This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights and duplication or sale of all or part is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for research, private study, criticism/review or educational purposes. Electronic or print copies are for your own personal, non- commercial use and shall not be passed to any other individual. No quotation may be published without proper acknowledgement. For any other use, or to quote extensively from the work, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder/s. Graftin’ up ‘anley duck: Narrating the influence of unemployment upon identity and crime in Stoke-on- Trent By Ian Mahoney Submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of PhD in Criminology October 2015 Keele University Abstract This thesis sets out to explore the influences of unemployment upon senses of identity and involvement in crime in Stoke-on-Trent. It draws upon the Free Association Interview method to explore the lives and experiences of a group of men living in some of the most deprived parts of the city between 2010 and 2014. It looks at experiences of unemployment, underemployment and insecure employment upon the lives and narratives of these men and their perceptions of the world around them. It aims to understand the effect of their experiences and how they have come to reconcile their position in society. The thesis strives to outline how people construct and maintain an identity which makes sense to them in the face of the significant challenges posed by the deindustrialisation and prolonged decline of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It seeks to reveal how their evolving sense of self is influenced by the communities in which they live, whether that is an urban, social housing estate, a hostel or on the streets. The thesis looks to challenge existing hegemonic depictions of what it is to be part of the homogenously branded socially excluded and the manner in which senses of social order which, although they may not be seen as ‘normal’ or acceptable to wider society, are formed. It argues that the people deemed socially excluded are active and engaged actors seeking to find senses of security, belonging and unity in an increasingly atomised, insecure and fragmented world. Keywords: abjection, identity, crime, unemployment, defensible self, Free Association Narrative Interview method Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... i List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Structure ........................................................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter Two: Outlining Stoke-on-Trent ............................................................................................ 18 The rise and Golden Age of Stoke-on-Trent .......................................................................................... 20 The fragility of Bone China ......................................................................................................................... 23 Bentilee Case Study........................................................................................................................................ 35 Crime and Justice in Stoke-on-Trent ........................................................................................................ 40 Picking up the pieces ..................................................................................................................................... 45 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Chapter Three: Government, the media and the Welfare State .................................................... 53 Representations of Work .............................................................................................................................. 53 Rolling back the Welfare State ................................................................................................................... 57 Government, Policy and the Media ........................................................................................................... 69 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................................................... 75 Chapter Four: Excavating Working-Class Identity .......................................................................... 76 Formation of the Working-Classes ........................................................................................................... 77 Agency and Will ............................................................................................................................................. 85 Post-industrial identity in crisis ................................................................................................................. 89 Reconstructing the Self ................................................................................................................................. 97 What next? .................................................................................................................................................... 104 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................................... 110 Chapter Five: Methodologies .............................................................................................................. 112 Free Association Narrative Method ........................................................................................................ 114 Identifying the communities ...................................................................................................................... 120 Recruitment and Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 122 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 133 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................................................ 134 Reflections ...................................................................................................................................................... 140 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................................... 143 Chapter Six: Participant Profiles ........................................................................................................ 145 Tristan............................................................................................................................................................. 146 Mohammed Abdullah .................................................................................................................................. 148 Pickles ............................................................................................................................................................. 151 Darren ............................................................................................................................................................. 154 Phil ................................................................................................................................................................... 157 Michael ............................................................................................................................................................ 159 AJ ...................................................................................................................................................................... 160 Spanish Omelette .......................................................................................................................................... 162 Simon ............................................................................................................................................................... 165 Gandi ............................................................................................................................................................... 168 Storm ............................................................................................................................................................... 170 Hatman ............................................................................................................................................................ 173 Brian ...............................................................................................................................................................