What Are the Major Issues That Cause Inner City Youth to Join Gangs and Become Delinquent? Discuss Whether the New Labour Government’s Policies Have Been Effective in Solving These Issues?

SOCIAL POLICY PROJECT
MODULE: SS3P02N

Question: What are the major issues that cause inner city youth to join gangs and become delinquent? Discuss whether the New Labour Government’s policies have been effective in solving these issues?

2010
Project by: Alice Mutumba
Student No: 05038460

CONTENTS PAGE

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Summary
The perception that gang culture in relation to youth crime is growing in the UK is intensified by the media, it is very rare to read a daily paper these days without coming across some mention of gang related crime. In order to understand why some of the young people living in the global city join gangs it is important to have a clear definition of what a gang is and to also investigate the role of the media in generating stereotypes or pre-conceived ideas about gangs. In a later chapter I will discuss briefly the role of the media as one of the causes of youth crime.
The issue of having one clear definition for the term ‘gang’ has always been a problem which is unlikely to be resolved, but it is important that there is a consensus on a working definition as this will ensure that youth projects from different agencies across the country and worldwide are investigating the same issues/ problems in relation to youth delinquency. It will also prevent the media and political commentators from exaggerating the problem by the use of stereo types.
In the ‘Delinquent youth groups and offending behaviour: findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey’, Home Office online report the following definition of ‘delinquent youth group’ (DYG) is used:

“• Young people who spend time in groups of three or more (including themselves).
• The group spend a lot of time in public places.
• The group has existed for three months or more.
• The group has engaged in delinquent or criminal behaviour together in the last 12 months.
• The group has at least one structural feature (either a name, an area, a leader, or rules). “
(Home office report

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