Young People’s Relationships to Street Gangs

Abstract

The study examined the impact of austere policy on the rise of street gangs on young people. The study found evidence for the existence of edgework risk-taking, thrill-seeking, and criminological eroticism derived from being bad or as in the case of young women (identified indirectly) being drawn towards badness by association, the latter of which however, as has been repeatedly emphasised, does not require further empirical enquiry with young people involved with street-gangs of both sexes. The research also found evidence that the most intrinsically rewarding factors that appear to come from being part of a gang of young males are the image of badness combined with the excitement (adrenaline rush) of risk taking with its ability to provide temporary escapism from the institutional restraint.