ABSTRACT
Recent media coverage of teenage murders has heightened public awareness as to the extent of youth gang culture in the UK. Although definitive statistics regarding the level of involvement in gangs/gang culture are difficult to ascertain, it is estimated that the number of gang members aged 16 and under has more than doubled in the last five to ten years. Becoming part of a friendship group is a normal part of growing up but under pressure of conflict or specific events, some such groups can take action that can be labelled as criminal or anti-social. DCSF Guidance for Schools on Gangs and Group Offending, highlights the characteristics of such groups and advises school-based staff to be very clear regarding what is actually happening in their local community. Archer suggests that a lack of control permeates the lives of female gang members and that this is directly related to a lack of stable nuclear families or strong cultural familial networks.
