“We are Not a Criminal Gang, just Criminal Friends”: Narratives, Counter-Narratives, and the Global Gang Label

• In Event: Narrative Criminology 2: Gangs, organized crime and prisons

Abstract

This article critiques the persistent reliance on “global gang narratives” in the study and governance of illicit group behaviour, commonly referred to as gangs. Drawing on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork with 40 individuals engaged in various forms of group-based criminal activity in Oslo, Norway, the research identifies and examines three dominant and counter-narratives about gangs. Dominant narratives, upheld by state institutions, portray gangs as identifiable, structured, and different from the mainstream, and work to reinforce punitive approaches to crime control. In contrast, counter-narratives challenge these assumptions, depicting gangs as misidentified, fluid and indistinct from broader social networks, thereby calling for alternative conceptual and policy responses. Building on these insights, the article proposes an alternative, relational framework that captures the complexities of group criminal behaviour and the lived experiences of those involved, thus offering a more nuanced approach to understanding illicit social formations.

Authors

• Frøja Storm-Mathisen, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway

• Alistair Fraser, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow