Key UC Contact
What We Did
Gangs have attracted very little systematic study, which means that we are without the tools required to accurately address them. This project, led by Dr Jarrod Gilbert in collaboration with UC PhD students Ben Elley and Irina Golda Lamadrid, addresses the two interrelated problems of gangs and prisons, and works towards decreasing the negative effects of both. This project will use a mixed-method approach to identify the reality of gang influence within prisons and the impact gangs have on rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. Informed by international and local literature, its primary sources will be a large survey of released prisoners, and in-depth interviews with a cohort of gang members. It will also make use of a wealth of data already collected by Corrections. Through a report and an online resource, it will produce accessible and practical information that will be foundational for future work in the area but will also have immediate value. For the first time, we will have a clear understanding of the gang situation within key elements of the criminal justice system. The findings of this research will be vital to gang management policy within the prisons, but also help our understandings around rehabilitating prisoners and ultimately making communities safer.
Who Was Involved
The Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, The Department of Corrections
Why It Matters
Gangs cause a disproportionate amount of harm within certain communities and create significant difficulties for many aspects of the criminal justice system – most notably prisons. Notwithstanding that, the gangs are also symptoms of wider social and economic problems, and are therefore something of a petri dish – a small section of densely packed drivers of crime – that we can study in order to shed light on wider social concerns. If we can better understand and solve gang problems, then, the effects ripple out in expanding circles. Moreover, gangs are currently a significant impediment to the broad social goals of reducing the prison population and creating safer communities. This project will be a fundamental and practical effort at addressing these issues.
Learn More
- Gilbert, J., & Newbold, G. (Eds.). (2017). Criminal Justice: A New Zealand Introduction. Auckland University Press.
- Gilbert, J. (2013). Patched: The history of gangs in New Zealand. Auckland University Press.
