From Droogs to Dogs - Gang Warfare

The absence of academic research leads to a distorted media dominated view of gangs.
Youth gangs are the latest 'folk devil.'
This is significant if policy makers in government use media sources as a base of action.
There are problematic connotations, including young people in inner cities, males, ethnic minorities etc, and demonization of areas such as Moss Side.
The government's response to gangs has always been to suppress gang culture, rather than to address the underlying problems.
In 2009 Chris Grayling said that Manchester has the same level of gang culture as the U.S, despite no empirical evidence of this.
After the riots in 2011, the government declared a 'war on gang culture,' and a US export on gang culture was flown over, as the perception was that gangs were heavily involved. However, in Manchester 187 people were arrested, and 5 were known as gang members. (2.6 percent)
In schools in areas reputed to be associated with gangs, students and teachers reported no gang problems. Instead, there were more pressing issues such as domestic violence and child exploitation.