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The Trajectory of Gang Membership: the Desistance from a “Deviant Identity”

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The Trajectory of Gang Membership: the Desistance from a “Deviant Identity” The Trajectory of Gang Membership: The Desistance from a “Deviant Identity” Maykal Bailey A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MA degree in Criminology Department of Criminology Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Maykal Bailey, Ottawa, Canada 2015 ii Abstract The public acts of violence during the summer of 2012 in Toronto brought the theme of gangs back to the forefront in Canadian media coverage. As renewed debates argued old subject matters, our understanding of gangs was not able to diverge from its endless roundabout. This paper reverses the study of gangs that has classically looked towards the gang as a collective to explain its sub-cultural delinquent and sometimes violent tendencies, and rather, it explores the individualized interpretation of gang membership from the perspective of four Latin-Canadian males from the Greater Toronto area. This study takes on the challenge of observing the trajectory of gang membership based on the first hand experiences of self-proclaimed ex-gang members and through an in-depth dialogue with these participants, ventures through the turning points that led these individual actors through the process of onset, commitment and desistance. This exploration into the lived experiences of gang membership is seen through a Symbolic Interactionist lens and views gang membership as one of many identities that can actively be portrayed by the social being. In this perspective, the concepts of gangs and gang membership are described as a subjective experience completely open to interpretation, but guided by the flow of unique interactions that these individuals encountered within a variety of complex situations and environments. That which is being observed herein is the process of how the participants interacted with their existing environments and the circumstances produced by them, highlighting the momentous events that continuously defined the individuals understanding of their own self-concept as a gang member up until the point of non-membership. What was observed by a dissection of the interviewee’s accounts was that the onset of gang membership was influenced primarily by a feeling of disassociation and alienation which the participants actively sought to alleviate, whereby the idea of belonging to a gang offered the remedy. The aspect of commitment was shown to be focused more towards upholding the identity of gang membership and their reputation than towards the gang itself. Reinforcing the identity maintained the individual’s social status and relevance amongst iii their peers, solidifying the aspired identity of gang membership. Finally, the process of desistance surfaced once the gang member identity no longer seemed beneficial. Life threats, a re-emergence of the feeling of solitude, the experience of disloyalty and the acceptance of another identity as being more imperative were factors that separately influenced the move for the discontinuance for the projection of the gang member identity. Although the participants admit to and self proclaim ex-membership, they do nonetheless acknowledge that the gang mask could once again be put back on. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1 – Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 – Wut up homie?: Understanding the Participants .................................................. 9 2.1 Latino-Canadian Experience .......................................................................................... 9 2.2 Ex-Members ................................................................................................................. 11 2.3 What to Expect ............................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 3 – Check the M.O.: Symbolic Interactionism ......................................................... 15 3.1 Self-Concept ................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 4 – Rep yo’ set: A Literary Review about Gangs and Gang Membership ............... 24 4.1 Defining Gangs ............................................................................................................. 24 4.2 Gang Membership ........................................................................................................ 29 4.3 Risk Factors and Onset ................................................................................................. 32 4.4 Commitment ................................................................................................................. 35 4.5 Desistance ..................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 5 – Hoodied and Masked up: Methodology ............................................................. 43 5.1 Recruitment .................................................................................................................. 43 5.2 Data Collection Face-to-Face Semi-Structured Interviews .......................................... 51 5.3 Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 54 5.3.1 Narrative Analysis ..................................................................................................... 54 5.3.2 Choosing of Narratives ............................................................................................. 56 5.3.3 Narrative Sub-Categories ......................................................................................... 57 5.3.4 Coding Frame: Construction of Meaning .............................................................. 58 Chapter 6 – Know your role homie: Discussion .................................................................... 60 6.1 Participant Stories ......................................................................................................... 60 6.1.1 Alexis .......................................................................................................................... 61 6.1.2 Claudio........................................................................................................................ 65 6.1.3 Arturo .......................................................................................................................... 69 6.1.4 Ernesto ........................................................................................................................ 73 6.2 What is a gang for them? .............................................................................................. 78 v 6.3 Turning Points .............................................................................................................. 81 6.4 Onset ............................................................................................................................. 83 6.5 Commitment ................................................................................................................. 87 6.6 Desistance ..................................................................................................................... 91 Chapter 7 – Ride until the casket drops: Conclusion ............................................................. 96 References ............................................................................................................................ 101 vi List of Appendices APPENDIX A – Arizona State Gang Requirements vii Acknowledgements “What is gang membership?” “What do you mean by the trajectory of gang membership or gang membership as a process?” “Do you mean to say that gang members can just come and go from the gang as they please?” These were a few of the questions that I encountered when I revealed to my family and peers of the academic journey that I was embarking - the writing of my master’s thesis. Truth be told, I was neither sure nor confident in how to respond to these questions at the time. For conversation’s sake I succeeded in sounding quite knowledgeable when I regurgitated some of the criminological theories that I had learned over the years. Yet, once I had finished my oratory concoction of Marxist ideals whisked with Durkheimian seasonings and peppered with contemporary citations, the polite responses of “oh...that’s interesting” were simply kind gestures of support and approval. I am sure though that my audience still remained as bewildered as I was to the true essence of my investigation. To this regard, the selection of my thesis topic was trudging to say the least. I could not see the light at the end of the jungle-like expedition I had chosen to investigate; the foliage (represented by my research reading material) was extensive and proved to be extremely thick. Nevertheless, although at some points I reached high levels of fatigue, with the help and support of some very important people, I managed to remain goal focused and determined to proceed, and was able to clear out my academic path, highlighter as my machete. Firstly, I would like to give a most sincere thank you to my thesis supervisor, Patrice Corriveau, without whom none of this would have been possible. I was completely at odds when I first began my Masters program as I found myself in an entirely
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