Research has time and again connected gang membership to an increased likelihood of participation in violent crime, and has related increases in gang violence to increases in the spread of guns (Stretesky 2007 Hagedorn 1998: 5). These risky geographical and social networks are often characterized by gang membership. This statistic means that, although geographic location is an undeniable risk factor for violence perpetration and victimization, many residents of these risky areas never engage in this smaller subset of violent behaviors. These geographical boundaries are filled with “risky social networks.” In his 2014 study, Papachristos found, “70 percent of all nonfatal gunshot victims during the observation period can be located in co-offending networks comprised of less than 6% of the city’s population” (Papachristos 2014: 1). This trend mirrors the national statistics “very small geographic units,” particularly disadvantaged neighborhoods, are often hot spots for crime, and gun violence is no exception (Weisburd 2010). As of June 11th of this year alone, 1,290 people have already been shot, with most violence appearing in the West and South Sides (ibid). In 2019, Chicago was home to 1,063 shootings by this time in the year (The Chicago Tribune 2020). Finally, the paper concludes with reflections on moving forward with further research. Each section draws on interviews as well as scholarly literature. The third section then examines how nonprofits make use of the reality of participant dualism. The first focuses on the external aspects of the double life and the second on the internal elements. This paper is divided into three thematic sections, all of which focus on double lives. By asking former gang members how they view themselves, this study hopes both to give a voice to people who are often no more than a number, and to better unpack what exactly drives gang entrance and continued membership. Beyond high risk indicators and inadequate infrastructure are humans who must navigate neighborhoods with scant resources and myriad dangers. Behind aggregated statistics are human lives. By focusing on the stories of key stakeholders, this essay captures the humanity of those so often villainized and brings the literature one step closer to an illuminated understanding of the gun violence epidemic at an individual level. However, the people engaged in gun violence are as complicated as the roots of the problems themselves. Too often, the popular psyche imagines gang members to be one dimensional instigators of violence. The study relies primarily on qualitative interview data with the understanding that personal vision of the self cannot be simply boiled down to quantitative data. Finally, with these findings in mind, it asks how nonprofits can incorporate the reality of the dual self. It seeks to understand how gang members balance dual identities and how this balancing act reckons with their own sense of a moral self. Mainstream understandings of gang culture might stall before the “and.” However, this paper pushes that narrative and asks how gang members navigate a world in which their identity goes beyond that of clique affiliation. This study, in asking its research question, also poses the beginning of a statement: gang members and. Finally, nonprofits working against gun violence should acknowledge this duality and leverage it to create more successful programs for the community. This dual existence can breed cognitive dissonance, which gang members address through a variety of neutralization techniques that allow them to nevertheless view themselves as moral individuals. At the same time, community members also engage with gang culture in daily life, as gang membership may be clear while gang and community life are blurred. Gang members ultimately lead double lives as they weave between gang and community life.
This paper draws on qualitative interviews to address internal and external identity navigation among gang members and how nonprofits address this navigation.