“My shot caller was the one who snitched on me”: Symbolic interactionism, identity, and motives for gang exit among Hmong gang members

Abstract

Research on gang disengagement has grown significantly within the past decade and has shed light on important aspects of this process, including the motivations for exit. Absent from these discussions, however, is how these motives gain prominence, are structured by social structures such as race and ethnicity, and the identity mechanisms that facilitate their emergence. To address these gaps, I analyze ethnographic observations and life-history interviews with 15 former Hmong gang members. In doing so, I introduce a symbolic interactionist framework that leverages identity theory and integrates the cultural and historical context of the Hmong to uncover why Hmong gang members leave and, more importantly, how these motives are generated, that is, the identity processes and cultural qualities that engender disillusionment, maturation, and familial concerns as motivations for gang exit.