Gang Membership in the Life Course

My research examines how gang identity, masculinity, and victimization unfold over time, offering a life-course perspective on gang membership and disengagement. This work asks: How does gang identity form and endure? What does it take to leave a gang? And what risks remain even after leaving?

Many studies reduce gang identity to a simple yes-or-no question—“Are you a gang member?”—but my work goes deeper. Drawing on social psychological theories of identity, I use more nuanced measures to understand how strongly someone identifies with their gang, and how that attachment shapes the duration and intensity of involvement. Stronger identification, I find, is often tied to longer gang participation, even when controlling for structural and demographic factors.

Another thread of my research investigates how gang-affiliated men navigate masculinity as they move out of gang life. I introduce the concept of masculinity maturation to describe how men reshape their sense of masculinity to align with adult responsibilities like fatherhood, employment, and caregiving. Rather than rejecting masculinity outright, they adapt it—moving away from violent, status-based performances toward more relational and constructive forms of manhood. This work connects gang studies to broader conversations about identity, adulthood, and gender transformation.

I also examine how victimization plays out across the gang life course. While it’s well known that gang members face higher rates of violence than non-members, less attention has been paid to what drives this risk—and how it changes over time. My research shows that deeper gang embeddedness and organizational ties significantly increase the likelihood of continued victimization. Even those attempting to disengage often remain at risk if they retain social or symbolic ties to the gang, highlighting the difficulty and danger of exit.

Together, this work offers a more complex and humanized view of gang membership—one that moves beyond stereotypes and static labels. By tracing how identity, risk, and affiliation evolve over time, I aim to inform more effective support systems for individuals trying to leave gang life and build something new.

 

Published work

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Gangs and Neighborhoods