Objectives

It is widely recognized that street gangs are connected with violence. Aggressive and violent youths are at greater risk of joining collectivities that we call street gangs or troublesome youth groups. Many European countries face such youth groups, which may be called street gangs although researchers and policy makers often hesitate to call them this because they compare their own groups to American stereotypes. Indications exist that there is a growth in street gang problems in different countries in Europe.  Therefore, the study of European street gangs and troublesome youth groups may be very important for understanding better the causes of youth violence in European countries.

The European Framework of Competences for Community Professionals in Gang Environments (FRAME GANG) Project aims at fostering stability in the European local communities’ context by upgrading and developing the competences in the field of "gang work".

FRAME GANG puts forward a work plan to develop pilot tools, materials and a training methodology that identify competences needed for engaging within local communities affected by gang crime to harness their local knowledge and meaningfully increase their understanding and capacity to act in gang environments.

Specific objectives:

1. Produce current and appropriate occupation / work profiles for those working with gangs and the impact of gang crime in communities across Europe, a profile relevant within each European partner country and against which new learning outcomes can be identified.
2. Identify in each partner country key sectors, organisations and job roles working within gang crime and with the impact of gang crime (police, probation, youth work, health, social services, education, communities).
3. Identify through desk and DACUM consultative research in each partner country the knowledge, skills and competences required to develop capacity and ensure improved and more successful engagements with gangs and gang members operating in order to reduce gang crime in the future.
4. Develop the European Framework of Competencies under the form of an interactive on-line tool capturing: major areas of competencies, specific competencies for each area, proficiency levels related to EQF and examples of knowledge / skills / attitudes. This will be the fundamental tool to give a common language between professionals, employers, VET providers and communities, in a context where even the definition of the problem is challenging: what is a gang for you and your community?

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