Gang Membership in the Life Course
Gang Disengagement, Masculinity, and Mental Health
Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, I study gang member transitions out of street gangs and the impact this transition has on former members’ mental health. I use qualitative methods to explore the subjective understandings of gang-involved individuals as they transition out of gangs based on 29 life history interviews I conducted with formerly violent long-term gang members. The resulting article investigates how individuals perceived and practiced masculinity while they were gang members, as they transitioned out of gangs, and later in their lives. This research was featured in The Society Pages.
I use quantitative methods to investigate how perceived gang organization and an individual’s identity within the gang influences the duration of time spent as a gang member. I also investigate the impact of gang organization and identity on victimization of gang members.
Currently, I am working on understanding the impacts of gang exit on mental health. Poor mental health has been identified as an antecedent of gang membership, a consequence of gang membership and a factor that can impact gang members long after the time of active gang membership. However, we know very little about what happens to these individual’s mental health and wellbeing when they disengage from gang life. Given that gang disengagement is a turning point in the lives of gang members associated with important lifestyle changes—such as decreases in offending and victimization and increases prosocial support—it could also be associated with mental health improvements; however, this key question remains understudied. Finally, I have begun exploring later life outcomes of women/girls who were previously involved in gangs.
Published work
Featured in the Society Pages https://thesocietypages.org/discoveries/2022/04/07/aging-and-manhood-among-gang-members/
Winner of the SSSP Youth, Aging, and the Life Course Division Student Paper Award, 2018.
Works in progress
Leverso, John and Cyrus Schleifer. “Mental Health and Gang Disengagement: A Stress Process Perspective.”
Leverso, John, Cyrus Schleifer and Bria Schwartz. “Pulling The Short Straw: The Intersection of Girls, Gangs, & Juvenile Detention.”