https://mashable.com/2016/03/29/british-skinheads/?europe=true

'The skinhead subculture first emerged in London in the mid-1960s, when a split developed among “mod” music fans.

While more affluent mods could afford the fashionable clothes, scooters and amphetamines that typified the subculture, working-class mods had to make due with with more functional attire.

These “hard mods” often lived in the same poor neighborhoods as Caribbean immigrants, exposing them to the fashions and sounds of soul, ska and reggae.

Finding more interest in black culture and music than the effete mod subculture, the hard mods adopted a uniform of work boots, short jeans or pants, simple shirts, suspenders and close-cropped hair. (Long hair was a liability in factory work and street fights.) They soon began referring to themselves as “skinheads.”

Skinhead culture faded in the early ‘70s, but revived as a response to the commercialization of punk at the end of the decade. At the same time, many skinheads became involved in far-right and racist politics.

Some factions of skinheads had previously been known to attack immigrants and gay people in addition to their usual brawling; now many were openly sporting swastikas and giving Nazi salutes.

By the mid-1980s, the term “skinhead” had become synonymous with neo-Nazism, fascism and xenophobia.

Today a few organizations, such as Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, are attempting to fight back against white supremacist skinheads and honor the multicultural origins of the subculture.'

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/30/drama

'The British kitchen-sink tradition looms over Oldman's bleakly brilliant directorial debut, a portrait of working-class lives blighted by violence and misery.

But he draws also on his own childhood - he grew up close to the south London housing estate where the film is set - and his characters are depicted with a clarity born of personal acquaintance. Ray Winstone stars as the volatile, self-pitying Raymond, Kathy Burke, who won the best actress award at Cannes, is his put-upon wife, Valerie.

Their lives are measured out in drunken nights and savage beatings, detailed with unflinching realism by Oldman, but with little hope of redemption.

• Nil By Mouth; Gary Oldman (1997), starring Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke'

 EP: DID THE GOVERNMENT CREATE UK GANG CULTURE?

• Epidemic of violent crime in London
• State racism 
• Stop & search increase from police 
• Are we understanding the causes of violent crime?
• WHY?!
• Community in crisis
• 2011 summer riots - leaders on holiday - war on gangs - blamed on gangs ( bogey man ) -2000 rioters arrested yet only 13% connect with gangs - establishment deny the social & economic causes for the behaviour and feelings of the rioters
• 2011 riots link to present day as the government have targeted gangs- Labelling black kids as gangsters - Excluding these kids from school, putting in things like Pupil Referral Centres = encourages young people to be in gangs 
• Pupil Referral Centres = Lots of young people that behave similarly due to them feeling angry ect put together creates gangs
• Labelling = even if you grew up on an estate where gang crime is common but have nothing to do with the gang activity you are still stereotyped and categorised into these groups. These stereotypes placed onto individuals makes them more likely to feel abandoned by the community and society therefore they are more likely to join gangs ect.
• Working class subculture ( mods & rockers, punks, skinheads, football hooligans)
• Not justifying violent crime ( eg knife crime ) but an explanation 
• Collective of young people isolated and excluded from society = Anger  
• Told from early age that their dumb and will never get anywhere, racism from early life, treated as if not as good as others, kicked out of school ( no support - no guidance ) THIS IS STATE VIOLENCE -- the victims of this believe that what they think and feel is comparable to state violence.  
• Gang Matrix ( met police secret database )= Database of the most violent young people in these localities  - London -Birmingham - Bristol - Manchester - Nottingham ( 4000 names on this database and 87% of them are black )
• All black people are lumped together ( Asian people will be described as Japanese, Thai, Indian ect ) despite different backgrounds ( West indies, countries in Africa ect) all are labelled as black.
• Racial profiling - categorisation -- Puts peers of the 'violent' people in the database ( associations are a threat = gang culture)
• No representation of these young people in parliament ect
• No engagement from establishment with the community
• Ultimately creating an environment that makes them behave badly ( violence )
• No one believes in their future so they begin to not believe it themselves = SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY
• Marginalised from society = create their own society
• Actions from the state make them feel like its them against the world
• Right across the system kids are being stereotyped and stigmatised despite never having commit violent crime.
• Easier for the state to chuck them to one side and forget about them but sweep them up years later and chuck them in prison = only time they have value to the state is when their in prison
• Racist policing = racial profiling
• Stop and search used as disruption tactics
• Bad policing and bad community relations - said since the 70s - need to prioritise better engagement and involvement of the community 
• More money is put into policing than community work 
• Its everywhere -- not just London 
• Project work that encourages people to put down their weapons ---- going to take a lot of work 
• Go to the housing estates that gangs are believed to be - They are run down shit holes - social deprivation 

THE STATE STEREOTYPE AND STIGMATISE THEREFORE THE YOUNG PEOPLE TURN TO CRIME AND OTHER COMMUNITY 

I am using this podcast as research for my project due to its explanation of the direct correlation of the actions take by the government and the gang crime issue we have in this country today. It tells me that there is not excuse for gang violence like knife crime, but its an explanation. People are angry for a reason. The treatment from authorities make people angry.  The disbeliefs that the school system have against certain kids makes people angry. 0 hour contracts make people angry. A lack of community support makes people angry. Poor quality social housing makes people angry. People are not fucking rioting for no reason.

Larry clark’s work has inspired me since I first came across his work when I was around 14. His work in general has been incredibly controversial since the start of his career. Particularly his early photographic series’ Tulsa and Teenage Lust.

Clark’s Tulsa , originally published in 1971, is a violent, distressing, quite frankly fucking shocking series off photographs documenting his life and environment when him and his mates began shooting up. Clark was 16 when this first started and they did this every day for 3 years. Then he left his home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But he has returned and Clark states “Once the needle goes in, it never comes out.”

‘Tulsa remains Clark's most visceral book, an insider's view of a period in the mid-1960s when he was a teenager living what he calls, without irony, "the outlaw life" – shooting up speed, having sex with his strung-out girlfriends and hanging out with his gun-toting junkie friends. Sex, drugs and violence were captured in a raw, grainy monochrome that defined the raw confessional style adopted later by Nan Goldin, Corinne Day and Antoine D'Agata. But Clark went there first, and Tulsa remains a template for all that followed, a blurring of the lines between voyeurism and intimate reportage, between honesty and exploitation.’

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/05/larry-clark-tulsa-teenage-lust-photography-controversy

Larry Clark’s are incredibly distressing and violent images that somehow are both shocking and stunning. As fucked up as the sounds. The elements in a photograph, eg; its tone, line, light, shadow ect make the photograph sort of enchanting. Im not sure how to describe it. Like the more you want to look away you cant. Thats the power of a photograph. Although it can be edited and somewhat manipulated a photograph is real. Its certain. Its a second in life you can never repeat and have the same. Im not sure if im explaining this well. His photographs are fucking mental but their stunning and his work has and always will inspire my photography work.

Larry Clark’s early photography revolutionised documentary photography. The blunt autobiographical images of ‘adolescent sexuality’ and drug abuse that he has presented the world are just bold, shocking, disturbing but yet a somehow creatively beautiful. Photographs can be so powerful and they have the capability to be so influential. But that depends who’s taking the photograph and what their photographing. I always thought I was documenting the lives of those around me and I guess in lots of ways I have. But during this personal project Ive realised im documenting my life and my experiences and displaying them to others. 

Kes, 1969, is a film that has always inspired my work. Its a beautiful yet incredibly simple story. Billy Casper is a young boy who lives with his mum and bother in the mining town of Barnsley. From the very beginning of the film we see that Billy is marginalised by the community around him, firstly because of the deprived estate he lives at. From his boss at the paper round to his school teachers, Billy is believed to be no good and he has almost been given up on. Even his mum has a lack of hope for him. At school he gets into trouble and is humiliated by teachers infant of his peers, in the town he steals and at home he’s bullied by his unpleasant brother. Billy has no real drive in life until he sees Kes, a kestrel bird flying over the fields by his house. Later he steals a book in order to educate himself about falconry. He steals the bird and keeps her in his shed. Everyday before school and after school Billy has Kes for company and begins to train his with his new found knowledge. Throughout the film we see Billy very isolated from the community and people. However he puts his mind to training Kes and does a great job. Billy and Kes has a wonderful bond and the friendship between them grows. Later in the film billy gets asked about his bird in class. Usually he would be subject to insults and humiliation in class but this time his peers and teacher are interested in what he has to say. He’s passionate, and he’s finally being taken seriously. One teacher takes a real interest in Billy and his hobby and he goes to watch him in action. I found this part moving because It may have been the first time Billy had someone pay a real interest in what he was doing. At the end of the film Billy returns to his shed from school and he cant find Kes. He searches everywhere, he runs through the fields and the forrest too just to find out that his brother killed her. His mum attempts to stand up for Billy but doesn’t really succeed. The film ends with a very sad and alone Billy burying his dear friend. 

This film is a cult film classic because of its accuracy in portraying a working class family up north in the late 60s. A scene I find particularly powerful in the film is when Billy is told off for not having a PE kit. He’s teased and ridiculed by his teacher in front of his whole class and forced to wear a spare kit that is 2x the size of him. The lack of care for his home situation is hard hitting especially considering it is in no way something he can control. 

This film has had a really significant affect on me since I was around 11. Its one of my favourite films due to its honest and sad portrayal of a working class young person. I love how despite this the connection that is built and displayed to the audience between Kes and Billy is so pure, symbolic and beautiful. Hope. Hope is everything. Hope is very difficult to have at times of struggle. When what you lack far outweighs what you have. Billy has something to do. That may sound simple but its not. He was stealing, causing trouble and isolating himself. Until he started training Kes. After this he dedicated his world to Kes. This film is a piece of research for my project because I think the themes and messages still link to society today. People can only take so much strain. So much stress. So many let downs. So much struggles. People rebel when they feel they aren’t being treated with dignity and respect. In my opinion almost all the crime committed that is linked with people of a lower social status is due to the social and cultural deprivation that surrounds them. It may not be a direct correlation to fighting back towards the government but its a full circle. A young person may have many siblings and a single parent. Their parent may have little ‘academic’ achievements therefore not being able to access a higher paid job to support their family. The stress of whats going on at home for this young person may have an effect on their abilities at school for example to concentrate due to tiredness. The young person may be penalised and singled out due to this. Feeling isolated and not feeling they belong in their school society they hear about a group of people who look out for each other and have ways of making lots of money. This is just one sort of example of how this domino theory works in this case. Kids need something to focus on. Something for them to realise their potential and take them away from the negativities in their lives. 

https://lwlies.com/articles/fish-tank-andrea-arnold-children-living-in-poverty/

‘The 2000s oversaw an uprising of the teen comedy, but Arnold swaps amusing teen awkwardness for enclosing despondency, and Fish Tank becomes a simple search for silver linings where there will always be hardship. Although not exactly an optimistic piece, it is Arnold’s assertion that society’s most impoverished and marginalised are deserving of a spotlight. But, a decade on from the film’s release, has anything changed for all those children imprisoned by poverty?

Fish Tank opens with scenes of hoodie-clad teens with huge hoop earrings and hair frazzled beyond salvation. It’s an accurate depiction of teenagedom for a large portion of Brits, and it comes complete with sticky summer afternoons at the park where dance routines are energetically practiced to 2000s RnB. Ever faithful to her roots, Arnold dutifully insists on rendering Britain simply as it is. No omissions, no airbrushing – just brutally candid, honest filmmaking.

Yet not unlike the rest of Arnold’s work, Fish Tank mutates into something far weightier than a window into the lives of the underprivileged. It becomes an ode to all the children who fleetingly experience such moments of blissful exuberance; as we familiarise ourselves with the abusive parents and predatory outsiders that gradually infiltrate their innocence, propelling them towards an adulthood they’re entirely ill-equipped for. Mia is just one example, a dancer who lives with a vicious and neglectful mother, Joanne (Kierston Waring), and a sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) who is just as ill-fated.’

THESE ARE SOME ROUGH NOTES ON FISHTANK IF ANYONE CAN READ THEM:

The Streets' music has been in my life from an incredibly young age. At the age of 4 Id be shouting the lyrics of Fit But You Know It and Get Out Of My House in the car with my brother. Now as an adult and after so many years of listening ,I understand and appreciate Mike Skinner's words a lot more. 

Stay Positive is a hard hitting song about dealing with the fucked up struggle with mental health. Lyrics like "this world swallows souls", "weed becomes a chore, you want the buzz back so you follow the others onto smack" and "feels nice and still, best thing bout brown is it always will". Dealing with mental health issues is really fucking hard and people often turn to drugs in order to help soothe the pain of mental health. Whether its flouroxotine, weed, sirtreleen or smack people seek some kind of escape from our struggles. A distraction. Might be football or fucking spelling I dont know. Anyway, drugs in general are associated more with socially deprived areas and people who are less fortunate. From crack to spice. Taking meds for mental health issues for some people ,including myself, was considered a last resort. This is because talking therapies are more beneficial but waiting lists are daunting and fucking long. Its scary having to wait to often people take meds or do drugs to cope either in the mean time or in general. Like before I started meds aI was on councselling waiting lists for months and CBT waiting lists for 2 and a half years. Thats bad enough, some people wait  disgusting amount of time to get help for shit. There are ways of doing this not through the NHS of course but private health care, including mental health care, can be fucking expensive and infeasible for so many people in this country. Therefore those who are more fortunate in economic ways have more opportunities for help and supporter. So however much money you have in your back pocket determines how, and more importantly when your will receive help and support for many things. 

Now I am not saying that middle class people and individuals who come from more fortunate backgrounds dont suffer with mental health issues ! Thats just fucked up . Mental health like basically ALL health issues does NOT discriminate. However it is FACT that with almost everything in society, the more money you have = the more opportunities you have access to. For example, the education system, the criminal justice system ect.  The NHS is fucking incredible and in my opinion one of the most amazing things about this country. But sadly parts of it is crumbling due to lack of funding. Mental health is art to get help for. I know this personally because Ive been the the NHS mental health services since I was around 13. 

This research links to my project because the lack of support and funding for the NHS affects certain people more that others. FACT. Less fortunate people do not have the same amount of opportunities as those with more money. FACT.