Verified by 
Psychology
Psychology Used to Groom Children for County Lines
Viewing county lines through a psychological lens may help stem the tide.
Posted April 8, 2020
County Lines is a rapidly growing type of organised crime where drug gangs expand their operations from cities to smaller or more rural towns. A typical county lines model is that dealers establish networks between urban hubs and rural locations. They use dedicated mobile phone lines, or deal lines, to take orders for drugs. Children, typically boys, some as young as 11 years old, are groomed, psychologically manipulated and systematically exploited to "go country," that is to transport and distribute drugs and collect payments.
County lines is extremely damaging, societally and economically. It destroys families and is linked to increased knife and gun crime and the children involved in county lines and their families experience severe and prolonged psychological and physical harm. Tackling county lines is a national priority for government and law enforcement agencies in the UK and elsewhere. But efforts to reduce county lines are floundering. It is not entirely clear how many lines there are in Britain, or how many children are involved. But since 2016, the number of county lines has increased year after year. Currently, there are believed to be over 2000 lines and it is estimated to be at least a £500m industry.
One of the challenges of county lines is that psychological coercion has emerged as one of the primary tools for grooming children and adolescents, and coercive techniques continue to be used alongside violence and threats of violence as children and adolescents work the lines. Research on the exact nature of the coercive techniques used in county lines contexts is limited. However, there is ample evidence of the efficiency of psychological coercion in domestic violence and modern slavery contexts, and there is a large psychological literature on how easy I can be to leverage compliance in both adults and children.
Psychological coercion and control is extremely effective, largely invisible, and can have a long-lasting impact. Law enforcement agencies, youth workers, and other professionals report that county lines grooming and exploitation feels and looks very different, but many admit they do not really understand the true nature of the psychological techniques used to lure and control children.
We do know that county lines gangs widely and consistently publicise the benefits of going country, creating a misconception that involvement in county lines is rewarding. Using social media, they promise large amounts of cash and material possessions (e.g., top-end designer clothing and high value, high-status cars, jewellery, and mobile phones), which are out of the reach of all children and adolescents and most adults. The grooming messages are skilfully directed and delivered remotely and quickly using what some refer to as "speed grooming" tactics.
Speed grooming is embedded in a wider "hyper" context of seeking fast money, quick wins, rapid 24/7 communication, and hyper-masculinity. Potential victims are often targeted by others in their friendship groups, or by friends of friends who are alert to individual vulnerabilities and aspirations and so can bombard victims with individualised coercive and persuasive messaging from the offset.
Efforts to alert parents, carers, and the general public to the signs that children may be being targeted or are already involved in county lines are hampered by the dynamic nature if the speed grooming tactics employed, which render prescriptive lists of indicators almost irrelevant. Speed grooming evolves quickly and can be easily adapted to individual circumstances and to emerging trends in adolescent culture. It is also embedded within the wider context of unpredictable adolescent behaviours and so "odd" or "different" is often accepted by parents and carers as the new adolescent normal.
The prevailing narrative that portrays children drawn into county lines as "troubled" also impedes wider awareness. Children are typically depicted as missing from home, in care, with poor mental health, at points of crisis and/or with chaotic and traumatic lives. Accordingly, normal parental curiosity triggered by atypical behaviour is truncated because well off professional families believe their children, who attend "good" schools, are not at risk. Indeed, a recent government report has highlighted this narrative as counterproductive, arguing the need to emphasise that all children are at risk.
Many parents and carers only realise their children have fallen victim to county lines exploitation when they come into contact with law enforcement. By this time, the devastating impact of psychological coercion and control are obvious and deep-seated. Their children have a dual-status which is difficult to manage—they are both victims of criminal exploitation and offenders engaged in serious criminal activity. Children and adolescents present as having made a "lifestyle choice." They are knowledgeable about their rights, quick to invoke their right to silence, make accusations against family and/or professionals, mask their true identity, and claim they are acting alone and out of choice.
Parents and carers are the first line of defence. But they are underutilised and many report being extremely frustrated. They feel generally ill-informed and they are not psychologists and so cannot be expected to understand the complex coercive process. Parents are crying out to be educated about the risks to all children, how to be vigilant, and how to proactively search for the subtle signs of coercion and control before their children are "taken." To frustrate the apparent ease with which children are groomed to go country, governments must work in partnership with carers and parents. Helping them to understand county lines through a psychological lens might begin to stem the tide.
