BODY MAPS Research and creative reflections by people incarcerated
“Body maps are story telling devices. Like the totems of old, they are made up of symbols that, when viewed together as a whole, tell a story. As an exercise in empowerment, the creators of these body maps documented their lives as young people, perpetrators of serious violent crime and experience of the criminal justice system. Contained within these body maps is their story about crime, punishment power and (in)justice” - Tara Young and Susie Hulley
Friendship, violence and legal consciousness in the context of joint enterprise Overview The body maps displayed here were produced as part of a wider study investigating serious ‘multi-handed’ violence committed by young people (aged between 15 -25 years old). The study (supported by the Economics and Social Research Council - ES/P001378/1) was designed to broaden our understanding of joint enterprise by providing a systematic analysis of the application of this legal doctrine. The research is the first qualitative study to produce a holistic picture of joint enterprise in England and Wales from the perspective of police officers, Crown Prosecution lawyers, defence and prosecution barristers, solicitors, young people in the community and prisoners receiving joint enterprise convictions. The overarching aim of the study is to contribute to the debate on ‘joint enterprise’ as a legal response to serious group violence and to inform policy and practice. What is joint enterprise? In criminal law, offenders are usually held liable for their own actions. Under the doctrine of joint enterprise one can be held accountable for the actions of another person. For example, an individual present at the scene of a homicide can be charged with murder under joint enterprise even if they did not inflict the fatal blow. Presence is not enough to secure a conviction. It must be proven, in court, that the defendant intended to ‘assist and encourage’ another person to commit serious harm against the victim or carry out the substantive act of murder (e.g., to stab or shoot the victim). To date, no official statistics on joint enterprise exist making it difficult to ascertain the extent of its use or impact. However, a partial picture gathered from the available research shows the disproportionate number of Black and minority ethnic young men receiving joint enterprise convictions, particularly for murder, and who are serving very long sentences (e.g., a minimum of 12 years). The body-maps The posters displayed are copies of the full-sized body maps created by residents housed at a Category B prison in England. The artists are men convicted of serious violent offences, including manslaughter and murder, some when they were very young (e.g., aged 25 or under). Two of the body maps were created by artists convicted in joint enterprise trials. The body maps are pictorial reflections of the artists social world prior to conviction (e.g., friend and familial relationships) and their reflections on how they were treated by the criminal justice system. Presented alongside the body maps are testimonials in which the artist explains what the symbols represent.
Body map testimonial by ‘Michael’ (Male, Black British). Convicted of murder when he was 19 years old and received a 27 year sentence. ‘Joint enterprise’ conviction. Reflections on the world and relationships before conviction “I started with the Windrush boat at the top because my grandfather, on my dad’s side, actually came off that boat; family meant a lot to me.” “Before I came into prison […] I was the leader, not the gang leader, just the leader. The leader was someone people could go to for advice on anything; someone that would help someone. […] I’m very wise, I’m very wise […] I always have been from young and I still am now. […] Out of all my friends, I was the most knowledgeable. I was quite popular in [my area] and I liked music. […] I was a comedian, I used to make people laugh, I used to lift up people’s spirits, but now I have become more of a negative person because of everything I have gone through, what I have got convicted for.” “The feathers represent my angelic side. […] The wings represent how some people, in the community, look at me. […]. It makes me think about my grandmother who always calls me her angel. That’s why I really done it. […] The heart is, I’ve got a big heart. No one really knows that now, but I used to have a big heart. It’s not like it used to be, it turns cold when you’re in jail and that, because you basically have to turn cold.” Reflections on offending and the criminal justice system “I was 19 years old when I got convicted for joint enterprise murder. Basically, my friend at the time shot someone and they weren’t sure who shot the guy out of me and my friend. They said it doesn’t matter if they can’t establish who shot the gun, you don’t have to prove who fired the gun and we both got convicted.” “When I was in the dock […] I knew in my head that I didn’t do it [but] everytime I closed my eyes I could see black and white hands saying ‘you’re this, you’re that’ […]. I just feel like there’s certain people out there who just see me as a race, and they don’t look at me as an individual. […] [In court] they talked about [me and my co-defendant] as a two headed person, Everyone that’s in authority, the prison, the prison service, is calling me a killer. […] A lot of people thought I was evil […]Basically they called me a cold-blooded killer, even though I know I haven’t killed anyone.” “[…] And the stigma that they have of me is that because you were part of a gang you deserve to do life; we sympathize that you might not have done the murder, you deserve to do life because you are part of a gang. […] Basically they are using [joint enterprise] law as a gang deterrent innit, so anyone that was in poverty areas they were just taking them off the roads.”
Body map testimonial by ‘Zachery’ (Male, Mixed race – White and Black Caribbean). Convicted of murder at 17 years old and received a 23-year sentence. ‘Joint enterprise’ conviction. Reflections on the world and relationships before conviction “If you see here, family is closest to my heart. Before I came here [to prison], my friends would describe me as “calm” and that’s why I’ve got the [colour] blue there.” “On the council estate [where he lived], [money] literally was all that was on my mind. […] No one wants to live in the ‘hood’ where we were from. Everyone wants to get out and live a good life. Basically, fighting for [the hood] was very stupid when you look back on it. I started all this from about 13 years old. I come from a good home, but I just went down that road. […] I’d be out there doing this with my gang but thinking I won’t be doing this forever; unfortunately, I ended up in this place [prison].” “Even though, it sounds silly, even though I said like the gang is my environment - and I know you contradict yourself – [but] nobody wants to be there; that happens to everyone. In my head, I never thought I’d be standing outside a block committing crime forever. […] The more nonsense you do, the more illegal activity you participate in, you go up in status in the ‘gang life’ – at that age. At that age, it was more cooler for everyone.” “Where I was from, the police were always going to be around. There were just there, it was normal, I didn’t really care about them. They cared about me more than I cared about them. The normal - stop and search. To some extent you can understand because there are a lot of killings going on and they’re calling everyone a gang so that’s how they can do it.” Reflections on offending and the criminal justice system “On the outside of the body map is all people’s faces. This is the court system, this is the words they threw at me, “pack mentality”, “thugs”, “ghetto”, “stupidity”, “immoral”, “animals”, “threatening adolescents” …so it’s all just showing what’s getting thrown at me. None of this was truthful. I wasn’t perfect but, I was young and naïve. I had five co-defendants, they labelled us all as “being high on adrenaline”, “negative”, a lot of stuff that didn’t even make sense, like “you’ve got a pack mentality”. But they have to do their job…. even if they lie and make stuff up. They do this so the jury convict us. They aren’t going to paint us as angels, are they?”
“When I look at [what is on the body map] now, and I try and remember how it was, it’s more pathetic to me than anything. The only thing that remains close to me here is the motivation and my family, who are close to my heart. Everything else on here is scrapped. If I were to do a body map of me now, there would only be motivation, family and knowledge. Now it’s just positive stuff going across my mind. done the murder, you deserve to do life because you are part of a gang. […] Basically they are using [joint enterprise] law as a gang deterrent innit, so anyone that was in poverty areas they were just taking them off the roads.”
Body map testimonial by ‘Donovan’ (Male, White British). Convicted of firearms offences when he was 23 years old and received a 20-year sentence. Reflections on the world and relationships before conviction “The body maps are a good way of expressing what you think. I’ve done plan about what life was like before and what could have caused me to commit the crime. “I picked it [the position of my body] to represent work and family life because I used to be a labourer, so I used to hike the tiles on roofs with a ladder.” “The clock and the pendulum, that’s more about friends and family; I’ve been unloyal so that’s why all the hands are pointing in different directions and the glass is cracked. […] The little knife represents being stabbed in the back; I’ve been stabbed in the back by a number of people over time. The rugby ball [symbolises] a good time, when I used to play in a local team. The drink, obviously, represents a good time and being out.” “The light bulb [on top of my head] – bright spark, and it’s got the sparkles coming off it. My mum [saw me as that]. I left school and they wanted me to go to Uni, but I wanted money instead, so I chose the street instead of university. [On the left foot there is a tyre] …. that means being let down; it’s a flat tyre. I feel like I’ve let people down by being caught, my family. The [boxers represent] when you want to be evil, or when you have to be evil, you are.” “[The two hearts]: I have got the big red one because I have a big heart, like with my family and that, and the littler heart, which is a pale blue one, which is cold hearted, which the court [and the police] said I was.” Reflections on offending and the criminal justice system “The pound sign, I wanted it big, I wanted it to stand out because I thought it was the main motivation for me […] I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for money. […] The money and loyalty that was the main part [of the offence]. The loyalty…once you’ve started something, if you stop, the loyalty is lost, so you are sort of stuck; you are stuck in the circle.” “The letters on my head say ‘messed’ and being ‘messed up in the head’. That’s what the police were saying and that, because I didn’t show no emotion, in questioning and everything. Every time I spoke to them, they were telling me I didn’t realise how much trouble I had got my family into, all stuff like that, and because I didn’t react, they said I was messed up in my head. They [the police] were trying to get a reaction because they arrested (other people) as bargaining tools to get me and [the other people they arrested] to cough up.” “On my right shin is the police stitching me up, with police tape and there is seven because there were seven counts that they wanted me to go guilty
on that I weren’t guilty of, so they stitched me up seven times. The head, at the bottom right, represents my barrister, he was two-faced. He was a bit of a clown. He was telling me things. He told me that my co-d [co-defendant] was going guilty. When I went guilty, my co-d said, “what are you doing?” So, he had to go guilty. He [the barrister] spent the whole time [the trial] sitting with the prosecution.”
Body map testimonial by ‘Frank’ (Male, Black Caribbean). Convicted of attempted murder at 35 years old and received a 12-year sentence. Reflections on the world and relationships before conviction “The colours with the little paper represent my country, which is very colourful. I put my family because I have a child who lives [in another country] who visits me every year. Family is more important for me, and the activities and independent because I like doing my own stuff. I play music, I DJ’d [before prison]. Me and my friends would also play football. I don’t have any friends [from outside] now. I was around the wrong people and they got me into trouble. I don’t trust anyone anymore.” “The designer clothes labels are there because I like designer clothes.” “The words ‘active’ and ‘independent’ are about who I was before prison.” Reflections on offending and the criminal justice system “When the police [in another country] caught me, they beat me up and put a bag over my head so I couldn’t see anything and they took me to the police station. The grey sky and the rain is because on the day they caught me it was raining, also when they caught me I was feeling down. I was in prison [in another country] for six months, it was not too good because I couldn’t speak the language and they didn’t speak English. I wanted to be deported back to England. The black colour around my body map represents my [skin] colour.” “[On the outside] I put ‘gang member’ because the police said I was a gang member in England and [in another country] and that I was a boss. They said I was distributing drugs, but it is all lies.”