The boredom of gangs in Glasgow.
Based on recent criminological research, an in depth look at the gangs of Glasgow and the influence of boredom.
Glasgow is notorious for its gang and violent culture. This view of the city stretches as far back as the late 1800s and more recently the story of Glasgow gang ‘The Billy Boys’ even featured in the popular TV series, ‘Peaky Blinders’. Infamous Glasgow gangland figures have also been portrayed in films such as ‘The Wee Man’ which tells the story of former underworld figure Paul Ferris, who is played by Martin Compston. A recent study by Johanne Miller of the University of the West of Scotland published in The British Journal of Criminology, suggests gangs in Glasgow today are feeling the effects of boredom. The large scale survey on Glasgow gangs represented 21 different gangs across the city. Up to 60 gang members were interviewed (20 agreed to in-depth interviews) to understand the role of boredom in relation to gang activity and membership.
The Scottish True Crime Blog is a free, semi regular newsletter covering Scottish based criminological research as well as investigations, insight and analysis of some well known and lesser known, Scottish crime cases. Subscribe below for free to ensure the latest articles are delivered directly to your inbox!
Gang members were recruited for participation through intervention programmes along with street work, youth clubs and employability initiatives. Participants were aged between 12 and 25 and the sample was made up of 53 males and 7 females who were 95% white, Scottish. A definition for the Glasgow gang is provided based on a dangerous history of territorial violence in parts of the city that often feel the effects of severe deprivation and poverty:
A regenerating, self-aware group of young people (majority male) aged 10–30 that emerge from play groups, are socialised via the streets, and engage in territorial violence. The groups originate in low income, urbanised areas. They have attachment to territory; the area will historically be involved in territorial violence and have a name and area associated with it.
According to the research, the relationship between boredom and gang membership is well established within criminology but little is understood about it’s relationship with violence. Previous research has already correlated boredom with actions such as drug taking, risk taking, alcohol consumption, thrill seeking and troublemaking, behaviours you may already associate with gang activity. Research specific to Glasgow from the 1970s already highlighted that gang membership was as a result of having nothing else to do. This was reemphasised in the current study with findings showing that boredom resulted from lack of leisure and labour opportunities. Further findings include:
Poverty was associated with having nothing to do. For example, some gang members had sought out opportunities to fill their time by taking a hike around Loch Lomond however were impeded by the cost of public transport for which they had no money to pay for.
As gang members grew older they realised the importance of employment as a means of social inclusion but also to earn money to do things. Historically gang members sought inclusion from being part of the gang. However older participants were now reporting that criminal records associated with their gang membership were making employment opportunities scarce and as such, excluding them further from society.
Smoking weed was a consistent theme throughout gang member participants. This was seen as a way to pass the time and make the boredom bearable.
Poor treatment of young people from deprived communities was cited as a reason preventing young people putting themselves out there on the job market.
The research suggests that providing young people legitimate, meaningful activities to engage in would prevent them turning to gang membership. This feels like stating the obvious however the researcher notes that funding for youth work services has generally been withdrawn in Scotland in favour of funding for informal education initiatives. Any youth initiatives that remain are said to only run for a short period so gaining a sense of meaning and accomplishment for participants is hard to achieve in a short time period. The Community Jobs Scotland programme funded by the Scottish Government only lasts 6-12 weeks. As much as 43% of participants are said to return to unemployment after completion while a much higher percentage for those with criminal convictions do not find future employment. The answer to preventing gang membership in Scotland seems to lie with the Scottish Government who should provide longer term leisure and employment initiatives for those in deprived areas and for young people with criminal convictions. How interesting that today The Scottish Government have appointed a new First Minister in John Swinney who in one of his first speeches told awaiting press that one of his priorities was to end child poverty in Scotland……….over to you John.
The Scottish True Crime Blog is a free, semi regular newsletter covering Scottish based criminological research as well as investigations, insight and analysis of some well known and lesser known, Scottish crime cases. Subscribe for free to ensure our latest articles are delivered directly to your inbox! If you REALLY enjoy the articles produced by the Scottish True Crime Blog, please consider supporting my work by buying me a coffee here. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Reference: Johanne Miller (2024), Killing Time: The Role of Boredom in Glasgow Gangs, The British Journal of Criminology, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae024