Girls and Gangs: ‘Shemale’ Gangsters in the UK?

Abstract

In recent years there have been a number of high profile stories reporting increasing levels of female involvement in group related crime. According to these reports teenage girls are no longer spectators hovering on the periphery of street gangs but are hard core members actively engaging in the kind of extreme violence that is usually the preserve of men. As girl ‘gangsters’, young women are seen to be engaging in a wide range of crimes such as robbery, rape and murder. Using findings from an empirical study on young people’s use of weapons and involvement in street based groups, this article examines female involvement in ‘gangs’ and their violent behaviour. It challenges the dominant stereotype of girl ‘gangsters’ as malicious violent aggressors. The notion of the gang and implications for policy and practice will also be considered.

Moving beyond the gang–drug–violence connection

“…Although there are signs of change with some British scholars examining the key differences between US and UK gangs (Bennett & Holloway, 2004), some British scholars have continued to resist and challenge the notion of ‘gangs’, cognizant of the stigmatizing effects of such labels as well as the significance of youth culture as a meaningful and distinctive part of everyday life among marginalized as well as normative populations (Goldson, 2011; Hallsworth, 2011; Young, 2009). That is, young people, whether at the margins or in the mainstream – whether ‘resisting’ or ‘negotiating’ – are active social agents in constructing identity.…”

Le projet Dauphine : laisser la parole aux jeunes femmes de la rue et agir ensemble pour lutter contre la violence structurelle par l’entremise de la recherche-action participative1

“…Considérant que la culture du milieu policier est marquée par la misogynie et le patriarcat (Franklin 2007 : 7), il est possible que les comportements devant une jeune contrevenante soient teintés par ces valeurs. Puisque les activités liées à l'« économie de la rue » sont principalement associées aux jeunes hommes (O'Grady et Gaetz 2009 : 397), on peut aussi se demander si cela a pu influencer le traitement que les shemale gangsters (Young 2009) ayant participé à l'étude ont subi de la part des corps policiers. Le sentiment d'être surveillées et d'être traitées depuis l'adolescence comme des criminelles se traduit par le terme « Wanted » présenté sur les affiches.…”

The Gang and Beyond

“…None of this, however, has prevented various journalists from recurrently discovering girl gangs populated by hyper-violent 'she-male' gangsters who, we are asked to believe, have become as dangerous or even more so than their male counterparts. Though, as Tara Young's (2009 and Susan Batchelor's (2009) careful and detailed demolitions of the 'she-male gangster thesis' attest, the evidential basis for such claims is weak, headlines nevertheless proliferate: 'Mob Violence: The Rise of Girl Gangs' (Lee 2008), or 'The Feral Sex: The Terrifying Rise of Violent Girl Gangs' (Bracchi 2008).…”