Intergenerational Experiences of Gang and Youth Violence in Bermuda

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The first identified gang-related murder in Bermuda occurred in 2001, shortly followed by the first gangmurder with a firearm in 2003. The island has since struggled to come to terms with and respond to theevolving gang and youth violence problem. Over a 20-year period, there were 71 murders and 294confirmed firearm incidents. At its peak in 2011, Bermuda's murder rate skyrocketed to nearly twice theglobal average at 12.5 per 100,000 people, up from 3.1 in 2003. Recently, there has been an increase inyouth violence across the community and in local schools. This study seeks to explore the challenges ofunderstanding and addressing gang and youth violence in small island communities. Given the lack ofspecific research in this area and the developing problem of gang violence in Bermuda, the prospectiveaims of this study would be to explore the scope and perceived nature of gang and youth violencethrough two generations, explore how these perceptions fit into the structure and process of strategiesto address the issue and provide policy and social change recommendations regarding gang and youthviolence. The objective is to collect data across multiple domains, including the multigenerationalexperiences of current and previous gang-involved people, to explore the nature of gangs and theirdevelopment in Bermuda. The data will then be analysed to consider the efficiency of current andproposed strategies to address gang and youth violence and provide policy recommendations. Thequestions guide the research: What is the nature and scope of youth and gang violence in Bermuda?What are the intergenerational experiences and perceptions of gang and youth violence between twogenerations? To what extent, if at all, are there differential generational effects? How effective arecurrent attempts to tackle gang and youth violence? Given that there was no gang violence before 2001and how rapidly gang and youth violence has developed over time, it is worth examining the problemthrough the lens of different generations' experiences to understand the phenomenon and explore howthe island has responded to the issue through various administrations and services. Understandingthese experiences could help to identify any gaps in services and provide a solid evidence base for policyand strategic development.