Violent youth groups in Spain

Abstract

Western societies are worried by juvenile group violence, and are interested in deeper knowledge of the phenomenon to be able to prevent it. Often either the analysis of these groups has a cultural perspective or the focus is on learning about the differences among groups. Either way, we claim that analysing similarities among violent groups can be a good way to understand the phenomenon.The aim of this article is to describe violent youth groups in Spain, based on a review of the literature and empirical data, and then to explain violent behaviour from the perspective of the similarities between the groups. In this way, we reflect on the aspects of the violent youth groups that have not been sufficiently studied, relying on an evolutionary and integrating approach based on contemporary criminology.