Phil Groman

Phil Groman: While gang violence and religious extremism attract a broadly different demographic, both phenomena appear to be gaining momentum among young people in Britain. Gang violence took the lives of 26 teenagers last year in London alone. The security services admit a steady increase in those supporting terrorist activities, some as young as 15 and 16.

Much of the analysis into the factors driving involvement in both street gangs and radical Islamist movements focus on broad structural causes such as unemployment, poor community leadership and even the failures of multiculturalism. However, one salient parallel between both movements is the presentation and mobilisation of violence as an attractive solution to disempowered youth.