Children Affected by Gang Activity or Serious Youth Violence

Defining a gang is difficult. They tend to fall into three categories: Peer Groups, Street Gangs and Organised Crime Groups. It can be common for groups of children and young people to gather together in public places to socialise. Although some Peer group gatherings can lead to increased antisocial behaviour and youth offending, these activities should not be confused with the serious violence of a street gang.

A street gang can be described as a relatively durable, predominantly street-based group of children who see themselves (and are seen by others) as a discernible group for whom crime and violence is integral to the group's identity.

A street gang will engage in criminal activity and violence and may lay claim over territory (not necessarily geographical but it can include an illegal economy territory). They have some form of identifying structure featuring a hierarchy usually based on age, physical strength, propensity to violence or older sibling rank. There may be certain rites involving antisocial or criminal behaviour or sex acts in order to become part of the gang. They are in conflict with other similar gangs.

An Organised criminal group is a group of individuals normally led by adults for whom involvement in crime is for personal gain (financial or otherwise). This involves serious and organised criminality by a hard core of violent gang members who exploit vulnerable young people and adult. This may also involve the movement and selling of drugs and money across the country, known as ‘county lines’ because it extends across county boundaries.

In Greater Manchester, the Police, local authorities, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, young people and Ann Coffey, MP for Stockport and Chair of the All Party Group for Runaway and Missing Children, have launched the ‘Trapped’ campaign to raise awareness of criminals who are grooming and exploiting children and young adults to commit crime on their behalf.

Offenders use intimidation to exploit and control children and vulnerable adults to carry out criminal activity on their behalf.

Offenders take victims from urban areas to the countryside or coastal areas to sell drugs while other victims may be trafficked closer to home and are moved around Greater Manchester.

As well as drug dealing, victims are sometimes asked to carry out other forms of criminal activity such as arson, violent offences, storing firearms, holding money, criminal damage or assault with offenders using coercive behaviour to threaten and exploit victims and their families.

Child criminal exploitation is often hidden and involved children won’t always recognise themselves as a victim. Every professional contact is an opportunity for prevention including during ‘critical moments’ e.g., at the point of arrest, during a missing episode, or during a threat to life episodes. Professional curiosity and effective partnership information sharing is the key to unravelling involvement, we may never get another chance.

Professional bias can affect how we deal with victims of CCE; the concept of adultification is when notions of innocence and vulnerability are not afforded to certain children. This is determined by people and institutions who hold power over them. When adultification occurs outside of the home it is always founded within discrimination and bias. There are various definitions of adultification, all relate to a child’s personal characteristics, socio-economic influences and/or lived experiences. Regardless of the context in which adultification take place, the impact results in children’s rights being either diminished or not upheld. We must actively seek to understand children’s involvement within criminality with an open mind.

Anyone with concerns either about themselves or somebody else can contact Greater Manchester Police on 101 in a non-emergency situation or report anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 when there is an immediate threat to life or a crime in progress.

There is a distinction between organised crime groups and street gangs based on the level of criminality, organisation, planning and control, however, there are significant links between different levels of gangs. Activity can include street gang involvement in drug dealing on behalf of organised criminal groups and the sexual abuse of girls by organised criminal groups.

Children may be involved in more than one 'gang', with some cross-border movement, and may not stay in a 'gang' for significant periods of time. Children rarely use the term 'gang', instead they used terms such as 'family', 'breddrin', 'crews', 'cuz' (cousins), 'my boys' or simply 'the people I grew up with'.

Safeguarding should focus on young people who are /vulnerable to making the transition to gang involvement as well as those already involved in gangs. Practitioners should be aware of particular risks to young people involved in gangs from violence and weapons; drugs and sexual exploitation.

The risk or potential risk of harm to the child may be as a victim, a perpetrator or both - in relation to their peers or to a gang-involved adult in their household. Teenagers can be particularly vulnerable to recruitment into gangs and involvement in gang violence. This vulnerability may be exacerbated by risk factors in an individual’s background, including violence in the family, involvement of siblings in gangs, poor educational attainment, or mental health problems.

A child who is affected by gang activity or serious youth violence can be at risk of significant harm through physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Girls may be particularly at risk of sexual exploitation.

Violence is a way for gang members to gain recognition and respect by asserting their power and authority in the street, with a large proportion of street crime perpetrated against members of other gangs or the relatives of gang members.

The specific risks for males and females may be quite different. There is a higher risk of sexual abuse for females and they are more likely to have been coerced into involvement with a gang through peer pressure than their male counterparts.

Although we should not overlook the risk to boys, there is evidence of a high incidence of rape of girls who are involved with gangs. Some senior gang members pass their girlfriends around to lower ranking members and sometimes to the whole group at the same time. Very few rapes by gang members are reported.

Gang members often groom girls at school using drugs and alcohol, which act as disinhibitors and also create dependency, and encourage / coerce them to recruit other girls through school / social networks. See also Safeguarding Children and Young People Abused Through Sexual Exploitation Procedure.

Gang rivalry can lead to a ‘threat to life’ incident. Where this arises and a child is identified as being at risk either directly as the intended target or indirectly by virtue of living with the recipient of the threat, being related to the recipient or having regular access to a location where the recipient lives or works, GMP will notify children’s social care so the level of risk can be jointly assessed and any steps required to alleviate that risk can be considered. This may include removing the child to a place of safety using Police Protection Powers.

• Child withdrawn from family;
• Sudden loss of interest in school. Decline in attendance or academic achievement (although it should be noted that some gang members will maintain a good attendance record to avoid coming to notice);
• Being emotionally ‘switched off’, but also containing frustration / rage;
• Starting to use new or unknown slang words;
• Holding unexplained money or possessions;
• Staying out unusually late without reason, or breaking parental rules consistently;
• Sudden change in appearance – dressing in a particular style or ‘uniform’ similar to that of other young people they hang around with, including a particular colour;
• Dropping out of positive activities;
• New nickname;
• Unexplained physical injuries, and/or refusal to seek / receive medical treatment for injuries;
• Graffiti style ‘tags’ on possessions, school books, walls;
• Constantly talking about another young person who seems to have a lot of influence over them;
• Breaking off with old friends and hanging around with one group of people;
• Associating with known or suspected gang members, closeness to siblings or adults in the family who are gang members;
• Starting to adopt certain codes of group behaviour e.g. ways of talking and hand signs;
• Expressing aggressive or intimidating views towards other groups of young people, some of whom may have been friends in the past;
• Being scared when entering certain areas; and
• Concerned by the presence of unknown youths in their neighbourhoods.

An important feature of gang involvement is that, the more heavily a child is involved with a gang, the less likely they are to talk about it.

There are links between gang-involvement and young people going missing from home or care. Some of the factors which can draw gang-involved young people away from home or care into going missing can come through the drugs markets and ‘drugs lines’ activity. There may be gang-associated child sexual exploitation and relationships which can be strong pull factors for girls. Exploitation is at the heart of this activity, with overt coercion taking place alongside the pull factors of money, status, affection and belonging.

In suspected cases of radicalisation, social workers and local authorities are under a duty to refer the case to the local Channel panel, which will then decide the correct, if any, intervention and support to be offered to that individual.

Any agency or practitioner who has concerns that a child may be at risk of harm as a consequence of gang activity should contact Children’s Social Care and/or the police for the area in which the child is currently located. The Making Referrals to Children’s Social Care Procedure should be followed. The Early Help Assessment (EHA) may be crucial in the early identification of children and young people who need additional support due to risk of involvement in gang activity.

Support and interventions should be proportionate, rational and based on the child’s needs identified during the assessment.

A Child in Need Assessment should be led by a qualified social worker and evidence and information sharing across all relevant agencies will be key. It may be appropriate for the social worker to be embedded in, or work closely with, a team which has access to ‘real time’ gang intelligence in order to undertake a reliable assessment. 

Practitioners should be aware that children who are Looked After by the Local Authority can be particularly vulnerable to becoming involved in gangs. There may be a need to review their Care Plan in light of the assessment and to provide additional support.

Children may be in fear of ending their contact with the gang because it might leave them vulnerable to reprisals from former gang members and rival gang members who may see the young person as without protection.

Information and local knowledge about the specific gang should be shared, including the use, or suspected use, of weapons or drug dealing. There should also be consideration of possible risk to members of the child’s family and other children in the community.

Unless there are indications that parental involvement would risk further harm to the child, parents should be involved as early as possible where there are concerns about gang activity.

Children involved in gangs are very likely to be previously known to other services for offending behaviour or school exclusion.

Common issues faced by girls and young women affected by sexual violence by gangs include domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse, school exclusion and going missing from home.

Children may often be at the periphery of involvement for some time before they become active gang members. Children may also follow older siblings into gang involvement. There are often opportunities for preventative work to be undertaken with children.

Safeguarding Children and Young People who May be Affected by Gang Activity

Reducing Knife, Gun and Gang Crime

Girls and Gangs, The Centre for Social Justice, 2014 (research paper)

Ending Gang and Youth Violence Community Engagement 2014

Statutory Guidance Injunctions to Prevent Gang-Related Violence and Gang-Related Drug Dealing, May 2016 (Home Office)

Injunctions to Prevent Gang-Related Violence and Gang-Related Drug Dealing: A Practitioners' Guide (May 2016)

Preventing Gang and Youth Violence: Spotting Signals of Risk and Supporting Children and Young People

County Lines - Gang Violence Exploitation and Drug Supply (NCA 2016)

Criminal Exploitation of Children and Vulnerable Adults: County Lines

Knife Crime Prevention Orders Practitioners' Guidance and Framework Guidance

CPS Guidance on Victims of Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking and Smuggling

Serious Violence Duty - Preventing and Reducing Serious Violence: Statutory Guidance for Responsible Authorities

Click here to view Local Pathways for Manchester and Trafford.

In Manchester, see also the Manchester Multi-Agency Exploitation Screening Tool.

Salford – contact Project Gulf:
Tel: 0161 856 9890
Email: gulf@gmp.police.uk