Safeguarding Children and Young People who may be affected by Gang Activity

1. Definition

Serious Crime Act 2015 Section 51 defines a gang as:

Something is “gang related “if it occurs in the course of, or is otherwise related to the activities of a group that:

Consists of at least three people; and
Has one or more characteristics that enable its members to be identified by other as a group”.

County Lines definition NCA 2016:

“Section 34(7) of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 defines gang related drug dealing activity as ”the unlawful production, supply,importation or exportation of a controlled drug which occurs in the course of, or is otherwise related to,the activities of a group that:

Consists of at least three people; and
Has one or more characteristics that enable its members to be identified by other as a group”.

2. Risks

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 and boys 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. However practitioners must be aware that boys and young men are also vulnerable to this type of abuse.

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. Boys and young men are less likely to report rape or sexual abuse due to factors such as (but not limited to); stigma, fear of not being believed, shame, embarrassment, homophobia.

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.

3. Indicators

Child withdrawn from family;
Sudden loss of interest in school or change in behaviour. 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 and boys. 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.

4. Protection and Action to be Taken

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 or the police for the area in which the child is currently located. The Making Referrals to MASH Procedure (for Cambridgeshire) and the Making Referrals to Children Social Care Procedure (for Peterborough) 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 those former gang members and rival gang members who may see the young person as without protection.

Sometimes if there is a possible “threat to life”, it may result in the Police issuing an Osman Warning. In these circumstances this should trigger an automatic referral by the Police to Children’s Social Care, the initiation of a Strategy Discussion and consideration of the need for immediate safeguarding action, unless to do so would place the child at greater risk.

In these cases, the decision not to refer should be actively reviewed to allow a referral to Children’s Social Care to be made at an appropriate stage in order to protect the young person’s safety.

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.

Gang Injunctions

“Gang injunctions offer local partners a way to intervene and to engage a young person aged 14-17 with positive activities, with the aim of preventing further involvement in gangs, violence and/or gang-related drug dealing activity”. (Home Office, June 2015)

The Serious Crime Act 2015) has amended the Crime and Security Act 2010 to extend this provision from 18 years and to include children and young people (14-17 year olds). it also now covers drug dealing activity” as well as “violence” including the threat of violence. Applications should focus on gang related behaviour that may lead to violence, and not other problematic antisocial behaviour.

In order to make a gang injunction, the court must be satisfied that the respondent has engaged in, encouraged or assisted gang-related violence or drug dealing activity. In addition, the court must then be satisfied that:

The gang injunction is necessary to prevent the respondent from engaging in, encouraging or assisting gang-related violence or drug dealing activity; and/or
The gang injunction is necessary to protect the respondent from gang related violence or drug taking activity.

5. Issues

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.