Major and Classification
American Studies and Ethnicity
Faculty Mentor
- Robin D.G. Kelley, Ph.D.
Department
- American Studies and Ethnicity
McNair Project
Abstract
This paper examines the way in which society has decided to treat people who have been involved in gangs, and who have been incarcerated. It criticizes the way in which these individuals are treated when they come out of prison, and takes a look at an organization that has chosen to help these individuals by providing resources without which they would not be able to reincorporate themselves back into society. I will study the organization “Homeboy Industries”. I will take a deep look at the institution and what it provides to the individuals who participate in it. I will utilize interviews, which have already been conducted to determine whether or not they have benefitted from the program. I hypothesize that the magnitude of the effect that this program will have on rates of recidivism for the men who participate in it will be immense. The men who participate in this program will prove that if America decided to help these individuals rather than try to solve the problem of gangs through incarceration they would be doing a greater good to society because these individuals would be able to re-incorporate themselves back into society rather than turn back to gangs as their only way to survive.