Texts for Translation 2011:
  Ross Deuchar

'They take you places and we can trust them …':

Abstract

Introduction

Urban youth is currently the focus of suspicion and concern, and young people are increasingly alienated from the communities in which they live (MacDonald, 1997; Kelly, 2003; Deuchar, 2009). Indeed, some have argued that there is a 'moral panic' about young people's apparent disengagement with public life and the alleged rise in anti-social behaviour (Cohen, 1972; Waiton, 2001).Cognisant of this moral panic, there has been a growing interest in wider claims about the depletion of social capital within urban communities (Putnam, 2000). Building on previous, related research (Deuchar and Holligan, 2008) and as a prologue to more substantial research in this area (Deuchar, 2009), this paper thus draws upon both theoretical and small-scale empirical research as a means of examining the relationship between urban youth cultures and the building and depletion of social capital.

A Journal of Youth Work' Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

Social capital theories and young people's behaviour Although social capital theory has been around since the early part of the 20th Century (Hanifan, 1916), it is recognised that it is still a contested concept (Baron et al., 2000; Catts, 2007; Deuchar, 2009). Bourdieu (1986: 243) defined it as a resource 'made up of social obligations ('connections') which is convertible, in certain conditions, into economic capital'. Others believe that social capital has at its heart the need for networking as a means of facilitating community-based action (Coleman, 1990; Putnam, 2000; Field, 2003; AERS, 2004). Indicators of social capital have been outlined by authors such as Ruston (2002) and Leonard and Onyx (2004), which include perceptions about community structures and characteristics; civic participation, control and self-efficacy; social interaction, networks and support; and trust, reciprocity and social cohesion (Ruston, 2002; AERS, 2004). Putnam (2000) focuses on a distinction between two basic forms of social capital: bridging and bonding. While bonding social capital tends to reinforce exclusive identities, maintain homogeneity and mobilise solidarity, bridging social capital tends to broaden identities and reciprocity, bringing together people across diverse social divisions. The common argument is that young people need to move from bonding to bridging networks, where they transcend their immediate social circumstances as ameans of equipping them for However, contrary to Putnam's views, it has been argued that deprived communities may benefit most from having closely bonded groups (Bassani, 2007). Conversely, others have highlighted that young people in these communities can often generate intense in-group ties which result in outsiders being rejected (Leonard and Onyx, 2004). This may be a result of deficits in social capital in other parts of their lives, where dysfunctional family lives combine with school disaffection, unemployment and exclusion from urban space. Indeed, Pope (2006, cited in Catts, 2007) argues that associational and community networks can include the formation of youth gangs, particularly in stigmatised urban communities. However, it could be argued that gang membership produces positive forms of bonding social capital for some young people living in such communities.

Territoriality, gangs and urban youth

The current concern about gang culture is a symptom of the wider anxiety about anti-social youth, and this interest and concern is manifest in the British media

A Journal of Youth Work' Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

(see, for instance, Forrest, 2008; Leask, 2008). It has been claimed that there has been a recent increase in youth gang membership in Britain among younger adolescents and an increasing involvement in more serious crimes (Bennett and Holloway, 2004; Morton, 2003; Thompson, 2004). However, we must recognise that the word 'gang' is a highly contested term, and that the criteria necessary to classify someone as a gang member are debatable. Some writers have defined gangs as durable, street-oriented youth networking tools which engage in some form of illegal activity (Van Gemert and Fleisher, 2005). Others argue that gangs are characterised by behaviour such as milling, movement through space and conflict which results in solidarity and attachment to a local territory (Thrasher, 1927). Territoriality can be defined as a 'spatial strategy to effect, influence or control resources or people, by controlling area' (Westwood, 1990, cited in Watt and Stenson, 1998: 252). Further, the term may be used to describe a ‘spectrum of behaviour that has street-corner activity at one end and violent or delinquent behaviour at the other' (Wallace and Coburn, 2002: 76). Some writers claim that territorial gang membership is brought about by the search for youth identity and by the expression of aggression, often based on narrowly-defined views of masculinity (see, for instance, Murray, 2000; McDowell, 2003). Although it has often been claimed that gangs are male-dominated and that females tend to play only a subordinate role, some research suggests that females do form their own gangs and that many compete with males in gang fighting related to territorial issues (Campbell, 1991).

A Journal of Youth Work' Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

community identity and may create denser layers of social capital in either a positive or a negative sense (Deuchar, 2009).

The Research Study

This small-scale pilot study aimed to explore young people's experience of a range of urban phenomena and the impact this experience has on the generation of social capital. It was focused on young people who have become disenfranchised by educational failure, unemployment and poverty and who could be viewed as being part of, or on the margins of, the so-called NEET (not in employment, education and training) group. The research sought to examine these young people's perceptions about the social and community support structures in place within their communities; the territorial issues and how they impacted upon them; the current public perceptions about youth and youth gang culture, and the subsequent implications for social trust and cohesion. It was felt that the implementation of this pilot study would provide the researcher with an opportunity to explore themes which could be developed more fully in later, more substantial research.

Drawing upon the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006 (SIMD), the fieldwork was focused on six urban communities in Glasgow, each of which has high indicators of deprivation in terms of local income, employment, skills and training. Data was collected in four voluntary youth organisations and two secondary schools spanning across the six communities. Youth workers and teachers were asked to identify populations of young persons (aged 14-19) who were either part of, or at risk of becoming part of, the NEET group and voluntary participation was then sought. Initial open-ended interviews with community leaders and teachers in each of the venues were combined with informal interaction with young people, in order to build rapport and establish trust. This was followed by the implementation of semi-structured interviews with twenty young persons (aged 14-19 years), seventeen of which were male and three of which were female (thus representing the gender imbalance which currently characterises the NEET group in Scotland). Through a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967), the data was coded and emerging themes were analysed. In the sections which follow, the key themes emerging from the analysis of interview data will be presented. Key quotations that were seen as being

A Journal of Youth Work' Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

representative of participants views will be highlighted. Thereafter, the indicators of social capital will be used as a lens through which to explore the participant responses. Finally, a case study of one new diversionary project which sought to combat territorial issues will be presented. We will highlight why the young people found their experiences within this initiative significant and, in our analysis, will examine the relationship between these experiences and the social capital indicators generated by recent research (AERS, 2004).

Views on urban localities

The majority of youngsters associated Glasgow primarily with drink, drugs and violence. Many of the young participants felt that drinking had become a hobby because there was 'nothing else to do'. Lack of facilities for young people was a commonly recurring theme, and several participants described their neighbourhoods as 'ghettos'. Some of the young people highlighted the stigmatism that arose from simply being young, and felt that members of the wider public were too quick to judge them. One young man summed up the views of many (Deuchar, 2009):

I think some of them' when they walk past you, they're intimidated because we're all thingmyin' aboot' shoutin' n' that' I think some of them get paranoid when they see us' because of the stuff they've seen on the telly.

(Gordon*, 16)

These views were also expressed by the three females within our sample; one sixteen-year-old girl in the south side of the city highlighted that everyone in her family and her wider community felt she had a 'bad attitude' and that there was nothing for her to do except 'walk aboot the streets' at night. Thus it seemed that the young people generally had low opinions about their local communities and the levels of social networks and community structures in place to support them (Furedi, 2002; Ruston, 2002; AERS, 2004). They were clearly conscious of a negative perception of youth, and the feelings of alienation and social distance between generations that this encouraged (Waiton, 2001).

A Journal of Youth Work 'Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

Territoriality and gang culture

Almost all of the youth participants referred to the impact of territorial issues within their urban communities. Some young people admitted that they were actively involved in youth gangs and described the sense of 'buzz' that emerged from participating in gang fighting. These participants had drifted into gangs as a source of excitement and as a remedy for boredom (reflecting earlier findings by Murray, 2000), and alcohol was a major stimulus for engaging in street fights. Youngsters talked about a sense of confinement that arose from being unable to walk into opposing housing schemes because of the fear of violence; one conversation with two young men in the south side of Glasgow illustrates this well:

It's just like trying to go down to (housing scheme X) or something, people try and chase you and everything. (Willie, 16)

They'd batter you. (Joe, 16)

It makes you feel paranoid, a bit. (Willie, 16)

The three females in the sample agreed with these views. However, although they admitted that they would not feel safe going in to rival gang territories at night because of their relationships with boys who were gang members, they also felt that young males were at greater risk of danger then they were:

Boys' fight and lassies don't really, but you still don't feel safe in other schemes. (Amy, 16)

The sense of limited social mobility often restricted the young people's participation in wider hobbies and interests:

Obviously you wish you could' walk up the street and go and play fitba' at the complex up there instead of getting chased right back. (Paul, 16)

I'd probably take somethin' with' but I wouldnae want to take a blade in case you walked into the polis' I'd probably take a golf club and a ball wi' me. (Stu, 17)

A Journal of Youth Work 'Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

Several participants described the sense of bonding that emerged from the gang, which in some cases resulted in the emergence of dense layers of social capital:

It shows you who your real pals are, who's gonna be there for you (Stu, 17)

It shows you who you can f**** rely on (Barry, 17) #

Stigmatism and victimisation

It was clear, then, that many of the young people drifted into gangs at some point during their adolescent years for a variety of reasons, including the search for power, excitement and status (Patrick, 1973;Murray, 2000; Canham, 2002). The resulting emphasis on territoriality led to a sense of confinement and a restricted sense of social mobility for young people (Winton, 2005). However, of more concern was the young people's inability to leave the stigma of gang culture behind: at the time of the interviews many of the youngsters no longer associated themselves with gang membership:

I'm not (in a gang) anymore' naebody is, we don't even fight anymore, man. Obviously we fought wi’ people before but we don't fight wi' them now. If we see them we'd be fightin' but we just don't go looking for a fight or anythin' anymore. (Hutchie, 19)

I stopped 'cause I started goin' to college,'cause if you're got a criminal record, you cannae go. (Scott, 18)

In spite of this, the experience of being wrongly accused of gang membership or participating in gang violence was a common one. Several young men explained that, if they were seen to be hanging around on the streets with more than two other people, the police and wider members of the local community assumed they were a' gang'. But, in many cases, they felt that they had left the gang culture behind and were simply hanging around on the streets in friendship groups, having a laugh. Females also felt that they were wrongly accused of being in gangs:

I hang aboot wi' lassies so people think I'm a part o' a gang but it's just lassies. (Amy, 16)

Indeed, one young girl described her perceived feelings of victimisation that arose from being moved on from a youth gathering, because she was part of the Mosher sub-culture:

A Journal of Youth Work' Issue 1, 2009 Urban youth cultures and the re-building of social capital: Illustrations from a pilot study in Glasgow

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