'If You're Down With a Gang Inside, You Can Lead a Nice Life': Prison Gangs in the Age of Austerity. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maitra, Dev Rup
• Other Names: Densley James guest-editor.; Deuchar Ross guest-editor.; Harding Simon guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Youth justice. Volume 20:Number 1/2(2020)
• Page Start: 128
• Page End: 145
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: far-right -- gangs -- organized crime -- penology -- political economy -- prison gangs -- race relations -- radicalization -- street gangs -- youth violence; Juvenile justice, Administration of -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Youth -- Legal status, laws, etc -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Juvenile corrections -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 364.360941
• DOI: 10.1177/1473225420907974
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-2254

Abstract

In many countries, there has been growing academic attention towards the activities of street and prison gang members. However, while much of the American literature explores the experiences of prison gang members, such investigation has been notably absent in the English context. This article seeks to address this deficit in the literature. Through gathering data from interviews with active prison gang members, it shows how reduced staffing levels in English prisons has led to an increasingly 'ungovernable' prison space. This, in turn, has led to an increase in levels of gang membership. Most notably, the high numbers of street gangs 'imported' into prisons has had the unintended effect of creating several 'in prison' gangs, which form for the first time in prison, with their members seeking protecting from more established gangs. This proliferation of gangs has had a significant impact on rates of in-prison violence, and how prisons are managed.