Youth Gangs and "Trouble in the (Housing) Projects"

Marwan Mohammed (1)

1 CESDIP - Centre de recherches sociologiques sur le droit et les institutions pénales

At the turn of the 21st century, youth gangs have again become an object of societal anxiety, occupying a special place among the different themes forming the magma of concern about crime. Recently (August-September 2007), the media were full of the fights between groups of youths who usually hang out in the La Défense and Gare du Nord areas of Paris. The amount of press received by these violent exchanges may seem surprising. During the same period, several arrests were made in the Val-de-Marne département following a homicide connected with " trouble " (" embrouilles ") between youths from Valenton and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. Likewise, at the Belle-Épine shopping centre in Thiais (Val-de-Marne), two other youths were seriously injured by sawed-off shotgun shots. Apparently media coverage differs depending on whether these conflicts take place in gentrified Paris or in the anonymous outskirts where everything turns grey.

Domaines: Sociologie

Marwan Mohammed. Youth Gangs and "Trouble in the (Housing) Projects". Penal Issues, 2008, 1, pp.1-4. ⟨hal-00835218⟩