"I've needed a friend my whole life". Voices offormer gang members: An ethnodrama
Publisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
This thesis set about to achieve three goals. First it discusses street gang research, assessment of the gang problem, and in particular the forces that push and pull American youths into the street gang lifestyle and the gang member experience. Second, it explores how alternative forms of data presentation, such as ethnodrama, blur the boundary lines between art and scientific research and demonstrates that the embodiment of human experience through artistic means enhances our understanding of the gang problem and creates context. Third, it includes an ethnodrama text constructed from qualitative interviews of three former gang members, in support of narrative inquiry research methods, and illustrating how three young men were drawn into the gang lifestyle, what they experienced by being in a gang, and the factors that helped them to leave the gang and lead them to make positive changes in their lives.Type
textThesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Degree Name
M.A.Degree Level
mastersDegree Program
Graduate CollegeTheatre Arts