IntroductionOne of the most notable political developments of the last few years has been the rapid growth of a new street-based movement, the English Defence League (EDL). Emerging out of the fringes of the English domestic football hooligan scene in the early summer of 2009, the EDL's vocal opposition to what it calls 'militant Islam' appears to have garnered considerable support from marginalised and disadvantaged white working-class communities (Copsey, 2010).The motivations of perpetrators of racially motivated hate crime (especially those whose violence is undetected) have received perplexingly little academic scrutiny to date (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). This article is a first attempt at presenting material gained from accessing a group of young males who regularly use racially and religiously motivated violence. In doing this we employ three case studies, undertaken with male EDL supporters from working class backgrounds, and examine how they construct a specific form and style of violent masculinity. In all three cases we suggest that acute feelings of marginalisation and disadvantage prompt internalised negative emotions of disillusion and anger, which then manifest themselves through externalised hostility, resentment and fury directed at the scapegoat for their ills: the Islamic 'other'.By making such an argument, we place ourselves alongside an emergent critical and psychosocial criminological perspective. In examining how violence is fostered both psychologically and sociostructurally, we are keen to move away from the 'victimological perspective' which has dominated understanding of racially-and religiously-motivated violence and instead examine 'the characteristics of offenders, the social milieu in which [racial] violence is fostered, and the process by which it becomes directed against people from ethnic minorities ' (Bowling and Phillips, 2002: 14).We therefore align ourselves with other recent empirically informed criminological research which has sought to understand and explain how and why some men use violence, by recognising that:Men who carry with them the deeply ingrained visceral dispositions that are the products of socialization within micro-climates of insecurity, aggression and domination often come to value violence and place its enactment close to the centre of self-identity … the desire not to be dominated by another can become extremely potent (Winlow and Hall, 2009: 287-288).The three young men interviewed for this article have arguably internalised and accepted the potency of violence, and in particular that which is motivated by bias or prejudice. They were former 2 members of violent football firms to which the lead author gained access during his long-term ethnographic study of football disorder (Treadwell, 2008). They are now active members of the English Defence League and have all attended a number of street protests organised by the group.The empirical material presented here was gathered in the same authentic context that the violence occurs within, via ethnogra...
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This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork, the aim of which was to explore the functionality of cocaine (used in conjunction with alcohol and on its own) in the subcultural milieu of the English football firm. The study was originally concerned with the use of violence associated with cocaine use among football fans on match days but, like much ethnography, the research evolved beyond its original remit to include the extension of football firm violence within the night time economy (NTE). The study is unique in giving a voice to this group of individuals and permitting them to be active interpreters of their own world. It included 20 interviews with members of football firms who habitually took part in violent exchanges and found that concurrent use of cocaine and alcohol fulfilled three main functions: the facilitation of extreme violence; the acquisition of 'time out'; and the construction of a (hyper-)masculine identity. These functions were not confined to the subcultural context of the football firm, but had also become an integral component of their mainstream leisure pursuits within the NTE. The findings from this explorative study also contribute answers to the under researched question of whether those 'who are violent in the NTE are also violent in other contexts' (Finney, 2004: 5).
This research draws upon the author's personal experiences and the comments of his former colleagues on their perception of undertaking the Diploma in Probation Studies (DipPS) in the Midlands Region. This relatively recently established qualification, undertaken in order to be eligible to work as a probation officer in England and Wales, has created substantial discourse due to its break with social work traditions. This research was undertaken over a two-year period and intends to provide 'consumer' comment on the training and examines the perceptions of trainee probation officers (TPOs) on the suitability of these training arrangements. The author argues that whilst the intention of the programme was not to create an unquestioning 'enforcement' driven mentality, a number of trainees adopted just that. The article suggests that this is due to the tension created by a perceived disparity between the needs of the organisation and the demands of the university amongst the trainee group. This is reinforced by the imbalance in delivery, between the vocational and academic components. The author's view is that the current arrangements are too vocational in practice, and this is likely to continue, given the move towards delivery of the academic component through 'distance learning'. It argues that the future pre-qualifying arrangements need to retain a belief in the value of academia and be delivered (at least in part) outside the employment setting.
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