UC Santa Barbara

In the spring of 2007 in Golden Coast, California there were a few incidents involving underage Latinos that led local law enforcement and media outlets to describe the series of events as a sign of increased local criminal gang activity despite reports to the contrary. Some of these reports came from senior law enforcement officials whom were quoted in local media as describing a decrease in criminal activity. Shortly thereafter, the local school district implemented a committee tasked with formulating the guidelines for an intervention program aimed at curbing youth from continued criminal and/or gang activity. This research is a longitudinal ethnographic study, spanning over 5 years; focused on a group of 8 youth participants’ from the intervention program. Participants experiences and perspectives on gangs, policing, schooling, and the gang intervention worker were examined. This study also focuses on interview data collected during the first year, the third year, and the fifth year of the study, as well as field observations, taken during the 5-year period.