Gang Recruitment: Self-Worth and the Need to Belong

Introduction: Why Gangs Appeal to Recruits

The self-help author Wayne Dyer once wrote that "self-worth comes from one thing — thinking that you are worthy." This quote captures the functional role of gangs: they exist because they serve a purpose. Gangs are attractive to recruits because they promise a variety of benefits. Though many members reap material rewards from joining, it is the psychological benefits that play a critical role in the decision to join a gang — particularly as those benefits relate to self-worth and the need to belong.

Self-Worth, Low Self-Esteem, and Gang Membership

While some gang members portray themselves with great machismo, think highly of themselves, and are proud of what they have become, the majority of youths who join gangs suffer from a negative self-image (Miller, 2001). Opportunities to feel good about themselves — at home or at school — are few and far between. As Yablonsky (1997) explains, "The gangsters' personality problems of low self-esteem and sense of alienation drive them to act super tough to compensate for their sense of inferiority."

According to Yablonsky, children who acquire a negative self-concept and low self-esteem in their formative years carry those traits into school, where they risk eliciting similarly negative responses from teachers and peers. It becomes, in many cases, a self-fulfilling prophecy: the child acts like a bad person, and teachers and peers begin to treat him or her accordingly (Shelden, 1997).

In contrast, wealthier youths have several sources for achieving a sense of self-worth and esteem — excelling at school, succeeding in extracurricular athletics, attending camp, developing a craft or leisure skill, or earning legitimate part-time income. For disadvantaged youth, these pathways are largely unavailable.

Belonging, Acceptance, and the Role of Peers

Youths who are effectively abandoned by parents and school may seek one another out, or meet as a result of shared misbehavior. As Maslow (1970) noted, all human beings have a basic need for acceptance and belonging. These children share that need — perhaps more acutely, given that so many of their other basic needs also go unmet.

Gangs offer numerous ways for members to earn respect. Succeeding in the commission of a crime earns respect. Respect can also come from defying authority, dominating another person, exploiting others, serving time in prison, or being a known associate of a higher-status gang member. The critical point is that a gang provides these opportunities — opportunities that the recruit perceives as unavailable outside the gang. A lack of self-esteem alone, however, is insufficient as a full explanation for gang formation.

Conclusion: The Gang as a Psychological and Economic Organization

The gang can be seen as an organization of individuals with similar personality traits that maintains cohesion and common purpose across a group not well fitted to conventional social life. People join because they believe membership offers the opportunity to fulfill personal objectives — through business dealings or useful contacts — while improving their self-worth and sense of belonging. The primary activity of the gang may be economic, yet its most compelling benefits are psychological. As research on gang membership consistently shows, discipline within the gang is accepted only so long as leaders continue to provide the opportunities — both material and psychological — that members expect.

References

Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personality. Harper and Row.

Miller, J., Maxson, C., & Klein, M. (2001). The modern gang reader. Roxbury Publishing Co.

Sanchez-Jankowski, M. S. (1991). Islands in the street: Gangs and American urban society. University of California Press.

Shelden, R., Tracy, S., & Brown, W. (1997). Youth gangs in American society. Wadsworth Publishers.

Yablonsky, L. (1997). Gangsters: Fifty years of madness, drugs, and death on the streets of America. New York University Press.