Exit-strategies Within communities of motorcycle gangs

and geographic street socialized wild youth

Associate Professor Line Lerche Mørck, Thesis stud. Camilla Møller-Andersen & Anne-Mette

Palm

Quote

”This conflict has to be solved very quickly, if we all are to get out

of this safe and sound … the exit plan is no solution, but a small

plaster on a huge open wound, but the exit plan can do a small

difference, it may motivate people to think “there is some

possibilities”, but at the same time a lot of other intervention is

necessary …. There must be somebody, who can solve this

conflict .. it’s in the hands of the police, there must be a

possibility (Ravand, Copenhagen social worker p. 20-21)

Empirical references

• Group interview (2000), Semi-structured interviews (2000, 2009, 2010),

Feedback meetings (2010), meetings at the gang unit ”Safe City” at

Copenhagen City Hall

• Text, media-documents, books

• Gang-conferences: “Gang prevention, intervention & exit” (2009), “Stop

recruitment to gangs” (2010), “Gangs in historical perspectives” (2010), and

“Development of exit-strategies” (2010)

• 10 years of continued practice research focused on particular geographic

areas of Copenhagen together with social workers in boundary positions

within these areas

Goals for this Paper

- Develop and extend an exit-prototype about conditions of importance for moving beyond a gang/criminal positions

- Analyzing differences and similarities in motorcycle gang communities and geographic street socialized wild youth communities

- Discuss the preliminary notions of exit in relation to new understandings exit that are situated and relevant for these communities

In short we conclude

1. Moving beyond imply theoretical and empirical based reflections of exit understood in relation to the diversity of the involved communities. Beyond dichotomized thinking of being either criminal, ex-criminal or not criminal.

2. As pointed in the start quote, expanding conditions for exit is also about ending the gang-war, this includes police intervention and negotiations between the involved parties

Conclusions continued

 3. Development of effective social work with youngsters at risk of getting involved in the gang conflict. In Denmark we have a strong tradition for doing social work with ethnic minority youth, and good practice which is about to be further developed into more geographic areas. But we completely lack effective social work prevention within the communities where motorcycle gangs recruit their members.

Preliminary notions of exit

• Swedish exit-program targeted nazi- and racist groups, including five exit-phases. In phase two in the exit-process the subject is totally removed from his local community; in phase three focus is on establishing a new network.

• Canadian prison research, focus on prevention of relapse to crime. A notion of exit as staying away from crime.

Practice research

• “an approach from “within and below”, it takes the side of the subject of practice and refuses traditional notions of scientific objectification” (Nissen, 2009: 67)

• But also intersubjectivity between researchers and co-researchers as a criteria of scientific validity: “on the one hand, validity means consensus (accommodating the views and perspectives of the subjects): on the other hand, research appears to produce qualities beyond this consensus” (Nissen, 2009: 68).

Dialogical exchange with co-researchers

• This exchange of references is a kind of participating criticism on different levels.

• Our empirical analysis of double binds is one example of how to challenge and move beyond thinking in dichotomies of either "criminal” or “non-criminal” in the present understandings of exit.

Researching change

• Theoretically we draw on theory of expansive learning - Danish/German critical psychology, social practice theory (see Khawaja & Mørck 2009, Mørck 2010).

Researching how“institutions,capital and forces of production give people power over legitimacy, peripherality and participation without dividing one from another” (Lave, 2008: 285).

Analysis of practice ideologies (Mørck 2006)

• What is seen as legitimate vs. illegitimate and totally abjected practice within the involved communities. (abjected practice e.g. result in bad standing among motor cycle gangs)

• How practice ideologies sometimes differentiate from the practice of persons in various positions

• Analysis of dilemmas, contradictions, double binds from below and as part of changing practice ideologies e.g. present in interview, texts and the media.

Boundary positions of the co-researchers

All the co-researchers have access to “street knowledge” - access to first person perspectives from within of the motorcycle gang communities or the geographic street socialized groups.

Differences in their boundary positions

The perspective from within the motor cycle gang communities is from persons who have actually personal experiences from the core position and thereby been active motorcycle gang members earlier on in their life.

Boundary positions of the co-researchers

• The interviewed first persons perspectives on the geographic street socialized wild youth groups are from social workers and social street workers, who do not have personal experiences with organized crime as part of inner core of the geographic street socialized wild youth, but they did grow up in these geographic street areas, and they are part of broad communities and are now working with wild youth as part of these communities.

Quotes• “Some became teachers, some became engineers, some became

criminals [..]. I do not in any way respect their criminality, but if you grow up together, then there is something which is stronger than everything else. We have always had this common feeling, the society against us. We were the boys from [a specific area] and that we will always be”

• “One like me has been part of this area for so many years, but you know you can always trust me. You can always trust me within the areas that I have defined. Then there are others whose areas go further. Today they can use me for help getting a job, education, their housing situation; it is why I am a social worker. They would never be able to use me to some of their violent activities”.

• (Ravand social worker: p. 3-4).

• “sometimes you have to get money from somebody, or get some drugs or delivery, or go out and threaten, or cut the fingers of somebody [..] it is the same thing, you have to prove your value, so that the club finds out whether you are something and whether you want it enough.”

(Peter: p. 4).

• “The people who has been shot at here, most of them did not have any conflict with HA” (Ravand).

• “I have seen a lot of shootings in this area, and when I am driving in my social work car, if I saw somebody who is taking aim to shoot from their car into the [café], and I am driving in that direction, what would I do? Would I drive away or would I crash into them?” (R: s. 6).

Exit from a motor cycle gang

• “I went in and talked with the old, some of them, whom I had been prospect with, who had become full members, where I said: ”this I can’t, I’m completely off and I’m on the psychiatric”, and they knew which problems I had…it was my own Harley that I brought into the club, I owe them neither money nor favours, I had done what I should…but there were some of the prospects who said: “you don’t leave this, then I said: “then come”, if you stand there one day, you can whack me, then it’s the way it is”, then I thought: “now it’s all falling down on me”, but I just heard one of the old saying: “I understand…”. (P. p. 8)

Beyond exit

• “in here you can still keep your old friends…you decide yourself what you want to do” (Omar)

• “there aren’t one leader who says: you three, go out and do something”

• “You can’t just leave, when it gets hot. It would be perceived negatively in the different groups, if all of a sudden somebody throws in the towel. It might be looked upon, that you are then no longer a part of us. You have chosen to leave this community, where we were born and grew up together, and have been together about everything more or less, and now you choose to break with us”Moreover he adds that: “nothing will happen in the way that you will be chased. You will get a cold shoulder. There will not be the same relationship anymore. You will probably have burned your bridges” (Hvilsom, 2010).

References• BRÅ-rapport (2001). Exit för avhoppare – En uppföljning och utvärdering av

verksamheten åren 1998-2001

• Hvilsom, F. (2010). Lille A fra Blågårds Plads: Svært at trække sig fra bandekonflikten. Politiken.dk

• Krarup, J. (2009). En fængslende exportsucces. In: DJØF bladet nr.4. 2009

• Khawaja, I. & Mørck, L. L. (2009). Researcher positioning - when researching suspicion and Muslim otherness. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 6 (Special Issue: Critical Psychological Research Methodologies in and on Practice), 28-45

• Lave, J. (2008). Situated learning and changing practice. In A. Amin & J. Roberts (Eds.), Community, economic creativity, and organization (pp. 283-296). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Mørck, L.L. & Nissen, M.(2005). Praksisforskning som deltagende kritik. Mellem mikrofonholderi og akademisk bedreviden In: Bechman, T.J. & Christensen, G. Psykologisk og pædagogisk metode – kvalitative og kvantitative forskningsmetoder i praksis. Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitetsforlag

• Mørck, L. L. (2000). Practice Research and Learning Resources. A jointVenture with the initiative 'Wild Learning'. Outlines, 2, 61-84

• .Mørck, L.L, Hassouni, A, Benchekh, R,  Haseki, A, & Shimy, S.E. (2009). Hvordan imødegår vi skyderier og bandekonflikter? Dagbladet Information, Debat, Kronik (15.oktober, 2008)

• Mørck, L.L. (2009). Praxis development. Within a socially and ethnically diverse social street work community. Paper for the 2009 ISTP-conference in

• Mørck, L.L. (2009). Praxis development. Within a socially and ethnically diverse social street work community. Paper for the 2009 ISTP-conference in Nanjing, www.ISTP.com 2009.com s.1-8

• Mørck, L. L. (2010, resubmitted). Boundary communities as empowerment – Structures of leraning and empowerment within a socially and ethnically diverse social work community. Submitted to Ethos, 1.april, 2009. 1-33.

• Mørck, L. L. (2010). Expansive Learning as Production of Community In: Penuel, W.R. & O’Connor, K. Learning Research as a Human Science. National Society for the Study of Education, Yearbook, Issue 1

• Nissen, M. (2009): Nissen, M. (2009). Objectification and Prototype In: Qualitative Research in Psychology, 6(1-2), 67-87

• Nissen, M. (2010, in press). The subjectivity of participation and cutting-edge social work in Copenhagen.  Palgrave Mc MillandExit strategies

• http://www.kk.dk/eDoc/Økonomiudvalget/13-04-2010%2015.15.00/Referat/14-04-2010%2017.37.40/5362986.PD