Below, the implications of the research for policy, clinical psychology and research are discussed.
4.2.1 Policy
4.2.1.1 Welfare Policy
The EGYV policy is framed within a criminological perspective, as young people are deemed ‘a risk’ to society and in need of punishment. However, situating
the policy within a ‘welfare framework’ would conceive young people as ‘at risk’ instead, and would focus on supplying support and safeguarding, through positive engagement, employment opportunities and attendance to emotional well-being.
4.2.1.2 Participatory Policy Production
The EGYV policy is commended for attending to the social contexts of young people who join gangs and for advocating support for families and young
people. However, findings from this study suggest that claims about addressing “entrenched social failures” (Home Office, 2011, p.3) are shrouded in
problematic ideologies which perpetuate individualising discourse and demonising narratives about young people growing up in deprivation. Furthermore, participants in the study demonstrated an acute awareness of their subjugated position, as well as a socio-political understanding of the mechanisms maintaining their subjugation. Thus, this study advocates an
overhaul of the elitist policy making process and calls for authentic participation, whereby young people with experiences of living in deprived areas are included in its production. Lister (2007) cites the overreliance on scientific evidence-base for policy production, and the subsequent disregard of the values and voices of excluded citizens. Furthermore, a central tenet of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC, 2009) is that young people’s views are heard regarding matters that affect their lives. Thus, participatory policy production ensures a ‘bottom up’ process whereby policy is viewed from the perspective of the excluded (Kabeer, 2005). However, in order to ensure their inclusion avoids tokenism, Beresford and Hoban (2005) suggest capacity building is crucial to empower people to participate. Thus, it is essential that skills training and confidence building is considered part of the process. Through a participatory process, young people’s assumed subject positions might shift from dormant criminal and gang member, to empowered citizen and able to positively contribute.
4.2.1.3 Attending to Race
Findings indicate that racial discrimination is a central issue for the participants, as young black men growing up in London. However, the EGYV policy
discursively links ‘minority bodies’ with criminality. In this way, this research suggests that the policy is underpinned by ‘new racism’ discourses whereby overt racism is denied, and yet subtle discursive moves emphasise ‘differences’ and ‘deficiencies’ of black and ethnic minority people (van Dijk, 2000). Unlike explicit racism, ‘new racism’ is difficult to challenge as it balances upon seemingly legitimate ideologies (van Dijk, 2000).
Thus, in order for policy to reflect the lived experiences and concerns of those for whom it is written, acknowledging and acting to change the pervasive existence of racial discrimination and its resulting structural barriers for young people is crucial. Jackson (2006) advocates a renewed paradigm of black masculinity which rescripts their positions away from pathological depictions. Jackson’s (2006) paradigm focuses on aspects of the black experience as characterised by struggle, community, achievement, independence and
recognition. Incorporating these factors into policy that affects young black men affords alternative actions that are oriented around strengths, liberation and recognition of historical social oppression, thus restoring black people as valued citizens who are to be supported by the state, as opposed to being punished.
4.2.2 Clinical Psychology 4.2.2.1 Community Psychology
It is widely reported that young people who offend have poor access to mental health services (Campbell & Abbott, 2013). The results of this study indicate that owing to experiences of repeated discrimination, poverty, and structural inequality, many of the participants faced emotionally challenging
circumstances without the support of services. Thus, results indicate a role for community psychology. Community psychology advocates co-production of services between professionals and marginalised groups of people and emphasises prevention, collective social action and liberation from social oppression, as opposed to individualised treatments (Nelson & Prilletensky, 2010). Often these ways of working are confined to 3rd sector organisations. However, incorporating these values into NHS services is essential if real social transformation is to occur; for example, practitioners might form working
partnerships with local estates, schools or organisations. Through forming working relationships with communities, psychologists can ascertain the issues
that really matter to them. In this way, psychology can remove itself, both metaphorically and literally, from its clinics and reconfigure itself alongside the marginalised.
4.2.2.2 Changing Horizons
As discussed in the analysis, black masculinity has historically been associated with physical strength, owing to long established colonial discourses regarding a history of slavery and manual labour (Jackson, 2000). In this way, black males have been constructed as ‘body’ as opposed to ‘mind’, and their abilities in intellectual arenas have been eclipsed by ideologies which privilege black athleticism (Lorenz & Murray, 2010). In this vein, many organisations supporting excluded young people are founded upon creative and sporting principles. For example, the Kicks programme which encourages teenage boys in high crime areas to play football, is cited by the EGYV policy as good practice. However, although well intentioned, such organisations perpetuate notions that
professional and educational avenues are not for certain young people. Thus, in keeping with community psychology principles of prevention, this study
indicates a role for clinical psychology in working with organisations to foster different horizons for young people, and make available skills and possibilities not solely associated with sport or creativity. For example, clinical psychologists can work with employers to facilitate work experience for excluded young
people. Psychologists can support young people during this process, as well as provide consultation with employers regarding assumptions of this group and how to best support them in their roles. There are a few examples of existing projects engaging in such work, i.e. MAC UK is a community psychology organisation engaging excluded young people and training them to become consultants who work with employers to change cultural narratives around this group. Furthermore, such an approach aligns with the government’s ‘See Potential’ campaign which encourages employers to recognise potential within offenders and change the way they recruit (HM Government, 2016).
4.2.2.3 Future Research
This study involved participants who were all young black males from London. Conducting research with young people who identify as gang members across
other cities in the UK, might highlight nuances in experiences. Equally, the EGYV has been updated during the process of this research. A new policy entitled ‘Ending Gangs and Exploitation’ (Home Office, 2016) was introduced in January 2016, and thus research into the discourses available in this policy would highlight whether the government’s constructions of gangs have changed.
Furthermore, in keeping with an emancipatory theme, I suggest that future research with gangs engenders a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology. Such an approach resists normative avenues of knowledge production associated with expert-led research, and enables the production of otherwise subjugated knowledge in communities (Baum, MacDougall, Smith, 2006).