Why Do Kids Join Gangs?

Both of the books below were written from my first-hand experience throughout many years of working with gang members and at-risk Latino youth and families. What I learned and share as the answer to the above question was that the root of the problem—as well as the solution—lies within the parent-child relationship.

In addition, out of the countless hours of counseling and listening to young gang members and their parents talk about their home life, the concept for my gang prevention curriculum, Parents on a Mission was born. Its purpose is to turn the hearts of parents and children to one another through implementing a strategy of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Gang Prevention and SchoolsGang Prevention and Schools – The Ultimate Parent and Teacher Guide on How to Prevent Kids From Joining Gangs (2008)

This book focuses on:

  • Why kids join gangs
  • The difference between real prevention and intervention
  • The importance of parental authority as the key deterrent to prevention
  • Why parent mentors are more important than youth mentors
  • How parents can replace the rock star, movie star and athletic star heroes of their children
  • How teachers can deal with gang bangers in the classroom

Conventional Books written on gangs

Gang Prevention and Schools
Focus is on the problems that gangs create Focus is on the problems that create gangs
Written to empower the community Written to empower parents and teachers
Raises awareness of gang activity to recruit kids from the local neighborhood Raises awareness of the power of Parents to win the loyalty of their kids
Focus is on the “outside-in” approach to community intervention programs Focus is on an “inside-out” approach to home prevention relationships
Suggest parent classes to help parents fix their kids Suggests parent leadership to help parents fix themselves
Focus is on why kids join gangs Focus is on why most kids do not join gangs
Suggest there are no “magic” answers for communities to invest in Suggests Parents are the best answer for gang prevention that any community can invest in

Excerpt from Gang Prevention and Schools:

Many practitioners confuse “intervention” with “prevention”. For example, when a kid begins to act out, or commits their first misdemeanor or crime, practitioners begin to employ their strategy to “prevent” that youngster from joining a gang or continuing down the negative road he has started on. However, in my view, this is not “prevention”, but rather, “intervention” to stop the youngster from committing further violations of the law.

“Of course this type of work is necessary, and effective in helping a youth turn from a lifestyle of committing more crimes and getting caught in the web of the Juvenile Justice system. I suggest that we need to take the issue a step further in working on root issues that will “prevent” a kid from ever going down the road of delinquency and joining a gang. This is what I mean by prevention and I believe many parents would rather know how to have this type of prevention, rather than assuming, guessing and hoping that their son or daughter never becomes a gang member in a gang neighborhood.

“Guarantees? Well, what can anybody really guarantee in this life? The fact is, many good parents have done all the “right” things and have still suffered the heartaches of losing their kids to gangs and youth violence. Having said that, the fact also remains, according to the most recent research, that most kids are prevented from ever joining a gang, committing acts of violence, and never go down the road of juvenile delinquency.

According to renowned gang research experts, Malcolm W. Klein and Cheryl L. Maxson:

“The best estimate of general U.S. youth gang prevalence is 5% ever-joined, 2% current gang members…Perhaps the strongest message in this research is that even with unrestricted definitions in high risk populations, most youth – 7 or 8 out of 10 – do not join gangs through adolescence.”

(Klein, Maxson, 2006. “Street Gang Patterns and Policies”, Oxford University Press)

Thus, in searching for answers to gang prevention, the question is not “why do kids join gangs”, but rather, “Why do most kids not join gangs?”. This book focuses on the latter and advocates for community decision makers and practitioners to consider changing their focus from the problems gangs create to the problems that create gangs.


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Got Gangs? cover

Got Gangs? - Practical Guidance for Parents and Teachers on a Mission for Gang Prevention/Intervention (2006)

This book focuses on:

  • Why parents are the best prevention strategy against gangs
  • Why gang members are not the enemy
  • Inside-out vs. outside-in community solutions
  • A look at gangs, authority figures, and the economics of poverty
  • The Seven Principles to help gang members become productive students
  • The role of faith-based engagement in building the character of students on the school campus

Excerpt from Got Gangs?

This statement, “It does not take a whole village to raise a child, but only one family and good parenting”, I firmly believe represents a hopeful answer to the wide spread violence and the hearts cry of parents, schools and children across our nation. I suggest it is a vision that all can embrace as we struggle for solutions to the issues of youth violence.

It is only as we get to the root cause of youth violence that we can stop it and prevent it, and thus it continues to be my contention that this root of violence lies within the family unit and therefore it DOES NOT take a whole village to raise a child, but rather one family and good parenting!

If I had all the money I wanted but could only invest it in one solution, it would be a quality program that teaches people how to be a “good” parent by understanding the principles of building healthy human relationships. These principles of good parenting are not secrets and can be found in any number of books, tapes, seminars, local houses of worship, and some television shows, but most importantly they can be witnessed “live and in color” in many neighborhoods, parks and schools on almost any day of the week! This is because our local communities are filled with many great parents who should be the subjects of the local and national news media and T.V. talk shows instead of all the negativity and trivial subjects we are used to hearing about and watching on T.V. The principles practiced by these local hero’s include, but are not limited to; servant hood, selflessness, kindness, humility, forgiveness, understanding, positive words, apologizing, saying I love you, showing affection, the art of listening, and modeling morality, the character of work ethics, spouse commitment (if married), relationship discretion in front of the kids (if not married), emotional maturity and overcoming hardships to name a few.

We don’t have to wait to become a parent before we start learning how to be one and any effort we make to prevent violence can start with building better parents and developing young people to become excellent parents, “parents on a mission”, inspired to be devoted and dedicated to raising children who will be a blessing and not a menace to society!

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Parents on a Mission (POM) Parent Action Guide*

*The POM Parent Action Guide is an instructional manual ONLY for parents currently enrolled in the POM six-week leadership course.