Risk Versus Resilience: Understanding Outcome Differences for Gang Membership among Males in Jamaica's Urban Communities

• In Event: Crime and Justice in Latin America

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine the risk factors that motivate gang membership among Jamaican males and the protective influences that prevent or delimit such membership. Building on Thornberry’s integrated approach, the research contextualizes the narratives and life experiences of gang members to understand the motivation of gang membership and factors that buffer against it. The study employed qualitative means of data collection that consists of semi-structured interviews in 3-5 communities in West Kingston region.

Author

• Asheka Jackson, Simon Fraser University