The trouble with gangs

If a community has a gang problem its schools can often be at the sharp end. What strategies are leaders using to tackle the problem? Dorothy Lepkowska talks to a deputy head who is researching the issue.

There is nearly always a pattern of behaviour and personal circumstances. When low achievement at school, a lack of parental authority, disengagement with society, poverty, drugs, peer pressure and natural aggression are combined they can form a potent and dangerous mix.

Gang culture is now a feature of most of our inner cities and, increasingly, it is a problem for schools. Barely a week goes by without reports of a major incident on our streets leading to serious injury, and in the most extreme of cases, the death of a young person – more often than not from stabbing.

"Gang culture invariably seeps into schools when young people bring the politics of the streets into the classroom"

Anne Raynor, deputy head at Ecclesfield School, in Sheffield, has recently published a study on gang culture and what schools can do not only to identify the threat, but to mitigate the effects. She conducted the research with the help of two secondary heads – one in the north of England and one in London – who had reported issues around gang membership in their schools.

Anne has had experience of the phenomenon herself while working in urban secondaries and a pupil referral unit where, for some young men, belonging to a gang was something to aspire to.

“The problem is not restricted to urban areas though it is more prevalent and a bigger problem there,” she said. “Young people everywhere listen to gangster rap music and like to wear the fashions, such as low-slung trousers, and they are not necessarily involved in gangs. It is mainly in the inner cities that it is taken that step further and you find knives and guns.

“There is an Americanisation of our culture taking place but we seem to be taking the worst excesses from it, rather than the positive ones.”

Gang culture invariably seeps into schools when young people bring the politics of the streets into the classroom.

“Schools cannot carry the burden of responsibility for gang culture, but they are at the sharp edge of it. Teenagers bring their community problems into school and it is where you find large concentrations of young people all together,” Anne said.

At the same time, heads needed to be cautious about confusing gang culture with normal teenage behaviour.

“There is the problem of distinguishing male adolescent behaviour and the argy-bargy that goes with it, with something much more serious.

“It is a tough job for heads because they need to know where to draw the line between young people following the latest fashions, enjoying music and experiencing the effects of adolescence, and identifying where it is going too far.

“Heads don’t want to tar everyone with the same brush so it can be a huge thing for them to have to deal with.”

Secondary headteachers are also, usually, high-achievers and a million miles removed from the psyche of the teenage gang member.

“Nevertheless, if they are going to deal with the problem, they must try to get into the psyche of the gangs by going out into the community and gaining an understanding of what makes it tick, and what the problems are,” she said.

“It is virtually impossible for a headteacher to take on that type of challenging, urban school in the first place without having experienced it at grass roots level, either as a classroom teacher or by having lived in the area.”

There is a need for schools to understand the issues facing a community that leads young men to choose this type of lifestyle and to understand the point of view of the parents. Heads need to have an open and honest dialogue with the community the school serves.

Those discussions must also include professionals working for other agencies, such as the police, the youth offending team and social services, among others, so that information can be shared and joint strategies developed.

“It will be useful for heads to become part of that working party of agencies so they can tap into the community and its issues,” Anne added.

Another area to exploit in the fight against gang culture is the school workforce itself. Teachers, classroom assistants, cooks, lunchtime supervisors and cleaners often live locally and will be tuned in to the community. They may relate to the culture of the gang members through the experiences of their own children or even through their own prior involvement. This sort of intelligence and first-hand experience can be invaluable in helping schools stay on top of the problem.

In Anne Raynor’s own experience of working in challenging schools, young men – for it is nearly always boys who succumb to the gang culture – responded well when offered an alternative, and more holistic approach to their education. This included redesigning the curriculum so it was more relevant to their needs and interests, and making it “cool” not to be involved in the youth politics of the streets.

Gradually, as they saw there was an alternative way of life that validated their existence, they became less inclined to feel marginalised and desensitised to violence.

Anne’s research was supported by the National College’s Research Associate scheme, which enables school leaders to undertake studies on issues that are relevant to them and their schools.

"Schools cannot carry the burden of responsibility for gang culture, but they are at the sharp edge of it"

Toby Greany, the College’s Operational Director for Research and Policy, said: “It is incredibly valuable when leaders look at the issues that most concern them through a strong research lens, whilst also providing a practitioner’s perspective.

“It is one way of helping us to shape our leadership development provision and curriculum and also the wider strategic work of the College.

“We now have more than 200 research associate reports on a fantastic range of topics from creative leadership to gang culture, and many other things in between.”

Toby said that when the National College looked at the proposals for pieces of research, school leaders were expected to show how these fitted within its four strategic goals – inspiring new leaders, great leadership development, empowering the most successful leaders to support others and shaping future leadership.

He added: “I don’t believe the issue of gang culture is common among the majority of schools, otherwise it would come up in our other research and consultations with leaders, and it hasn’t to date.

“Nevertheless, as this research shows, it is clearly a problem for some schools in certain contexts who, I hope, will find this report useful.”

Read on for a practical guide for leaders in dealing with gang behaviour.