Tackling Gang Culture with VR

Gang culture – the desire for predominantly young people to be a part of a gang – is an increasing problem to which there has not been any successful solution. It is an unfortunate feature of modern society that many young people become attached to criminal gangs ironically as a protection against gang threats within their social area. In the past, gang culture has been driven by social deprivation and the notion that if you weren’t part of a gang, you would be fair game for malicious and criminal activity.

While gangs have existed in urban areas for several hundreds of years, they used to be confined to very small areas and social groups, and never really ventured out of their own territory. Most gang activity focused on robbing individuals and unoccupied business premises for financial gain, but slowly grew into organised crime and the handling and sale of stolen goods. 

Modern day gang culture still has those particular drivers, but is exacerbated by more complex issues such as the perceived glamour and money that is associated with being a gang member. Many modern gangs are a necessary part of the parallel issue of drug culture, which is a multi-billion-pound industry, and creates illicit wealth and associated prosperity. Therefore, gang membership often has the same perceived image.

All of those drivers are powerful in the minds of many young people, and are very difficult to break. Because of its main drivers of belonging and huge profits that honest work is unlikely to supply, gang culture is predominantly found in inner-city areas, with London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool being particularly hard hit. 

Despite significant Government initiative designed to remove the glamour from gang culture, it is on the increase. Home Office statistics highlight that around 6% of 10-to-19-year-olds are involved with gangs in some form, and it continues to rise as gangs become more powerful. But a new initiative is hoping to fight back against gang culture and individuals need to be aligned with a gang, by using VR tools.

Using VR against Gangs: A New Hope

It is a sad fact that many young people get their first taste of gang culture while at school, and that becomes a breeding ground for acceptance in initiation. If that link can be broken, then there is a chance that young people can be turned away from gangs and the potential harm that they bring.  

While class-room based education on the pitfalls of gang membership has been used (fairly unsuccessfully) in schools for some years, demonstrating these through physical interactions hasn’t really been tried. That is until now. Pupils at Birmingham’s Rookwood Academy have been given a hands-on approach to the downsides to gang culture and it seems to be paying off. 

Fundamental to the training is an immersive world developed by Virtual Decisions; a UK company dedicated to creating VR experiences that help people make the right decisions in many of life’s issues. Tackling the roots of gang culture is one of their many worthwhile causes.

The seminars were developed by Virtual Decisions, an arts company, in collaboration with the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership, to assist young people avoid crime. Virtual Decisions developed a virtual world in which young people are confronted with a series of social situations.

Sami Neale from Virtual Decisions pointed out that using worksheets and PowerPoint presentations, VR helps students relate to the environment where crimes take place. “We bring in a virtual reality headset to show students real young people, in real world environments, where they understand the fashion and the language. If they can see a situation play out in somewhere that they recognise, they are more likely to engage with the workshop and it’s more likely to have an impact on them” she said.

A Strong Start

Virtual Decisions have a strong background in creating content and scenarios that help diverse communities deal with ‘difficult’ day-to-day situations. These situations vary from interactions with peers and how to deal with problematic social circumstances to more deadly scenarios based on knife and gang culture. 

The idea is that if young people are presented with these kinds’ situations in a safe environment – via VR – then they will gain experience of how to deal with them in real life. Also, when it comes to morally-bound issues such as gang membership and drug problems, children can learn to deal with it in a safe way by saying ‘no’.

The feedback from students at Rookwood Academy has been very positive, and there are moves toward rolling the VR training out on a larger scale, and involving more schools and colleges. If this is successful, there is a potential for the same training to be expanded further still, into youth clubs and other social venues populated by teens.

VR as a Social Tool

Gang culture is an insidious and growing bane on society that is proving difficult to tackle by regular means. However, VR is a powerful tool that can emulate daily situations and help users navigate complex issues such as gang and drug culture. The work by Virtual Decisions is a good step forward, but more needs to be done, and as VR headset ownership rises, this kind of game-based interaction will become increasingly valuable in the fight against a range of social ills.

Unity Developers are a team of professional programmers and artists who are ready to help you bring your XR or Unity-based project to life. Contact us now and see how we can help you.