Street Casino

Survival in Violent Street Gangs

Harding, Simon

• Publisher: Policy Press
• Year: 2014
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781447317203
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

Gang violence is on the increase in certain neighbourhoods. There is an urgent need for a fresh perspective that offers insight into gang structure, organisation and offending behaviour to explain this increase. Using the findings from an extensive ethnographic study of local residents, professionals and gang members in south London, and drawing on his vast experience and knowledge of the field, Simon Harding proposes a unique theoretical perspective on survival in violent street gangs. He applies Bourdieu's principles of social field analysis and habitus to gangs, establishing them as a social arena of competition where actors struggle for distinction and survival, striving to become 'players in the game' in the 'casino of life'. Success is determined by accruing and retaining playing chips – street capital. Harding's dramatic and compelling insights depict gang life as one of constant flux, where players jostle for position, reputation, status and distinction. This perspective offers new evidence to the field that will help academics, students, practitioners and policy makers to understand the dynamics of gang behaviour and the associated risks of violence and offending. Simon Harding is currently a senior lecturer in criminology at Middlesex University, UK. He draws on 25 years of experience in research, public policy and project delivery as a crime reduction and community safety practitioner.

Table of contents

• THE STREET CASINO
• Contents
• List of tables, figures and boxes
• Glossary
• About the author
• Acknowledgements
• Preface: living and working in the social field
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Academic gangland
• 3. The game, the stakes, the players: key concepts
• 4. House rules, game rules and game strategies
• 5. Players, positioning and keeping order
• 6. Playing the game: generating and keeping your chips
• 7. Staying in the game – and playing to win
• 8. The game in action: habitus, street capital and territory
• 9. Learning the risks of the game: life in the landscape of risk
• 10 Surviving in the game
• 11. Creating the house advantage: the role of information
• 12. Playing the queen: gender in the gang
• 13. The wheel of fortune: the sanctions repertoire
• 14. The street casino
• References
• Appendix A. SW9 postcode
• Appendix B. Lambeth key crime types
• Appendix C. The Duluth Power and Control Wheel
• Appendix D. Example of gang evolution and fracturing: organised crime
• Appendix E. Approximate gang locations in SW9 (July 2011)
• Appendix F. Timeline of known gangs in SW9
• Index