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Over the past few weeks in the Lower Mainland of BC there has been a spate of gang related shootings and incidents. Premier Gordon Campbell called the recent scourge of gun violence in the Lower Mainland “appalling,” adding British Columbians “have had enough.”
So this newly published research from Leicester University is quite topical. It looks at gangs in schools, and the findings suggest that the influence of a locality in which a school is situated is one of the biggest concerns where problems of gangs in schools exist.
The research was carried out by University of Leicester spin-out company, Perpetuity, a leading research and consultancy company specializing in crime reduction, community safety and security. The phase-one study commissioned by the NASUWT (the largest teachers’ union in the UK) was designed to examine the scale, nature, and seriousness of gang issues in and around schools in urban areas in the UK.
Michelle Duffin who led the study said: “The key findings from the research show that there is no widespread problem of gangs in schools; rather there are problems with gangs in certain communities that have the potential to infiltrate into schools.
“Where these problems exist, albeit affecting only a small minority of pupils, it is of significant concern. Findings also suggest that the location of the school and the school catchment area have the potential to impact on the extent to which schools are affected.
“Young people often described school as a ‘safe haven’ away from the entrenched problems in the community.”
The study adopted a case study approach supported by a literature review.
Ms Duffin said “There were some reports of incidents in schools involving young people being found in possession of weapons, it is therefore important that further work is undertaken to understand why these young people are carrying weapons in school. Findings from our research suggest that it may be the journey to and from school that young people feel threatened by, particularly if they are walking through different areas.”
A number of reasons were given by staff and pupils to explain why young people are involved in gangs. Some of these included poor parenting, a lack of positive role models and a lack of diversionary activities in the community. Others commented on the perceived glamorous lifestyle associated with gangs including money, power and status. For some, involvement in gangs was the offshoot of the area they lived in, for others it was family connections.
Some of the key recommendations of the report include:
·Schools need to be aware of the problems of gangs in the local community and the potential impact this may have on the school and its pupils. Where there are concerns, a climate needs to be created so that schools have the confidence to admit they have a problem and that they feel supported to respond to these issues.
· Schools should take full advantage of existing policies and practice designed to address poor behaviour, discrimination, and promote community cohesion to prevent any escalation of emerging or developing problems with gangs.
· There is a need for a range of measures including early intervention and prevention schemes education programmes and enforcement tactics to tackle the problems of gang culture depending on the nature, scale and seriousness of the problem. Some initiatives implemented by schools involved in this study included the enforcement of strict school uniform policies to avert any gang identities associated with colours and dispersal policies to prevent the congregation of large groups of young people.
· It is important that young people are educated that being part of a gang is not glamorous; some schools take pupils into prison to demonstrate the realities of serving a prison sentence.
· Importantly, schools alone cannot be expected to deal with the complex problems of gang culture; rather a multi agency approach to develop local solutions is needed.
Perpetuity is continuing its work on gangs and schools for the NASUWT and will this year be seeking to explore current interventions that exist in and around schools to tackle gang culture. Findings from both pieces of research will be used to develop a toolkit for schools which will provide an information bank of effective practice.
Source: University of Leicester
