Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

It’s the Scheme that Binds Us

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Scotland’s Gang Members

  • 497 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter offers a brief history of gangs and gang research in Glasgow by reviewing the literature. It then introduces the current study, including the data sources and methods, the participants, and research questions at the heart of Scotland’s Gang Members: Life and Crime in Glasgow. The chapter concludes with a preview of the book.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In addition to the 40 cases within the city’s boundaries, a number of homicides occurred in the wider conurbation of villages and towns immediately attached to Glasgow.

  2. 2.

    Maryhill traditionally comprised of 4-storey Victorian tenement buildings, but after the 1950s much of the slum was demolished to make way for newer housing in the form of tower blocks, deck access maisonettes, and three- or four-storey post-war tenements. Several additional schemes where built as the Maryhill estate expanded North and West. This included schemes such as Wynford and Summerston.

  3. 3.

    When built, this housing was situated within an area surrounded by older Victorian tenements. The population of Govan also term this wider area as being part of the Wine Alley.

References

  • Adam, K. (2018). Glasgow was once the ‘murder capital of Europe.’ Now it’s a model for cutting crime. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/glasgow-was-once-the-murder-capital-of-europe-now-its-a-model-for-cutting-crime/2018/10/27/0b167e68-6e02-4795-92f8-adb1020b7434_story.html.

  • Bannister, J., Batchelor, S., Burman, M., McVie, S., Pickering, J., & Kintrea, K. (2010). Troublesome youth groups, gangs and knife carrying in Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bannister, J., Kintrea, K., & Pickering, J. (2013). Young people and violent territorial conflict: Exclusion, culture and the search for identity. Journal of Youth Studies, 16, 474–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartie, A. (2010). Moral Panics and Glasgow gangs: Exploring the new wave of Glasgow hooliganism, 1965–1970. Contemporary British History, 24, 385–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batchelor, S., Armstrong, S., & MacLellan, D. (2019). Taking stock of violence in Scotland. Glasgow: The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, G. (2010). Tattoos on the heart. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, P. (2005). Terrors and youth teams: Youth gangs and delinquency in Edinburgh. In S. H. Decker & F. M. Weerman (Eds.), European street gangs and troublesome youth groups (pp. 193–218). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braga, A., Weisburd, D., & Turchan, B. (2018). Focused deterrence strategies and crime control. Criminology & Public Policy, 17, 205–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butts, J., Roman, C., Bostwick, L., & Porter, J. (2015). Cure Violence: A public health model to reduce gun violence. Annual Review of Public Health, 36, 39–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campana, P., & Varese, F. (2018). Organized crime in the United Kingdom: Illegal governance of markets and communities. British Journal of Criminology, 58, 1381–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., & Muncer, S. (1989). Them and us: A comparison of the cultural context of American gangs and British subcultures. Deviant Behavior, 10, 271–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (1995). Fist, stick, knife, gun. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and Society, 19, 829–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daiches, D. (1977). Glasgow. London: Andre Deutsch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darner, S. (1989). From Moorepark to ‘Wine Alley’: The rise and fall of a Glasgow housing scheme. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. (1998). Youth gangs, masculinity and violence in late Victorian Manchester and Salford. Journal of Social History, 32, 349–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. (2007). The Scottish Chicago? From ‘hooligans’ to ‘gangsters’ in inter-war Glasgow. Cultural and Social History, 4, 511–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. (2013). City of gangs: Glasgow and the rise of the British gangster. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Decker, S. H. (1996). Collective and normative features of gang violence. Justice Quarterly, 13, 243–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decker, S. H., & Van Winkle, B. (1996). Life in the gang: Family, friends and violence. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Densley, J. (2013). How gangs work: An ethnography of youth violence. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Densley, J. (2014). It’s gang life, but not as we know it: The evolution of gang business. Crime & Delinquency, 60, 517–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Densley, J., McLean, R., Deuchar, R., & Harding, S. (2018). An altered state? Emergent changes to illicit drug markets and distribution networks in Scotland. International Journal of Drug Policy, 58, 113–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Densley, J., McLean, R., Deuchar, R., & Harding, S. (2019). Progression from cafeteria to à la carte offending: Scottish organised crime narratives. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 58, 161–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deuchar, R. (2009). Gangs, marginalised youth and social capital. Stoke on Trent: Trentham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deuchar, R. (2013). Policing youth violence: Transatlantic connections. London: Institute of Education Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deuchar, R. (2016). Scottish youth gangs. In H. Croall, G. Mooney & M. Munro (Eds.), Crime, justice and society in Scotland. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deuchar, R. (2018). Gangs and spirituality: Global perspectives. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Deuchar, R., & Holligan, C. (2010). Gangs sectarianism and social capital: A qualitative study of young people in Scotland. Sociology, 44, 13–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deuchar, R., & Weide, R. (2018). Journeys in gang masculinity: Insights from international case studies of interventions. Deviant Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1443761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devine, T. (1991). Irish immigrants and Scottish Society in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century. Edinburgh: John Donald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drucker, H. M., & Clarke, M. (1978). The Scottish government yearbook 1978. Edinburgh: Paul Harris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esbensen, F. A., & Carson, D. C. (2012). Who are the gangsters? An examination of the age, race/ethnicity, sex, and immigration status of self-reported gang members in a seven-city study of American youth. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 28, 465–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esbensen, F.-A., & Maxson, C. L. (2018). The Eurogang program of research. Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrington, D. (2003). Developmental and life-course criminology: Key theoretical and empirical issues—The 2002 Sutherland Award Address. Criminology, 41, 221–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., … Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Findlay, R. (2012). Caught in the crossfire: Scotland’s deadliest drugs war. Edinburgh: Barlinn Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, A. (2015). Urban legends. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, A., Burman, M., Batchelor, S., & McVie, S. (2010). Youth violence in Scotland: Literature review. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, A., Hamilton-Smith, N., Clark, A., Atkinson, C., Graham, W., McBride, M., … Hobbs, D. (2018). Community experiences of serious organised crime in Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, A. M. (1989). A history of Scotland: Modern times. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grieve, R., et al. (1988). Inquiry into housing in Glasgow. Glasgow: City of Glasgow District Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallsworth, S. (2013). The gang and beyond. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S., Deuchar, R., Densley, J., & McLean, R. (2019). A typology of street robbery and gang organization: Insights from qualitative research in Scotland. The British Journal of Criminology, 59, 879–897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, D., Dobson, C., Wyse, J., & Morenoff, J. (2017). Narrative change, narrative stability, and structural constraint: The case of prisoner re-entry narratives. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 5, 261–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbes, T. (1651). Leviathan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holligan, C. (2015). Disenfranchised violent young offenders in Scotland: Using actor-network theory to explore an aetiology of knife crime. Sociology, 49, 123–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holligan, C., & Deuchar, R. (2009). Territorialities in Scotland: Perceptions of young people in Scotland. Journal of Youth Studies, 12, 727–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holligan, C., McLean, R., & Deuchar, R. (2016). Weapon-carrying among young men in Glasgow: Street scripts and signals in uncertain social spaces. Critical Criminology, 25, 137–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holligan, C., McLean, R., & McHugh, R. (2020). Exploring county lines: Criminal drug distribution practices in Scotland. Youth Justice, 20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holtermann, S. (1975). Areas of urban deprivation in Great Britain: An analysis of 1971 Census data. Social Trends, 6, 33–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howell, J. (2007). Menacing or mimicking? Realities of youth gangs. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 58, 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphries, S. (1981). Hooligans or rebels: Oral history of working class childhood and youth, 1889–1939. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. (1990). Seductions of crime. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. M. (2011). Don’t shoot. New York: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, P. (2011). Urbanisation, rising homicide rates and the geography of lethal violence in Scotland 1800–1860. History, 96, 231–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kintrea, K., Bannister, J., & Pickering, J. (2010). Territoriality and disadvantage among young people: An exploratory study of six British neighbourhoods. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 25, 447–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kintrea, K., & Madgin, R. (2020). Transforming Glasgow: Beyond the post-industrial city. Bristol: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauger, T. (2014). Violent stories: Personal narratives, street socialization, and the negotiation of street culture among street-oriented youth. Criminal Justice Review, 39, 182–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowther, E., & Brocklehurst, S. (2019). Scotland’s drug death crisis in six charts. BBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-48853004.

  • Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Oxford: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maver, I. (2000). Glasgow. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAra, L., & McVie, S. (2010). Youth crime and justice: Key messages from the Edinburgh study of youth transitions and crime. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 10, 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, A., & Kinsgley Long, H. (1956). No mean city. London: Transworld Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarron, M. (2014). It is in the interests of justice and health to decriminalise drug users. Scottish Justice Matters, 2, 17–18. https://web.archive.org/web/20041221160154/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=312182004.

  • McLean, R. (2018). An evolving gang model in contemporary Scotland. Deviant Behavior, 39, 309–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, R. (2019). Gangs, drugs, and (dis)organised crime. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, R., Densley, J., & Deuchar, R. (2018). Situating gangs within Scotland’s illegal drugs market(s). Trends in Organized Crime, 21, 147–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, R., Deuchar, R., Harding, S., & Densley, J. (2019). Putting the ‘street’ in gang: Place and space in the organization of Scotland’s drug selling gangs. The British Journal of Criminology, 59, 396–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, R., Robinson, G., & Densley, J. (2020). County lines: Criminal networks and evolving drug markets in Britain. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McVie, S. (2010). Gang membership and knife carrying: Findings from the Edinburgh study of youth transitions and crime. Edinburgh: Scottish Government Social Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messerschmidt, J. (1993). Masculinities and crime: Critique and reconceptualization of theory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messerschmidt, J. (2005). Men, masculinities and crime. In M. S. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), Handbook of studies on men and masculinities (pp. 196–212). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. (2019). Passing on gang culture in the theatre of the streets: ‘They’ll grow out of it, then our age will grow into it and then we’ll grow out of it’. Journal of Youth Studies, online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1655534.

  • Patrick, J. (1973). A Glasgow gang observed. London: Eyre-Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, J., Kintrea, K., & Bannister, J. (2012). Invisible walls and visible youth: Territoriality among young people in British cities. Urban Studies, 49, 945–960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Presser, L. (2009). The narratives of offenders. Theoretical Criminology, 13, 177–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Presser, L. (2016). Criminology and the narrative turn. Crime, Media, Culture, 12, 137–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Presser, L., & Sandberg, S. (Eds.). (2015). Narrative criminology. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyrooz, D. C., Sweeten, G., & Piquero, A. R. (2013). Continuity and change in gang membership and gang embeddedness. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 50, 239–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, G., McLean, R., & Densley, J. (2019). Working county lines: Child criminal exploitation and illicit drug dealing in Glasgow and Merseyside. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63, 694–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roks, R., & Densley, J. (2019). From brakers to bikers: The evolution of the Dutch Crips ‘gang’. Deviant Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2019.1572301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg, S. (2010). What can “lies” tell us about life? Notes towards a framework of narrative criminology. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 21, 447–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Jankowski, M. (1991). Islands in the Street. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scottish Government. (2015). Scotland serious organised crime strategy report. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. (1930). The jack roller. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, J. F., & Strodtbeck, F. (1965). Group process and gang delinquency. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sillitoe, P. (1955). Cloak without dagger. London: Pan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skott, S., & McVie, S. (2019). Reduction in homicide and violence in Scotland is largely explained by fewer gangs and less knife crime. Applied Quantitative Methods Network Research Briefing 13. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. J., & Bradshaw, P. (2005). Gang membership and teenage offending. Edinburgh: Centre for Law and Society, University of Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, G. (1958). The society of captives: A study of a maximum security prison. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, G., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22, 664–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thrasher, F. M. (1927). The gang. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2005). Global study on homicide. Vienna, Austria: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varese, F. (2010). What is organized crime? In F. Varese (Ed.), Organized crime (Vol. 1). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). (2011). The violence must stop: Glasgow’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence—Second year report. Glasgow: VRU.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Lampe, K. (2016). Organized crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Welsh, I. (1993). Trainspotting. London: Secker & Warburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, P. (2015). Criminalising the other: Challenging the race and gang nexus. Race & Class, 56, 18–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, A., Densley, J., Cheston, L., Tyrell, T., Higgins, M., Felix-Baptiste, C., & Havard, T. (2020). Reluctant gangsters revisited: The evolution of gangs from postcodes to profits. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 26, 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D. J., Currie, D., Linden, W., & Donelly, P. (2014). Addressing gang-related violence in Glasgow: A preliminary pragmatic quasi-experimental evaluation of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV). Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 686–691.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Research Unit on Crime, Policing and Social Justice, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland

    Robert McLean

  2. School of Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University, Saint Paul, MN, USA

    James A. Densley

Authors
  1. Robert McLean
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James A. Densley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert McLean .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

McLean, R., Densley, J.A. (2020). It’s the Scheme that Binds Us. In: Scotland’s Gang Members. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47752-3_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47752-3_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-47751-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-47752-3

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation