‘In It From the Beginning’: How Do Young Men and Boys Explain Their Entry Into Criminal Gangs?

This article reports on a qualitative study exploring the intersection of mental health, exclusion from school and entry into criminal gangs. It seeks to strengthen the young person’s perspective in the literature. It examines social and psychological mechanisms implicated in the process of joining and staying in gangs. Young people who have experienced exclusion from multiple services reported that, cash earned through illicit drug deals was a key driver to gang membership, enabling them to achieve independence and status. This appeared, at times, more central to their accounts than the search for belonging often cited as a motivator for gang membership.