 The Response to Gangs and Guns in Liverpool: Practitioners Perceptions ....................................... 81 4.7 The Response to Guns and Gangs in Liverpool: Perceptions of Young People .................................. 91 4.8 Summary: The Response to Gangs and Guns .................................................................................... 92 4.9 Key Findings: Responses to Guns and Gangs ..................................................................................... 93 Section 5 Conclusions and Recommendations .............................................................................................. 96 5.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 96 5.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 99 Section 6 References ................................................................................................................................... 106 Appendix 1: Security of Data ........................................................................................................................... 112 Appendix 2: Knife Crime in Liverpool .............................................................................................................. 113 Appendix 3: Practitioner Interview Schedule .................................................................................................. 117 Appendix 4: Young Person’s Interview Schedule ............................................................................................ 119 Appendix 5: Young Person’s Consent Form and Confidentiality Agreement .................................................. 121 Page 5 of 121 Executive Summary