This book examines the role of religion and spirituality in desistance from crime and disengagement from gangs. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with male gang members and offenders as well as insights gathered from pastors, chaplains, coaches and personal mentors, the testimonials span three continents, focusing on the USA, Scotland, Denmark and Hong Kong. This volume offers unique empirical findings about the role that religion and spirituality can play in enabling some male gang members and offenders to transition into a new social sphere characterised by the presence of substitute forms of brotherhood and trust, and alternative forms of masculine status. The author presents critical insights into the potential relationship between religious and spiritual participation and the emergence of coping strategies to deal with the ‘stigmata’ that gang masculinity leaves behind. With its wide-ranging and multi-perspective approach, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of gang culture, masculinity and spirituality, as well as policy makers and practitioners. 

“In Gangs and Spirituality, Ross Deuchar traverses three continents and great disciplinary divides to arrive at conclusions about masculinities and crime or religion and criminal justice that provoke thought, emotion, and, hopefully, action. Academic writing with this much humanity and practical significance is rare. Featuring the voices of gang members in their own words and powerful stories of redemption, Gangs and Spirituality is a first-rate book; a must-read for anyone involved in gang research or interested in desistance from crime.” (James Densley, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University, USA)

“Ross Deuchar brings us inside the lives of marginalized men across the globe who turn to gang violence to achieve masculine identity.  In a heartening way, he teaches us that hopeful endings are possible.  He chronicles how support and spirituality provide these otherwise lost souls with a pathway to desistance and a meaningful future. This is animportant book, with valuable insights for scholars interested in, among other areas, theory, life-course criminology, gender, violence, and corrections.” (Francis T. Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati, USA)

“The publication of Ross Deuchar’s Gangs and Spirituality: Global Perspectives marks an important milestone in gang research. It unites a focus on spirituality, religiosity and religion in the study of gang members … This work should re-focus attention on spiritual beliefs and their power to change lives.” (Scott H. Decker, Foundation Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Faculty Affiliate in the Center on the Future of War)

Includes a foreword from Scott Decker Offers insights from spiritual and faith-based interventions around the world to illustrate the way in which these programmes assist gang members in re-focusing their masculine orientations and the impact this has on supporting them to reform Draws on in-depth interviews conducted within local communities, rehabilitation centres and prisons, as well as insights gathered from pastors, chaplains, personal mentors and coaches in the USA, Scotland, Denmark and Hong Kong Provides first-hand insights into the challenges that gang members face and the links between their socially constructed views of masculinity

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