Gangs, County Lines and Child Criminal Exploitation: A Case Study of Merseyside Grace Robinson BSc (Hons), MA Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of Edge Hill University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Law and Criminology, Edge Hill University. September 2019 Abstract This research focuses on the involvement of gangs in County Lines drug dealing and processes of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE). Data were collected by way of semi- structured interviews, focus groups and informal discussions with two samples of participants: gang-involved or gang-associated young people, and practitioners working with gang-involved or gang-associated young people. Practitioners were from criminal justice agencies (Youth Offending Teams (YOTs), Police, Young Offender Institutes (YOIs)), third-sector organisations and Alternative Education Providers (AEPs). Research was conducted with participants from four of the five boroughs that make up Merseyside, and as such the project took on the form of a case study of one part of England. Thematic analysis was utilised to identify various themes in the samples. Practitioners provided their understandings of CCE and highlighted factors impacting their ability to help gang-involved young people in an age of austerity, and gang-involved young people discussed processes of County Lines drug dealing and provided examples of CCE. The thesis provides numerous contributions to knowledge including: providing a thorough understanding of a complex problem; hearing the voices of often difficult to access groups of young people, and; capturing the realities of gangs, Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines from Merseyside - a place which has largely been left out of academic debate surrounding gangs. Other findings examined how exploited young people adopted and internalised the role of exploiter and used moral neutralisation techniques to justify their criminal and exploitative behaviour. In its entirety, the thesis offers humorous, heart-breaking and shocking accounts. It argues for the need to re-examine popular discourses of CCE and County Lines and understand the complexities in the everyday lives of those involved. The research project was the first of its kind to criminologically investigate the newly termed Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines from a professional perspective and also from the lived experiences of children and young people growing up in Merseyside, during the beginning of the twenty-first century. i Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………....i Contents……………………………………………………………………………..ii Declaration…………………………………………………………………..iv Author’s Acknowledgements………………………………………………...v Acronyms and Abbreviations………………………………………………..vi Glossary of Terms and ‘Scouse’ Idioms…………………………………...viii Chapter One: Introduction………………………………………………………....1 Research questions…………………………………………………………...2 Structure of Thesis and Chapter Summary…………………………………...3 Chapter Two: Literature Review…………………………………………………..7 Introduction. ………………………………………………………………....7 Context: Gang Evolution and Gang Processes…………………………….....8 Defining a Gang………………………………………………………….....11 Quantifying Gang Membership in the UK……………………………….....14 Media Representations and Application of the Gang Label……….………..25 Government Policy: Dealing with Gangs…………………………………...27 Society, Economy and Deprivation………………………………………....29 Risk Factors of, and Motivations for, Gang Membership…………………..30 Trauma and Mental Health……………………………………………….....41 Girls and Gangs……………………………………………………………. 44 Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines……………………………..48 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..58 Chapter Three: Methodology and Methods…………………………………..…59 Introduction………………………………………………………………....59 Methodological Rationale…………………………………………………..60 Sampling and Access………………………………………………………..63 Methods of Data Collection………………………………………………...68 Analytical Strategy………………………………………………………….79 Ethical and Political Considerations……………………………………….. 81 Limitations and Reflection………………………………………………….89 Chapter Four: Findings: Young people……………………………………….....94 Introduction………………………………………………………………....94 Norms and Beliefs………………………………………………………..…95 Marginalisation…………………………………………………………….105 Child Criminal Exploitation……………………………………………….110 Deviant Entrepreneurism and the Participants’ Exploitation of Drug Use………………………………………………………………..129 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………137 Chapter Five: Findings: Practitioners………………………………………......139 Introduction………………………………………………………………..139 Child Criminal Exploitation…………………………………………….....140 The Business of Drug Dealing………………………………………….....169 ii Culture of Austerity……………………………………………………..…175 Conclusion………………………………………………………………....185 Chapter Six: Discussion and Conclusion………………………………………..187 Introduction……………………………………………………………..…187 Understandings of Child Criminal Exploitation…………………………...188 Victim-Perpetrator Relationship…………………………………………...192 Victims Becoming Perpetrators……………………………………………194 School Exclusion and Child Criminal Exploitation……………………….196 The Role of Cannabis……………………………………………………...198 Recommendations………………………………………………………... 200 Reference List……………………………………………………………….........205 Appendices………………………………………………………………………..239 Appendix 1.Practitioner Participant Information Sheet…………………...239 Appendix 2. Young Person Information Sheet…………………………....241 Appendix 3. Practitioner Consent Form……………………………….…..243 Appendix 4. Young Person Consent Form………………………………...244 Appendix 5. Young Person Demographics Questionnaire………………...245 Appendix 6. Practitioner Interview Schedule……………………………...247 Appendix 7. Young Person Interview Schedule………………………..…250 Appendix 8. Demographics of Young People Sample………………….....253 Appendix 9. Demographics of Practitioner Sample…………………….... 254 Appendix 10. Recruitment Sources / Institutions Accessed……………… 255 Appendix 11. Thematic Map………………………………………………256 List of Tables Table 1. Demographics of the Young People Sample Including Method of Data Collection Implemented.…………………………………………..…..67 iii Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely my own work and has not been submitted in any other form of award of a higher degree at any other educational institution. Some data collected from this research has been published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparitive Criminology. Robinson, G, McLean, R., & Densley, J. (2019) Working County Lines: Child Criminal Exploitation and Illicit Drug Dealing in Glasgow and Merseyside. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63(5), pp. 694-711. iv Acknowledgements I would firstly like to say a huge thank you to the organisations across Merseyside involved in making this research possible. Not only did they provide me with access to professionals, but also to the young people who they worked with on a daily basis. Thus, I would like to say thank you to the many incredible young people who took a chance and gave up their time to discuss, often difficult, experiences with me. I learned so much from these young people and will never forget their level of openness and sense of humour whilst sharing heartbreaking elements of their lives. I will always be grateful to Professor Andrew Millie and Dr. Eleanor Peters for their supervision over the past three years. They provided me with advice, direction and encouragement on both an academic and personal level, and for that I owe a debt of gratitude. I would also like to thank my parents and brother for their unstinting moral support without which would have made completing the PhD a much more difficult process, and my grandparents whom both sadly passed away during this journey, however would have read every word of the thesis ten times over given the opportunity. I am also very grateful to Dr. Robert Hesketh and Paul Walmsley for their support. On numerous occasions they have gone above and beyond to help with various stages of the PhD. Finally I would like to say thankyou to Luke Fox for his motivation, encouragement and humour, and dealing with my fluctuating moods during difficult stages of the course. Here’s to the next chapter. v Acronyms and Abbreviations ACE – Adverse Childhood Experience ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder AEP – Alternative Education Provider ASBO – Anti-Social Behaviour Order CARMAC – Child at Risk Multi-Agency Conference CBD - Cannabidiol CBO – Criminal Behaviour Order CCE – Child Criminal Exploitation CPS – Crown Prosecution Service CSEW – Crime Survey for England and Wales DSG – Deviant Street Group EGYV – Ending Gang and Youth Violence HMP – Her Majesty Prison ILM – Intermediate Labour Market ISSP – Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme KMBC – Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council LAC – Looked After Child LDF – Lewis Dunne Foundation MARSOC – Multi-Agency Response to Serious and Organised Crime MSA – Modern Slavery Act NEET – Not in Education, Employment or Training NHS – National Health Service NIM – National Intelligence Model OCG – Organised Crime Gang/Group ONS – Office for National Statistics OG – Original Gangster OT – Out There PRU – Pupil Referral Unit PWITS – Possession with Intent to Supply SALT - Sport Art Learning and Training SEN – Special Educational Needs SMBC – Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council vi THC - Tetrahydrocannabinol TYP – Targeted Youth Prevention UK – United Kingdom YOI – Young Offender Institute YOS – Youth Offending Service YOT – Youth Offending Team YRO – Youth Rehabilitation Order vii Glossary of Terms and ‘Scouse’ Idioms B’s – brown / heroin Bally