In September 2011, Union Street Media Arts, a social enterprise based in Manchester, England, embarked on a two-year project and campaign to explore girls' involvement in gangs. The project involved Cedar Mount Academy and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to support 30 students to raise awareness about the risks of gangs through film, social media and performance.
Cedar Mount Academy initially recognized the need to look into the gang experience by consulting with girls and boys at the school through drama workshops and sessions facilitated by the police. At the same time, GMP had seen an increase in violence and sexual assaults by young men against girls so their engagement and prevention work in schools was becoming a larger focus.
One main theme that girls voiced was the need to be respected and taught to respect themselves and not get labelled as a 'slag' or 'sket' (derogatory terms for a girl or woman perceived as being promiscuous).
With the Home Office tapped into what was happening locally, it developed a gang and youth-violence strategy focusing on supporting local partnerships. To respond effectively to local gang issues, the strategy targeted three force areas: London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands (Birmingham). Through Communities Against Guns, Gangs and Knives Fund, the Home Office funded organizations in those areas working with young people at risk of involvement in gangs. Union Street Media Arts received £20,000 for the Girls in Gangs project.
Missing pieces
There were only a few key pieces of research available to us in early 2011. Each identified a lack of research in the United Kingdom looking at the experiences of girls' involvement in gangs. Researchers felt the key was to use education to explore not only the experiences of girls as gang members but also as peers, girlfriends, siblings and parents. They further talked about the broader characteristics of girls' involvement and ways into gangs, and pointed to a greater diversity of experience, 'gang culture' and motivation for becoming involved than was previously understood.
To build upon that knowledge and do something that was unique, the project creatively explored the experiences of girls who unwillingly or unknowingly became associated with gang members. This exploration was done through drama and film in an effort to understand what and how their experiences unfolded. This became such an insightful and empowering process for the students that, by the end, many of them were not only no longer at risk themselves, but wanted to change the way other young people could understand this reality.
The project used creative and innovative processes to involve the young participants as much as possible. The idea was to support the boys and girls to explore the issues in a way that they could relate to and not force them to highlight stereotypical issues and ideas because that is how they appear in the media. This also involved supporting the participants to identify the role of the media in the development of gang culture and peer pressure.
The project focused on trying to get young people to think critically about a largely normalized issue —'this is the way it is.'
Empowering youth was at the heart of the project because we know that to really have an impact on their lives and make a sustainable change, they had to be guided in the right way.
Creative exploration
In the first year, drama and media students explored the critical issues, ideas and experiences that girls have around gangs, how girls in gangs are perceived, the reasons why girls get involved, the risks, how gangs came about and what influences gangs.
The drama students created a performance that they devised with guidance from facilitators. They chose the themes, topics, characters and developed the dialogue around Jo, a girl who unwillingly gets involved in a gang. The students identified the key points they wanted the audience to take away from the performance.
The media students created a documentary, supported by a professional crew. They developed the film's objectives, researched the content, devised interview questions and carried out the interviews, and designed the lighting and camera set-up. The documentary looked at the issues in more depth, explored roles and situations, and brought in professionals and academics to contribute to the debate and talk about initiatives.
The documentary explored all the key themes and issues related to girls' involvement in gangs including first-hand information from social workers, civil servants and young people, giving a unique insight into the topic.
The second year involved bringing the performance and documentary to a wider audience. Through more workshops, the performance was developed in relation to audience feedback from the first performance. It portrayed what happens to the people around Jo as well as key relationships, exploring thoughts, motivations, choices and emotion.
The media pupils developed a website for other youth groups, schools, universities, public bodies, social services and the public to use, and designed a social media campaign to spread the message.
The resources include session plans and activities, articles, books, films and links to useful websites and resources that help explore critical issues, ideas and experiences that girls have around gangs, how girls are perceived in or seen in roles, reasons why girls get involved and the risks.
The trust built between students and facilitators was an important factor in its success. The positive environment gave the students the confidence to be open because they had a safe space to explore and respond. The students' perspectives were good because they were involved in getting feedback and discussing ideas with each other, and working to make their creative pieces relate more to the audience.
At one of the drama performances, surveys were conducted with the audience before and after the show to assess any change in ideas and attitudes. Comparing the before and after identified several changes in the audience's views:
- There was a decline in stereotypical perceptions of what a gang is.
- There was an increase in awareness of why girls may join gangs.
- There was an increase in the understanding that girls' and boys' roles in a gang may be different.
- The identified risks of getting involved with gangs were much more accurate following the performance.
- The audience clearly understood the messages the pupils were trying to portray.
The campaign designed with the young people became much bigger than anticipated. The project toured around schools, universities and community centres spreading the message and methods. Those involved were invited to do lectures and speak on the radio as well as present our work at the Houses of Parliament. The project was endorsed by national child protection organizations, politicians and social workers. The documentary has been aired on British TV four times and our online channel has received more than 12,500 views.
The website now provides a resource for thousands of people around the globe every year. Requests and comments come from individuals, professionals and students all over the world about the relevance and usefulness of it. This is indeed a global phenomenon, and understanding the real experiences of girls and women is desperately needed.
From start to finish, the progression of the students' work showed tremendous thematic development. They understood the issues well and their views changed significantly. They took leadership and ownership, and saw the importance of their new role in society. Their work created a buzz in the school, which in turn has a positive effect on the other pupils.
While these young participants were deemed to have challenging behaviour and attitudes, the project seemed to have a great positive impact on them. Their confidence increased, as did their awareness, leading to positive life choices being more available to them.
For more information, please visit: www.girlsingangs.org