A critical exploration of why some individuals with similar backgrounds do or do not become involved in deviant street groups and the potential implications for their future life choices. Item Type Thesis or dissertation Authors Hesketh, Robert F. Citation Hesketh, R. F. (2018). A critical exploration of why some individuals with similar backgrounds do or do not become involved in deviant street groups and the potential implications for their future life choices. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Chester, United Kingdom. Publisher University of Chester Rights Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States Download date 29/09/2021 14:47:50 Item License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10034/621403 A critical exploration of why some individuals with similar backgrounds do or do not become involved in deviant street groups and the potential implications for their future life choices. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Chester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Robert Francis Hesketh BA (Hons), MA, M.Sc Psychol. July 2018 Table of Contents Content Page Dedication III Abstract IV Declaration by the V candidate Acknowledgements VI Glossary of terms VII Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature review 42 Chapter 3: Methodology & method 85 Chapter 4: Results Deviant Street 114 Group Members (DSGMs) Chapter 5: Results Non-Group 145 Participants/Ex-Deviant Street Group Members (EDSGMs) Chapter 6: Discussion 168 Chapter 7: Conclusion 189 Reference list 203 Table of Appendices Page Appendix A Annotated bibliographic 226 overview of lit review sources Appendix B Quality Assessment Sheet 253 Appendix C Data Extraction Sheet 254 Appendix D Participant Information 255 Sheet Appendix E Consent Form 258 List of Tables Table Page 1. Risk factors 38 2. Protective factors 38-39 3. Total number of identified 46 sources (literature review) 4. Open coding (number of 108 concepts generated) 5. Axial coding (the merging 108 of sub-categories into main categories) I 6. Properties and dimensions 108 of the core category 7. The content of the five 112 main themes in both sub- session 1. and sub-session 2. (return to narrative). 8. Schematics of the 114-115 demographic participants (DSGMs) 9. Risk factors 143-144 10. Schematics of the 145 demographic participants (NGPs/EDSGMs) 11. Protective factors 166 Table of Figures Figure Page 1. Prism flowchart of data 47 extraction process 2. Paradigm model DSGMs 119 Merseyside 3. Paradigm model 149 NGPs/EDSGMs 4. Summary of DSGM main 191 findings placed into the five domains (risk) 5. Summary of DSGM main 192 findings placed into the five domains (protective) II Dedication This thesis is the intellectual result of over three years of research. It has been a long personal journey and with this in mind I would like to make the following dedications. This thesis is first and foremost dedicated to the memory of my father Bob who passed away in March 2004 and to my mother Cathy, who passed away in March 2015. Both supported me financially and emotionally in pursuit of all my academic studies and it is due to them that I have reached the level that I have today. I would also like to dedicate this thesis to all of those young people past, present and future who, because of lack of suitable intervention on the part of politicians and state institutions who fail to recognise real inner-city issues such as inequality and lack of social mobility, will sadly end up as victims of social exclusion. III Abstract This thesis will primarily address the issue of street gang involvement and non-involvement in gang prevalent areas of Merseyside. Specifically, it will address why some individuals with similar backgrounds do or do not become involved in deviant street groups and the potential implications for their future life choices. Reporting for the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) Cordis Bright Consulting (2015) have observed that when assessing young people about whom there is concern because of violence and street gang involvement, practitioners should consider both risk and protective factors in five key domains: individual, peers, community, school and family. In determining the vulnerability and resilience of young people to gang membership on Merseyside, the study attempted to identify prominent variables within each of these domains and the research was undertaken with participants from a variety of marginalised locations of Merseyside. The study applied a hybrid approach consisting of Biographical Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM, Wengraf, 2001) as the means of data collection with Grounded Theory (GT) as the form of analysis (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Two samples of participants were drawn from marginalised areas of Merseyside consisting of a total of 44 males age range 18-25 (one consisting of 26 gang involved participants (termed Deviant Street Group Members (DSGs)), and the second containing 11 non-gang participants (termed ‘Non-group Participants’ (NGPs) and 7 individuals identified as ex-gang participants (termed ‘Ex- Deviant Street Group participants’ (EDSGMs)). The findings draw attention to the considerable amount of social commentary and government policy that has intensified, pathologised and problemised the issue of gangs, gang membership and gang non-membership in the United Kingdom (UK). Moreover, they identify the effects of marginalisation and limited opportunity as the over-riding protagonists and highlight how young disenfranchised people, some more resilient than others cope with growing up in marginalised areas of Merseyside. In particular, contrary to the EIF’s observations that “family and peer group risk factors are not found to be strongly associated with gang membership as individual risk factors” (2015, p. 7), the study finds evidence that quality of parenting by fathers/father figures (family domain) and friendship networks (peer domain) together with the development of social capital can be key variables in the decision to become involved in or abstain from gang membership on Merseyside. Other factors identified, include the application of demonising government policies, the existence of edgework risk taking including criminal eroticism (individual domain) in young men and the impact of social migration (neighbourhood domain) on the decision to become involved, disengage or completely abstain from gangs was also noted to be significant. IV Declaration by the Candidate 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. No section of the thesis has been published elsewhere. V Acknowledgements First and foremost, my thanks go to all 44 respondents who have voluntarily taken part in the study. I would especially like to thank the managers of the following centres: they include Jean Lowe, Centre 63, Verity Rhodes at Vee’s Place, Lee Gibson and Eileen Hibbert at Rocket Training Ltd, John Riley (key worker) at Pinehurst and Tom Harrison of Home Ground (local solutions). My thanks to Councillor Bill Weightman (former chair of what was the Merseyside Police Authority), who was the first to recognise the potential of the study. Thanks also go to Merseyside Police together with the University of Chester for their valuable financial sponsorship. Finally, my very special thanks and appreciation is reserved for my academic supervisor’s Dr Karen M. Corteen (Principal supervisor), Dr Sharon Morley and Professor Anne Boran of the Department of Social and Political Science and Professor Dean Garratt of Faculty of Education and Children’s Services, University of Chester, whose excellent support, close monitoring and guidance has been of critical importance to the project at every stage. In addition, I also extend my gratitude to Dr Rachael Steele, School of Law, John Moores University whose valuable assistance in proofreading the thesis is much appreciated. Finally, special thanks also extended to Maria Hardie Academic Liaison Librarian, Library Services, Alderham Robarts Library, Liverpool John Moores University, Dr Lisa Jones, Ms Ellie McCoy, School of Public Health Liverpool John Moores University and Mr Tim Wilson Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC North West) for their consultation guidance and advice in helping me develop a systematic literature search strategy. VI Glossary of Terms ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder BME: Black and other Minority Ethnic CCA: Conventional Content Analysis CDRP: Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership CSP: Community Safety Partnership DCLG: Department of Communities and Local Government DSG/s: Deviant Street Group/s DSGM: Deviant Street Group Member EDSGM: Ex-Deviant Street Group Member EYGV: Ending Youth and Gang Violence Programme IMD: Index of Multiple Deprivation KMBC: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council NEET: Not in Education or Employment Training NGP: Non-Group Participant OCG: Organised Crime Group ODD: Oppositional Defiant Disorder ONS: Office for National Statistics PIN: Particular Incident Narrative PPO: Prolific and other Priority Offender TFP: Troubled Families Programme TGAP: Tackling Gangs Action Programme TQUIN: Topical Question Inducing Narrative TWOC: Taking Without Owners Consent SHEIOT: Situation-Happening-Incident-Occurrence-Time SQUIN: Single Question Inducing Narrative VII Chapter One: Introduction 1 Background Over the last twenty years, mainly as an initial response to the media