In this opening chapter, I provide an account of the professional journey that led me to write this book. I make it clear that the focus of the book is on exploring and examining the relationship between masculinity, gang disengagement , desistance and spirituality , and provide an overview of the research methods I used and the bookâs chapters and their content. Towards the end of the chapter, I briefly outline why I believe the bookâs content makes a special contribution to the field of Criminology, and to gangs research in particular.
Understanding Gang Desistance: Focusing on Masculinity and Spirituality
It is hard to believe that a decade has past since the first piece of qualitative research I conducted into gang culture and violence . From humble beginnings in Glasgowâs housing schemes, over the years my continuing work as an ethnographic Criminologist has evolved and taken me to different corners of the worldâfrom Scotland to Denmark , then to the United States and finally Asia . Travelling across three Continents, my increasingly international insights have given me a deep understanding of the diverse nature of gang structures and the violence and wider criminality that emerges within them. Having studied the strongly territorial violence associated with street gangs in Glasgow , I moved on to learn about the motorcycle gang wars in Copenhagen, drive-by shootings emerging against the backdrop of racial oppression in Los Angeles and triad hierarchies and organised criminality in Hong Kong .
Although some (but not all) of the causes of gang formation and gang-related crime may be similar across the world, I have realised that no two gangs are exactly alike in âform and functionâ (Densley 2013, p. 5). As Fraser (2013, p. 981) notes , one cannot subsume the distinctive cultural orientations, historical trajectories and meanings of gangs in different continents, countries and cities into a âsingular constructionâ. Accordingly, I have always avoided the tendency to search for a generic and precise definition of what a âgangâ actually is or to describe the nature of the criminal activity associated with gangs from the basis of assumed similarity (Fraser 2015). Rather , in the chapters of this book I make a concerted effort to focus on the wide-ranging global geographical, historical and cultural specificities that provided the backdrop to the gang-oriented criminality I have researched and the gang members I have interviewed and observed (Fraser 2015).
That said, against the diverse backdrop of geographical sites I have found myself located in and the multiplicity of insights I have gained I have become consistently conscious of three things. First, although the role of women in gangs has been well-documented (Campbell 1992; Miller 2001; Batchelor 2009), the vast majority of those responsible for gang-related crime within the cities where I have conducted research have been male. Second, among all of the male gang members I have met in different parts of the world I have continually identified strong links between their dominant views about masculinity and their tendency towards offending behaviour. In short, their somewhat narrow perceptions about what it means to be a man have often stimulated their violence and wider criminality. Third, and perhaps most surprisingly, I have become aware that gang membersâ decision-making and behaviour is often driven by moral codes , ethical precepts and (in some cases) subtle spiritual beliefs and awareness (White 2013).
My fascination with the above issues led me to explore the factors that tend to precipitate male gang membersâ eventual decision to change. I came to focus on the extent toâand ways in whichâtheir perceptions of masculinity and proclivity towards spiritual beliefs, principles and practices might interact with this. Accordingly, this book is fundamentally about the relationship between masculinity, gang disengagement , desistance and spirituality . I have, of course, always recognised that it is important to some extent to distinguish between the processes of disengaging from gangs and discontinuing crimeâone process does not necessarily predict or rely upon the other. However, since a considerable body of research reports that gang-involved males contribute disproportionately to crime in general and violence in particular (see, for instance, Decker 1996; Decker et al. 2008; Melde and Esbensen 2013; Melde et al. 2016), I have focused on the often-intertwined processes of gang detachment and criminal desistanceâand the recognised links between them (Melde et al. 2016).
In doing so, I have been mindful of the fact that desistance does not simply come about as a result of transformations in offendersâ life circumstances and personal situations. It is often stimulated by subjective processes, including offendersâ narrative reconstructions of selves and identities (Maruna 2001; Giordano et al. 2002; Gadd and Farrell 2004; Giordano et al. 2008; Healy 2012). Moving beyond rational choice or life course perspectives on desistance (Cusson and Pinsonneault 1986; Laub and Sampson 2003), I have therefore drawn on cognitive transformation perspectives to explore the subjective nature of offendersâ identity shifts (Giordano et al. 2002). However , I have also become increasingly interested in the routes that offenders may take to begin to engage in these reconstructions and the phases when and spaces where they might take place.
I have been inspired by the work of Deirdre Healy (2012) who has argued that, when researching the termination of criminal engagement, it is important not only to identify the âfactors that show a relationship with desistanceâ but also to uncover the âprocesses underlying these relationshipsâ (p. 38). Healy draws upon Turnerâs (1970) liminal theory to explore the ârich landscapeâ inhabited by those who exist in the space âbetwixt and betweenâ criminality and desistance and are on the threshold of change (ibid., p. 35, and see also Healy 2010). Having moved beyond a âseparation phaseâ where their thinking patterns, behaviour and values begin to change, she argues that liminal beings begin to distance themselves from their past selves and to construct new identities. As such, Healy proposes that the liminal phase is characterised as a time of âfruitful darknessâ when personal transformation, growth and identity reconstruction can occur.
Drawing on Healyâs arguments, during my global ethnographic research I have focused on exploring the factors associated with masculinity and spirituality and their relationship with the intertwined process of gang disengagement and criminal desistance among male offenders who have found themselves in a liminal phase. In some cases, this liminal state emerged while the men were engaged in rehabilitation programmes in the community and in other cases while interacting with support structures in prison. Whatever the case, I have sought to gain a deeper understanding of what seemed to be occurring in the minds of those who could be described as âearly-stage desistersâ or those who were on the âthreshold of changeâ when I met them (Healy 2012, pp. 35â36). Ultimately, I have found it useful to draw not only on theoretical perspectives on hegemonic masculinity and spirituality to understand these cognitive transitions but also on Bourdieusian social field analysis (Bourdieu 1969, 1984, 1991). Bourdieuâs perspective accounts for the combination of structure and agency in the desistance process, which is necessary to advance a truly holistic account of the phenomenon.
Focus for and Content of the Book, Research Methods and Chapter Summaries
Across the pages of this book, I highlight the reasons that the men I worked with had first joined gangs and regularly engaged in violence and criminal offending. I also illustrate the way in which programmes and interventions saturated by spiritual perspectives and practices as well as faith -based religious principles and approaches were beginning to help them to redefine their views on masculinity and to take initial steps to leave gang and criminal lifestyles behind.
Overview of Part I and Chapter Summaries
In Part I, I begin by exploring some of the existing literary insights into gangs, masculinity and crime. I also examine the prevailing evidence on religion and spirituality as a potential resource for nurturing turning points, identity and behaviour change. I begin in Chapter 2 by providing an overview of existing international research that identifies links between social constructions of masculinity, gang culture , violence and offending. I explore the way in which, against the backdrop of social and cultural marginalisation , evidence suggests that hyper-aggressive forms of masculinity have become valorised in some contexts, with a ten...