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This essay explores the entanglement of racial capitalism, carceral geographies, and counter‐politics of care within the sociopolitical landscape of Sweden. It analyzes the government's response to gang violence in 2023, which mobilized the figure of a "racial threat" in advocating for the creation of "security zones" and militarized interventions. This approach, rooted in a so‐called caring racism, argues for the protection of the welfare state by excluding and expelling racialized others. Understanding capitalism as requiring inequality, sustained by racism, Sweden's expansion of carceral geographies must arguably be read through a racial capitalism lens—where policing and border regimes are necessary to produce and control surplus populations. Through ethnographic engagements and social media interactions, the essay examines how marginalized communities navigate economies of dispossession, focusing on the resistance mounted by urban social justice movements against austerity measures and repressive policies—for a counter‐politics of care rooted in abolitionism. Situating these developments within a broader political economy framework, the essay underscores the role of carceral geographies in perpetuating capitalist exploitation and authoritarian rule, while calling for a reevaluation of care as a site of resistance against state‐sanctioned violence, offering insights into avenues for radical change amid growing precarity and injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Driver's Story: Labor and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery" by Randy M. Browne delves into the complex role of slave drivers in the Greater Caribbean during the era of Atlantic slavery. Browne explores the existential horror faced by drivers who were forced to navigate between being perpetrators and victims, oppressors and oppressed. The book sheds light on the intimate face of planter power represented by drivers and their struggles with impossible choices between self-preservation and solidarity with their peers. Despite the evidence of resistance, Browne argues that focusing on drivers helps us understand how the institution of slavery endured despite efforts to dismantle it. [Extracted from the article]

In considering the spatialization of race and the racialization of space, this article explores dominant media representations of sports cages in the UK. To date, media interest in these cages, often found on social housing estates, has revolved around the role they have played in the childhoods of a small number of young, almost exclusively Black, footballers, primarily from London. In the first academic article to engage with these issues, we adopt a critical approach, examining white spatial imaginaries which promulgate the naturalisation of poverty, and which produce and reproduce social pathologies associated with Black communities, and young Black men in particular. The enduring racialised tropes of lone parent families, gang affiliation and violence, and Black footballers being skilful and athletic but 'difficult' or 'lacking' in tactical acumen are discussed. We highlight examples of commodification, exploitation and glamourisation of these spaces. In addition, the reasons for the centrality of cages in the lives of large numbers of young Black men in London, rarely examined in media representations, are explicated. We end by proposing potential areas of research that are worthy of exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines findings from a multi-country study of faith-based education in Latin America and considers the role and contributions of faith-based organizations in addressing the causes and consequences of gang-violence in the Latin American context. Findings point to distinctive attributes of faith-based educational organizations, related to safety, belonging, and forgiveness, that enable them to play unique and effective roles in addressing the threats of gang violence to social cohesion. It considers a set of illustrative organizational cases, before analyzing how the organizational attributes and roles of faith-based actors help prevent or respond to the challenges of widespread gang activity. It then concludes by considering implications for public policy and contributions to understanding the relationship between educational pluralism and social cohesion in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In low‐ and middle‐income countries such as Haiti, musculoskeletal injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Untreated injuries can contribute to decreased mobility, leading to disability and reduced productivity for individuals. The accessibility of timely fracture care poses a substantial challenge in Haiti, where socioeconomic instability and recent surges in gang violence exacerbate an already strained healthcare infrastructure. This manuscript delves into the intricate barriers to sustainable fracture care in Haiti, shedding light on the sociopolitical landscape and clinical challenges that influence the delivery of orthopedic services. Ethical Discussion: The ethical considerations in providing fracture care in Haiti are multifaceted, including classic medical principles, self‐preservation in the face of violence, issues of justice in resource and service allocation, and concerns of nonmaleficence in the context of international volunteers. These ethical dilemmas arise from the complex interplay of limited resources, the dangers posed by the current sociopolitical climate, and the involvement of international aid in a vulnerable healthcare system. Conclusion: To address the clinical and ethical conflicts of providing fracture care in Haiti, solutions include education and training of Haitian orthopedic surgeons, capacity building of healthcare facilities, and establishing ethical standards for international volunteers. This comprehensive approach is vital for advancing sustainable fracture care in Haiti and other resource‐limited settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the 165,000 or so convicts transported from across the British Empire to Australia between 1788 and 1868, approximately 9,000 men entered the gates of the Port Arthur penal station in Van Diemen's Land. Over its lifetime (1830–1877) Port Arthur was reputed to be one of Australia's harshest places of incarceration. During its final years as a penal station (1856–1877), due to its aging and declining population, it earned a reputation for housing the old, decrepit, and useless dregs of the convict system. Despite the growing body of literature on Port Arthur's convict workers, there has been little discussion on the management of labour gangs after 1856. This article examines a cohort of 198 variously aged and skilled Port Arthur convicts discovered in six labour gang ledgers and places them within the broad landscape of the settlement's industrial activities. Through the examination of the Convict Department records, I will argue that despite its aging population Port Arthur was an efficient and productive place of industry. Moreover, I will show that many of these men were skilled and able-bodied workers and not just the aged and ailing remnants of the convict system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study examines how the public views gangs, surveying 1,000 US adults using a vignette of a teenage collective. Through a factorial design, elements crucial to gang definition debates were randomly manipulated: the name of the group, its racial composition, behavior severity, and organizational structure. Findings reveal that a name associated with known gangs significantly impacts perception, making it more likely for a group to be identified as a gang. The collective’s activity and organizational structure also swayed perceptions, with violent and structured groups more readily classified as gangs. Surprisingly, the group’s racial makeup did not markedly alter perceptions, although joint effects show it did affect the interpretation of other factors. These insights suggest a need to reassess how research shapes our understanding of gangs and, in turn, how public concerns inform policymakers; highlighting the nuances in public opinion that could factor into legal responsibility and guide future legislative decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth gang membership is a significant public health concern linked to violent victimization. However, not all victimized youth join gangs, highlighting the need to study mitigating factors. Ethnic and racial identity (ERI) is a potential factor, but research has shown mixed results. This study used longitudinal self-report data from the Pathways to Desistance project to examine ERI's two facets – exploration and affirmation. Findings revealed that victimization increased both ERI aspects, but they had opposite effects on gang-joining. Higher affirmation reduced gang-joining odds and higher exploration increased them. These results highlight the importance of promoting ERI affirmation in gang involvement prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the security policies and governance of President Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. It acknowledges that Bukele has consolidated power through his "war on gangs" and repressive tactics, which has led to concerns about democratic erosion. The article discusses Bukele's approach to combating crime, including his controversial "Territorial Control Plan" and the construction of a large prison complex. It also highlights the economic challenges faced by El Salvador under Bukele's administration and questions the long-term effectiveness of his policies. The article concludes by raising concerns about the future of democracy in the country. [Extracted from the article]

This article critically examines reasons for the persistent use of states of emergency (SOEs) as a tool of crime control in Jamaica and risks associated with normalising these measures in small, low-capacity, competitive democracies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). We attend to the question of permanent SOEs as an issue of law and certain policing methods becoming normalised. This differs from scholars who think about the use of permanent SOEs as suspension of law or executive rule and make a clear distinction between law and violence and normalcy and emergency. Our findings show that persistent usage of SOEs in Jamaica reflects the incapacity of the state to control violent crime as well as its effort to strengthen its coercive capabilities and compensate for the ineffectiveness of the police. It is also a response to public demand for SOE policing. State strengthening is a necessary condition for a more peaceful and law-abiding society but is also a carrier of risks of democratic degeneration via rights-disregarding policing. Nonetheless, we have seen authoritarian management of crime without descent into authoritarianism, in general, and strong boundary-marking and patrolling by some state-oversight institutions that enjoy the support of civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study examine the logic of gang-related mass shootings in Chicago between 2010 and 2020. I argue that gangs utilize mass shootings to win market share when demand for illegal drugs spikes. I also test two established theories of indiscriminate violence: 'desperation on the battlefield' and the 'ethnic security dilemma'. To do so I construct an original dataset mainly using Freedom of Information Act responses. Using opioid overdose data to proxy for demand in drug markets, I find support for my theory in a series of linear fixed effects models. The 'ethnic security dilemma' also finds support. However, the two variables meant to proxy for 'desperation', search warrants and arrests of gang members for shootings , reduce gang-related mass shootings—the opposite of the predicted outcome. I conclude by discussing contributions to the existing literature, limitations and pathways for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The launching of the reform program in 1978 went hand in hand with praising Chinese youth as the vanguard of the new struggle for modernising China. Yet, the official rhetoric projected the ideal youth, while being at odds with the complex reality of the early post-Mao era, when the experience of the Cultural Revolution (CR) turned out to be the main reason for the so-called 'youth problem'. Both international and Chinese literature have highlighted that in the reform era, youth, intended as a social and cultural category or construct, came to be associated with less positive values, and the traditional discourse of 'youth as hope' proliferated along and intertwined with a negative discourse of 'youth as trouble'. This paper looks at the re-emergence of the Communist Youth League (CYL) as a key institutional actor in setting the stage for the construction of a new social discourse on youth in the transitional period 1978–1981, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership confronted with the need to deal with the tumultuous upheaval of the CR and its impact on youth on the one hand, and to push forward the reformist agenda on the other. By mainly relying on CYL sources (documents, internal publications and the official youth press), a part of which has been largely unexplored so far, it shows how the discourse on youth became complex and multifaceted in those historical circumstances, reflecting not just different views within the élite but also and most importantly the very tensions involved in the reform project. While the existence of the 'youth problem' led to establishing a causal nexus with the now condemned ultra-leftist tendencies associated with Lin Biao and the Gang of Four, the need to make sense of the complexity of youth boosted a heated debate on youth characteristics, with a number of cadres and adult experts affiliated to the CYL defining, describing and prescribing what Chinese youth were in ways that, by ensuring they had not been guilty as former Red Guards and recognising them as both victims and increasingly emancipated actors, eventually pushed forward a new idea of youth that conformed to the new modernization aims of the Party. Providing an assessment of the young generation and its inclinations in the aftermath of the CR eventually became the premise for facilitating the emergence of a new youth subjectivity, while envisioning the integration of the self within the broader collective and the coexistence of liberal values with traditional socialist ethics. The debate on youth characteristics reflected the complex changes taking place in China and was constitutive of a broader process that set the stage for rethinking the socialisation of youth in the post-Mao era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how youth morally deliberate about conditions of gang violence shaping their communities. Participants (N = 80; 10–11 and 14–15 years; 50% female) exposed to gangs (maras) in Honduras and not exposed to maras in Nicaragua evaluated hypothetical situations of physical harm in contexts of chronic gang violence. Results indicated that mara‐exposed youth were more likely to endorse harming a rival gang member in some contexts, but not others. Moreover, in some contexts, males were more likely to endorse harming others as necessary. Few age differences emerged, suggesting comparability among children and adolescents. Discussion focuses on how children and adolescents coordinate different moral and social concepts and concerns pertaining to acts of physical harm in situations involving gangs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses violent crimes (murder, kidnapping, incest, sexual offences, rape, and suicide), their drivers, and associated factors. This descriptive study employs secondary violent crime data from Trinidad and Tobago over at least two decades. The data were collected from multiple search engines and websites and included the socio-demographics of perpetrators, gang and gun-related violence, crime detection levels, and socio-economic factors. A descriptive analysis was used to determine associations between these factors and crime rates. Overall, major crimes rose by 790% between 1990 and 2022, rising from 7.94 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 70.63 in 2022. The number of crime victims cumulatively increased from 7541 in 2013 to 68 322 in 2022, surging by 806%. Moreover, the number of people indirectly affected (family, friends, and members of the community) are estimated (using 10 per victim) to be at least 600 000 or half the population. The analysis shows no association between violent crimes and employment level, income, or national security and social welfare budgets. However, school performance/educational status, gang numbers, and detection rates are correlated with violent crime, suggesting that these factors are the driving forces behind violent crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Police, Provocation, Politics: Counterinsurgency in Istanbul" by Deniz Yonucu critically analyzes the state's use of irregular warfare and counterinsurgency strategies against dissident groups in a working-class neighborhood in Istanbul. The book explores the development of counter-guerrilla strategies by the police department since the Cold War period and emphasizes the role of violence in maintaining control rather than order in society. Yonucu's research, based on interviews and archival work, connects global counterinsurgency strategies to local contexts, highlighting the impact on marginalized communities in Turkey. The book sheds light on the complex dynamics of state-sponsored police violence and vigilante practices, offering valuable insights for academics and policymakers in understanding security issues in a neoliberal era. [Extracted from the article]

Spurred by the success of public health violence interventions, and accelerated by policy pressure to reduce violence without exacerbating overpolicing and mass incarceration, streetwork programs—those that provide anti‐violence services by neighborhood‐based workers who perform their work beyond the walls of parochial institutions—have positioned themselves as the most important non–law‐enforcement violence prevention option available to urban policy makers. Yet despite their importance, the state of the field seems difficult to interpret for academics and practitioners alike. In this article, we make several contributions that bring forth new findings and deliver new perspectives on streetwork as a violence reduction strategy. First, we offer an extended analytic review of the streetwork evaluation literature that connects the study of contemporary public health violence interventions to a preceding tradition of criminologically inspired streetwork studies. Second, we present the results of an impact evaluation of StreetSafe Boston (SSB)—a multiyear streetwork intervention that served 20 Boston gangs. We find that the SSB intervention had no detectable effect on violence among the gangs that it served. We conclude by offering a framework for understanding a field at multiple crossroads: past and present, proclaimed successes and failures, help and harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racialised and culturally distinct refugee groups increasingly face hostilities and negative representations in countries of resettlment. The experience of African refugee youth in Australia illustrates this general trend. This paper explores how racial Othering discourse seriously undermines the group's wellbeing. The article concentrates in particular on two aspects of relational wellbeing, the capacity to move in public without fear or shame and the ability to feel a sense of belonging to the place where one lives in. Theoretically, the paper draws together work on wellbeing from a capability approach and relational perspective with interdisciplinary literature on racial Othering. Empirically, the paper demonstrates the pervasive culture of racial Othering through media identifications of African youth with criminality and gang violence and illustrates impacts on young people's wellbeing through data from interviews with African refugee youth. The youth's accounts show how it feels to be a problem and what it means not to belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what conditions do Latinx communities mobilize in response to threats of repressive policing? This article addresses this question by comparing three cases of community organizing against civil gang injunctions. Drawing on six years of ethnographic fieldwork, 20 semi-structured interviews, and analysis of news reports, my findings reveal that mobilization was achieved in low-income Latinx neighborhoods located within affluent White cities, where organizers drew upon strong ties to community insiders to combine analyses of the threat of citywide gang injunctions with critiques of White racism and political power. Conversely, mobilization did not occur when this strategy was used to organize a low-income Latinx neighborhood within a primarily working-class, Latinx city, where organizers confronted a more narrowly targeted gang injunction and had weaker ties to community insiders. I argue this lack of mobilization in the latter campaign cannot only be attributed to the insufficient threat posed by the gang injunction. Rather, local racial and ethnic dynamics, where Chicanx organizers struggled to develop grassroots leadership among community insiders, build solidarity with first-generation Latinx immigrants and link threats of repressive policing to anti-Latinx racism impeded mobilization. These findings highlight how popular mobilization against perceived threats of repressive policing is not race-neutral but instead depends upon racial and ethnic contexts where organizers can effectively link the issue to White racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research conducted in the last four decades on rape and other forms of sexual violence shows that they are not only the result of transgression behaviors of some people but have been used as strategic, systemic, and calculated tools of war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Examining the nature and effect of wartime rape and sexual violence based on their distinctive features, context, and historical background is essential for research and service providers. This paper explores the lived experiences of sexual violence and gang rape victims during the North Ethiopian war in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Data were collected from three girls and women survivors using a trauma and socio-culturally informed phenomenological approach. The finding shows that participants experienced a broad and complex range of psychological, physiological, emotional, and relational suffering after the rape. The result also shed light on some risk factors such as lack of awareness of the effect of traumatic events, stigma related to rape, and lacks victim protective legislation risk their journey to healing. The paper further discussed individual and community mental health responses for victims of war rape in culturally responsive and resource-poor settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a book review of "Blood Entanglements: Evangelicals and Gangs in El Salvador" by Stephen Offutt. The book explores the interactions between gangs and evangelicals in lower-class El Salvador, highlighting their shared vulnerabilities and afflictions. It challenges the perception that these groups are polar opposites and argues that they share a common social reality. The book also discusses the structural similarities between gangs and evangelical groups and examines the entanglement between them. It concludes with policy recommendations for churches and Christian organizations. The review acknowledges the ethical and theological dilemmas raised by the entanglement thesis and raises questions about the role of Christians in working with gang members. It also considers the impact of President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on gangs in El Salvador and suggests that the book's findings may be more applicable to other countries in Central America. Overall, the review praises the book for its valuable contribution to understanding the interactions between gangs and evangelicals and its thought-provoking exploration of entanglements in our own lives. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on how violence was actually committed by Bill Cook and his gang and outlaw bands used the Territory as a refuge, committing crimes in bordering Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, or Oklahoma Territory. It mentions Indian police and the U.S. deputy marshals complained of inadequate pay for the dangerous task of confronting desperadoes. It also mentions U.S. Marshal George J. Crump recommended implementing martial law and increased rewards for Bill Cook.

"The Marvelous Ones: Drugs, Gang Violence, and Resistance in East Los Angeles" by Randol Contreras explores the lives of veteranos in Maravilla gangs in East Los Angeles, focusing on their experiences with marginalization, violence, addiction, and resistance. The book delves into the complexities of gang membership, masculinity, and the search for meaning in the lives of these men. Contreras's empathetic and nuanced approach sheds light on the struggles and choices faced by these individuals, offering valuable insights for scholars and students studying gangs, violence, and qualitative methods." [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this study was to compare Americans' fear of terrorism to fear of violent crimes (i.e., murder, mass shooting, and gang violence). Previous research suggested that similarities exist between terrorism and violent crimes, yet no study has compared the fear aspects of terrorism and violence in the United States. Using nationally representative data from the 2018 Americans' Fears Survey (N = 1,190), we compared fear of terrorism to fear of violent crimes with a main focus on the effects of exposure to the media, political views, and religiosity of the adult Americans. The results of the analyses showed the roles of online media, religiosity, and politics differed significantly in shaping the sampled Americans' fear of terrorism when compared to their fear of violent crimes. Despite the resemblance of terrorism and violence, the fear arising from the political nature of terrorism as a crime distinguishes the nature of fear from violent crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Western Cape Province of South Africa, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide direct services for residents of underserved areas where gang violence is rampant. The purpose of this qualitative study is to create a context specific understanding of fear of crime, explore experiences of actual victimization, and identify the strategies participants use to adapt to community challenges at an NGO in the province through in-depth semi-structured interviews with Black and Colored women. Actual victimization was experienced by more than half of the sample, fear of crime was the main barrier for almost half of all participants to effectively use the NGOs services, and 40% of women adapt to community challenges by remaining resilient or coping with violence through avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many observers describe prison subcultures as inherently and irredeemably antisocial. Research directly ties prison subcultures to violence, gang membership, and poor reintegration. In extreme cases, research has also suggested that prison subcultures contribute to incarcerated people joining radical groups or embracing violent extremist beliefs. These claims, however, ignore key differences in the larger cultural and social context of prisons. We examine the relationship between prison subcultures and prison radicalization based on semistructured qualitative interviews with 148 incarcerated men and 131 correctional officers from four western Canadian prisons. We outline several imported features of the prison subculture that make incarcerated people resilient to radicalized and extremist messaging. These features include 1) national cultural imaginaries; 2) the racial profile of a prison, including racial sorting or a lack thereof; and 3) how radicalization allowed incarcerated men and correctional officers to act outside the otherwise agreed‐to subcultural rules. Our research findings stress the importance of contemplating broader sociocultural influences when trying to understand the relationship between radicalization and prison dynamics and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, I argue that arresting the leaders of drug-selling gangs is a precise and impactful tactic for reducing gang-related gun violence in open-air drug markets. I construct a theory of leadership arrests in drug markets by building mainly on the political science literature on leadership removal of insurgents and drug cartels. To test my theory, and several controls derived from the scholarly literature on gang violence, I utilize an original dataset constructed using Freedom of Information Act responses from the Chicago Police Department, open-source data, and archival court documents. The latter data source and news articles were used to identify all gang leaders arrested in five drug markets on the Westside of Chicago between 2010 and 2019. Negative binomial analysis shows that arresting gang leaders is associated with significant reductions in gang-related shootings. Additionally, one of the controls – search warrants that result in the seizure of illicit drugs – is negatively associated with gang-related shootings. Both outcomes indicate that policymakers in Chicago, and cities facing similar open-air drug market violence, should focus significant resources on specialized police units that can carry out drug-related search warrants, arrest leaders of drug-selling gangs on state charges, and aid federal law enforcement in arresting leaders of drug-selling gangs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work has consistently revealed that gang members are more likely than nongang members to participate in violent behavior. But research has not analyzed the relationship between the likelihood of gang homicide and the various factors that police report impact gang violence in their community. This is accomplished through analyzing reports provided by law enforcement as part of the National Youth Gang Survey in 2012. The results reveal a significant relationship between multiple factors that police report contribute to violence and gang homicides. The findings inform theoretical explanations for gang violence and have implications for policy effectively addressing gang homicides nationwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast literature suggests that fear of crime represents a socially significant dimension of violence in different research settings. However, fear of crime has been insufficiently studied in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. These countries comprise the Northern Triangle, a region significantly affected by the pervasiveness of criminal gangs, and very high levels of violence. In this study, we aim to identify vulnerable populations in the region by examining differences in fear of assault or robbery in the neighborhood by different levels of perceived gang activity in neighborhoods, sex, age, and ethno-racial characteristics using survey data. We find evidence of a direct association between fear of assault or robbery and the perception of gang activity in neighborhoods. We also find that women, people aged 30 and over, dark-skinned individuals, and individuals who self-identify as indigenous have greater risks of feeling unsafe in the Northern Triangle. These findings should be useful as evidence to problematize any potential designation of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras as safe destinations –an anti-immigration strategy promoted by the Trump administration– according to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees antidiscrimination criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police stop and search activity has consistently been shown to affect the opinions, attitudes and behaviours of those subject to it. For young people in particular this can be an important moment in which they learn about and orientate themselves towards law, authority, and the exercise of power. Drawing on work into procedural justice and legal socialisation, we build on the premise that stop and search has, in practice, more to do with the imposition of authority on the streets than the accurate targeting tool of crime-control activity. We consider the link between experiences of stop and search, trust in the police, exposure to or involvement in gangs and violence, and the extent to which male adolescents hold abusive and controlling gendered beliefs regarding sexuality and intimate partner relations. Using data from a survey of Londoners aged 14–16, we find support for the notion that adolescent males' procedurally unjust stop and search experiences are associated with lower levels of trust in the police, higher levels of involvement in and exposure to gang-related activities, and believing it is acceptable to harass females in public space and control intimate partners. We conclude with the idea that unfair stop/searches can signal that it is 'OK' to abuse power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The current study seeks to explain changes in support for violent extremism during the transition to early adulthood. This period during the life course could increase uncertainty and vulnerability to radicalization, or alternatively lead to maturation, prosocial bonds, and consequently less support for violent extremism. In the absence of population-based longitudinal data on violent extremist attitudes, we know very little about how and why attitudes change during this period. Method: Data came from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study in Zürich, Switzerland (n = 910). First, we assessed the variation in violent extremist attitudes between ages 17 and 20 using the Reliable Change Index. Second, we used hybrid regression techniques to investigate to what extent theoretically relevant factors can explain between- and within-individual differences in violent extremist attitudes. Results: Our results show that violent extremist attitudes are largely stable or declining between late adolescence and early adulthood, and that within-individual changes in low self-control, conflict coping skills, and peer disapproval of violence can in part explain these changes. Conclusions: For young people in Zürich, the transition to early adulthood was characterized by increases in psychosocial maturity, more prosocial peers, and less deviant behavior, which in turn was associated with lower support for violent extremism. Existing research on effective interventions for criminal desistance and disengagement from gangs may therefore be fruitful avenues for developing programs aimed at reducing support for violent extremism and fostering deradicalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prisons have been described as the final frontier for research on gangs and gang members. Criminological research in prisons is rare due to restricted access to facilities, concerns about harsh public scrutiny, and worries about security. There are added challenges for survey research involving prison gang members, as it is believed that gang norms inhibit reliable and valid responses and discourage participation in research. This article introduces the Study of Trajectories, Associations, and Reentry—the LoneStar Project—which involved interview-based surveys with 802 prison inmates in Texas, over 45% of whom were officially classified as gang members. We assess the prospect for conducting interview-based survey research with gang members in prison. We detail the planning and implementation phases of this study, assess whether gang members can be surveyed in prisons with fidelity, report descriptive statistics on gang and non-gang members, and identify five key operational lessons from this study. Our results revealed that gang members would not only participate in research, but that the methodological characteristics of their survey responses were indistinguishable statistically and substantively from those of non-gang prison inmates. We also determined that strong researcher-practitioner relationships, a nimble yet consistent research team, and a heavy emphasis on rapport building allowed this project to be carried out with few disruptions in a prison environment. These results are promising for future research in prisons, especially with gang members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A top priority of prison authorities is maintaining a safe and orderly institutional environment. Gangs are believed to impede this objective, warranting bespoke policies and practices. Drawing on the process‐based model of regulation, we depart from orthodox explanations for the gang–misconduct link and argue that gang affiliates are treated less fairly than nongang affiliates owing to suppression‐oriented administrative policies and harsher day‐to‐day interactions with officers, which, in turn, impact compliance. We use administrative and survey data sources based on a sample of 802 male prisoners and generalized structural equation modeling to examine whether procedural justice and legal orientations mediate the association between official classification of gang affiliation and self‐reported misconduct. Our findings reveal partial support for the process‐based model: procedural justice and legitimacy are poorer among gang than among nongang respondents but do not mediate the gang–misconduct link. The traditional pathway between procedural justice, legitimacy, and obligation to obey was observed, none of which were related to misconduct, standing in sharp contrast to the expectations of the process‐based model. These findings suggest that factors other than procedural justice and legal orientations may be more relevant for rule violations among gangs, specifically, and within correctional environments, generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resulting in pervasive feelings of despair, the culture of incarceration in the U.S. relies on punitive correctional strategies such as solitary confinement to control the behavior of incarcerated individuals. Inevitably, correctional culture which focuses primarily on punishment is dysfunctional, rife with gang violence, drug use, suicide, and violence perpetuated by and against staff. Our dialogic essay is voiced by (a) a currently incarcerated, Native American person who has survived solitary confinement and the spiritual drain of castigating correctional culture; and (b) a music educator who founded a prison choir for both non-incarcerated and incarcerated individuals in an effort to erode and transform some of the revengeful structures of US incarceration. We draw from Indigenous educator, language specialist, and member of the Lil'wat First Nation, Dr. Lorna Williams' research on Indigenous Knowledge in our efforts to understand the relationships among group singing, spirituality, and our experiences in the Oakdale prison choir. Our dialogue charts a search for spiritual healing in the unsympathetic atmosphere of prison and offers an experience-based account of ways in which group singing can function as a medium of spiritual healing and growth in environments of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the connection between neoliberalism and gang violence in El Salvador and argues that gangs and violence are ultimately a symptom of a larger root problem and that a political and media focus solely on gangs misses the larger picture.

All public transportation was closed, ambulant military checkpoints were set up, and quarantine violators were forced into thirty-day quarantines at confinement centers. All nonessential businesses were closed.[9] The logistics of quarantine centers were put in the hands of the military.[10] With the first documented case of COVID-19 on March 18, a thirty-day military enforced quarantine was declared.[11] Only one person per household was allowed to travel outside the home, twice a week, and only for "essential business." "What can COVID do to me?" The social exclusion experienced by inhabitants of places such as El Cerro has allowed for early COVID-19 emergency measures to take the form of social triage (Biehl 2005). [Extracted from the article]

Nevertheless, the ascriptive white supremacist core of civic identity in the US has effectively reduced the marginal value of Puerto Rican US citizenship (and the US citizenship of other racialized US-born populations) almost to a vanishing point compared with "resident alien" status. Twenty years ago, in May 2002, a reporter from a nationally renowned US news magazine asked me about José Padilla, otherwise known as Abdullah al-Muhajir, the so-called Puerto Rican Taliban. Footnotes 1 Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas, I National Performances: The Politics of Class, Race, and Space in Puerto Rican Chicago i (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003); cf. [Extracted from the article]

The murder rate in Port of Spain, Trinidad, rose dramatically around the turn of the millennium, driven overwhelmingly by young men in gangs in the city's poor neighborhoods. The literature frequently suggests a causal relationship between gang violence and rising transnational drug flows through Trinidad during this period. However, this is only part of a complex picture and misses the crucial mediating effect of evolving male identities in contexts of pronounced exclusion. Using original data, this article argues that historically marginalized "social terrains" are particularly vulnerable to violence epidemics when exposed to the influence of transnational drug and gun trafficking. When combined with easily available weapons, contextually constructed male hegemonic orders that resonate with the past act as catalysts for contemporary gang violence within those milieus. The study contributes a new empirical body of work on urban violence in Trinidad and the first masculinities-specific analysis of this phenomenon. We argue that contemporary gang culture is a historically rooted, contextually legitimated, male hegemonic street project in the urban margins of Port of Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]