ABSTRACT
The growth of violent gang crime provides a major focus of law and order debate in Papua New Guinea. This chapter deals with the rise of raskolism in Port Moresby from the mid-1960s onwards and examines state responses to lawlessness, as well as the social organisation of the Melanesian gang. It presents a detailed ethnographic account of criminal group surrender in Port Moresby. Detailed arrangements for the surrender were subsequently worked out between Arthur and Jimmy. Arthur drew up a formal Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Police and the Metropolitan Youth League. Rumours of the impending surrender circulated rapidly and Jimmy soon received threatening notes from imprisoned Gaire Goilala Boys leaders declaring their opposition to the proposal and anger at his lack of consultation. The chapter concludes with a broad analysis of the social and economic dimensions of urban raskolism.
