Abstract
The purpose of this research is to explore factors that explain how ethnic identity and culture conflict is shaped and developed within a group of Mexican-American men living in Sacramento, California. These factors include: Personal (Individual risk factors), Family risk factors, Peer risk factors, Education (School risk factors), and Neighborhood location (Community risk factors).The study employs in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews focusing on the above risk factors, acculturation, and multiple marginality of approximately eighteen male participants. The participants were between the ages of eighteen and thirty years old. These responses are the data upon which grounded theory methods of qualitative data analysis were employed to analyze how ethnicity, acculturation, culture conflict, and marginalization influence this subgroup of Mexican-Americans. Review of the literature This chapter gives a brief background to the history of gangs in the United States. Additionally, the chapter highlights the negative effects of gang membership, and the primary risk factors associated with such association. The chapter concludes with an explanation of how such risk factors affect Mexican-American’s acculturation, ethnic identity, and it leads to Vigil’s concept of multiple marginality. Analysis The data were collected from interviews with eighteen participants. Data were analyzed utilizing a system of ‘line-by-line’ coding to generate themes from the interviews. A review of literature identified certain risk factors: acculturation, culture, education, family, individual, peers, and community issues as significantly influential on Mexican-Americans who joined or affiliate with gangs. The face-to-face interviews revealed that most of the participants’ verified assertions from the literature, suggesting that factors such as these play a significant role in social development and perhaps even encourage engagement in crimes, deviance, and affiliation with gangs. The literature supports the impact of culture conflict and Vigil’s (1988) multiple marginality on these Mexican-American community members. Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendation Due to my own experience and where I grew up, I also had assumptions about being Mexican-American, and had similar experiences, as did many of these participants. These participants faced many challenges related to their families, peers, culture, and their first language. However, in spite of any short-comings these experiences caused, they highlighted the importance of the neighborhoods (geographical location) where they grew up, as strongly influencing whether they were involved with criminal activity, deviancy, and gang affiliation. Overall, their responses were more focus on the negative effects of acculturation with very few positive examples that are highlighted in the advantage of being bilingual. The results cannot be generalized beyond the current research as the data were derived from a small, non-probability convenience sample and are not likely to provide a comprehensive interpretation of Mexican-American ethnic identity and culture conflict issues in the United States. However, collecting data from a larger sample would improve validity and generalizability.