ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the role of violence in detail, demonstrating that perceptions of violence take on a different meaning in jail and the mediating effects of regionalisation, racialisation and respectability. I analyse two examples of violence used to defend others. These examples were noteworthy because of their unusual nature but also because the young people involved were both frequently involved in more mindless violence, either for their own gain or expressively in frustration. These examples illuminate the ways in which violence can be used as a form of communication in an environment where it is difficult to be heard.