Publication EU Street Violence Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces

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EU Street Violence Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces

Foreword Elizabeth Johnston, Executive Director, European Forum for Urban Security (Efus)

Part 1 - Introduction to the project and the issues at stake EU Street Violence : Analyses, Recommendations and Actions Sebastian Sperber, contribution of the European Forum for Urban Security

The content of the online database and an outlook on institutional responses to collective violence Marwan Mohammed, Centre Maurice Halbwachs, Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris

Gender issues in the context of street gangs Marie-Dominique de Suremain, contribution de Psytel – partner of the EU Street Violence Project

Part 2 – Violence committed by youth groups in public spaces in nine European countries Research and practices on urban violence, youth gangs and street crime in Belgium Denoix Kerger and Laetitia Nolet, contribution of the Belgian Forum for Prevention and Urban Security (FBPSU) - partner of the EU Street Violence Project

Organised youth groups and violence in Spain Noemí Canelles, Bárbara Scandroglio, Clara Soler and Josep Mª Lahosa, contribution of the Spanish Forum for Prevention and Urban Security (FEPSU) - partner of the EU Street Violence Project

Youth gangs in France: from research to action Michel Marcus and Maye Seck, contribution of the French Forum for Urban Security (FFSU) - expert for the EU Street Violence Project

Problematic youth groups in Italy Stefania Crocitti, Livia Fay Lucianetti, Gian Guido Nobili and Fiamma Terenghi, contri-bution of the Emilia- Romagna Region - partner of the EU Street Violence Project

UK youth street violence – an overview Andy Mills, contribution of the National Community Safety Network (NCSN) - partner of the EU Street Violence Project

A look at the situation of street violence in German cities Elmar G.M. Weitekamp, University of Tübingen

Youth groups and street gangs in the Netherlands Frank van Gemert, VU University of Amsterdam and Frank Weerman, Netherlands Insti-tute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

Violent groups and gangs in Portugal – conclusion from the EU Street Vio-lence seminar in Portugal Francisco Empis, consultant

An Outlook on street violence in Scandinavian countries Sebastian Sperber, contribution of the European Forum for Urban Security

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EU Street Violence. Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces. 2013. Paris: European Forum for Urban Security, 240 pages. Bilingual edition (English/Spanish and French/Italian)

EU Street Violence Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces

“Street violence”, to be understood as violence committed by groups of young people in public spaces, is often mentioned as a priority issue in terms of security in many European cities. In several contexts these youth groups may be res-ponsible for a large proportion of anti-social behaviour, crime and violence. Apart from the danger posed by these groups, whose violence is often directed at peers and other groups/gangs, their presence and visibility in public spaces often create a feeling of insecurity. Public discourses on security abound with figures of such youth gangs, a supposedly new phenomenon, that attracts youths who are often from a minority background into criminal networks. Regularly, stories of brutal and unexplained outbreaks of violence committed by groups are reported in the media. These reports shock and scare citizens.

The reality of European cities proves to be quite different, more complex and much more diverse. Contrary to the stereotypes used in public discourse, violence and disturbances committed by youths individually or in groups are long-standing occurrences in many European cities. This is why members and partners of the European Forum for Urban Security have decided to work on this issue. Cities and their partners have been developing preventive and reac-tive strategies for years.

While there are a number of practices and policies as well as academic lite-rature on the subject, this pool of knowledge and know-how has remained largely untapped because the information is scattered and not easily acces-sible. True to the European Forum for Urban Security’s ambition to organise knowledge and make it accessible to policymakers, practitioners and resear-chers, the EU Street Violence project set out to help policymakers better un-derstand the reality of violent youth groups. Local analyses were shared with EU-wide research, practices on the ground and recommendations that had been established by various categories of actors throughout Europe. To this end, an online knowledge database1 was developed to gather more than 500 analyses, recommendations and actions (practices) on the issue.

This publication, EU Street Violence. Groups and Violence in Public Spaces, presents the results of this ambitious project as well as analyses based on the information collected for the database. It includes the insights of project partners in their respective countries, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy and the UK, as well as observations from the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Scandinavia.

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1. www.streetviolence.eu

The main part of this book is dedicated to the issue of violence committed by youth groups in public spaces in nine European countries. It builds on the contributions from project partners, who have summarised the insights they have gained collecting information for the EU Street Violence database. It is completed by guest contributions by experts who helped shed light on other European countries. Denoix Kerger and Laetitia Nolet provide insights into research and practices on urban violence, youth gangs and street crime in Belgium. Noemí Canelles, Bárbara Scandroglio, Clara Soler and Josep Mª Lahosa write about organised youth groups and violence in Spain. Michel Marcus and Maye Seck build on the work of the French Forum to provide an overview “from research to action” on the French situation. Stefania Crocitti, Livia Fay Lucianetti, Gian Guido Nobili, Fiamma Terenghi describe the issue of street violence and problematic youth groups in Italy. Andy Mills gives an overview on UK street violence. Elmar G.M. Weitekamp takes a look at the situation of street violence in German cities and Frank van Gemert and Frank Weerman on youth groups and street gangs in the Netherlands. Francisco Empis gives an insight into the Portuguese situation with the conclusion from the EU Street Violence seminar organised in Portugal. Finally, Sebastian Sperber completes these overviews with an article on Scandinavia.

Sociologist Marwan Mohammed gives an essentially quantitative overview of the database and provides an outlook on the institutional responses to collec-tive violence in Europe and beyond. Marie-Dominique de Suremain, expert in Gender and Development, completes this introductory part with an analysis of the gender issue in the context of street gangs, based on the information gathered in the database.

As outcomes of the EU Street Violence Project, the publication EU Street Vio-lence. Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces and the database aim to give local decision makers a better understanding of the issues at stake and of the policy options developed in various EU countries, so that they can invest in holistic strategies for the inclusion of all young people, as individuals and members of groups.

The publication EU Street Violence. Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces is available in English, French, Italian and Spanish in PDF version for Efus’ members on our website www.efus.eu.

To obtain a print copy, please complete the order form.

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Order Form

In order to obtain a print copy of the EU Street Violence. Youth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces publication, please complete this order form:

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Member cities can receive three copies of this publication free of charge.

If you are not a member and would like to order a copy, please send your request and include €8 postage per copy.

Please return to:By post: European Forum for Urban Security10, rue des Montiboeufs75020 Paris - FranceBy email: contact@efus.euBy fax: +33 1 40 64 49 10

Many other publications are also available on our web sitewww.efus.eu

Designed by Marie Aumont and Johann LeclercqPrinted by Stipa, Montreuil (France) - February 2013

Published byEuropean Forum for Urban Security - Efus

10, rue des Montiboeufs75020 Paris – FRANCE

contact@efus.euwww.efus.eu

With the support of the French National Agency for Social Cohesion and Equal Opportunity (Acsé)

With the financial support of the Daphne III Programme of the European Commission. The contents of the publication are the sole responsibility of the authors, and can in no way be taken

to reflect the views of the European Commission.

EU Street ViolenceYouth Groups and Violence in Public Spaces

www.streetviolence.eu