Young, Muslim and Criminal: Experiences, Identities and Pathways into Crime

YOUNG, MUSLIM AND CRIMINAL
Contents
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Introduction
	Aim of the book
	Conducting the research
	Book overview
	1	The real names of the shops where The Boys socialised have been anonymised and they are instead referred to as Zaks.
	2	For anonymity reasons the names of The Boys have been changed.
	3	Given that I had been immersed in such prior knowledge and was pre-attuned to some of the shared understanding about The Boys’ behaviours this also caused its own problems and these are discussed in the Appendix.
1. Young British Pakistani Muslim men and concern with increased levels of criminality
	Britain’s Pakistani population
	History of the increased association of Pakistani men with offending behaviour
	Concern around drug dealing and cases of grooming white British girls
	Have British Pakistani Muslim men really become more criminal?
	Socioeconomic and sociostructural factors explaining the increase in offending among British Pakistanis
	Conclusion
2. Bradford is home turf, it’s our city
	Textile Bradford
	Pakistani migrants arrive to work in Bradford’s textile mills
	Textile demise made life difficult for Pakistani migrants
	Manningham
	Manningham – far from a haven of peace
	Problems with overcrowding in Manningham
	Generational tension between Pakistani elders and youth
	Living in segregated communities
	Fear of crime
	Concern with drug dealing in Bradford
	Conclusion
	1	Due to the Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962 on primary migrants, Pakistani migrants invited family members, including their wives and children, to live with them in the UK.
3. The Boys, their identities and dynamics
	Membership to the social circle of The Boys
	Solidarity among The Boys
	Don’t take relationships with women seriously
	Anger problems were prevalent among The Boys
	Banter was common among The Boys
	Underlying mental health concerns
	The Boys on the fringe
	The Kids – a younger group of Boys coming on the streets
	Do a job for us?
	We have very little education
	Schooldays and delinquency
	Work can’t affect ‘street cred’
	Conclusion
4. ‘We are hustlers’ – relationship with drugs
	Hustling is the only way to make money around here
	Boasting was common among The Boys
	Selling drugs was like running a business
	All about making money
	The desire to live lavish lifestyles
	At times broke, no money
	There’s far too much competition in the drug market
	The Boys were shrewd when hustling
	The police love stitching us up
	Ripps were less risk then hustling
	Far from being ‘Mr Bigs’
	Drug use among The Boys
	Violence was impulsive
	Fighting ‘one-on-one’
	Conclusion
6. The impact of Pakistani culture and Islamic faith on the lives of The Boys
	Pakistani culture is challenging
	Relationship with Islam
	Conclusion
	1	A Pakistani tradition of mourning the loss of a family member, men and women gather separately to pay their respects to the family of those who have lost a family member.
	2	Halal meat is that which is considered permissible for Muslims to eat and haraam is meat which Muslims are not allowed to consume.
7. Findings and conclusions
	Some were now spending less time socialising with The Boys
	Some were refusing to grow up
	The Kids were replacing The Boys, becoming more criminal, more money focused
	Broader difficulties experienced by the young men in the study
	Bradford is home
	It was easy to become a drug dealer
	The process of labelling
	Generational tension was evident
	They were just like any other group of boys
	Limitations of the study
	Final words
Appendix
	Studying illegal activity as it happens
	The difficulties and complexities of gathering data
	Validity of data obtained
	Methods used to collate data
	Ethical concerns when studying the lives of The Boys in a tight-knit Pakistani community
Bibliography
Index