Under the Hood

Understanding pathways in and out of gang life from the point of view of gang members' experience

Gurvir Brar

2017

This study used data collected from in-depth interviews with five male members of a B.C. Lower Mainland gang, who self-identified as growing up in a middle-class environment, to examine risk factors associated with gang involvement and barriers to exiting a gang. More specifically, the study compares risk factors associated with joining gangs and barriers to exiting gangs between youth who grow up in a middle-class “suburban” environment and the available research, which has predominantly been focused on youth who grow up in a “poor” underprivileged environment. The study found no distinguishing risk factors between the participants and the available data. In addition, the study also examined whether there are any unique risk factors encountered by youth who were raised in Canada by foreign born parents. The research found no unique risk factors associated with joining and obstacles to exiting among this group either.

Brar, Gurvir (author)
University of the Fraser Valley School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Degree granting institution)
Prevost, Amy (chair)
Dandurand, Yvon (committee member)
Ristic, Danijel (committee member)
Griffiths, Curt (committee member)

University of the Fraser Valley
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Gangs--British Columbia--Lower Mainland Region
Ex-gang members--Lower Mainland Region--Interviews
University of the Fraser Valley. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.