What can the lived experiences of gang members tell us about that what occupies the 'black box' that mediates gang membership and offending? A systematic review.

Aims: This systematic review aims to explore the lived experiences of young gang members to explore the processes that mediate gang membership and offending. Rationale: Gang membership disproportionately effects young people (Home Office, 2016). The link between gang membership and inordinately high levels of severe offending characteristics is well represented in research (Thornberry, 1998). However, the processes that mediate gang membership and offending are poorly understood (Melde & Esbensen, 2011). Young gang members are often passively conceptualised within research and need to have their voices uncovered to better elucidate the psychological processes that link gang membership to offending. Method: A systematic review of qualitative research was carried out following the Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement for reporting (Moher et al., 2009), Six papers were identified which represented samples from both the UK and US. These were reviewed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Checklist (2016) and were subsequently analysed using thematic synthesis. Findings: Young gang members associated offending with its role in reinforcing a community of belonging, providing material and non-material capital and as a response to living within an oppressive context. Conclusions: This research suggests that the internal psychological processes within a gang play an important interacting role with the external marginalised contexts they occupy. Implications of the need for policy, research and practice to better account for this are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]